Daily Stop & Thinks

Leadership III

Most leadership lessons are learned from a failure or challenge of some kind. (James Emery White, Minister)

White suggests what can be a positive result of such challenges: “You shoulder your way through it and, in hindsight, learn lessons you will carry with you for a lifetime.” You don’t learn much from running from the test or ignoring the failure. Determine the cause of the problem and how it could have been handled better. The lesson learned will make you a more effective leader.

God blesses those who patiently endure testing. (James 1:12)

These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold. (1 Peter 1:7)

Leadership II

Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes. (Peter Drucker, late management consultant)

In an election year you hear a lot of political supporters spouting the attributes and abilities of the various nominees. To hear them, you would think that the candidates are stellar in every respect and provide unending benefits for their constituency.  Achievement, however, may be just as important as attributes. Results demonstrate the true value of the leader.

Fear of the Lord is the foundation of wisdom. Knowledge of the Holy One results in good judgment. (Proverbs 9:10)

Wisdom is shown to be right by its results. (Matthew 11:19)

Leadership I

Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way. (General George Patton, WW II leader)

If you’ve seen the movie, Patton, you can well imagine him bark the order, “get out of my way.” However, even though Patton didn’t stand for any disobedience from his troops, he was known to disobey the orders of his commanding officers. But the principle of his order is well taken. Good leaders know how to follow and how to lead, and they hate anything that’s in their way.

God’s hand was on the people. . . giving them all one heart to obey the orders of the king and his officials, who were following the word of the Lord. (2 Chronicles 30:12)

Veterans Day

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. (John F. Kennedy, 35^th US president)

Words are so important and meaningful, but they can be easily and quickly forgotten. We may leave a Veterans Day ceremony in which we’ve honored all those, living and dead, who have served in the defense of our country with warm hearts of gratitude for their service. The real test, as Kennedy suggests, of course, is to live in ways that honor those who served us so well.

If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life. (James 3:13)

Patience

The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The second-best time is now. (Chinese proverb)

We always seem to be in a hurry, and we want what we want right now. It’s a hard lesson to learn, but eventually we come to understand that little of value happens overnight. We have to live and work for the future with patience. Writer Nelson Henderson put it this way, “The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.”

Consider the farmers who patiently wait for the rains in the fall and in the spring. They eagerly look for the valuable harvest to ripen. (James 5:7)

Reputation vs. Character

Reputation is what you are supposed to be; Character is what you are. ( William Hershey Davis, professor)

Davis continues: “Your Reputation is learned in an hour; your Character does not come to light for a year. A single newspaper report gives your Reputation; a life of toil gives you your Character.” The TV’s “News Flash” and newspapers‘ headlines most often report on someone’s reputation. The impression may be very misleading. It takes a life of integrity to develop good character.

Choose a good reputation over great riches; being held in high esteem is better than silver or gold. (Proverbs 22:1)

Arguments

You don’t beat a thesis with an antithesis; you beat it with a better thesis. (Jack Kemp, late American politician)

Kemp’s comment would seem to be so helpful in today’s difficult political scene. Instead of always trying to prove the other fellow wrong by a strong opposing argument just offer him a better solution. No one likes to have his position criticized, but he or she may respond well to a better idea with which both can agree.

We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. (2 Corinthians 10:4)

Principles

When you base your life on principles, 99% of your decisions are already made. (Dave Ramsey, financial advisor)

Too many of us today seem to live our lives on the basis of feelings, circumstances, a popular current blog, or podcast values. They change so often, however, that it leaves a lot of people confused and uncertain about the future. We would do well to note Ramsey’s observation and make our choices on the basis of unchanging truths and values.

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. (Romans 12:2)

More Than Words

Words are only part of the way meaning is conveyed. There’s almost always more. (Brent Sandy, author)

Do you remember what it was like to watch your children learn how to use words? We often marveled at how quickly their vocabulary grew. We soon recognized, however, that they were learning much more about communication than just how to use words. Crying was sometimes more effective than merely asking for something. Facial expressions, body posture—wow, didn’t they learn fast!

Even if some refuse to obey the Good News, your godly lives will speak to them without any words. (1 Peter 3:1)

Words

The words and actions of other people are a reflection of them, not of us. (Jesse Deloe, writer)

We’ve all learned that the old saying that “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me” is simply not true. Words do hurt, but Deloe’s idea is helpful. The hurtful things said and done to us are very often the outpouring of another’s own hurts and needs. So, it is a good practice to heed good advice but ignore hurtful insults.

The words of the godly are a life-giving fountain; the words of the wicked conceal violent intentions. (Proverbs 10:11)

Guard Your Mind

We must be careful what we allow to access our minds today, for it may entice, captivate, and enslave our hearts tomorrow. (Christine Trier, young career woman)

Our minds are constantly being bombarded with all kinds of information, data, and propaganda.  Trier warns us to be careful what we let grab our attention and lead us into spending time, effort, and money in pursuit of them. An unhealthy activity may lead to a slippery slope that turns into a landslide. Let’s evaluate our choices carefully before investing ourselves foolishly.

But you should keep a clear mind in every situation (2 Timothy 4:5).

So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control (1 Peter 1:13).

Election Day

The most important office, and the one which all of us can and should fill is that of private citizen. (Louis Brandeis, 20^th century US supreme court justice)

Perhaps you never thought of yourself as holding an “important office” in your government, but the US democracy is “of the people, by the people, and for the people.” It is our responsibility to consider candidates carefully and vote in every election. Editor George Jean Nathan wrote, “Bad officials are elected by good citizens who don’t vote.” Study, ponder, pray for wisdom, and vote!

When there is moral rot within a nation, its government topples easily. But wise and knowledgeable leaders bring stability. (Proverbs 28:2)