Legacy: When Activity Becomes Accomplishment

In a couple of previous posts here and here, I've reflected on what John Maxwell has written about legacy. Reading through selected Psalms as a part of Elevation Church's current series "Storytellers", I came across some additional treasures on the ideas of legacy.



A huge difference exists between a legacy and an inheritance. Anyone can leave an inheritance. An inheritance is something you leave to your family or loved ones. A legacy is something you leave in your family and loved ones. Here is what Maxwell had to day in comparing the two:


Inheritance

1. Something tangible you give to others



2. Temporarily brings them happiness



3. Eventually fades as it is spent



4. Your activity may or not may pay off

Legacy

1. Something tangible you place in others



2. Permanently transforms them



3. Lives on long after you die



4. Your activity becomes achievement

What would you rather leave: an inheritance or a legacy?

Collect the Dots so you can Connect the Dots

This past weekend I led a team in a ministry planning weekend for a church client. Our purpose, over one and a half days, was to look at their past, take a snapshot of their present, and project possible futures. Having previously reviewed their vision work of the past few years, our team was able to focus on their physical campus and expansion opportunities.

Preparation for the weekend event included hours of research, interviews, and conversations with church leaders and local officials. Our team sifted though all this information, prepared an agenda reflecting the assignment given to us by the church, and proceeded with the weekend.

As we went through the first several hours, thought kept popping into my head: Collect the dots so you can connect the dots. After jotting it down, I forgot about it until the weekend was over and I began reviewing my notes. As luck would have it, I was also revisiting a great book from 2009, Alan Webber's "Rules of Thumb." Once again, while looking for something else, I came across the phrase above. It was an appropriate footnote to the past weekend's events, and I wanted to highlight some of Webber's thoughts on "Context":

Information is a commodity but context creates value.

What we’re looking for from others – and what we should hone as our own capability – is a convincing, compelling vision of how the world works.

What’s valuable is having your own point of view and having the confidence to express it. Anything else is available 24/7 on the Web and everywhere else – which makes it worthless.

Context is how we all add value. But how do you develop the practice to know what you know, to see how you see the world?

The answer is that context comes to those who develop their way of seeing and making sense of the world.

Context only comes with practice.

• If you don’t watch the news regularly and get into a shouting match with the TV set, you’re not practicing. They’re not telling you the news; they’re telling you how they see the news. You’re entitled to tell them back.
• If you don’t check multiple web sites for news and analysis daily and register your profound disagreement with their takes on the events of the day, you’re not developing your own context. Your job is to use their reports as a whetstone to sharpen your own analyses.
• If you don’t clip one or more newspapers – either the paper or electronic versions – and then work at assembling the clips into your own take on how the world works, you’re not building your mental muscles.

The point of the exercise is to collect the dots so you can connect the dots.

Become a context creator – someone who can connect the dots in ways that make sense, provide insight, deliver meaning, and produce ways of seeing the world that leads to new solutions that work.

No matter how many raw facts you know, they’re only as valuable as the context within which you put them. That’s why context is more important than content and always will be.

Our team succeeded in creating context this weekend. Yes, there was a lot of information. But God honored the process, and the result was excitement about potential - not contentment with the status quo.

Have You Asked a Great Question Lately?

Answers are easy to find when you ask the right questions.

Of course, asking the right question is often a challenge. It's easy to ask a question that triggers an argument, demands analysis, expects a defensive reply or begs for an explanation. These kinds of questions may be interesting, but they lack power.

Powerful questions are those that evoke a choice for accountability and commitment. They are questions that take us to requests, offers, declarations, forgiveness, confession, gratitude, and welcome: all of which are memorable and have a transformative power.

Questions create the space for something new to emerge.

What questions will you be asking today?

Work smarter, not harder.

Do more with less.

Short pithy sayings are always good for a moment's pause. Most of them have at least some element of truth to them. They sound good, are mostly logical, and hey, maybe even worth a shot.

Then Seth Godin comes along and messes with my brain big-time:

Try different.

If trying harder isn't working because you're already trying as hard as you can, maybe it's time to try different.

If it's not working, harder might not be the answer.

What do you need to try different today?

What Olympic Athletes and Your Leadership Team Share in Common

Over two weeks of Olympic events have wrapped up, closing with a thrilling gold medal hockey game between the U.S. and Canada. The Olympic Games are spaced out enough so that I really enjoy watching the competitions, even the more esoteric events (like curling).

For all the hype and hoopla, to me the single most important aspect of the Games is the unique skill sets it takes for each athlete to become a world-class participant in their sport. For many, that means years of preparation and practice for a one-time shot at a medal. Most don’t ever get a chance to medal, yet all prepare as if they were already a champion.

In other words, they have locked away in their minds a preferred vision of the future that has them accepting a gold medal. That vision keeps them going day after day, month after month, up early and late in practice.

Church leadership teams don’t compete for a gold medal, but their reward is much more important: changed lives, as members develop into loving, growing disciples. That’s an outcome worth working for!

Productivity

The March issue of "Inc" magazines has a fascinating assortment of articles on the theme of productivity: Productivity Nation: Learn from Hyper-Efficient Entrepreneurs

• The case for a cluttered inbox
• Don't even think about calling
• If you have to have a meeting, first, drink water
• Using an A-B-C list
• An amazing executive assistant and the daily memo
• Work from home
• Keep some air in your schedule
• Capture ideas from everywhere
• Delegate sooner rather than later

In a country whose citizens work longer and get more done than anyone else, no one is more productive than entrepreneurs. To get inside the mind of the super-efficient, the magazine interviewed successful entrepreneurs in various industries around the country.

Want to check it out? The magazine is on the newsstands now - look here in a few days for online content. I'm willing to bet that you will pick up at least two or three ideas you can put into practice immediately.

Swifter, Higher, Stronger

"Citius, Altius, Fortius" is the motto of the Olympics, suggested by founder of the modern Olympics, Baron de Coubertin. The English translation of the motto is the title of this post, a reflection on the just-concluded Winter Olympics.

Athletes who participate in the Olympics surely have these words in their mind. For many of them, the journey for the chance of 47 seconds of glory has taken years of dedication and practice. Along the way, they have endured pain, inconvenience, and trials, along with the positive feelings of a sense of accomplishment and knowledge that they represent the ultimate pinnacle of performance in their chosen sport.

But if that is all it is, what follows after those 47 seconds of glory? What does a speed skater do after he can no longer participate in the sport at the level required for Olympic participation? What does it take to go beyond the highest point in your physical development?

Clarius.

In Latin, the word "clarius" represents intelligence and clarity of mind. If an athlete frames his physical gifts with clarity, then his Olympic endeavors are a beginning, not an end.

As leaders, we have to have the same mindset. Most leaders spend their lives driving decisions, directing resources, and deploying leaders without the vantage point of substantial clarity (Mancini).

It's one thing to aspire to Olympic greatness by dedicating your formative years to achieving the pinnacle of success in your sport. It's another to step up on the podium, receiving recognition for being the best. What's next?

Those with clarity know.