“Tomorrow, is the first blank page of a 365 page book. Write a good one.” Brad Paisley
Paid to think? …Or to check your brains at the door?
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Last week I was facilitating a leadership development session for people from every department and every level of a large organization. During our discussion I asked them if they realized that regardless of their title they are paid to think. …Their immediate response? Silence.
Later in the week I re-opened the book The Secret and as I skimmed through the pages this quote jumped off the page, “Check your brains at the door. They will be returned to you as you leave the building. ~The Management”
How about you? Are you paid to think? …Or to check your brains at the door?
…As we near the start of a new year I wonder:
- How many people work in cultures that expect them to check their brains at the door?
- How many organizations have actually invited their employees to think?
- How many organizations have provided the tools and the training to help their organization unleash the knowledge that exists within their own walls?
The Holidays and Tears
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Have you checked out our new post on Lead Change? The Holidays and Tears
On Sunday, our church choir and an orchestra filled an entire service with Christmas carols. As they sang songs that I cherish, I was hit with a sudden realization that there are parts of the world where people are not allowed to sing those songs, or to come together and hear them.
. …I choked, I tried to clear my throat, I fought tears and then I cried. (Partially because I was so overwhelmed with thankfulness for what I have and partially because I was so overwhelmed with grief about what others don’t have.)
Comfort or Magic? Go? Stay? Stay? Go?
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A few months ago I received this image from Debbie Laskey.
This simple image and 7 words (Your Comfort Zone – Where The Magic Happens) were so powerful that I was immediately impacted. Since then I have continually shared the photo to illustrate how our daily choices impact individual lives, families and organizations.
Today I was thinking about:
- People with dreams that are so big they seem impossible.
- People that have recently experienced a life-altering event and are struggling to believe that good things will ever happen again.
- Organizations that are seeking to breathe life into a vision that is larger than any one person or department.
- People that have lived so long in a comfort zone that can’t yet see how it is killing their imaginations, their dreams, their joy, their health and their relationships…
COURAGE ~ The testing point of every virtue
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I love this photo of the Lion. It is such a powerful visual of traits I admire in leaders: Strong, Confident, Peaceful, Wise, and Courageous. He is fully aware of who he is and what he stands for. Calm and relaxed, yet alert and watchful. Able to fully enjoy life as he currently knows it, and yet courageous enough to leave his comfort zone, and use his voice or his strength to empower, to protect or to create change the moment he is needed.
C.S. Lewis describes leadership this way:
[Tweet “Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point. “]
- How many people and organizations do you know that need that kind of leader?
- How many individuals and organizations do you know that are unhappy with their present reality and desire something different and yet do nothing to change their circumstances?
- So why is there such a big gap between the desired result and the present state?