Category Archives: Actions

The Conscience… It’s For Others As Much As It Is For You

16 Friday Apr 2021

Posted by in Actions, Conscience, Deciding, Decisions, Leader, Leadership, Value

≈ 1 Comment

You know when you have the “gut feeling” about something? Or that “inner voice” you sometimes hear? Call it what you want, but you cannot say that something is not happening… Maybe a tingly feeling.

Your conscience, it’s there… but the question of the day is, “Do you listen to it?” Yes, or no… the decisions you make because of your conscience affect others as well.

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The value of our conscience is a repeated theme throughout our leadership. Clear or muddy, a value is placed. However, how much weight do we put on having that clear conscience in leadership? (We are not speaking of relativism here) External factors aside, no one can really say what they would do regarding the decisions we make. They might say, “Well, I would have…” Yes, that is true, but they really, really cannot say.

We all have, at one point or another, struggled with decisions. Those decisions that keep us up at night, make us fidgety, cause stress… it happens in leadership. While we might see this as a nuisance, I think we should welcome it instead of seeing our conscience as a hindrance in our lives. Decision-making starts on the inside, and for leaders who lead without a conscience, well… it affects others, and it flies in the face of many. So often, we see self-absorbed leaders whose decision-making only affects the results they want. If there is a conscience, it is not working, or they are deaf.

Our conscience is essential in leadership and the role it plays with decision-making. It’s a beacon that keeps us on the right path, alerts us of dangers, and eases our minds. However, I also believe that our conscience is programmed with a life of reflection of our actual selves. How we live our lives, in some ways, determines our decisions and many of those are conscience-driven. Needless to say, everyone’s conscience is not the same.

Nothing is more destructive in leadership than a conscience that relishes self. In the end, our conscience is our witness to our leadership, seen by the decisions made and the long-term effect they have on others.

Go be a great educator and leader today… Our future needs it…

Remember… Think Leadership and Be For Others…

©2021 J Clay Norton

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Valentine’s Musings…

11 Thursday Feb 2021

Posted by in Actions, Family, Heart, Listening, Love, Relationships

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Valentine’s…

The day we are told to celebrate our love for others…

Chocolates, flowers, and cards… Priced much higher than usual, just to show how much more we love for only one day? It is amazing to me how the price suddenly drops on February 15.

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Those chocolates taste the same, you know, and they are 75% off. You can truly get an assortment of assorted flavors. Also, you don’t feel bad about not liking a particular type and spitting it out. Paying full price makes you eat the ones you don’t care for.

And the flowers… aka ROSES. Yes, the ones that will die, even if you do use the plant food packet that comes with it… don’t we know they are dead already when they are cut? I tell Heather, “I’ll buy you a rose bush… that way we can plant it, and you can have roses anytime you want, all year long. You pick out the spot, and I’ll dig the hole.” Now that’s what I call love.

And the cards… You know the ones that bring the response, “Oh, that was so sweet of you.” The funny thing about cards… Someone else is really doing the talking for $7.95, and three days later… the garbage can. And if it is not a Hallmark, well… you just didn’t “…care enough to send the very best.”

I know… but you are saying, “It’s the thought that counts.”

Yes, the thought… Where is that same thought for the other 364 days of the year?

The thought… Why don’t we ever say, “It’s the action that counts.” Is love not suppose to be a verb, the action of doing? I can think a lot of stuff, but if action is never there, then what good is the thought. It just falls on deaf ears, mine and yours alone.

So, what does love look like in action? I cannot answer that for you, nor can you answer that for me. What works for you might not work for me and vice versa. But I do have some ideas…

Love…
Makes the bed, picks up in the house, does the laundry, feeds the dogs, bathes the dogs, sacrifices their time for others, watches an action-killing movie instead of a chick-flick (or the other way around), goes to the grocery store, takes walks, rides bikes, drives the vehicle because you don’t like to drive, plans meals to make sure we eat healthy, empties the dishwasher, holds your hand, brags on you, provides a Godly example to our daughter, prays for the family… Love will even read your blog on Thursday nights to make sure it is all in order.

Love can also listen, laugh, and even cry. But more important than all of the above…

“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends…” (I Corinthians 13:4-8b, ESV).

Happy Valentine’s Day

Go be a great educator and leader today… Our future needs it…

Remember… Think Leadership and Be For Others…

©2021 J Clay Norton

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Time to Detox Your Mind…

05 Friday Feb 2021

Posted by in Actions, Choice, coronavirus, COVID-19, Crisis, Detox, Future, Kindness, Leader, Leadership, Memories, Purpose, Thankful, Useful

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The other night, Heather asked me to order her some more “detox” herbal tea. We will detox our bodies to get the “bad” stuff out (and go major hungry at the same time) and cleanse for so many days. Why? So we can believe the labels that we will feel better and be healthier. After I placed the order, I started thinking about the detox idea and our bodies (I didn’t think long), which lead me to think about detox and our minds.

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But what about our minds? Do we ever detox them? Do you know what all we have stored up there? Yes, much of it is needed as a reservoir to glean from for the future. There are also many happy memory moments. But do you also know what we hang on to? (This is where I tell you, I am really good at this part. Not something I should probably be airing out anyway).

Nonetheless, it happens for all of us. More damaging than that is putting all the negatives that are happening in society in our minds. Now I believe we have to be well-versed on current topics to know what is happening, but if the negatives are all we dwell on, what chance do we have to emit positive leadership?

Think about this for just a moment… We are almost a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, our country is divided, some voices are shouted while others are muzzled, businesses are closed, school is Zoomed, events with little or no spectators, etc… Normal as we know it is not happening for the foreseeable future. TALK ABOUT NEGATIVE!

I guess I am just rambling… that’s what blogs are for anyway, right? Somehow, we have to detox and reset our thinking. If not for ourselves, then especially for others.

So, I figure here are a few things we can do to detox our minds… and yes, it will take a few days…

Hang out with “real” people.
Stay current on what’s happening in the world, but don’t read the threads…
Find something positive to read. By the way, if you are going to believe everything you read, start with the Bible. 
Be thankful about something.
As much as it causes distress when your favorite sports team does not win, it is not the end of the world.
Just be kind (see last week’s blog for this).

Nothing you have read today is a new or original thought. That’s the funny thing about writing a blog on leadership. Almost everything has already been said over time. The only “newness” comes from a different perspective or a twist on how something is presented. However, the problem lies in the fact that there is still “not good” leadership from many. Leadership conventions and seminars are still selling tickets. Books, papers, blogs are still being written. Surveys are still being conducted, and stats are studied to tell us what good leadership should look like.

So… why don’t we know, or why have we not figured it out yet? Your guess is as good as mine, but I will always believe it hinges on the idea of selfishness and what we put into our minds. We could all use a little detoxing; our minds and, I guess, our bodies too.

Go be a great educator and leader today… Our future needs it…

Remember… Think Leadership and Be For Others…

©2021 J Clay Norton

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Passion and the Why – Is it good or bad?

15 Friday Jan 2021

Posted by in Actions, Agenda, Attitude, Authentic, Character, Choice, Deciding, Decisions, Emotion, Know Your Why, Leader, Leadership, Motivation, Passion, Perception, Value

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In last week’s blog, I wrote on “Decision Making – Emotional or Factual?” One of the three areas where I believe decisions are made is with passion. A few people commented on it enough that I thought I would just use “passion” for our topic this week.

Going along with the title, is your “passion” for what you believe in good or bad? How you answer this, I know, is based on one’s perception and relativeness. However, I also know that putting perception and relativeness aside, your passion is defined by your values and even more by your core values. One of my great mentors at Mississippi College stated, “Values are what you believe in, core values are where you draw the line in the sand.”

A few friends emailed or stopped by to discuss “passion” as they see it regarding making decisions. Here are a few specific comments…

“To take positions we have to take for our clients, I must not only believe in the “rightness” of that position, but I need to have some passion for advancing that position… There are sometimes I do not believe in the “rightness” of what they wanted me to advance. The facts didn’t ‘geehaw’ with my core beliefs.”

“My experience is that some measure of passion for your positions on issues and core beliefs is necessary; otherwise, you come across as passive and lack genuineness.”

“It’s when passion is inappropriately expressed does it become detrimental. However, when you can exhibit passion properly (non-inflammatory), can passion help your cause.”

These are “spot on” with my belief as well on passion. Our passion has to be for the right thing. The “right thing” is where it gets fuzzy… I would say that the “right thing” depends on your “why”… the outcome you want (tangibles and intangibles), goals, motivation, attitude, etc… Is it for good or bad? Do you want revenge or to promote unity? Is your passion for selfish reasons, or is it being for others? Mostly, what is your agenda? I believe these are underlying thoughts as to what “fuels” our passion.

Upon a little digging… “The root of the word “passion” is found in the Latin word “passio.” From the late 1500’s “passio” began to take on the meaning of emotion and, in some cases, controlled emotion. And now we know why passion can help or hurt… it all depends on the “why” and if it is controlled.

Go be a great educator and leader today… Our future needs it…

Remember… Think Leadership and Be For Others…

©2021 J Clay Norton

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