Category Archives: Authentic

Leadership “Wrapped Up”

15 Friday Dec 2017

Posted by in Actions, Authentic, Leader, Leadership, Servant

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It is what is in the box that matters…

christmas-Gift

Now, let’s consider the wrapping of your presents and equate it with leadership. With Christmas time upon us, many are wrapping packages and a lot of time and thought goes into it.

As I have considered this topic for writing, I thought about the breakdown of wrapping a present. It is funny to consider the unintentional intentional aspects of wrapping a present.

Let’s work backwards…

The Name Tag
Obviously, this is who receives the present. But notice how it is intentional. It is to someone specific. We know who the present is for, we just want to make sure everyone else does. Who is your leadership for?

The Bow or Ribbon
Have you ever thought about the nicer the present, the more beautiful the bow? We can put a store-bought bow on anything. It is generic. But when we start making our bows, we send a message about the value of the present and possibly the value of the person. Do we change our leadership depending on who it is for. Is it generic or intentional?

The Wrapping Paper
Same thought process as the bow or ribbon. We sometimes choose the wrapping paper depending on the present or the person.  Sometimes we wrap our presents all in the same paper.

The Box
Now, this is not hard to consider. We find a box the present fits in and go from there. However, there are sometimes we will use a box to try to deceive the present (now we are getting somewhere). It conceals what is inside.

The Present
The present is your leadership. It is what is inside the box that matters. Regardless of the box, paper, the bow or ribbon, or even the name tag, what is inside the box counts.

Everything on the outside does little to represent what is on the inside. With leadership, everyone gets “wrapped up” with what we show, and seldom for what it is inside. It is easy to get fixated on how our “leadership” should look. Many leaders do things to deceive or conceal what their leadership is. It is short-term, and eventually, the outside will tear up and be thrown away. The box will reveal what is inside.

Trying to “wrap up” your leadership to look like something it is not is awful. It is nothing more than a facade. It is just plain fake. It is easy to spot quality leadership, all you have to do is see the treatment of others. Does your leadership follow one path or does it change depending upon the circumstances?

Good leadership is not trying to be something you are not. We give our leadership away every day. It is a gift of ourselves to others. Just do not let it be “wrapped up” as something that it is not.

If your leadership is bad, it will go in the garbage just like that boxed fruitcake no one likes. There is no way to “wrap up” a fruitcake to make it any better than it is.

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Remember… THINK LEADERSHIP!

©2017 J Clay Norton

Follow me on Twitter at TheBookChamber

Subscribe via email to my blog at the top of the page.

Thanksgiving in Three Words

17 Friday Nov 2017

Posted by in Actions, Attitude, Authentic, Family, Freedom, Giving, Gratitude, Humility, Leader, Leadership, Servant

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“What if today, we were just grateful for everything?” – Charlie Brown

15-inspirational-thanksgiving-quotes-944818

Have you ever considered what “makes” Thanksgiving work? Not the “works” of turkey and dressing and the other fixings, but the “works” of our thoughts and why we are thankful. I am sure we have many ideas as to why we are thankful, and you can probably start the sentence off with “I am thankful because…”

If you are on twitter, you might follow @goodreads. It is a site for book lovers. Often, it will tweet out, “Describe the book you are currently reading in three words.” I find this interesting because I catch myself asking this with a lot of my general activities. Simple questions like this sometimes provide the most thought.

So, my statement for you today and next week is, “Describe your thoughts on Thanksgiving in three words.”

It would be interesting to know what each of you would say. I am very sure that there would be an overwhelming amount of the same words from person to person. The idea here is not to limit our thinking, but to be intentional about our thinking.

My three words for describing my thoughts on Thanksgiving are:

Authentic
I once heard someone say, “You can never separate who you are with what you say you believe in.” One reason I admire the Pilgrims is that they were a group that held firm to their beliefs of who they were. May we unapologetically do the same.

Generosity
Another saying I once heard was, “Your level of generosity is not determined by how much you give, but by how much you hold onto.” How often do we give of ourselves? While giving is not a natural born characteristic, we can learn how to give of ourselves and be generous. It takes time and most of all, effort.

Gratitude
Everyone has something to be thankful for, and only you know what those things are. Allow your gratitude to be intentional. Let it show as a helping example for others but not in a boastful manner.

This Thanksgiving, as you celebrate, take time to consider the statement, “Describe your thoughts on Thanksgiving in three words.” You might even decide to have this as a topic for conversation with friends and family at the table.

But most of all, make sure you take time to give thanks. By doing so, we bow before the Lord in our humility. Thankful that He is willing to save our souls as we look forward to an inheritance of eternal life which He has promised.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Remember… THINKLEADERSHIP

©2017 J Clay Norton

Follow me on Twitter at TheBookChamber

Subscribe via email to my blog at the top of the page.