Category Archives: Leadership

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Patience does not avoid hard work, it prepares for it

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• Schedule the things that will help you achieve your plan first
• Make a schedule and keep it

8/4/11 5:57AM (original writting)

Preparation is one of the pillars of patience because it is what to do in the interim. Preparation has many forms and differs from planning because now words take action. Use mental preparation to form pictures of success and what it looks like for your particular project. These mental sessions cause wonderful thoughts of glory that can sustain you in gaps between tangible results. Thinking will also give you opportunity to navigate around potential challenges. The path of patience chooses purposes that exceed its current comfort level. The problematic work is primarily in your belief system. Belief in a dream dictates effort towards that end. In the middle are challenging steps that give the end a smooth appearance. I often write terrific list that if accomplished would put me in the over achievers Hall of Fame. These list frequently fall victim to excuses and later I become angry at my apathy. To overcome this I force myself to perform the prepared list. Never once have I completed a list without extreme satisfaction. Hard things are not hard if you are prepared properly. Maybe better said, “The prepared mind does not perceive the difficult challenge.”

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You are standing on the shoulders of others

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• You are not the first to take this journey
• Your foundation and heritage are strong and sure
• Faith and patience are cumulative

Those that came before us built bridges from lack to abundance the foundation of which is forged with their physical and emotional souls. People in your own family that gave every ounce of energy to educate, shelter and propel you to the next level may not have had the level of free expression that you enjoy. You lean on those who promoted your goals and dreams above their own. Show gratitude to those pillars that have directly supported you by continuing to pursue your highest dreams. Some dreams need more reinforcement than others and lofty vision needs patient contractors. After the foundation has settled the contractor must test the strength of the concrete. Our concrete is made of people who had vision for a world free from hindrances to individual joy. All dreams and goals combine to benefit your heritage. The royalty of your culture expects you to represent with passion and regality. When your faith needs increasing look to past champions for inspiration. The Bible gives us some examples of those who through faith and patience inherited the promise but Abraham is one of my favorites because we can see evidence of God’s promise still working in present day Israel and all the riches bestowed on the seed of Ishmael. While gaining inspiration from faith champions and applying your current faith, no gap is too large to overcome. Slow your breathing consider well your task and exercise a patient mind because you are not alone.

Unite with faith and patience and unite with the world.

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The Prayer

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My prayer: God please order my steps in Your word.

His Answer: For I know the thoughts that I think towards you says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not evil, to give you an expected end. Jeremiah 29:11

God has good thoughts toward us. We have to aspire to change our minds to reach these thoughts. To change our mind we must change the things that we listen to daily. We must change the programs we watch. Enhance the people we are around. And finally, to change our thought pattern, we must change the things we read. So remember that there is always someone in your corner. This Someone is God and He desires peace and prosperity for as your end result.

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Forever Upgrade

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Daily we must tend to the affairs of our lives and it is imperative to choose the path that upgrades our status. If we constantly upgrade we receive affirmations as patience builds. The character of patience requires a series of upgrades to achieve success. The methodical process of reviewing options must be free of emotion. We should not become mechanical but, to employ mechanisms that root out decisions that down grade our life is vital. Decisions are best made with future considerations in mind. Only think on the past for points of reference not points of definition. Our future choices determine our destiny. Right decisions are not always easy choices. Have no fear with any move that shall propel you forward. The tough part is committing to meaningful change. Consider others then consider the mission. Your mission is to serve others by being true to yourself. It takes a lot of courage to lead yourself out to your promised land but courage has a partner in a series of upgraded decisions. Always forward ever upward.

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Bullets in your Gun

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I was playing Nerf Tag in the yard with my son and the competiton was fairly even. I was given the gun that has 20 shot capacity and he chose the gun that has an 18 shot capacity but also has extra clips. After the we shot all of our rounds he proceeded to load another clip. Since mine does not take clips I had to pick up mine off the ground. When we returned to the game I had only a few bullets and he had an entire clip. I figured that I was a sitting duck with his obvious advantage but as I began to fire he returned no Nerf darts. He was disappointed in the outcome so as we sat and reloaded and looked at his gun we determined that the darts were loaded incorrectly. And I told him that he needed to know his weapon and be sure he had bullets in his gun. This reminded me of a principle that I had written for the study series “21 Days of Patience” below is an excerpt of this principle.

Bullets in your gun
• Be prepared for all that you know is coming
• Load your memory with useful information
• Have all of the things in your control accomplished
• Stack the Deck

The saying “luck favors the prepared” is true but could be altered to “the prepared find favor”. Once you understand your goals in life, it is time to prepare for you mission which is filled with tests and trials. If your goal is some athletic endeavor  at least two areas for which you must ready your self, physical fitness and the technical training. There is no sense in saying, “I do not know how to get there”. Stack the deck in your favor by training. If your goal is to spend more quality time with your family then remove some of the hindrances television, cellular phones and show up with family friendly plans that do not involve massive amounts of money and energy from you. Anything new requires new information to load into the human computer. Nominal goals oblige you to obtain information so that the deck is stacked in your favor. I watch my son read and re-read the video game manual and then watch him dominate that realm. Whenever we get a new appliance or toy I try to read the manual in its entirety including the legal. This store of information comes in handy almost every time. The deck is now stacked in my favor because less operating stress is awesome, less break down is awesome and more of life looking the way it was planned is totally awesome.

The prepared find favor.

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The Golden Leader: Marty Scorsese

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I was reading an article in Fast Company the magazine about Martin Scorsese that was about his creative side and how he used it to inspire the world. As I read it dawned on me that he had extraordinary leadership skills. These skills could translate in to leaders in any arena. The first skill that was immediately evident was the question he asked before they got started taping.

Project your best image
The question he asked the interviewer was, “Do I look like Quasimodo? Am I sitting too far down in the chair?” Not only did he consider his dress, which was his classic black blazer and slacks with his immaculately pressed crisp dress shirt on which he never buttons the top button to add a hint of flamboyance to his all business demeanor but he considered how he sat. I noticed this in his photo shoot and I noticed it his acceptance speech at the Golden Globe Awards. From now on decide the image you desire to project and work hard to enhance it.

Never let money dictate your passion
The article mentions films that Scorsese did that were well-funded and did not perform well at the box office and others that were sparsely funded and that he had a wonderful time making. Money greases the wheels but creativity and passion are the wheels and the engine so do not let the money or those who possess it control your passion. Part of the article deals with Scorsese’s unwillingness to deal with the Hollywood executives versus his need to support his family a balancing act all people who call themselves creative must rationalize in their own mind. In the end the right balance leads to freedom.

Leaders drive the bus
The article opened my eyes to just how many different parts and team members were involved in creating a film but it also highlighted the importance of the director’s vision being the driving force. He commented on how his team directed him to the perfect location in one film, though still driving he made the suggested turn. And then there is the length of his films which on average is 2 hours on which he generally stays the course even when the team is screaming – turn now. He said “But sometimes something needs time to work on a viewer.” Leaders must realize this same fact with their vision and stay patient and be the standard bearer for their organization.

Be relentless for your creative vision
A major part of why Martin Scorsese is considered great in his profession is that he understands the spiritual side of the battle.

He said “there is an essence to the project that you must protect. You cannot make concessions on that, the story cannot be tampered with past that point; you have to fight off every power or force around you.”

He understands that is not the people that he is fighting, but a spirit of apathy, commercialism and lack of imagination. These are areas that every leader has to war against. They show their ugly heads in a myriad of places and people. When you know your core values and vision do not allow them to be tampered with by anyone. Go be relentlessly creative.

Here’s the link. http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/161/martin-scorsese

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Do you like what is in the mirror?

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• Looking at yourself meticulously takes a calm spirit so that you do not get overwhelmed
• Improvements are easy if you are honest about the image in the mirror
• As long as you are alive you can change

The mirror is a terrific place for growth and analysis. Take an honest look at your habits and actions to determine what areas need work. Once the areas of improvement are identified then you must be methodical in improving or upgrading them. While it is terrific to discover challenges it is easy to become overwhelmed with how to fix them or even if they can be fixed. First calm your spirit and lay out a short term plan that gets the ball rolling. Some steps that you take to improve your organizations may not have immediately visible results. It is still okay to look in the mirror because now you have an expectancy of change. Hope coupled with the work necessary increases faith. As long as you are alive, you can change. Old ways, old habits or even current organizational cultures do not hamper future appearances. Take the vital steps to morph into the picture of success. The Patient one welcomes true analysis and uses the findings for the good of all.

What do you see in your mirror?

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Drive past your problems

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There are some levels you will not get to if you do not use your passing gear.
Queen Janetta

When traveling on the road of life there are many people who use the expression, “I am just holding it in the road.” This means that they are ignoring distractions and doing their part to operate efficiently. In this mode they will not get noticed for doing bad but they also will not get noticed for doing good. They will achieve their goal which is to get go around in circles without getting noticed. For all achievers this is a dangerous attitude that opens the door for apathy. If we are driving a car on the Freeway of Life then at some point to get around the bad drivers or large vehicles slowing the process for everyone then we need to step on the gas and make it around these obstacles. One of my vehicles does not have an extra gear for this purpose and the other has one that is superior. This just shows me if I am truly interested in competing at the next level I should choose the right equipment. So map your strategy, step on the gas and get back on the open road.

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Big Results in small steps

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Confidence can be added through small successful steps. Progress of any kind extends your patience. All marathons began with one step forward. Some dreams are lofty but with a good plan and a lot of small steps you can reach the apex. Humans constantly search for the fast immediate cure to appear but leave off the fact that most significant contributions need lots of patient processes. Beauty in the journey becomes evident when you pay attention to the details. Details like going to obscure gatherings that will educate you on how to perfect your craft. Details shore up cracks in your thinking that could side track momentum. It takes a calm mind to enjoy the miniscule thoughts and pleasures knowing that all things benefit greater goals. One solid way to add confidence is to improve responses to nagging issues. Your response determines your character. Daily monitor physical and oral responses because these are little actions that promote big feelings. Change habits to mimic who you want to become. If your desires are royal then your habits should reflect this. There are no vacations from improvements. Once a goal or dream is achieved immediate recalculation is necessary. Slipping back into old habits or thought processes can make victories fleeting. Enjoy the progress and add more expectations. There is no limit, one step at a time.

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Stay focused for Breakthrough

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When a hungry lion is on the plain it has one goal, to eat. The lion can not be distracted by the cubs (kids) crying because the cries are primarily hunger pains. If there is no suitable food in the territory it must travel outside its area. Once he identifies the desired target he must study and stalk it until an opportunity arises. Sometimes the prey is illusive. At times very defensive. Unaffected, the lion continues to pursue. If it is not successful, does he give up? No, he sleeps hungry and wakes again to pursue his goal.

Constant focused pressure will produce breakthrough.

We all possess enough resources and fortitude to accomplish our goals. The relentless person continues until the goal is accomplished. Relentless punctuates the Patience to Dominate because patience is the path and domination the victory.

What breakthrough will you relentlessly pursue?