A YEAR AGO TODAY…A MENTOR OF MINE CHANGED HIS ADDRESS FROM EARTH TO HEAVEN…HERE’S A REPOST OF WHAT I WROTE THAT DAY 10/11/12:
Today, our world lost an authentic down-to-earth saint. Not a saint in some formal religious way, but an everyday kind of saint. He was a dad, a grandpa, a great grandpa, a faithful husband of 60+ years, a pastor for 58 years, a friend of thousands, a spiritual mentor to hundreds and a ministry partner of mine for nearly 27 years. I will miss him!!!
There’s way too much to say about Tony Hostetler in this short space, but here’s what came to mind as I touched his still-warm 89 year-old hands this afternoon–just a few minutes after he took his last breath. This is a man who lived a fruit full life. A scripture in the Bible came to my mind.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.” (Galatians 5:22-23 NIV)
Pastor Tony consistently, every day, in every situation, exemplified these fruit in his life. I’ve watched him respond to every imaginable situation throughout multiple decades of ministry partnership. His life was full of the fruit of the Holy Spirit. And that is why Facebook is about to crash right now due to the hundreds of online comments and wall posts about how Tony impacted their lives. His faith was full of fruit — Spirit fruit.
Here’s just a few things Tony taught me about how to live so I can be remembered as a saint:
- Love God and Love People with all your heart, soul, mind and strength
- Live every day with gratitude
- Fill your mind and your mouth with God’s Word
- Have a short memory when it comes to the sins of others
- Brag on others much more than you brag on yourself
- Do what ever you do with all your might
- You are never too old to try something new
- Smile and hug often
- Believe that with God, all things are possible
I will miss Tony as a spiritual mentor, a faithful friend and a priceless ministry partner. See you later Pastor Tony!
QUESTION: What is the the most important thing you want to be remembered for? Add your comment below.
Dan Black writes in his newly released book, The Leadership Mandate, “The foundation for positive influence is based on your ability to successfully lead and manage yourself.” I agree. I completely agree. The greatest leadership challenge I have is self-leadership. To lead oneself with excellence, is the prerequisite for all great leadership.
Dan Black ranks self-leadership as number one of the 10 essential elements of leadership. His point is that if we can’t master the first one, then the other nine are nearly impossible. Leading self is foundational to all leadership.
I’ve watched way too many leaders try to lead others and try to lead an organization while doing a rather poor job of leading themselves. Their influence never rises to the level of its highest potential. Here’s the deal, most people look at how we lead our own lives before they choose to follow us. They watch our attitude, our actions and our results before they gain the confidence we can lead them toward a better future.
In my own leadership journey, I’ve found Blacks’ observations to hit the bulls eye. In his new book, he talks about these five foundational elements for leading self:
Know yourself–This is about knowing who you are and how you have been created. Everyone has a God-designed uniquely-shaped purpose. Discover it. Live it. Find your significance in it.
Follow your core–This is about being a person of character and integrity. Authenticity is all about integration of the inner being and the outward behavior. Reputation is all about working on the external so you can impress others. Character is about allowing God to work on the inside so you become the person He intended you to be.
Take care of yourself—This is about placing a priority on your overall well-being. Body, soul, mind and spirit are all equally a part of who God created us to become. We are stewards of what He has entrusted to us. Care well for each dimension of His creation.
Maintain a right attitude—This is about choosing to always have a positive attitude. It starts with attitude. Everything tends to rise on fall on attitude. Be aware of your own as much as you are aware of the attitude of others.
Live a balanced life—This is about living a sustainable life. A quick burst and then a flame out doesn’t do anyone much good. Leadership is mostly a series of sprints that total the length of a marathon. As I wrote recently: Divert daily. Withdraw weekly. Abandon annually.
Yes. Absolutely. Your greatest influence as a leader will begin when you manage and lead yourself well. Determine to lead yourself well today for greater leadership impact tomorrow.
QUESTION: What would you add that has helped you to lead yourself well? Please share it below.
It’s a year ago today that I launched this blog to inspire transformissional living in others! I’m humbled and blessed because you’ve shared how my writing has inspired and kept you on mission. I’m encouraged by the wide age-range of you who read it and find it helpful. I’m thrilled that you have varying faith backgrounds and each of you find it helpful and encouraging while looking through your own unique lens. I’m grateful and highly honored every time you take the time to share the blog and individual postings on your social media sites. I’m inspired every time you engage with the topic and share your comments. I learn from you and your experiences. Thank you for a wonderfully successful first year!!!
I reviewed the stats and found the top 5 most frequently viewed posts since October 1, 2012. Here they are:
- Visible But Overlooked
- Valentine’s Day
- Fruit Full Faith
- What Makes Your Heart Sing?
- Most Admired Leadership Qualities
And, as usual, I like to compile the monthly stats to determine the top five most read posts. As you will see, the first and fifth in the list are the same for the month and for the year.
Here are the top five for September 2013:
- Visible But Overlooked
- Harder Than It Looks
- Crossing Guard Inspiration
- It’s Not About You
- Most Admired Leadership Qualities
Thanks again for your support and I look forward to another year of conversation and dialogue as I carry out my mission of inspiring transformissional living in all whom I encounter in life. God bless you!
QUESTION: What post impacted you the most over the last year? Please share it below.
One of the things I love to instill in young developing leaders is the dance of finding good balance in life. Just as every style of physical dancing takes astonishing balance, likewise balance is critical in the dance of work and rest, confrontation and compassion, career and family, pushing forward and patiently waiting, faith and reason, law and grace and many more tension points we encounter nearly every day.
Balance is one of 7 defining characteristics I recently identified for admired leaders. In my nearly 35 years of leadership experience, I’ve watched too many leaders and wanna-be leaders crash and burn because something in their life got out of balance. Sometimes it’s related to schedule. Other times it is an issue of planning or priorities. Bottom line, it’s a dance. Imbalance will cause you to hit the floor.
Here’s a couple things I’ve been learning about balance:
Plan Down-time into Your Schedule – Nearly three decades ago I heard Rick Warren say, “Divert Daily, Withdraw Weekly, Abandon Annually.” Our bodies, minds and spirits were not designed to go full speed, 24/7/365. For sustainability, we need diversions, we need breaks, and we need rest, retreats, respite and renewal. I was fortunate to have a father who insisted that Sunday was a day of physical rest and spiritual renewal. He refused to allow harvesting to continue on the farm even if rain was forecast for Monday. We went to church and enjoyed food and fellowship with friends and family.
When my wife and I were newly-married college students, we planned for Sunday to be a break from studying. If we had a test or a paper due on Monday, we planned our schedules to finish preparations on Saturday or to get up very early on Monday morning. Those planned disengagements from our studies in our early years served us well. We developed patterns in our lives that helped us over the last several decades as church-planters who had to be very intentional about discontinuing the endless work each day, taking a day off each week and going away on vacation every year.
Keep the Priceless Elevated Above the Worthwhile – There are a lot of things in life that are worthwhile. You can spend your entire energy and time on those worthwhile things—jobs, careers, toys, success, retirement accounts and more. Nothing wrong with worthwhile efforts. Success and planning for the future is good. But some things are priceless. Money can’t buy them. Hard work won’t replace them.
What are those priceless things for you? Your relationship with your spouse, your children, your grandchildren, your friends? What about your health? Your legacy? Your reputation? Your integrity? Have you clearly identified the priceless things in your life? I know way too many leaders who have sacrificed the priceless for the worthwhile. Now they live in regret, shame and disappointment.
Balance in life is a delicate dance. Trying to work harder to gather more for yourself or to give more to your family isn’t necessarily what you or they need. You might even be collecting or distributing worthwhile stuff but even the worthwhile can never replace the priceless. What priceless thing will you intentionally invest in and treasure today?
QUESTION: What would you add to the list of priceless things? Please share it below.
Leadership isn’t for the faint-hearted. It will test what you are made of. It can look easy when someone else is doing it, but leadership requires perseverance, tenacity, determination and grit. Every successful leader has faced obstacles, challenges and storms. Every leader who has started something or grown something has discovered it is harder and takes longer than they expected.
In a recent post on the most admired qualities of leadership in today’s world, persistence was one of the top seven. When you launch a business, an organization or a church (as I have done), there are frequent challenges and obstacles—anticipated and unanticipated. The leader who is successfully standing years later, is one who demonstrates persistence and perseverance.
Arial view of Cape Christian Fellowship’s 14 acre campus of 48 assembled properties in middle left.
When I started Cape Christian Fellowship, we felt drawn to buy land on the growing edge of the city along a four-lane road near the intersection of a future proposed cross-town highway. The challenge: no large parcels of land for a future church campus. The plan: assemble three city blocks of vacant residential properties owned by 48 individuals scattered across the world.
I thought it might take 4-5 years to assemble these four dozen properties. Some thought it could never be accomplished. Many reminded me that if one landowner in the middle held out and refused to sell, the city would not be able to vacate the streets and right-aways that ran through these three city blocks. And then, the whole property wouldn’t be available as one contiguous 14 acre parcel. While it took nearly 10 years to accomplish, the land purchase was completed.
Here are four things I learned about being persistent:
Know the Why – It’s so important to know why you are doing what you are doing. If you can’t answer the why, you will get sidelined by the what. Obstacles, storms and challenges can cause you to lose focus on the why. You must not forget the why.
Communicate the Vision Often – As a leader you may have the vision clearly in your mind but it won’t stay clear in the minds of those you are leading. Vision leaks. Vision fades. Keep painting the big picture of the preferred future so people remember the why and the plan to get where you are going.
Celebrate the Progress – We used an old-school hand-drawn map of the three city blocks with each of the 48 properties outlined as a visible reminder of what we were doing. One by one, we publicly shaded in each purchased property to give our people a vision of the progress we were making. We celebrated each and every incremental victory on the way to the big goal. It helped us persevere for nearly a decade until we finished the project.
Never Give Up – In the words of a famous seven-word speech by Winston Churchill, “Never, ever ever ever ever give up.”
Leaders know how to stick with it through thick and thin. Yes, it is often harder than it looks, but perseverance, tenacity, determination and grit become clearly visible and obvious in a microwave, fast-food, easy-come easy-go, undisciplined culture.
QUESTION: What else have I missed that helps you persist? Please share it below. Thanks!
That’s a risky title. You may stop reading. None of us want to hear those words. We are born with this bent—it’s all about us. We want to be king or queen of the castle. In Jim Collins book, How the Mighty Fall, his research shows that the first stage of decline in great companies is, “hubris born of success.”
Collins reminds leaders that becoming arrogant regarding success, ultimately leads to entitlement, succeeded by an overestimation of one’s own merit and capabilities—and then the stage is set for the unraveling of a leader or an organization. What we are talking about in very simple words, lack of humility.
One of the seven characteristics of the Most Admired Leadership Qualities is humility. It’s not about you. I know how difficult it is to remember this truth when you are the leader of an organization where every measurement graph is going up and to the right. As upside down as it may seem, humility is the key to developing and continuing success.
It’s hard to define what humility looks like. It’s a wee bit awkward to brag about having it. However, most of us quickly know what the lack of humility looks like. So let’s not waste time defining or describing humility but let me share some ways I’m learning to hang on to it.
HERE ARE MY TOP FIVE:
View Success Correctly—As soon as success becomes something you deserve, you have bought into entitlement and arrogance. When we keep in mind that success is fleeting, it’s sometime fortuitous and just plain providential; we are in a better position to stay humble. I intentionally thank God regularly that He has given me the gifting, the environment, the people, the wisdom, the courage and the discernment to make the right decisions in the right time—which has resulted in success.
Own Your Mistakes—One of the first signs that humility is going down the tubes is the insistence on being right. You may have made a hundred great decisions in a row but that doesn’t mean you are exempt from making a bad one. Own it. Acknowledge it. Apologize. Seek forgiveness if it was against others.
Continue to Value Others—People will value your leadership in proportion to the value you demonstrate for those who follow you. When others below you in your org chart feel devalued, there’s a lack of humility. When others leave your presence, do they feel inspired and more valuable or depleted and of less value?
Remember the Why—When you start focusing on the reason of your success being about the things you do or produce, you will lose understanding and insight. And, you can easily forget the why of the specific things you do. When you forget the why, people quickly become expendable commodities. Humility gets lost in that environment.
Leaders are Still Learners—Most success happens through learning a bundle from others. You become an expert in your specialty. Watch out if you lose your inquisitiveness and learning orientation. When you “know it all,” that’s the opposite of humility. Great leaders remain as great learners!
QUESTION: What have missed? I would love to hear from you!
In 1882, a machinist and secretary of the Central Labor Union, Matthew Maguire, proposed a holiday to celebrate the economic and social contributions of workers. My home state of Oregon, was the first to make it a holiday on February 21, 1887. By the time it became a federal holiday, 30 states had already officially celebrated Labor Day. President Grover Cleveland signed the bill to make Labor Day a national holiday in 1894.
Labor Day has become the symbolic end of summer (except in Southwest Florida where I live). And in some communities, the week after Labor Day is still the first week of the new school year. Street parades, picnics, political rallies, retail mark-down sales, an end-of-summer camping trip, sports events and festivals are common activities for Labor Day weekend.
While work and labor is celebrated on one specific day of the year in our nation, I hope that isn’t the only day we pause to value the social and economic contribution of others and ourselves. We humans are designed to create, produce, fashion, craft, form, construct, invent, make, manufacture, fabricate and generate. God intended that we find pleasure and significance in our work.
For some, their work defines them. Especially men. If you ask a man in our North American culture about who they are, they will often define themselves by their work or their career. Most women will tend to define themselves more quickly by their role—a mom, a wife and then maybe their career. The problem comes when we retire from a career or lose a job for some reason. We can loose our sense of identity, value and self-worth. And, that’s very unhealthy.
While our work and chosen career shouldn’t define us and give us our primary sense of worth, by intention, labor is meant to bring satisfaction to the soul and mind. There’s an old adage that says, “If you love what you do, you don’t work a day of your life.” That’s true. It’s absolutely true. I know from experience. And the best way to describe hard work when you love it is, Heart Work. That’s it. It’s work that comes from the heart. You love it so much you would do it for free if you could find another way to pay your bills.
So, on this Labor Day, think about your life, especially your work. Ask your self some questions. Is your profession, your work or your career, your chief identity or is it your sense of calling and one of several ways you find fulfillment? Do you love your work in a way that you can’t believe someone would pay you for having this kind of fun and fulfillment or is something you just endure to pay the bills? You can do something practical or you can do something that makes your heart sing. What kind of work makes your heart sing? What deliberate determinations and decisions do you need to make today to make sure your work is “heart work” and truly a celebration that makes your heart sing.
QUESTION: What is it about your work that makes your heart sing? Please share it below. Thanks!
When I write a blog post, sometimes I think it’s a real winner. Sometimes it is. Other times, not so much. And then, there are times I’ve written something that I think really needs to be said but I don’t necessarily think it will be all that popular. I’m occasionally surprised at what makes it’s way to the top! Here’s the top posts for August 2013 according to my internal statistics counter! Enjoy!
Top 5 for August:
1. Most Admired Leadership Qualities — While reflecting on over three decades of leadership, this post highlights the seven top characteristics that I believe are admired by younger leaders today.
2. From the Bottom Up — This post features Cape Coral Police Chief Jay Murphy as an example of a servant leader.
3. The Key in Your Pocket — A numb-brained mistake on my part led to this important lesson learned.
4. Visible But Overlooked — This post consistently places in the top 5 month after month because it deals with a very important part of communication that is often overlooked.
5. When No One’s Looking — Here’s a post about integrity and a recent experience at a rental car business.
This month one of my blog readers in the northeast United States sent me a private Facebook message asking if she would be able to share some of my blog posts at her staff meeting with her co-workers. Absolutely! Sure! Of course! It’s always an honor when I can add value to the lives of people I know and those I’ve never met. I love to inspire transformissional living in others!
So, I’d love for you share this blog or a specific post with any of your friends who might benefit! You may use the social media or email buttons at either the top or the bottom of each post! Or use the Share the Blog section on the right side of the Home page. Thanks so much for going with me on the journey toward transformissional living!
QUESTION: Which one of these top five blogs was your favorite? I’d love to hear in the comment section below.
Growing up, my dad always said, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.” My Hebrew professor in seminary would joke, “Where’s there’s a will, there’s an anxious relative.” My father was trying to instill in me the characteristic of innovation. He had another saying that would make an animal-loving PETA member faint, “There’s more than one way to skin a cat.” Seriously, I never saw my dad come even close to skinning one of our many farm cats. But, he wasn’t afraid to be the first farmer in the area to try a new crop or a state-of-the-art piece of equipment.
In my recent “Most Admired Qualities of a Leader” post, I listed innovative as one of the top seven characteristics needed in a good leader. Leaders find new ways to do things. They don’t settle for status quo. If one way doesn’t work, leaders figure out another way. They lead people to do things better than they’ve been previously done.
Innovation is different than invention or improvement. Invention is more about creating an idea, a method or a product. Improvement is pretty much just doing the same thing better than before. Innovation is the application of new solutions or doing something different when confronted with an obstacle, a problem or a challenge. There’s a familiar saying that defines insanity as “doing the same thing over and over but expecting different results.” I’ve watched a lot of people trying to be leaders by just doing the same things they’ve always done but they just try harder and more persistently.
I remember when I moved to Cape Coral, FL over 27 years ago to start Cape Christian. A pastor in another city asked me if I was going to start the church by going door-to-door inviting people to attend the church. He told me that’s what he did in a city up north. I asked him if he had any results. He said, “No, not really.” I asked him how many doors had he knocked on. He said 3,000. So my next question was, “What are you going to try next?” He told me, “I’m going to knock on 10,000 doors.”
Innovation is looking for creative ways to problem solve. If you aren’t seeing positive results with your current approach to reaching customers or managing employees, doing more of the same won’t change a thing. In business and economics, innovation is the catalyst to growth. In today’s fast-paced world, leaders who insist on doing what they’ve always done will get left far behind.
Where’s there a will…there’s a way. Here’s what I’ve been learning. Innovation requires:
Teamwork—When you gather other smart people around you and set your mind to figuring out new solutions to old problems, I’ve discovered there are usually fresh ways to do things that weren’t even on your radar before. And by the way, the lower level people in your organizational structure may hold some of the most creative keys to fresh ideas.
Risk—Innovation always means risk and risk always means a new idea might fail. Innovative leaders create a culture of risk and an expectation that failure is a normal part of success.
Discontent—An innovative leader encourages discontent with business as usual. Most leading-edge innovations come out of dissatisfaction with the status quo and a relentless passion toward breaking new ground.
What are the next steps you need to take to be more innovative? Are there any obstacles in the way? If so, what’s one step you can take today to find an innovative solution?
QUESTION: What would you add as a requirement to being innovative? Please share it below.
A top characteristic of admired leaders is their vision. A visionary is able to see beyond the busy mundane activities of today. A visionary can paint a picture of the future that will create interest and passion in others. Visionary leaders make people discontent with where they currently are so they will be willing to take risks and endure challenges to get to where they could be.
For nearly four decades now, I’ve had a picture in my mind of a church that welcomed and embraced people who didn’t know much of anything about God, the Bible or faith. I envisioned a place where children and teens urged their parents to take them to church. I saw an environment where families could be strengthened in their relationship with God and each other. Twenty-eight years ago this month, I announced to the congregation I was pastoring in Elmira, NY that I was going to resign by the end of 1985 so I could finally follow that vision. So we moved to Cape Coral, FL to start a new church in May 1986. I didn’t want to go to the grave with untried visions dying inside.
Twenty-seven years later, I can report every significant vision that God births will put your courage to the test. I’m grateful to be watching the vision unfold before my eyes. It hasn’t been without a price—but worth it all.
Here are a few things I’ve learned about vision:
Vision Inspires – People will follow you if you can paint a picture of a preferred future. I have some who are still with me all these years because they were able to see the picture I painted nearly three decades ago. I’m awed by how a significant vision inspires people to take incredible risks and to heavily invest their time, talent and treasure to assure its success.
Vision Leaks – Vision casting needs to take place regularly. Followers forget. Daily life distracts. The preference for security sucks us back toward the comfort zone. The big picture needs to be repainted over and over again. It fades over time.
Vision Costs – The truth is, if you knew your vision would succeed you would drop everything and pursue it. But since there is no guarantee, one thing is needed. Basic bravery. Old-fashioned courage. I can testify that fulfilling a vision isn’t without a heavy price. There are plenty of people who want you to take the easy and safer road. Some want you to adapt your vision to fit theirs. Staying with my vision has cost me dear friends who weren’t willing to pay the price. Vision isn’t cheap—but well worth every sacrifice.
In a recent speech at the Global Leadership Summit, Bill Hybels said, “Visions are holy commodities. They come from a transcendent God. Treat them with utmost respect.” And he concluded, “Some of the most rewarding experiences in a leader’s marathon are reserved for quite late in the race.” Is there anything keeping you from living out the preferred future pictured in your mind?
QUESTION: What would you add about vision from your learnings? I’d love to learn from you! Share it below.
