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EQUIP: Because global needs need leaders
Posted by: | CommentsHello from Pebble Beach, California! There are certainly worse places to spend a week in October, but Pebble Beach is especially significant to me right now because of the EQUIP Leadership Summit and Golf Classic.
You may have seen that EQUIP is the non-profit organization that I founded over a decade ago. EQUIP specializes in the development of effective international Christian leaders. To see WHY, take a look at this video:
This week’s event is dedicated to sharing the vision of EQUIP and providing opportunities to partner with us in our mission, whether through a financial contribution or even a teaching role as an associate trainer.
Even if you aren’t with us in person, you can still learn more about EQUIP at their website, www.iequip.org. For up-to-date news on what EQUIP is doing around the world, you can “like” them on Facebook and/or follow them on Twitter.
My vision for EQUIP is that it be continually committed to developing leaders whose potential is great but opportunities for learning leadership have been limited. I am absolutely convinced that if Christian leaders around the world are trained, resourced, and encouraged, there is no limit to what can be accomplished in fulfilling the Great Commission!
Attitude is contagious – What are people catching from YOU?
Posted by: | CommentsSeveral things on a team are not contagious. Talent. Experience. Willingness to practice. But you can be sure of one thing: Attitude is catching. When someone on the team is teachable and his humility is rewarded by improvement, others are more likely to display similar characteristics. When a leader is upbeat in the face of discouraging circumstances, others admire that quality and want to be like her.… People have a tendency to adopt the attitudes of those they spend time with – to pick up on their mindset, beliefs, and approaches to challenges.
One of my mentors, Fred Smith, once told me there are two kinds of people in any organization: polluters and purifiers.
Polluters are like smokestacks, belching out dirty smoke all the time. They hate clear skies, and no matter how clear the air is, they can find a way to poison it with gloom. When the people around them “breathe” their toxins, they feel sicker and sicker.
Purifiers, on the other hand, make everything around them better. It doesn’t matter what kind of rotten atmosphere they encounter. They take in the toxic words of polluters in the organization just as everyone else does, but they filter the words before passing them on. What goes in may be gloomy and negative, but when it comes back out, it’s fresh and clear.
When you spend time with others, do they walk away feeling better or worse? Do you clear the air, giving them a fresh perspective and positive encouragement? Or do they go away feeling gloomy? Watch how people respond to you, and you’ll know which kind of person you are.
More on attitude and teamwork can be found in Today Matters, and The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork.
On success and stupidity for Feb 1
Posted by: | CommentsPlease forgive the email/feed notification that went out on January 27, 2010.
What you received was a very rough draft of a post – one which will be published in its finished form in the next 24 hours.
I hope this clears things up. And thank you for your understanding.
~Stephanie Wetzel
Connecting Always Requires Energy
Posted by: | CommentsChapter 4 Synopsis
Connecting Always Requires Energy
When I was working on my bachelor’s degree, I took a speech class. More than forty years later, I can truly say that learning how to speak to an audience has been foundational to my journey through life as well as to my growth as a speaker. It was in that class that I heard what my professor called the “Four Unpardonable Sins of a Communicator”: being unprepared, uncommitted, uninteresting, or uncomfortable.
Do you notice the common denominator for three out of four of those “sins”? It’s energy.
Think about the best communicators you know – public speakers, team leaders, and individuals. Make a mental list, then consider this: how many of them are low-energy people? I’d be willing to bet the answer is none. Even when people come across as fairly low key, they usually possess reserves of energy that are not evident on the surface. Why do I say that? Because connecting with other people doesn’t just happen on its own. If you want to connect with others, you must be intentional about it. And that always requires energy.
It doesn’t matter with whom or within what context you are trying to connect. It’s always the same: you need to bring energy to do it effectively. And to make the most of connecting opportunities, you must channel that energy strategically. There are specific things you can do to help foster connection – everything from taking initiative to knowing your audience to acting selflessly. Learning and practicing these strategies will improve your connection with anyone—with your spouse, at a social gathering, with coworkers or your boss, at a meeting, from a podium, or on stage in a stadium.
If you want to connect with others, but are hoping you can do so without being intentional, forget about it. Connecting always requires energy.
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Connectors Inspire People
Posted by: John C Maxwell | Comments (109)Chapter 9 Synopsis
Connectors Inspire People
When someone begins to communicate with others, the first thing listeners do is start asking questions at a subconscious level. They want to know what’s in it for them. They want to know if the speaker is credible. But they also care about how the person communicates with them.
As I have watched effective communicators inspire people, I have come to the conclusion that there is a kind of formula, which I call the Inspiration Equation, which comes into play. It works like this:
What They Know + What They See + What They Feel = Inspiration
Do people know that you care? That you understand them? Can they see that you are credible? That you live what you say? Can they feel your passion for your message and your confidence in yourself and them? When a communicator is able to bring all three factors into alignment, it creates a synergy that inspires people. And from that place of inspiration, you can often lead people to take action.
Norm Lawson tells the story of a rabbi and a soap maker who went for a walk together. The soap maker said, “What good is religion? Look at all the trouble and misery of the world! Still there, even after years—thousands of years—of teaching about goodness and truth and peace. Still there, after all the prayers and sermons and teachings. If religion is good and true, why should this be?”
The rabbi said nothing. They continued walking until he noticed a child playing in the gutter.
Then the rabbi said, “Look at that child. You say that soap makes people clean, but see the dirt on that youngster. Of what good is soap? With all the soap in the world, over all these years, the child is still filthy. I wonder how effective soap is, after all!”
The soap maker protested, “But, Rabbi, soap cannot do any good unless it is used!”
“Exactly,” replied the rabbi.
According to some scholars, there hasn’t always been such a divide between understanding and action. One linguist says that in up to twenty primitive languages, the words for “hearing” and “doing” are the same word. Only in our modern context have we divided them.
Actor Will Smith once said, “The way I like to measure greatness is: How many people do you affect? In your time on earth, how many people can you affect? How many people can you make want to be better? Or how many people can you inspire?” In the end, what good is our communication if its impact ends the moment we stop speaking? The true test of inspiration isn’t people’s applause; it’s their actions. That’s what makes a difference.
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