LEADERSHIP QUOTE:

"Data is like garbage. You'd better know what you are going to do with it before you collect it." Mark Twain*

A LITTLE BIT DEEPER:

As we look at the idea of IMPACT this month, the truth of this quote was good for me to process.

We're not sure if Twain actually said this, but he's been credited with saying it in a number of places.

Last week I talked about the idea that "Measurement is Important!" I also talked about some of the reasons why we might not want to measure things. See HERE for last weeks post.

This thought from Twain is simply telling us to not measure things just because we're supposed to, but only measure things that we have a plan to use the information for.

Early in my pastoral career, I had a boss who asked me to complete a weekly report. Every Friday I had to share what I had accomplished that week, talk about the work I had done, and basically give a full account of my week. I hated doing this report for a couple of reasons:

First, it took a lot of time. By Friday I was usually wiped out from a full week, and many times I had things planned for the weekend, so this meant I had to stop my "real work" and create this report every Friday. It was a disruption.

Second, this was before the digital age. I wasn't tracking everything I was doing, so I had to work hard to remember all that I did. The life of a youth pastor changed every day, so it was a challenge to just track everything.

And lastly, I didn't believe that he was actually reading the report. He was having me do it for some sense of "self accountability" and I learned quickly that he wasn't reading it when I would slip in some things that were just ludicrous like, "Tuesday I slept in until noon and took a shower" or "I didn't do anything today". I would slide these in from time to time and never once did he ask me about it.

Over time my report kept getting shorter and shorter, then one Friday I decided I just wasn't going to do it and he never asked me about it again.

For probably 2 years I had taken time every week to complete a report that I then learned was never read, wasn't important, and when I stopped doing it, no one cared! What a waste of energy.

Years later, as I was learning to lead others who worked for me, from time to time I would create some kind of report or activity form for them to complete and then I often caught myself.

I was doing this because I thought this is how you lead others and help them with accountability.

I've learned the power of a simple conversation with pointed questions, the opportunity to share stories and building trust goes so much further!

Have you ever been stuck tracking activity that wasn't important?

LEADERSHIP QUOTE:

"If you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it." Lord Kelvin

A LITTLE BIT DEEPER:

Thanks for indulging me last month on the Rocky Journey. I'm looking forward to seeing the "I Play Rocky" Movie that comes out this week!

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I wanted to explore an idea around IMPACT over the next few weeks, so I'm starting that with this simple quote from Lord Kelvin that lays a foundation to our conversation.

This quote and idea has been attributed to a number of people, but what I found is that it all circles back to Lord Kelvins statement that many have just adopted.

Sometimes it's said...

"If you DON'T measure it, you CAN'T improve it"

"You can't IMPROVE what you do not MEASURE"

"If you can't measure it you can't CHANGE IT."

"If you can't measure it, you can't MANAGE IT."

All are basically saying some version of the same thing, and the takeaway is this:

We have to MEASURE what's IMPORTANT,

and this is often our IMPACT.

Looking back on my life and leadership, there have been times that I've been laser-focused on defining our organizations desired impact and driving everything towards that. There has also been times that my approach has been, "I just want to keep doing MORE GOOD" and don't need to measure that or even define it.

There's nothing wrong with doing MORE or doing GOOD, but for me I've found this lack of focus allows me to settle for mediocre results and undefined goals.

What does this idea stir in you?

Are you struggling to define "measurable impact" through your leadership or your organization?

What have you learned about this that helps you define it and evaluate it along the way?

What's ONE Impact Measure you've adopted and revisit regularly?

LEADERSHIP QUOTE:

"Every champion was once a contender who refused to give up." Rocky Balboa

A LITTLE BIT DEEPER:

OK, this is the final quote and thought from Sylvester Stallone. Next month I want to talk about IMPACT and I'll share some great quotes that will get you thinking.

Today though we'll finish with this final thought from "Rocky Balboa", and it circles back to the core of the Rocky franchise: Never Give Up!

I think that's the message that I first experienced when I watched Rocky, it's the idea of Rocky doing something that everyone else said was impossible, and he just refused to believe that, instead, he kept working towards the impossible until he was able to achieve it. He just wanted to go the distance.

"Yo Adrian, I did it!"

That's the cry of success.

This quote reminds us that we will never have a chance of succeeding if we don't try.

I remember the day I decided to "run for office" to be the Student Body President my senior year of high school. I had always wondered what that would be like, to go through a campaign, an election, and then serve as a representative.

I signed up on a whim, told my parents about it, forgot to mention it to my friends, and off I went, creating a campaign based on some promise I can't even remember.

I don't remember the other 2 people I was running against, but I don't remember being afraid of losing. If I had lost, I would have just found something else to do, so it wasn't fear that kept me from jumping in, it was the honest belief that I could make a difference.

I jumped into the campaign, and I won.

And honestly, I learned a lot about leadership that year from those in office with me and from our staff advisor, Randy. It was a great experience and I felt that we did some good, so I ran again in college and again, had a great experience.

Watching the election campaign process here in the U.S. right now is crazy, and I often wonder what would compel someone to dive into a public race and have it thrown all over the world to see. I hope it's that same idea that they can make a difference someplace!

I'm glad I took the risk and ran for office. I'm sure there are other opportunities that I missed along the way for a variety of reasons.

What's something you jumped in to do, maybe against some great odds? How did that turn out for you?