It's Tuesday at 2:00pm! (PST Time: I live and work from Southern California)
Greetings to you!
Each week I send out a short leadership blog that's called "Tuesday at 2:00pm". The purpose of this is simply to provide a brief thought on leadership that you can read and think about in just a few minutes. I send it out every week at 2:00pm (PST) and encourage you to make an appointment with yourself to pause and think about the thing I'm writing about.
Russ...
LEADERSHIP QUOTE:
"But here is what the skilled gatherer must know: in trying not to offend, you fail to protect the gathering itself and the people in it." Priya Parker
What does this stir up? Either write me HERE or comment at the end of the blog post HERE.
A LITTLE BIT DEEPER:
This month, I'm going to dive into a few quotes from Priya Parker, the author of the book, The Art of Gathering. I've been talking about this book for the past few months, and I thought I'd choose a couple of her quotes on the importance of gathering together just to encourage you to explore the book more deeply.
To read past quotes & thoughts.... CLICK HERE.
OK, 2 more quotes from this book, then we'll move on in December. However, there is still much for you to uncover in this book, so please read it! I'd love to hear from you about some of the other things that popped for you.
This quote above kind of "stopped me in my tracks" when I read it. I began thinking about so many times I compromised with a gathering instead of protected it.
I was running a leadership event years ago and a friend suggested that we bring some people in to do interviews of the people that were participating. While this isn't a bad idea, I realized pretty quickly that I had compromised some what what I was hoping for in terms of culture, safety and community.
The event was good, people connected, but it was laced with distraction, with noise and with confusion. People didn't know who was a part of the Community and who was invited to interview people. People who were interviewing thought they had a seat at the table for discussion, but they didn't understand the context of what the gathering was all about.
It was a mess!
However, in the midst of the mess, God still went to work. Lives were impacted and a Community was born, but I remember thinking about this at the end of the event and committing to myself to "do better" and to "fight for the Community I was hoping to build".
That experience set a tone that I've been able to curate and develop to drive intentionality into this Community, but also into many different gatherings I've hosted.
Sometimes I have to make the mistake to actually learn from it, which is why this quote jumped out at me. That line:
"In trying not to offend, you fail to protect the
gathering itself and the people in it."
My job is to PROTECT THE PURPOSE OF A GATHERING. We've learned that this is one of the most important things about a gathering, and as the leader, I might need to offend someone by saying NO. And that's OK.
Have you ever failed to "protect a gathering" by allowing something to happen that you knew went against the purpose? How did it make you feel?
DEEPER STILL:
When I read the quote again, I think it might be easy to fall into "protection mode" and avoid the "risk mode". I think there's a difference.
Protecting doesn't mean avoiding risk. Risk often comes into our gatherings and risk is what pushes it to another level.
The calculation with risk is simply that the risk will drive people TOWARDS your purpose, not pull people away from it.
At the same gathering I talked about above, I took a risk. Some friends recommended their pastor speak at my event. In all my days I have never invited someone to speak that I didn't know or hadn't heard myself, yet for some reason, I was feeling a tug to have Tim speak to our group for the closing session.
Tim showed up, and I wondered why I had said yes, and was thinking that once again Russ, you compromised on your purpose, however there was something about Tim that resonated with my life and with some of the leaders in the group.
Tim stepped in to lead a session and God used him to move our Community to a point of healing, vulnerability and depth. I still look back at that event 18 years ago and am amazed at how God blessed a "risk" and it changed everything.
Tim went on to launch a new ministry that I'm proud to partner with called Harbor Ministries. Tim also has become a good friend.
Don't be so focused on PROTECTION that you avoid every RISK, but make that risk a calculated risk, moving you closer to your desired objectives.
Am I saying PROTECT or take RISK? YES. Protect your gathering with everything you've got, keeping it tied to the goals and the purpose you have defined, but don't be afraid to take some risks if they'll move you more quickly towards that purpose.
Have you seen RISK pay off in a gathering you're a part of? What happened and how did it impact you?
Things I'm Reading, Listening To and Watching This Week:
The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker I encourage you to read or listen to the book. It will get you thinking!
Here are 2 other things from our epic concert weekend last week. We were able to get last minute tickets to see The Wizard of Oz at the Sphere in Las Vegas. What a fun way to watch this timeless film, with flying monkeys, a tornado inside the theatre and a fully interactive experience. Here's the bonus tip: When our flight was cancelled at the last minute, we jumped in our car to make the concert. Our daughter Rheanna reminded us to be sure to stop at The Original Del Taco in Barstow on our way. Del Taco? Hate to say it, but the tacos are different in Barstow! Who knew... We're living the dream here in California!
The TIM I mentioned above leads Harbor Ministries. One of my favorite podcast comes from them called SPACE. A short thought tied to scripture that just connects with my heart and soul.
I just purchased a new iPhone case with a small clip on it to hold your phone in a new way. Jury is still out, but I've used the clip a number of times in the first week I've had it. Check it out from TORRAS.
Lastly, I didn't mention this a few weeks ago, but Gina and I saw the F1 movie and really enjoyed it. While I don't understand all of F1, I learned a lot about it. Thanks Brad and Sandi for the "Immersive Theater Experience" and the Popcorn!