Tuesday at 2:00pm with Russ

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:

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

What does this stir up? Either write me HERE or comment at the end of the blog post HERE.

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?

DEEPER STILL:

I shared this story a while back, but a number of months ago, I was "whining" in my car as I was driving to a networking breakfast. I do these often for our Barnabas Community and usually we get a great response of people that fill the tables, keep the conversations lively, and it's just a great feeling to have breakfast with 15 - 25 people who share some common things around Kingdom Impact.

Anyway, As I'm driving to this breakfast, I get 4 cancellation notices from people who can't make it. We already had a low turnout, but then people began cancelling. As I drove, they kept coming and by the time I was close to the restaurant, we were down to 6 people. This never happens! I was whining, complaining, ready to cancel future networking breakfasts, and honestly I felt that this was now a complete waste of my time.

However, when the 6 of us came together, something happened: We sat at one table, we took time to get to know each other, the breakfast conversation was more intentional than other times, and by the time we left the restaurant (probably 30 minutes longer than we usually stay), we had all experienced something really amazing: Community & Relationship.

I drove home not complaining, but celebrating one of the best networking events I had ever participated in! Funny how perspective can change that quickly.

As I reflect, here are some things I'm learning about IMPACT:

  • I often measure ATTENDANCE because it's easy: Attendance can be an important metric, but don't let it be the only one. Push through to identify something deeper.

  • I sometimes don't measure because I'M AFRAID of what I'll find: I might have an inclination as to what is actually going on, and I'm afraid that it's true. Avoiding the measurement has allowed me to ignore something for a little while longer.

  • Being BUSY isn't the same as being EFFECTIVE: I can have a busy week of activity and be doing lot's of things without being effective. Don't be fooled by your schedule!

  • Trying to measure spiritual impact is a LACK OF FAITH: Sometimes I don't want to try to measure spiritual growth because I want to leave that measurement to God. My job is simply to do what I can do and to leave the rest to Him! Have you said that before? Do I believe that it's OK to measure spiritual things?

What have you learned about IMPACT that you can share?

 

Things I'm Reading, Listening To and Watching This Week:

Source: www.leadermundial.org