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:

"The oldest, shortest words - 'yes' and 'no' - are those which require the most thought." Pythagoras

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 we're looking at these words, YES and NO. Powerful words with some great prompts, challenges and reminders around them. To read past posts, visit my full site HERE.

I don't know about you, but from my perspective, the words YES and NO are often the words I most quickly respond with because they are short and simple words.

Pythagoras pushes us to think about these words, emphasizing that we should only use these words with careful consideration and thoughtfulness, rather than our impulsive nature which doesn't require much thinking.

I've learned a lot about saying YES and NO. I've found myself in situations where I'm asking the question, "How did I get here?" And honestly, as I look back, it's a series of decisions that I made without thinking, without "careful consideration".

Jesus addresses this in Matthew 5 while teaching, he says in verse 37: "But let your 'Yes' be 'Yes', and your 'No', 'No'. For whatever is more than these is from the evil one." He's talking about us keeping our word, but the simplicity of his challenge is clear: YES and NO Matter!

I remember a situation many, many years ago where I had agreed to do something without much thought. I agreed to speak to a group of junior high students, on a boat, cruising around Catalina Island in Southern California. I guarantee that when I said YES, I was thinking about living on a boat for 3 days, as well as the $250 honorarium check I was earning (this was significant in my life at the time).

What I didn't think about was this...

  • I was on the boat with 60 Junior High Students... for 3 days!

  • My speaking part was 30 minutes a day... the rest of the time, I was with 60 Junior High Students... for 3 days!

  • It was over my Birthday Weekend, and my wife had bought me tickets to a concert to surprise me (I hadn't mentioned the speaking gig)

  • So while my wife and a friend enjoyed a great concert, on my birthday... I sat on a boat, with 60 junior high students, for 3 days.

Yes, this led to some reflection and the lesson was to THINK before responding with an immediate YES. Three Full Days....

Looking back, it's often easy to see impact of saying YES or NO. What do you do to "carefully consider" whether it's a YES or a NO?

DEEPER STILL:

This past week I was doing a LifePlan and there's a tool that talks about "alignment" and opportunities are run through a filter and it helps you make educated decisions instead of impulsive decisions.

I was thinking about this idea of saying YES or NO, and I think there's a filter that we can run opportunities through to help us make a better decision. It just takes a couple of minutes, but it might make a huge difference.

When an opportunity presents itself to you, instead of responding with a quick YES or NO, ask yourself these questions:

  • What does my GUT say? Sometimes we just know what we should or shouldn't do. For me, this is often listening to the Holy Spirit in my life and paying attention to it.

  • What would my spouse or significant others say? I lean on others for perspective and wisdom.

  • Does this align with my goals and values? Does this move me in the direction that I want to be moving in?

  • What is the cost of saying YES? What is the real time commitment and energy commitment?

  • Is this about ME? Am I saying YES or NO because of my ego? Is there something bigger going on here?

  • Is there someone else who can or should be doing this? Am I needed or can I encourage or recommend someone else?

Pausing to answer these questions simply gives you an opportunity to process and evaluate. Taking just a few minutes might make all the difference.

Had I walked through these 6 questions when I was invited to speak on the boat, let me show you my thoughts...

  • GUT: My gut would have said NO. 3 days is a long time to give up

  • SPOUSE: NO! It's my birthday!

  • GOALS & VALUES: Maybe... These weren't students I knew, but there's probably some value in serving them.

  • COST: Great Cost - Being gone on my birthday, missing a great gift & time with my family

  • ME: Yes, it was about me. I was flattered to be asked, and I pictured myself "speaking on a yacht!".... ego boost!

  • SOMEONE ELSE: Plenty of others could have done what I did.

In hindsight, it's always easy to see it, but just walking through the process teaches us and helps us to make better decisions!

What do you do to filter decisions? Would you try this template or adapt it to work for you?

 

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

Source: www.leadermundial.org