Whatever He Says

For the past two days I have attended the  Willow Creek Summit , via satellite. It was  an opportunity to invest in learning, skill development and inspiration.  It's been busy lately, so it was with anticipation that I mingled with about two hundred other leaders at the start of yesterday, grateful to be pulled out of the race for a couple of days. I couldn't help looking around me at people. On the way into the building I noticed a short older woman wearing slacks and a tee shirt and sensible shoes built for comfort, not style. She had a slight dowager's hump and a softly rounded body.  There was nothing remarkable about her features. She wore glasses and her hair was permed into a gray halo. As she wandered the crowd, purse in hand, she looked slightly out of place among all the eager beaver leader types. But something in her drew me.  It seemed that everywhere I went during the two days: the gym at refreshment breaks; the bookstore; the w...

By Belinda Last Friday we started our monthly manager's team meeting as usual, with prayer. As the person leading that part of the meeting asked for requests, I hesitated for a moment, then put up my hand.  I explained to those on my team that didn't know, that I had stepped into the role of acting vice chair on a committee that I find intimidating (a role I have studiously avoided for many years)--and that in that role I was to represent the chair at a regional meeting that was going to be way out of my comfort zone. I confessed my nervousness and sense of inadequacy, while wondering if doing so was making me seem weak in their eyes. I did it anyway, because I needed prayer and because it was the truth after all. On Sunday evening, at our Catalyst leadership development meeting we watched a half hour session by Patrick Lencioni on vulnerability. It was so good. Afterwards we all shared our own challenges. One person struggled with telling others the "kind truth....

By Belinda Tonight saw a vision being fulfilled. Susan and I started talking about the idea last fall, after she attended the Canadian Willow Creek Leadership Summit and she bought the DVDs. We watched several of them one morning with our team of leaders at work and they were SO good; such valuable teaching. Since we have no Sunday night service, we had the thought of using that time to share the 8 DVD's over 8 weeks, and then continue with other DVD sets. So we put a proposal to our church board and it was accepted. Susan made some excellent posters advertising it and put an ad on our local Christian radio station. The weeks went by--and tonight we began, with Bill Hybels and a talk on  Five Critical Questions .  There were just 12 of us tonight. A small start, but lots of discussion, and Susan and I are so excited.  Our son Pete suggested the name Catalyst for the evenings. We loved it and adopted it. I have a vision for people who have no connection with ch...

By Belinda In one of the excellent sessions at last week's leadership conference, we learned that it is amazing what you learn from people by asking them to finish a few simple statements: I love... I hate... I dream... I get frustrated when... I feel joy when... I fear when... So this morning when our team of leaders met I handed out pages with these questions on them and asked the team to answer three of their choice. Laughter rippled around the table at some of the answers. Two younger members of my team are "dreaming of" retirement--but I am way ahead of them! My own quickly scribbled answer to that question was: I dream...of being part of God's agenda--more fully than to this point. I often think that we skim the surface of his possibilities. While I didn't word it so well on the spur of the moment, I was trying to express an increasing longing to let go of reason, logic, limitations and dependence on the human perspective on things and tap ...

By Belinda Susan brought the slim volume back from a conference after standing before a book display and praying for God to show her the book that was meant for me. When her eyes fell on the book,  Life by the Hour  by Tim Schroeder, she knew that was the one. I never give up trying to do better in stewarding the precious resource of time. Tim's book is in my bathroom, and I've been reading it in short snippets--more like "life in 5 minute increments" than the hour, but I have been enjoying the book and found so far that he has a refreshing perspective on  time. Then yesterday I got to the end of a chapter and a sentence struck me--hard, as such a practical word of wisdom that I wrote it into my day-timer. It felt like rocket fuel for my life, with the power to invigorate the minutes and hours of my day. It actually was the first in a list of points to think about, all of which were good. This is the sentence: "Is there anything in the activity of the ...

By Belinda If you never change your mind, why have one? Edward De Bono I did a quick search, looking for a good quote on "making up one's mind," for this post, and found that almost all of them implied that making up the mind was a good thing to do; indicating action, as in the opposite of indecision. But lately I've been trying to find my way out of that very thing, a bad habit of making up my mind about things! For the making up of the mind, I've discovered, can be unhelpful. I've come to think of it like making up a bed; all the corners tucked in tight, no room for too much movement there. I found this post a perfect excuse for using the photo of the lacy leaves at Scanlon Creek this weekend. They are as full of tiny holes as some of the stories I construct in my mind, when I am in the process of making it up. I don't think I'm alone in my tendency. We seem wired to try to make sense of the world around us by interpreting the data of...

By Belinda The way we look at things is so powerful. And here is something I've been pondering lately as an attitude check. What if that difficult situation that just unfolded at the end of a work week supposed to be over already, was a question on an interview for the job I have? How would I answer the question? I do a lot of interviewing as part of my job, so I get to watch people rise to the challenge of questions all the time. I always admire quick thinkers because I am not one! The energy of some people amazes me, and the depth of character that sometimes shines out. I love it. It's normal for people to come primed and pumped. Occasionally though, I may meet someone again a few months down the road and the excitement and energy is not as high. The person seems to have lost their "zing;" petered out of passion. I don't want to be like that. I don't want to encounter a difficulty and say, "I can't do that!" or worse, "I won...

By Belinda After three busy days it was Thursday before I found myself at my office this week. Opening my door on its quietness had the feel of entering a sanctuary, an island of peace in a wild ocean of work. I unzipped the briefcase, unpacked and plugged in my laptop and mentally rehearsed the list of issues that I needed to follow up on and soon I was making the first phone call of the day. At the other end of the phone was a colleague at our corporate office--the person to help me with one item. I can tell when someone is trying hard to be patient. I imagined that I was just one of many people calling to work out the many issues she had on the go that day. In fact her whole job is dealing with people like me who come to her with paperwork completed "creatively," rarely correctly, by our staff and their doctors.   After I hung up the phone, with several file folders open on my desk by this point, I checked my email. My in-box had escaped my control during th...

By Belinda Epic (genre) , stories depicting a series of heroic feats--according to Wikipedia. Stories of heroism inspire me; so do virtues such as courage and sacrifice. In fact, my friend Susan, who knows me well,  once gave me The Book of Virtues: A Treasury of Great Moral Stories  to take with me on a plane journey. Although it is a children's book, I love it. At the same time as working on the practical elements within in our control in situations that can be described as difficult--there is a critical power to be harnessed with great potential to bring positive change; the power of story. I'm talking about the story people tell themselves. If that story can change, there is nothing that can defeat us. It may be true that the words "tough," "difficult," and  "stressful," are apt, but if we rise above those words and change our descriptors we can change our experience of the situation. We can soar instead of sink--and I believe that thi...

I eye the clock in my office and force myself to stop for lunch. The temptation is alway but as the ever present busy hum of the laptop is silenced, peace settles. I reach for a book from the bookshelf; any book will do to occupy half an hour productively. Why does even a break need to be "productive?" I am a hopeless cause, I think. I choose a book that seems to have short chapters and large print:  The Key to Great Leadership; Rediscovering the Principles of Outstanding Service  Perfect. I start reading with curiosity. The author is Peter Burwash , not someone I am familiar with, and the book was published in 1995--not exactly current, but as I read on my interest is piqued. Part 1 is headed: The 12 Universal Principles of Great Service Companies; and what I read resonates. When I get to the third principle, which is "Visible Leaders," I realize that Peter Burwash is writing about the importance of one of the principles I have been learning to incorporate i...

By Belinda Today I took Fierce Accountability training for the second time. The first time was with my peer team earlier this year; this time it was with the team I am privileged to lead. How great to have a reason to take it twice, because the principles got worked in even better the second time. The training talks about a "results cycle." It starts with CONTEXT  then goes on to  ASSESSMENT; EMOTIONS; BEHAVIOUR and  RESULTS. I thought a lot about the importance of context, which was defined as: opinions; truths; beliefs and attitudes. I realized the importance of spending adequate time clarifying context; examining my opinions; truths; beliefs and opinions and assessing them for accuracy. In a recent situation I had a faulty context which determined my behaviour and end result. Not spending sufficient time ensuring that my context was solid caused a faulty result. I've learned how important it is to ask questions; listen deeply and assess accurately, possi...

By Belinda Once upon a time there was a leader. She led for a long time and knew a few things, or so she thought. Others looked to her for guidance and some even called her their mentor. She was respected; well thought of, and, as she looked towards the few years left before retirement, she turned her thoughts towards the legacy she wanted to leave. She loved to write and thought that she would surely have enough material for a book on leadership to leave for those who would follow. One day she woke up to find that she had been in a sort of dream and nothing was as she thought it was. She discovered that she had made many mistakes and had a great deal yet to learn. "A book on leadership?" she thought, aghast, "What arrogance to think that I had anything to say!" Instead, she saw clearly, that everything she thought she knew was elementary. She had important things to learn about what it means to be a leader. Instead of basking in years of rosy reflection...

By Belinda My friend Marilyn wrote a short p.s. in a comment on my last post: Flying Straight . I had struggled to give words to something that is more easily felt than expressed and which I called lamely, "leading while close," for the lack of a better way to put it. Marilyn's comment said,  "p.s. I look forward to your expanded thoughts on leading while close." Of course that nudged me to think harder--knowing that someone was "looking forward " to "expanded thoughts." I don't even know if I will do any better in this attempt, but I'm hoping that you will bear with me as I try to explain.   In my journal I used the words "leading with," rather than "leading while close," but neither really says what I meant. What I was really straining for were words that were the opposite of my natural tendency to lead, "from a polite distance." I have held boundaries that I thought were necessary in order to...

By Belinda In the front of my cherished Harold Taylor Day Planner  there is a really important page. And until today it has remained blank--as pristine as the day I first looked at it in anticipation of the coming year, back in December. It is because it is so important that it remains blank. And if that makes no sense now that I am writing it down, that is a good fact to acknowledge. Not taking time for the most important things and getting trapped in trivia are things this planner tries hard to help me avoid after all! :) The page is headed, 2011 Policies and Annual Goals, and has the instruction, "In the space below, write in your personal policies such as, 'I will not work on Sundays.' Stick to these in order to maintain balance and personal integrity. I have my 2010 Mission Statement and Principles to Live By in a binder, and it still inspires and challenges me when I read them. They are still foundational aspirations in my life. But I hope that I never stop ...

Fridays with Susan... I was tired beyond words.  It was Friday and I should have been anticipating the 5 o'clock horn and a restful weekend at home.  But that was not to be.  I had been there since 7:30 that morning, dealing with a relentless onslaught of challenges and problems.  It was somewhere around noon that I found out I wouldn't be going home for supper with my family, but I would be staying until at least 10:00 o'clock that night, and probably later.  Even with me doing a double shift - split between administrative duties for the first half of the day and then spending the late afternoon and evening hours working directly with the energetic young people our team supports, we would still be understaffed.  Even in the best of circumstances that meant working really hard, but this week we were faced with a very unusual set of circumstances which had taxed every member of the team to the limit.  I knew I would be having to lean unfairly into my ...

By Belinda "So how was your day?" he asked, and in that instant I had a choice. There were so many moments in the day to choose from. Whatever moment I chose to define the day, hung in the balance in that split second. Was it because at that moment I was standing over a big steaming pot of boiling water, wilting cabbage leaves for a mammoth quantity of cabbage rolls? I don't know, but I chose badly.  I launched into a description of a big task added to a team already running hard to meet numerous deadlines. An impossible feat with a timeline too short ! I was flippant as I tossed out that moment into the atmosphere. It infused the air with something smellier than the cabbage leaves--but it took me a while to detect the odour. I saw his shoulders slump; his brow furrow with concern. The next morning, I woke up and belatedly sniffed the atmosphere around me and didn't like it one bit. I realized that I was choosing to look at things from a merely human pe...

By Belinda Psalm 145:4 (New International Version) 4 One generation will commend your works to another; they will tell of your mighty acts. Last week I listened as a colleague led us in devotions on the subject of legacy. In his district they held a retreat with legacy as the theme, and people shared stories about those whose influence had impacted them in an important way. I would have loved to have heard those stories, but at least I got to hear Barry's. Unfortunately I can't tell the whole story, because I couldn't write fast enough as he spoke about "Big Bob" Johnson, the best supervisor he ever had. Big Bob was the mill superintendant at the Asbestos Hill Mine in a remote northern location into which Barry flew and where he spent months working as a very young man, after university. Among other wonderful qualities that Barry described, he said that Bob was always visible, and would always ask him, "How're you doing young fellow?" Ye...

Deuteronomy 30:6 (New International Version) 6 The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live. It was an intense conversation with my friend Frances. She'd had an upsetting experience at the beginning of the week and although a couple of days had passed, anger had only faded from white hot to red. She needed to talk it through in order to fully resolve it. A few minutes later the storm was settling; the bad feelings evaporating . As she said goodbye, she told me about a razor she'd bought, made especially for trimming callouses, which she suffers badly from. "I'm willing to be shaved," she said--not referring to feet--"there is such comfort afterwards and there is soft skin below." Her words took me back to Tuesday evening at cell group. We had read Acts chapter 16, which starts out by describing the circumcision of the young disciple Timothy ...