Tuesday, November 25, 2008

: 43 + 1 = 44 ... or does it? asks patrick moberg :

thought this was great. regardless of politics. the time has come.

moberg is an illustrator/animator who ponders governing right here.

Friday, November 21, 2008

: a hand up is very different than a hand out :

... a good friend and former co-worker sent me this. They have asked me to be a reference as they head into the application process with freeset ... it is only 3 minutes long, so take a look, and then a second look maybe, watching the faces of the women still on the street, and then in the freeset business. That, my friends, just about says it all.

dlc

Monday, November 17, 2008

: paradoxes and contradictions on leadership :

... not really looking for it, or looking into it recently, but a few things crossed my radar that I found interesting, informing, and funny even. Also watched Obama's first post-election interview on 60 Minutes last night. Relaxed, focused, at ease with Michelle, firm with interviewer's probing questions.

Mind you, if a contributing editor with Christianity Today's stable of journals refers to the North American church's 'cult of leadership' you need to pay attention, but on the flip side, a dialed in, savvy guy like Seth Godin's new book Tribes is out, along with a Tribes Q&A pdf, claiming people are clamoring for leadership.

Hmmmm ... maybe I'll embellish on those tomorrow, but until then? Here's a leadership smile from Charles Barkley ... retired NBA allstar, media darling ( for his outspokenness ), and future Governor of Alabama? Must be something about governors from states starting with A ... want to get to the front of the pack it seems? Arkansas/Clinton, Alaska/Palin, Alabama/Barkley ... then there's Gov. Ahnold/Schwarzenegger, and Sen. McCain/Arizona.

Charles Barkley interviewed by Campbell Brown on CNN

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Brown: So are you going to run for governor?

Barkley: I plan on it in 2014.

Brown: You are serious.

Barkley: I am, I can’t screw up Alabama.

Brown: There is no place to go but up in your view?

Barkley: We are number 48 in everything and Arkansas and Mississippi aren’t going anywhere.

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Well, Bark is nothing if not a realist.

dlc

Thursday, November 13, 2008

: the quotable brian burke on evaluation :

... I don't usually resonate with abrasive characters, but with Brian Burke it is different, maybe because he is such a straight shooter you can't help but like him? with Burkie there is no BS, no beating-around-the-bush, no political correctness, just the facts, as he sees them. I find it rather refreshing somehow.

So who would have thought that Burke would find his way into a blog post, in a 'blog that at least tries to wrestle with some leadership type things? Here's the quote I am thinking of ... back in 2006, a little over two years ago, he was reflecting on the Pavel Bure trade out of Vancouver. In his own words, he got crucified by Vancouver's fans and media for that, but here's how he looked at it, having attempted to do the right thing, long term, for the franchise's future ...

"people need to evaluate that with a calendar, not a stopwatch"

In a world where ... corporate or social sector, flourishing economy or tanking, 'Type A' personality or not ... the thrust is often immediate results, efficiency over effectiveness, quantifiable, measurable, justifiable ... right here, right now, or else ... taking a page out of Burke's leadership playbook may just be helpful? Take a step back, breathe, look at the horizon, commit to longer term 'results' or developments. When I think of the readers of this 'blog ... I see ministries and leadership and commitment levels that can only be seen in terms of the calendar ... eternal may not be too strong.

Rarely does 'flash-in-the-pan' thinking, or action, or knee-jerk evaluation produce the kind of change really needed. Take a look at the things you have been involved in the last few years ... evaluate them through the lens of a calendar, and see if they don't appear different, deeper, stronger than if you assessed your efforts via a stopwatch. It may be a perspective gaining exercise, and then you can suggest to the stopwatchers in your life what they can do with their ... uh, sorry. Got carried away there.

dlc

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

: that albert einstein? he was a pretty smart guy :

loved this when i ran across it the other day, says so many things well

dlc

ps. this one is for 2-3 of L2L's readers ... you know who you are :)