My firstborn son is more timid and fearful than my other children. He is one that quickly backs down when the younger ones pick at him. Because of this, I have spent much effort trying to teach him to have courage. When I get back from Israel, I will change the way I teach him.
Most of us are familiar with the story of David & Goliath. You can read about it in I Samuel 17. It might be my boys’ favorite story in all of scripture.
I would imagine this scenario is not foreign to you. You have faces staring back at you, eager to follow. It could be volunteers, staff, or a group of people that have come together for a common reason. They are looking to you and me for leadership, but unfortunately, we let them down. Instead of leadership, we merely provide instructions.
As leaders, we must answer this question for our people: Why are we here?
My wife likes to describe me as humbly confident. She says she appreciates the strength that I provide her and others. I find it hard to believe she still thinks this, even after all I have told her over the years. See, I might have an err of confidence, but deep down there is something more to the story.
I hadn’t thought about this for quite some time, until this weekend. I had a sharp college guy ask me if I ever struggled with pride, knowing how many people I influence. As he began to explain his question, I realized the perception he had of me. For years he had seen me on stage, speaking with boldness to large groups of people, and assumed that I was extremely confident. Little did he know.
[This post is one of many that I will write this spring on summer camps. Having worked in camps for over 20 years, and now with a full house of kids myself, I hope to equip parents across the country that are looking to send their children to camp.]
My first post in this series was: Is Your Child Safe At Camp? 5 Questions Every Parent Should Ask
Summer camp is almost as American as apple pie and baseball. Movies have tried to document the uniqueness of this experience. Unfortunately, I’ve yet to see one that came close to pinpointing why a healthy week at summer camp is so good for a child.
There are many things I wish someone would have told me when I turned 18. As I shared in a previous post, I was given the opportunity to write a young man a letter recently, passing any wisdom to this young man that I thought would be appropriate. I did, but I felt that my letter came up short. It did because it barely scratched the surface of what I wish someone would have told me. Continue Reading…
Have you ever been given the opportunity to do something great, yet you totally came up short? This past week I did just that. A friend of mine’s son was turning 18, and I was asked to be one of 18 men that would write him a letter giving any advice I wish someone would have given me when I turned 18. I wrote the letter, but it stunk.
Think about it. ANY advice. I had the opportunity to really make a mark on this man. I could share with him the battles that I went through, and the truth I learned from it. I could have gotten downright honest with him, writing as if I was staring straight in his eyes, warning him of the danger ahead. Instead, I chose to write this really lame note.
Some questions only require surface level answers. Others cut straight to your heart, requiring you to do some soul-searching in order to come up with a solid answer.
We are all used to being in conversations. In conversations it is natural to receive information, and also to give it. There is nothing new about that. Over the past year, however, there have been a few questions that I found much better than others. Continue Reading…
We hire people we like, and that’s about it. When it comes to picking your staff, or even building a team of volunteers, how do you decide who’s in and who’s out? For most, if they connect with the applicant, there is a good chance they’ll want to offer them the position.
I once read that when interviewing for a job, if you can get the interviewer to laugh within the first few minutes of the interview, your chances of being hired increase significantly. Makes sense. Now all those people who have poked fun at the pictures in my office, or commented on different trinkets on the shelves make total sense. They are looking for connection.
As the spring approaches and the weather turns warm, thousands of kids across the country begin to dream about attending a summer camp. They should. Summer camp can be the best week of the child’s entire year. Or, it can be disastrous. Sometimes, it just takes parents knowing what to ask.
Last year, Senator Scott Brown from Massachusetts revealed he had been sexually abused while attending a summer camp. I don’t know the details of his story. As he would attest, this is a real issue, and must be taken seriously.
Patrick Lencioni just came out with his book, Three Signs of a Miserable Job: A Fable for Managers. I’ve read many of his books, but I haven’t read this one yet. However, the title has me thinking where he might go in the book.
All of us have bad days at work. We might even go so far as to say we were miserable that day. But how do you know if you have a miserable job? I would imagine it somewhat comes down to the eyes of the beholder.
