Wednesday; October 3


          I have to admit that I don’t know much about Jonathan Maberry, in fact, I had to do a quick internet search to even know that he is some sort of modern writer.  Again, I don’t if he is a good guy or not, but the other day I came across a quote of his that attracted my attention, “When people ask me about what I learned from martial arts, I don't talk about favorite punches or kicks, or about fights won or lost. I talk about learning self-discipline, about ethics and manners and benevolence and fairness.”.  I have heard this assessment of martial arts on more than one occasion, but when I read this quote for some reason it got me to thinking about leadership.  Typically when we think about leaders we think of people who are battle-scarred victors who have risen to the top because of their skills, yet that may not always be an accurate assessment.  The best leaders I know don’t talk about wins and losses or mergers and acquisitions.  The most inspirational leaders to me aren’t the ones who can quote a business model or boast about their bottom lines.  To me, true leaders are the ones who have learned what brings out the most in them and what it takes to help others become their best.  You won’t find them looking down from the  top of the ladder of success, you will find them at the bottom helping people make their way up to the top.  Good leaders are winners – not because they have the most stuff, but because they participate at the highest level. 
          If we strive to be leaders we need to make sure we know what it means to be successful.  Leadership is about controlling ourselves and supporting others.  Let’s be the leaders we have been called to be and leave the score-keeping to others.
          Think About It!

Popular posts from this blog

Thursday; May 3

I have a fish tank that allows my three Bettas (Larry, Darrell and Darrell) to live in the same structure, but remain hidden from each other – well sort of.   When I go to feed the fish, I believe that one of the Darrell’s can sort of see that the other Darrell is getting fed and he will linger over on that side of the tank even after I put his food in his tank.   I have to tap on the side of the tank where his food is floating to help him refocus and eat.   I get the impression that he is so interested in what is going on in the other Darrell’s tank that he can’t enjoy his own food. I have been told that the brain of a fish is pretty small – which explains their inability to process “blessings”, but are we guilty of the same malady as Darrell?   Are we so worried (or consumed) by what happens to the people around us that we fail to realize what is going on with us?   Are we envious of the blessings that others are receiving and end up missing out on what we have been given?   Are w
Read more

Thursday; February 14

         While most of us are familiar with today being Valentine’s Day, there are some who actually refer to February 14 th as “St. Valentine’s Day”.  This title is often affixed to a criminally historic event known as “The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre” on February 14, 1929 in Chicago, but that is another story for another time.  Not knowing much about the history of “Saint Valentine” I did a little research and found out he was a Roman religious leader who was martyred in 269 AD.  According to my limited research Valentine was killed because of his encouragement of Roman men (especially soldiers) to marry which was in violation of Claudias’ edict that prohibited marriage to keep their minds singularly focused on their task of defending the Empire.  Somehow, from this beginning – and possibly embellished by Chaucer – St. Valentine became intertwined with the concept of romantic love.           I am not really sure how February 14 th became connected with love, but inspired by thi
Read more

Wednesday; December 6

What does it mean to be a leader? I subscribe to the belief that a leader is someone who seeks the best for others and works with them to achieve their potential. There are others; however, who define leadership as the ability to have a vision and the tenacity to get their own way. Leaders who are this way are often portrayed as having developed the maturity to manipulate people to do things their way. However, is the ability to drive people in our direction mature or is it childish? The Christians of the 1st Century came from a lot of different backgrounds and had to work hard to work together. As the Apostle Paul challenged Christians in the city of Ephesus he challenged them to accept individual differences, “… until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. “ (Ephesians 4:13). Bossiness was not to be viewed as a sign of maturity, a willingness to wo
Read more