Applications Now Being Accepted

Every time we hunt for a job, we see it:

Applications now being accepted for the position of . . .

It doesn’t matter what the position is; while the wording may change, the intent remains. There is an open position for which qualified people may apply.

Life has open positions, too. Only life doesn’t advertise its positions. It simply has them open for anyone with the eyes to see and courage to accept what life has to offer. The position life most often offers, the one that most often goes wanting to be filled, is that of leader.

What is leadership? Entire libraries of books have been written on the topic!

Orrin Woodward

I have read some of them, including the best-selling Launching A Leadership Revolution by Orrin Woodward and Chris Brady, as well as the latest best-seller, LeaderShift, by Orrin Woodward and Oliver DeMille.

Chris Brady

In Launching A Leadership Revolution, a leader is characterized by being hungry, hone-able or teachable and honorable. The leader seeks mastery in their craft through the Trilateral Leadership Ledger of Character, Tasks and Relationships. In LeaderShift, a leader is further characterized by having a vision. The leader applies the vision to the Trilateral Leadership Ledger for the desired results. According to both Launching A Leadership Revolution and LeaderShift, a leader sees not just the problem at hand, but the root causes and the steps required for solving it. In LeaderShift, these root causes are reflected in the 5 Laws of Decline.

We live in a world of terrorist bombings, attempted poisonings of our public officials

Oliver DeMille

through the mail, assassination attempts, slander, politics from both sides of the spectrum being malicious and dirty, free-falling economics, wars and rumors of wars, natural disasters, eroding relationships, emotional distancing, societal decay and family disintegration. We are attacked from without, and attack one another from within. Our world as we know it is in chaos.

It is into this chaos void leaders walk. Leaders bring solutions, not more problems. Often, the solutions may look like more problems, but they aren’t. These are challenges needed to solve the underlying difficulties causing the problems in the first place. These challenges are also hard because most people find change of any kind hard, and leaders are catalysts for change.

Launching A Leadership Revolution

Leaders polarize people into groups for and against their leadership vision. That’s because as Orrin Woodward recently said on Twitter, “In leadership, the cause always comes before the applause.” Also on Twitter, Chris Brady said, quoting Mark Driscoll, “The more people you influence, the more people who hate you.” It is the actions and expected behaviors of leaders that polarize. As Orrin Woodward recently said on Twitter, “Some people say they have to see it to believe it, but leaders have to believe it to see it.” It is this belief in the vision which polarizes others.

I believe in the vision Orrin Woodward and Oliver DeMille set forth in LeaderShift. I am striving to be one of the leaders, one of the 10% who will step forward and change the world around me for the better. It’s a call open to anyone who will hear it and respond. Because if people don’t respond, things will get worse. The 5 Laws of Decline, as described in LeaderShift, clearly point that

LeaderShift

out.

So, if not now, then when? And if not us, then who?

Related articles

• HBRN’s Leadership Factory: Special Guest Oliver DeMille (philipbrittain.wordpress.com)
• Clarkston News Reviews LeaderShift (orrinwoodwardblog.com)
• A LeaderShift: What we need in our country today (leadershiptofreedom.com)
• Leadershift Happening Now (chrisbrady.typepad.com)

Give and Take

How does it happen

when I lose myself in You

it is only then I find my true self?

How does it happen

when I abandon all I am and all I have

to all You are and all You have for me

it is only then I have everything I want and need.

It is in the giving up

            that I find.

It is in the relinquishment

            where I gain.

It is in the abandonment

            where I gather everything.

I give it away

and You give it back better.

And even when You don’t give it back,

what You give is so much better,

I don’t care about or miss what I gave at all.

I give You what is shattered and broken,

            and You give it back, whole and better than new.

I give up what I cannot hold, anyway,

            and You give what I cannot contain,

                        Because You give me Yourself.

You have a right to demand it.

You have a right to insist.

Being my Creator God gives you that right.

But You don’t demand,

You ask.

You don’t insist.

You request.

Yours are the gentle prompts of my Friend,

the Lover of my heart,

the One who knows me better

than even I know myself.

You ask for the sake of my good,

not for ulterior motives to harm me.

In the face of such love,

how can I refuse?

Related articles

• Because I’m Me, That’s Why

Because I’m Me, That’s Why

At different points in our lives, particularly in our childhoods, many of us have heard it. We’ve heard it from a parent, a teacher, or some other authority figure. Or even from someone we thought was our friend. “It” was a question, in some way phrased to say,

Why can’t you be more like so-and-so??

As grow, if we are aware of such things, we understand we hear it daily from our culture. As adults, we are told we are just not good enough, that someone is more attractive, smarter, more successful, better than us. Our culture has applied its ruler to us, and we’ve been found wanting. We just don’t measure up.

For people who start from a basis of a low self-image, this is a devastating message! Even for people whose self-image is good, the message can be hard to drown out. The constant barrage of negativity will wear even the most confident of us down eventually, leaving secret vulnerable places in our souls. It will, unless we apply a cure. But what can cure such devastating and pervasive attacks? What, or who, can help us?

Some seek to actually try to measure up. As I mentioned in Our Endless Pursuit of Perfection, it’s a frustrating and fruitless end. Others turn to psychology and counselling. Having been through these paths, I can tell you that while they teach valuable skills, they don’t get to the heart issues. And when heart issues aren’t dealt with, the problem remains. Still others turn to religious efforts, trying to measure up to the standards set by the religion or its founders, and only finding frustration. Because if you follow the laws of a perfect God using the ways of men, I’ve learned we doom ourselves to disaster. By now, I am sure you are asking by now, “Is there any good news in all this??”

I wouldn’t be writing these words if there was no good news to be found, no answer I’ve discovered for myself. I would be a hypocrite and charlatan (and a very bad blogger!) if I would post such thoughts and not offer something.

Chris and Terri Brady

In her recent blog post, The Stranger’s Sketch, Terri Brady spoke of similar ideas. She said,

Any time we are measuring ourselves and our worth based on bones in our chins, (yes, I’ll leave that plural for the fun of it), our skin tone or eyelash length, we are doomed for unhappiness. True joy doesn’t change.

What is neverchanging is our real worth. What really matters is not our self-description, but who we are in the Lord’s eyes. “Whose we are” should radiate!

It was only when I began to cultivate a relationship with God through His Son Jesus Christ that I began to find my own true self-worth. For years, I’d compared myself to smarter, more athletic siblings and schoolmates, more attractive and successful fellow entrepreneurs and others against whom I felt I just didn’t measure up. As I told Terri in my comments to her post,

I remember I used to look at the slender, lovely women on stage (such as your beautiful inside and outside self!), and compare you all to me. I compared what I saw as your perfections to my obviously glaring imperfections, and became convinced I could never be like you, never be that lovely, that accomplished, that successful.

It took a while, but finally I listened long enough to what you all were saying, and what God was telling me in my heart through you. God didn’t want or need me as a carbon copy of any of you. He had you. He needed and wanted me as ME, just as imperfect I was, willing to grow, learn, change and be used by Him for His glory. Like clay with the Potter, my job is only to coöperate with His process. As I become His more finished handiwork, the glory is His, and not mine, because He is doing it and will have done it in me.

If you struggle today with your self-image, dear reader, the chance to be free of it is available to you. The God Who made the universe, Who spun the stars, Who holds all creation in His hands, cares for you with a fiercely tender love. He is fierce, because He wants you to love Him and no other above Him. He is tender, because He is the greatest Gentleman, and will never force His will or way on you. You have to ask. Let Him in and begin this marvelous work in you! Learn for yourself that no matter what you look like, no matter what you’ve done, no matter who you are, you are completely and forever loved.

As you learn God’s love for you, you will know the freedom to be wholly and completely yourself. You will be able to look at your critics, those who ask why you cannot be like someone else, and say, “Because I’m me, that’s why.” You will be free to grow and discover all you were created to become. Because if we’re wise, we’ll always be growing, changing, striving for more. It will be a life-long process. And instead of trying to measure up to impossible and even unrealistic standards set by others, our efforts to grow will be our very realistic expressions to become the best us we can be. They will be our loving response to the immense love first shown to us by God.

Related articles

• The Stranger’s Sketch (terribradyblog.com)
• Our Endless Pursuit of Perfection

The Pursuit Of Excellence

I’m in pursuit of excellence,

Seeking out the best way,

Seeking to be all I can be

Every single day.

I’m in pursuit of a high mark;

A great calling I want to find,

And take hold of it with both hands;

I want to make it mine.

I’m chasing after a promise

My God gave me one day,

When He said He’d make me like Jesus,

In every single way.

So, I’m in pursuit of excellence,

With all that I can give,

Because excellence to me is Jesus,

And the life He gave me to live.

I want to be more yielding

To His gentle, merciful touch;

I want to be more obedient,

Because I love Him so much.

I want to let Him teach me

The way that I can share

His wonderful life with others,

By showing that I care.

I want to be more in His presence.

When I worship and praise His Name,

Then go out and show the world

His love is ever the same.

So, I’m in pursuit of excellence,

But it’s not a heavy thing,

Because I’ve no fear of punishment

Should I ever fail my King.

My excellent goal is a high one,

But to find it, I don’t have to fuss,

Because when I pursue excellence,

It’s always to be more like Jesus.

Our Endless Pursuit of Perfection

I recently ordered a pair of glasses from my ophthalmology office. I have some specific needs in any pair of glasses I wear regularly. It makes for a tricky order.

They came in. And went back, because they weren’t right. The office said the prescription for one of the lenses didn’t quite match mine. It needed to be right before they’d release them to me.

I went through this several years ago, with another office, a national chain. It took them 6 tries for the lab to get my glasses right, over 3 months! The store manager was so frustrated after the 4th attempt, he called his boss’s boss, and informed him the company was reimbursing every bit of my costs, to make up for my delay and inconvenience. After the 5th attempt, corporate gave in.

I am not telling you this so you can feel sorry for me, with my challenges in ordering glasses. It is an effort to think about where the search for perfection might be a positive thing to have working, and where it might not.

The search for perfection in things like health care is a good thing. We want our prescriptions perfect, whether they be glasses or medicine. We want our doctors to diagnose us right, the first time, and prescribe the right course of treatment. We want to be having correct billing, and not pay more than our insurance company says we have to, assuming we have insurance.

We want things as close to perfect as possible when we deal with food,

whether buying it or ordering it. We want to know it’s fresh and good for us. We want to know it’s not contaminated, or handled by someone who’s ill. If we’re eating out, we want it to taste good.

Most of us seek for perfection in our work. We want to do a good job for our employers, to give an honest effort for the wage they pay, whether we feel we deserve a larger one or not.

How many other areas can you think of where people seek perfection? I can think of dozens, right off the top of my head. Society gives us the message we should want perfection in our life partners, our bodies, our families (though I am beginning to think it is now pushing dysfunctional as “the new normal”), our extended relationships and so on.

What is the result of all this search for perfection? Health clubs have booming memberships. Diet plans are everywhere you turn. A new career has sprung up and gained popularity, the Life Coach. (Not that I am knocking it, since Life Coaches with LIFE know what they’re talking about and have the fruit on the tree of experience to prove it!)

And everyone keeps searching for the elusive butterfly of perfection. never realizing it will ever remain just out of reach. Modern society tells us we want to be married to super models, be super models ourselves, have homes out of decorating magazines, kids who win all the awards and get all A’s, have perfect greeting card holidays, own the latest and greatest whatever, never have problems, never get sick or be stressed or tired . . . The list is as unrealistic as it is endless!

Even God never demanded perfection of us after the Garden of Eden. What He

said as recorded in Leviticus 11:44 was,

I am the Lord, who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy.

The expectation God Himself has on humans is holiness, not perfection. A standard of excellence, not something He knew we’d find impossible to reach. God didn’t make it easy, but He did make it worthwhile.

When I demand perfection of myself, or demand it of those around me, I childishly insist on  something God never expected me to do. When I insist life must be in perfect balance at all times for me to be happy, I set myself up for disappointment on a daily, even hourly, basis. If I were to insist everything I did were perfect, you would never read a single post from me! I’m careful in my editing, to say all I want to say (hopefully without offending anyone too badly!), but if I demanded perfection, I’d be editing every entry forever, and never get one of them posted! (Maybe one or two of you are saying, “Good, that means she’d shut up!”, but I hope not!)

So, how do we solve this problem? The Apostle Paul addressed it in Romans

16:19b when he said,

I want you to be excellent in what is good and to avoid what is evil.

So our goal is excellence, not perfection. Like God’s own standard of holiness over perfection, excellence is attainable. It’s not easy. It’s hard, very hard. But it is something we can do. And perhaps, should do.

The world makes room for those who seek excellence. Excellence opens doors mere talent may only crack. Those who seek excellence in whatever they attempt eventually rise above their competition. The landmark book Talent Is Overrated by Geoff Calvin speaks to this. In it, he cites several case studies in which those who practiced their craft attained higher levels of achievement than those who relied on mere talent alone, without the discipline of continued practice applied over time.

Chris Brady

Leadership guru, best-selling author, business leader, and award-winning blogger Chris Brady discussed excellence in his post, A High-Def Life. In it he said,

There is no substitute for hard work. Tim Tebow said, “It’s not hard to beat talent when talent won’t work hard.” The most successful people in life are not the ones with the most talent, but rather those who have the ability to push themselves to excellence. Remember: You won’t reach high if you won’t push on.

The secret to excellence, then, is in pursuing it. It’s a goal, not a destination. It’s one I’m headed toward,and I am one of many in the pursuit. If you’re not already, why not come and join us?

On Intimacy With Immensity

You are so big . . .

Your power created the universe;

All the things I see, all I cannot.

Your wisdom smoothly runs it

Without raising a sweat on Your brow.

Your majesty is seen in it

But only as a dim reflection of Your glory.

And You want to be intimate

With small and insignificant me.

You are so loving . . .

You forgive the worst sinners

When they come to You in repentance.

You came to give Yourself for us

While we were yet sinners all.

You would have done it if all the world were perfect

Except for one poor, sinful soul.

And You want to pour out this love

On someone as undeserving as me.

You are so powerful . . .

All You have to do is think

And amazing things happen.

You decided all the laws of the universe,

And go outside them as You choose.

There is nothing that happens anywhere

That You don’t know of it before it occurs.

And You want to share Your power

Pouring it into a life as powerless as mine.

I can’t think of this too often,

You know.

You are so immense.

And I am so small.

You are so loving.

And I am so insignificant.

You are so powerful.

And I am so weak.

But for all our many differences,

You demand intimacy between us.

And of all the things I’ve ever thought of,

This is the most amazing one:

To have intimacy with Your immensity

Is a thing my mind can never comprehend.

Related articles

• But I WANT It! (cathykilpatrickleadership.wordpress.com)

But I WANT It!

Recently, I noticed my friend Rachael at work, whose hair is normally fluffy and

quite curly, had straight hair. When I commented on the change, she said she’d straightened it. She said she was tired of curly, fluffy hair, and wished for straight hair.

I laughed and told Rachael with my straight fine hair, I had wished for years for hair like hers! I reminded her how I used to pay for a salon permanent every few months, to make it curly, though it would never be thick and fluffy like

hers. (I don’t any more.)

Rachael smiled and said, “No, you do not want fluffy and curly hair!” I grinned back and replied, “No, you do not want straight and unfluffy hair!” We were each born with what the other had, and wanted it. We laughed together over the perverse human nature in both of us, to be discontent with what we had, to believe what someone else has is better, and want theirs instead.

Humans have been like this from the beginning. In the book of Genesis, the story is

related of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Picture Eve as a Victoria’s Secret Angel and Adam as a Calvin Klein model. They were gorgeously naked and unashamed together in a place where every desire of their hearts were met, the weather was perfect, the animals well-behaved, no harmful things grew and enjoying unending fellowship with their loving God and one another.

Everything was perfect, until Eve met the Serpent, heard there ‘might’ be more. She ate the fruit, conned Adam into open rebellion against God in eating it with her, and they screwed up the whole Paradise. All because of a maybe she thought she wanted, offered by someone Eve ought not to have trusted.

Isn’t 20/20 hindsight wonderful? I’m not, however, going to kid myself into believing I would have done any differently . . . Would you? Honestly??

Truth be told, we’ve been messing it up ever since. How many wars over the millenia were simply started as wars of acquisition? Too many, I am quite sure. If we take a step back, aren’t we really sometimes at heart like small toddlers, who throw temper tantrums and fuss because we’re not getting our own way? We just might have more “civilized” means of doing it.

As I think on these things, I am reminded of the Disney movie, Finding Nemo, in

which the Seagulls uniformly chant “Mine! Mine! Mine!” upon seeing anything that may be perceived as possible food. It’s funny in the movie. It’s tragic to watch adults act it out daily.

The Apostle spoke to the problem in James 4:20, when he said,

You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God.

We have not because we ask not. Can it be truly that simple? Of course, God isn’t a Cosmic Slot Machine, either. Unlike the Genie in another Disney movie,

Aladdin, God is unlimited, all-knowing, all-seeing and not bound by us or our wishes. And we don’t get 3 wishes with Him. We get the deepest desires of our hearts.

And not only do we get the desires of our hearts, we get a relationship with the One who created the Garden, who formed the universe with His thoughts, who spun the stars with a whim. We get a relationship with a Person who is so vast, our galaxy, our universe cannot hold Him, because He created it. It all comes packaged with intimacy with an immensity that is as far beyond human comprehension as the moon is to an amoeba.

And all we have to do is ask . . .

Is Orrin Woodward REALLY All He’s Cracked Up To Be?

I am often asked, “Is Orrin Woodward REALLY all he’s cracked up to be??“

Orrin and Laurie Woodward

Please allow me answer that, once and for all, with the following (true) story,  names unchanged to protect neither the guilty, nor the innocent.

I will start by saying I got an iPhone late last summer. I read the manual and became rapidly proficient in its use. Or at least, I thought I was.

Recently, a group of ladies had the privilege to attend a retirement dinner to honor Pat Tefel, the delightful and grace-filled lady leader of our TEAM LIFE business team. It was a wonderful evening, highlighted by the presence of leader, blogger, home schooling mom and all-around lovely woman,

Chris and Terri Brady

Terri Brady.

Terri’s husband Chris recently had a birthday, so when I briefly spoke to her at the start of the evening, she suggested I go on FaceBook and give greetings to his partner Orrin Woodward, since it was his birthday that day. After getting a photo with Terri and my husband, I went to my table and linked into the wifi where the event was being held. I found Orrin’s page on FaceBook, and thought I left him a message on his wall.

The next morning, on my break at work, I went on FaceBook to check up on things, and see if anyone had posted photos of the party. The first thing I found was a private message from Orrin Woodward!! I had posted my birthday wishes to him privately!!! Oh, my goodness!!!

Orrin’s was the message of a gracious gentleman, honorable and kind in all his dealings, as he said,

Thank YOU Cathy! I hope you are having a blessed day.

To understand the importance of this exchange, think about having the CEO of a multi-national corporation, who has thousands of people who look to him for leadership, combined with the public acclaim of a best-selling author like Steven King, all rolled into one incredible package, on your FaceBook friend list. You are a tiny, insignificant speck in his radar, and are pleased just being acknowledged as his friend, and with a blanket group thanks to everyone who wished him birthday greetings on his wall. That is how big a deal it is to me!

When I realized the size of my blunder, and the graciousness of Orrin’s response, I posted the following, being very careful to do it to his wall:

Thank you so much for your gracious and lovely response to my accidental private message birthday greetings last night! I meant to post that on your wall!! Clearly I have more to learn about FaceBook for iPhone . . . (Color me red-faced.)

That evening at the party, I had told Terri I was a high-end tech user, and promptly proved it. I even had the boldness to call myself “the app queen!” Horrors!! In my bragging, I totally forgot Proverbs 16:18, which says

Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.

I fell, alright! The Law of Unintended Consequences (and Murphy’s Law) were very busy with me that night. It is only the kindness, graciousness, humility, character and gentle spirit of Orrin Woodward that saved me from total embarrassment and utter shame.

I am telling you this (and making public my foolishness) for one reason: We all look for leaders to follow, to emulate, to seek to become what they represent. Leaders who show such humility and character as Orrin Woodward did with me are worth following anywhere, and for any reason.

Your Cross, And Mine, Too . . .

Tall, dark,

But not at all handsome;

Sturdy, wooden,

But not at all attractive;

It was heavy and rough;

No one had smoothed it with love.

There was no love at all

In that object on the hill.

It was painful to die there,

And humiliation was there in abundance.

At least,

That’s how the world saw it . . .

But You knew differently,

So You went there.

The specter of its pain

Hung over Your joyous cradle.

No one else saw it follow You,

But You did, all Your life.

A secret burden, a private pain;

No one understood when You shared it.

Why should they?

Things were going so well.

It was there when You rode into Jerusalem,

But You went anyway.

You really didn’t want to go;

You sweat blood in agony of soul.

But You knew it had to be done,

So You went anyway.

You went and died,

To give me new life.

Tall, dark,

But not at all handsome;

Sturdy, wooden,

But not at all attractive;

It was heavy and rough;

No one had smoothed it with love.

There was no love at all

In that object on the hill.

No love at all in the Cross,

Until You came.

Now, I have to get on mine,

Just like You did.

Crucifying daily my desires and will,

So that Your plans may be accomplished.

Just like You,

I have the option of saying, “No!”

I could,

But we both know where that will get me.

I’m afraid of it,

Because I know it will cost me;

It will cost me in pain inside,

And maybe outside, too.

It hurts to die;

But You know that, You did it.

I don’t want to die; not to myself, not to anyone;

I hate pain, inner and outer.

But if You did, I can,

With You helping me.

Because if I don’t, I’ll never fully know Your love,

And that would kill me.

To Number My Days – Poetry

Though we think it long,

Life is really brief,

Whether it be bitter or sweet.

Then after our lives,

An eternity we’ll live

And our blessed Creator we’ll meet.

Teach me, O God,

To number my days

As I walk before Your sight.

That from their brief span

I may learn to be wise;

Teach me to count them up right.

I only have a short time

To live on this world

And tell others of You and Your ways.

Teach me, O God,

Not to put Your will off,

But to obey You as long as it’s “today.”

Help me, O God,

As I walk along,

To live in your grace and truth,

That I may become

Wise in Your ways,

And let You renew my strength to a youth’s.

I pray, O my God,

That should I fall,

You’d prompt me to quickly repent.

And I pray that You’ll help me

Turn others to You,

So it’s not straight to Hell that they’re sent.

Life is too short

And time goes too fast

To waste any of my brief time.

Teach me, O Lord,

To number my days,

That I may more wisely spend mine.

I repent, O Lord,

For the wasting of time

That I’ve been guilty in the past.

Teach me, I pray, been guilty in the past.

To better do Your will,

That before You my deeds will last.

My life will soon end

And my work will be done,

And I’ll spend eternity with You.

Teach me, I ask,

To well count my days,

So I’ll never regret what I didn’t do.

When the time is short

Before the end of my life

And my work is almost through,

Because I know You’ll have taught me

To count all my days,

I rejoice at an eternity to spend with You.

Psalm 90:12 (NIV)

Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

“Our greatest fear shouldn’t be that we won’t succeed, but rather, that we’ll succeed at something that doesn’t matter!” (attributed to D. L. Moody)