Microsoft’s mission is stated the following way:
Our mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.
This mission statement is energizing to me because it aligns well with my values. I want to empower others to be the absolute best they can be. Empowerment is not easy. It requires intentional action and space to allow individuals to take action themselves and to learn and grow.
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I love to teach and recently had the opportunity to visit and facilitate a college course at Wichita State University. The course was hosted by the Kansas Leadership Center. The curriculum is based on principles of Adaptive Leadership from Ron Heifetz and Marty Linsky.
The definition of leadership shared in the course is:
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Recently my family and I went hiking with some friends through a slot canyon. I carried our one-year-old in a backpack. The hike was less than three miles and had a small elevation gain. This sounded like the perfect hike for our kids who are out of hiking shape.
A few days prior to our hike there had been a large rainstorm. This meant that the hike, rather than being a dry riverbed, had a small stream with running water. This made the hike beautiful and fun. As we hiked, the water became deeper, and it was progressively more difficult to cross the river without getting wet.
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My brother is a big fan of investing and personal growth, I love asking him about the books he is reading and what he is learning. In a recent conversation, he could not stop raving about the book The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek. I have not yet read the book but know of the concepts and have been thinking about writing about them for some time.
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The exercise of writing down and reflecting on the year is useful. I love reading other’s new year resolutions and how they choose to want to become better. I have time to reflect and time to think about what the next year will hold for me and my family.
In my reflection I realized this year was a year of firsts. Here are a few firsts for me and my family in 2021
(more…)I love the opportunity each December to reflect on the birth of the Savior of the world Jesus Christ. The record we have of Christ’s birth and his formative years is sparce. What we do have is special and sacred. This year as I reflect on His birth my thoughts are turned to Mary.
The angel of the Lord who visited Mary while engaged to Joseph said:
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I can be a nerd when it comes to words. In school I never gravitated towards anything that required writing but in teaching, the semantics of words has fascinated me. Unique insight can be found in the meaning and nuance found in words. There are two words I was pointed to this week that got me thinking.
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Often when I talk to friends or colleagues, I will ask them “what are you reading” and I get some great book recommendations from this question.
My colleague recommended to me Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath and a week or so after finishing the book he asked me what stuck for me. I was surprised at how little I remembered.
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A little over a month ago my wife and I heard a crash just down the hall. Our 13-month-old son had managed to find the cord to the crock pot plugged into the counter and tugged on it just enough that the contents of the crockpot fell on him and the floor. My son sustained severe burns and we spent the following three weeks in the hospital with him as he healed.
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I have been in the “corporate” world for nearly 10 years and only recently arrived at an insight that I knew intellectually but have not actively put into practice. This story will sound familiar.
A new year is coming and the business needs to forecast and prepare for the future. Meetings start to spin up on reviewing or creating a strategy for the team. It takes weeks (sometimes months) to get everyone aligned and decide on a strategic direction, the north star, for the near future.
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I teach and invite people to act. Proud husband, father and amateur pizzaiolo