10 Minute Monday: Passing it on

Tags

children, faith, family, leadership, youth

I’m not sure who was more excited, Little Guy or me. It seems just like yesterday that he was in the youngest group at Vacation Bible Camp (VBS), enjoying crafts, games, stories, and silly songs. But last week, Little Guy was a Junior Leader-In-Training (LIT).

Every morning during the car ride, we discussed some of the things he liked and disliked about his week. We decided, when you are serving others through volunteering:

1. It’s not always about you. Chasing balls, blowing bubbles, and picking up wet sponges after little kids in the summer heat for 3 hours, was sometimes tiring and boring. Leading sometimes means doing dirty jobs behind the scenes. But it also means getting the job done, setting others up for success, and making happy memories for others along the way.
2. No job is too small or unimportant. From teaching memory verses, leading songs and preparing snacks, to painting sets and running games. Every job is important. If no one had set up the sidewalk chalk, there wouldn’t have been any beautiful drawings.
3. Age is irrelevant. Too many people make excuses. The volunteers last week ranged from 10 to 70+. While not everyone could do every job, everyone had a job to do!
4. Many hands make light work. When everyone works together, the job gets done faster…and it can be more fun! (Sometimes there’s even pizza).

Teaching our kids to be leaders is like running a relay race. As adults, we need to strive to pass the baton to our young runners. We can’t just teach them with our words; we have to train them up by modelling a servant heart and a servant attitude. One day, in the not-so-distant future, Little Guy and the generations after him, will be in leadership positions; how I ran the race and passed the baton will be just as important then, as it is right now.

Little Guy had a great week and great leaders to train him up. I’m so very thankful!

***

This has been a “10 Minute Monday” post (where I write about whatever I want for a minimum 10 minutes, no editing – mayhem, memories, maudlin mumblings, or  “mwa ha ha” moments.

The photo above came from Pinterest (something new I’ve just discovered, along with choco-coco ice cream.

Multipliers and Diminishers

Tags

faith, leadership, music

Are you a Multiplier or a Diminisher? Before you start hyperventilating because you’ve just read two terms that sound suspiciously like MATH, take a deep breath…I’m actually talking about two terms coined by Liz Wiseman, President of the Wiseman Group and author of the book, Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter. Ms. Wiseman was one of the speakers at the Leadership Conference I attended in October. And I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately – which will I choose to be?

A Mulitplier is a leader who uses their intelligence, skill, and/or capacity to amplify the intelligence of their volunteers/employees (“minions”) in order to increase the performance of their organization.  The opposite is a Diminsher – someone who uses their intelligence to get their own ideas out and the “workers working” (usually their way). Multipliers believe people are smart and figure things out themselves. They share responsibility and create environments where minions want to use and share their best for their leader. Diminishers believe people won’t figure things out without them. They micromanage and create stress-filled environments where the minions are obliged to accept their leader’s ideas.

We all have multipliers and diminishers in our relationships – work, church, friends, sports teams, families, etc. During the conference, we were asked to write down the name of one Multiplier in our life and jot down what they had done. I immediately thought of a very creative young man at our church. He has an incredible ability to place and encourage people in positions and then challenge them to grow in them. He has done it with others, and he has done it for me.

A few year ago, he invited me to come out to a worship team practice. I was terrified – what could I possibly have to contribute to this group? They had already been working together for months; they had established relationships and rapport, not to mention developed their own sound. I could play the flute or piano, but with a structured, classical background, not a contemporary one.

I showed up; he sat me down at the piano and explained how he played with the group using chord structures, but encouraged me to make mistakes discover how to play in a way that worked for me. Then he handed me sheet music – typed lyrics with letters penciled in over top. No notes. No chords. I spent most of the night listening, making notes, and playing approximately 2 notes…at the wrong time. At the end of practice, he asked me what I thought…choking back tears, I told him I didn’t know if I could do this. He encouraged me to take the music home, play with it, make mistakes…

My stubbornness kicked in and I worked at it and the next practice was slightly less disturbing. Slightly. My technical ability stretched quickly in a “trial by fire” kind of way, and in the process, I rediscovered something important that I hadn’t realized I was missing – joy in music.

Within a year, we lost 3 key band members and I found myself in the position of trying to continue with 1 other member. Suddenly my responsibilities extended beyond practices – I was being called upon to choose the music and to coordinate with the leadership. I felt the responsibility deeply; I often felt overwhelmed by insecurity. But my multiplier was still encouraging in the background.

We started evening worship services – and my multiplier started to push me encourage me to lead, not hide behind the piano. I am an introvert by nature, happier in the shadows. I couldn’t stand in front of people to speak and sing. I thought he was nuts! But after much prayer and conversation, I took that leap of faith, and it was an amazing experience.

My confidence (and amazement) continue to grow (not to mention my piano skills). None of that would have been possible without his willingness to inspire me to try new things and to discover how to do it in a way that worked for me. I will be forever grateful to him. At times, I have been a diminisher to others, so I am praying for opportunities to follow his example. I want to support others and encourage their growth. I want to be a multiplier too.

Leadership Conference

Tags

faith, leadership, midlife crisis, music, worship

Part of my mid-life crisis has involved contemplating what makes a person a leader. I have had a couple of people in positions of authority, and who I respect, hint that they see leadership potential in me. I don’t see it! That doesn’t mean it isn’t there, and I certainly don’t want to be my own obstacle in reaching and using what leadership skills may exist. I can be my own worst enemy.

A few months ago I received an email that said “you should go” with a link. The link was for a Lead Worship Conference with Paul Baloche (for those who don’t know who that is, he is a well-known Christian song writer and worship leader). It looked great, but I had some pretty lame excuses why I shouldn’t go…The next email came from someone higher up the food chain telling me “we want you to go and we’ll be paying for it”.

So Saturday morning, I woke at 6 a.m. to the sound of sleet hitting the windows. Lovely! I got dressed, curled my hair, put on my make-up, and was ready to go by 7:30. Long after our group arrived and registered, I felt like a poser – what was I doing here with all these talented people? But once the worship service started, I didn’t’ care any more. It was like being at a concert – light displays, cameras, and amazing sound. Cool factor: they were recording for a live album so my voice is in that crowd! And I got lost in the music…

While I learned a number of practical things, it was the affirmations, like the heart of a worship leader (so maybe their ideas aren’t so far off?). It wasn’t just in what they were teaching, but in how they demonstrated it– with humility and love for each person.

If I had to choose 3 key points, they would be:

1) The secret to being a worship leader is to be in the secret place. Our personal life reflects our commitment and our worship.

2) God calls us to occupy the place He has put us in and our worship will overflow into that place.

3) leading is a privilege because we are given the potential to bring about an explosion of God’s power in broken people’s lives.

I feel a little less like a poser, thought I still have many doubts about my abilities and my place. I’m curious to see just where it might be leading…