J.R. Lee

I love this quote from Bill Hybels:

Make no mistake, spiritual leadership rises and falls on a person’s ability to connect daily with the Spirit. Skill, experience and instinct are pathetically inadequate if you want to be a spiritual leader. It is the matchless power of the Living God exploding through everything you do that makes a strong leader. Leaders worth following are forged in the brute reality of their personal walk with God.

If you are a leader, in any capacity, this is something that we can’t afford to file away in the back of our mind.  Sometimes that which seems the most simple is the easiest to forget.  If I forget everything – it better not be that.

• We had another great day on Sunday.
• 11:00 was a little rowdier than 9:30.  The week before, it was the other way around.
• It’s interesting to see how each crowd has its own personality.
• I have 2 chairs, a recliner, and a desk/chair in my office.  I get the most work done while laying on the floor.  This isn’t a backdoor reference to prayer. I literally have notebooks, pens, books, etc. laying in a semi-circle and I tend to get more done that way.
• Next week I will be riding to a one-day event in Charlotte with Gary, Michael, and Tony.  Should be a blast.
• Emily (Blake’s wife) is about to have a baby any day now.  I am pumped for them!  I bet Gavin is going to come out looking like a miniature body-builder.
• Lexi turns 7 less than a week from now.  Insanity.
• She has had 22 kids RSVP already to her party on Saturday.  That seems like a bunch of kids.
• Our new offices are sweet.  I think I’ve already said that, but I’ll say it again.
• Unbelievable stories have been pouring in from people whose lives have been changed recently.  When I say that some of those stories are crazy – trust me. They are crazy.
• Sunday is going to be an incredible day.  I think this series just builds every week.  Can’t wait!
• Usually I write these lists a few days in advance. This one was off the cuff.
• I have no idea what “off the cuff” really means.
• I love what God is doing right now at Freedom!  Love it!

Here are a few pics from the last two series’ courtesy of Allyson.  She’s a friend, neighbor, HazMat woman, former GA Tech cheerleader (even though her husband is a die hard Bulldogs fan), and a great photographer.  For more photos, check out the Flickr page.

I read a lot of blogs.  I liked this one and decided to re-post.  Here is an excerpt (Entire article here)

Can you perform your job/role better than someone has been doing it for 10 years longer than you?
Would you be interested in getting to the top of your game in less time and before the competition?

The secret is to get past the plateau. With most simple tasks we reach our highest level of proficiency after about 50 hours of practice and then our performance skills become automated and we stop learning. This explains why a 20-year-veteran brain surgeon is not likely to be more skilled than a 5-year newbie by virtue of time on the job.

What makes the difference between those that reach the top in sport and business is two things:

1. Intentional Practice
2. Immediate feedback against predetermined standards

Intentional practice is perfect practice and perfect practice makes perfect. Intentional practice requires knowing “Why” you are doing what you are doing and complete “Attention” to the task. Usually it is only possible to maintain this high level of concentration for an hour and usually in the morning when our minds are fresh.

Getting feedback against a known standard coupled with intentional practice, accelerates learning. With feedback we can make minute adjustments to our behaviour that makes the difference between a silver and gold medal. If this feedback is also positive and encouraging it will also build self-confidence and therefore motivation to keep practicing.

So what would fast track your career?

Skills such as getting along with peers, motivating a team to improve performance, influencing you boss to make better decisions are key components of leadership development, yet most people don’t think of these as things to practice.  We might read a book, take a course, even an MBA but do we think about practicing and getting feedback from a coach?

If you are serious about wanting to fast track your career you need to identify which competencies are going to make the difference and then I advise start your intentional practice and get some feedback.

Remember PPP – Perfect Practice makes Perfect!

We had over 100 First Timers at Freedom Church on Sunday.  Super proud of the crew at Freedom for inviting so many of their friends/family/etc.  Keep it up!

This week we pick up with week 2 of Full of It.   If you want to let people hear what we are all about – then get them here this Sunday.  It’s going to be a great day.