Monday, January 30, 2012
Appointment Season
And so it begins! I saw the first Facebook announcement of a new appointment yesterday, so now begins my (and many of my colleagues') obsessive attention to any appointment related details. Still waiting for the official announcements to go on the website...I hear there are at least two more this week, but I don't know who they are...so I shall keep checking till they post... :-)
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Hello, My Name is Sarah, and I'm Addicted to the Harvard Business Review
A couple years ago, one of my fellow clergywomen mentioned to me that she read the Harvard Business Review regularly. I was at the time a somewhat avid reader of church leadership stuff, so/but that hadn't occurred to me. I started by picking up a book by some HBR writers, then dove into a subscription. After a short lapse in my subscription (an infant and reading didn't work too well together), I recently got back into it (I'd always kept up with the online articles that were free) and boy is it like a drug--I'm addicted again!
The odd and sad thing is that most church leadership stuff is like three years behind the HBR. THREE YEARS! While I'm glad my colleagues have of late been hearing about adaptive challenges and technical problems (though often somewhat incorrectly explained) it is perhaps symptomatic of the mediocrity that we've come to accept in our churches that such a delay is acceptable.
Ugh. Mediocrity. That word haunts me. It haunts me as I contsantly strive to do better, while dealing with the realities of limited time, skills and resources. The mediocrity which churches put up with in their staff and leaders. The mediocrity that is disguised as politeness or Christian grace.
I get so frustrated with myself and others doing JUST ENOUGH or not even that, because I believe God has gifted all of us, and we ought to use our gifts to the fullest. And that we are all called to discern where God calls us and others to serve. And to speak honestly and with grace when a season has passed or when there is room for growth. But to do all this without letting our own smallest selves or self-focus cloud our vision. Too much.
So I find myself falling back into the comforting embrace of the Harvard Business Review, where I can dream of a world in which the church actually tries to do a good job, not just get by or wait for someone else to interpret the latest learnings and best practices (and often, to do so poorly).
This morning, I am reading and reflecting upon several HBR articles, and I hope to be able to post here as I get a chance about some of the articles. This morning, my mind is just swimming in all the wonderful business-y, leadership wisdom of it all. It's fun for me to think through how these corporate teachings are applicable or must be adapted for local churches...and I look forward to getting your feedback. For now, I've got to get my brain back into HBR-gear :-)
The odd and sad thing is that most church leadership stuff is like three years behind the HBR. THREE YEARS! While I'm glad my colleagues have of late been hearing about adaptive challenges and technical problems (though often somewhat incorrectly explained) it is perhaps symptomatic of the mediocrity that we've come to accept in our churches that such a delay is acceptable.
Ugh. Mediocrity. That word haunts me. It haunts me as I contsantly strive to do better, while dealing with the realities of limited time, skills and resources. The mediocrity which churches put up with in their staff and leaders. The mediocrity that is disguised as politeness or Christian grace.
I get so frustrated with myself and others doing JUST ENOUGH or not even that, because I believe God has gifted all of us, and we ought to use our gifts to the fullest. And that we are all called to discern where God calls us and others to serve. And to speak honestly and with grace when a season has passed or when there is room for growth. But to do all this without letting our own smallest selves or self-focus cloud our vision. Too much.
So I find myself falling back into the comforting embrace of the Harvard Business Review, where I can dream of a world in which the church actually tries to do a good job, not just get by or wait for someone else to interpret the latest learnings and best practices (and often, to do so poorly).
This morning, I am reading and reflecting upon several HBR articles, and I hope to be able to post here as I get a chance about some of the articles. This morning, my mind is just swimming in all the wonderful business-y, leadership wisdom of it all. It's fun for me to think through how these corporate teachings are applicable or must be adapted for local churches...and I look forward to getting your feedback. For now, I've got to get my brain back into HBR-gear :-)
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Making Things More Interesting
This past weekend, Chris, Anna and I traveled to St. Louis (well, technically Belleville, IL and environs) for the funeral of his grandmother. Having recently celebrated her 104th birthday, Grandma (Anna) Stutz lived quite a life! Quite well-educated for a farmer's wife, she raised two daughters (including Chris' mother Mary), taught for many years (save the break she was forced to take when, during the Great Depression, she got married and her job was required to be given to a head-of-household) and contributed to her community in many ways. Chris and I found ourselves reflecting upon all the things she saw change during her life, and it's almost mind-boggling to think about! Unfortunately, by the time I got to meet Grandma Stutz a few years ago (it was her 100th birthday and Chris and I traveled out to celebrate her birthday with the family) she was already suffering pretty severely from the mental effects of old ages and Alzheimer (I don't know her actual diagnosis but it seemed to me like others I've seen suffering in that way). In a time when there was a very definite idea of what someone in her place in life would do with their lives, she certainly found ways to make it interesting and chart her own path!
I wondering what the world would be like if more people tried to make things more interesting (well, and if some people did the opposite :-) ). One of the funniest moments on our trip was when, as Chris, Anna and I drove to the other side of St. Louis to visit a church we'd heard of, I was commenting on the sights and, as I told Chris, trying to make St. Louis "more exotic." As we drove, on our right, I saw a cement sculpture/sign, and asked Chris (being, as I was, in my "exotic" mind frame and not really paying enough attention to the fencing just behind it) what a "NOO" was. Chris about crashed the car he was laughing so hard. A zoo. It was a zoo. In my attempts to make things more exotic, I had missed the one thing that truly was exotic :-)
It was a mom moment, what can I say?! :-) Whatever. I was reading it sideways. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
The world is full of people who march to the beat of someone else's drummer. And sometimes we need to do that. But some of the best achievements in life have happened because someone refused to be constrained by what everyone else thought was possible. For good and for bad.
I recently saw an episode of Biography on Sam Walton. Here was a guy who bucked what everyone else thought was possible. And did so often at great financial risk to himself. And whatever you think of his legacy and the impact of Walmart on our society--he did indeed achieve a great deal.
There are many ways we can break expectations--and it requires setting priorities. For some, it may have to do with our influence on our families. Our commitment to helping others. Our skill at something in particular. And yes, sometimes even our business success. It may be helping people become and grow as disciples, or providing housing for those without. God has called each of us, I can convinced, to shatter the roles that society would seek to push us into. God has called us to make things more interesting. May 2012 be the year we do just that!
I wondering what the world would be like if more people tried to make things more interesting (well, and if some people did the opposite :-) ). One of the funniest moments on our trip was when, as Chris, Anna and I drove to the other side of St. Louis to visit a church we'd heard of, I was commenting on the sights and, as I told Chris, trying to make St. Louis "more exotic." As we drove, on our right, I saw a cement sculpture/sign, and asked Chris (being, as I was, in my "exotic" mind frame and not really paying enough attention to the fencing just behind it) what a "NOO" was. Chris about crashed the car he was laughing so hard. A zoo. It was a zoo. In my attempts to make things more exotic, I had missed the one thing that truly was exotic :-)
It was a mom moment, what can I say?! :-) Whatever. I was reading it sideways. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
The world is full of people who march to the beat of someone else's drummer. And sometimes we need to do that. But some of the best achievements in life have happened because someone refused to be constrained by what everyone else thought was possible. For good and for bad.
I recently saw an episode of Biography on Sam Walton. Here was a guy who bucked what everyone else thought was possible. And did so often at great financial risk to himself. And whatever you think of his legacy and the impact of Walmart on our society--he did indeed achieve a great deal.
There are many ways we can break expectations--and it requires setting priorities. For some, it may have to do with our influence on our families. Our commitment to helping others. Our skill at something in particular. And yes, sometimes even our business success. It may be helping people become and grow as disciples, or providing housing for those without. God has called each of us, I can convinced, to shatter the roles that society would seek to push us into. God has called us to make things more interesting. May 2012 be the year we do just that!
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