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How To Change Something You Don't Like

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Are you frustrated with the direction of a current plan or program? Do you have a healthy sense of discontent about the outcome of a current path or direction? If so, it may be time for change. If you are thinking about leading change in the near future you may want to consider the following actions to help you achieve your goal.

1. Cast Your VISION
Most people who set out to lead change understand this step. I just want us to think differently about it. If your goal is to have 100 people attend your next event why not change your thinking? To do this simply add a zero to the end of your number. Planning an even for 100 is much different than 1000 and it will cause you to at least rethink your vision and possibly expand it. Be bold!

2. Unite Your TEAM
You can’t lead change with one charismatic personality. Sure, a charismatic personality can spark a change but without any fuel nothing will be accomplished. A united team with like minded personalities is what it takes to really accomplish change. I can't begin to tell you what one short-sighted team member can do to the change process. The following story, an urban legend, tells us the perils of people going in the opposite directions.

On March 2, 1944, Train 8017 departed from Salerno, Italy.  A few hours after Train 8017 left Salerno, it brought death to more people than perhaps any other train wreck in history. Yet, it wasn't derailed, burned or damaged in any way.

Shortly after 1:00 AM, the heavy train with 600 passengers lumbered into the Italian tunnel called Calleria delle Armi.  Precisely what went wrong inside the tunnel no one knows for sure.  The one certain fact is that when the two locomotives pulling the train reached mid-tunnel, the drive wheels began to slip.  The wheels lost traction and the train stopped.

All else is speculation, for both engineers died at the controls. Carbon monoxide snuffed out the lives of nearly 500 passengers.

Ironically, when authorities began clearing the bodies, they found the leading locomotive unbraked with its controls set in reverse.  The second locomotive was unbraked with its throttle set full ahead.

Apparently, when the train stopped the two engineers had fatally different ideas of what to do.  They were pulling and pushing against each other.  Some have speculated that no lives would have been lost if the engineers had both been clear in the direction they were going.

3. Decide Your STRATEGY
You have cast a vision and you have a united team, now what? It’s time to get moving! Most visionaries stop at step two when real change takes place here, at step three. Strategy is the plan, the blue prints to the building. Strategy involves systems, structure and process. Do you have a plan beyond your vision? Here are five questions you can ask yourself to get thinking strategically.

What is my end result? (Outcome)
Who is helping me? (Team)
When will I start? (Time)
Where is the biggest challenge? (Risk)
Why am I doing this? (Reason)

How! The biggest question of all. I will address this in the next post as we talk about the 10 steps you need to take in order to lead change.

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/arthurjohnpicton/4383221264/
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How To Accomplish Your Goals Part 2

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In part one we looked at the What, Why and Where of Goals. Today we will take a look at the How.

How do we accomplish our goals? I believe It takes two components in order to see a goal through to a successful completion. The first is Power and the second is a Process.

The Power

The power (will power) to accomplish the goals you have set are critical. If you don’t “want” to accomplish your goals then the best plan will not work. As a believer we have the power of God at our disposal as well. Ephesians 3:20 GW says, “Glory belongs to God, whose power is at work in us. By this power he can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine.”

I can think of at least three traits that give us the power we need to accomplish any goal we have set.

1. Ownership
It’s your goal. You are responsible for the nurturing, care and completion of it. Don’t blame others if you are not being successful.

2. Faith
Set big goals. The bigger the goal the more faith you will need to accomplish it. Keep in mind that “without faith no one can please God.” Hebrews 11:6a CEV.

3. Determination
Determination carries the idea of single mindedness and resolve. It’s the willingness to complete the goal regardless of circumstances.

The Process

There are several ideas when it comes to setting and accomplishing smart goals. In fact, a quick Google search on “SMART Goals” will reveal hundreds of different thoughts, plans, ideas and acrostics on the topic. The bottom line is you need to have a process in order to turn your goal in to reality. Here are three steps to get you going.

Step One: Pick Your Category
Take a look back at How to Accomplish Your Goals Part 1 for a deeper look at categories but as a quick reminder you should identify the life categories you feel are important to you. Some of the areas include, personal, family, spiritual, career, friends and hobbies.

Step Two: Prepare Your Goal
Be specific and make sure your goal is attainable.

Be specific when you write your goal. Part of being specific is making sure it’s measurable and has a time frame attached to it. Also, make sure your goal is attainable. If your goal is to big you will get frustrated. If your goal is to small you will get complacent. Find a good balance and then break it down into bite sized chunks.

Step Three: Plan Your Steps
Steps are part of the process and we must plan our steps in order to achieve our goal. Each step we take will get us closer to accomplishment. Some goals may have two or three steps and others may have seven or eight.

Regardless of how many steps it will take for you to accomplish your goal it is important that you see them. When you see your goal and potential steps it gives you perspective. You can see where you started, where you are going and how far you have come.

Example of The Three Steps

You can download the following example along with a practice worksheet here.

Step One: Pick Your Category
Family

Step Two: Prepare Your Goal
To Live a Balanced Life With My Family This Year

Step Three: Plan Your Steps
1. Identify 3 other people struggling with work-life balance.
2. Ask them to be in an accountability group.
3. Meet with group weekly for three months.
4. Purchase and read one book on work life balance.
5. Create a family calendar with vacation times and family days.
6. Attend a conference or workshop on balanced living.
7. Schedule a one hour block time each week to stop and reflect.
8. Evaluate success with my family in six months.

What is the biggest goal you have set for yourself this year?

Photo Credit: shutterstock.com Image ID: 42547162 Copyright: Eugene Sergeev

 

How To Accomplish Your Goals Part 1

What Are Goals?
Start at the beginning I always say. For a quick review on writing, setting and accomplishing goals, I thought we could start with a few different definitions to get us goaling.

  • Webster says, “a goal is something that you are trying to do or achieve.”
  • Wordsmyth says, “a goal is a result or end that one desires and works for.”
  • Wikipedia says, “a goal is a desired result a person or system envisions, plans and commits to achieve.”

I like what Wikipedia says, especially the four key words near the end of the sentence. Envision, Plan, Commit, and Achieve. These are four great steps to starting and accomplishing any goal we set but more on that in part two. Let’s move on to our next question.

Why Should We Have Goals?

We should have goals because

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4 Components of a Healthy Volunteer Culture

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How can you know if your volunteer leadership culture is healthy, suffering from a cold or flu or needs CPR or immediate resuscitation? Here is a quick reminder about what components can play a key role in defining a healthy volunteer culture.

1. Consistent Performance
Growing a healthy volunteer culture takes time. Culture as I define it is when people say, “This is the way we do things around here.” Culture is not what is written on the walls but how you live between them on a daily basis. Culture is what gets done and repeated over time. Here are three healthy and consistent behaviors you should see over time.

  • Positive Attitude
  • Team Spirit
  • Enthusiastic Service

2. Common Language
Each successful volunteer culture usually has a unique language. Maybe a custom or word that is unique to their leaders or culture. It’s something I would describe as “tribal.” It’s a form of cultural glue that seems to hold them together. They share a common vision and

5 Steps To Stop Seasonal Stress

It’s a busy month, right? Compressed schedules, more work, fighting crowds, finding a place to park. The feeling of hurry and anxiety creep in and we move from a moment of stress to a model of stress.

We begin to show signs of fatigue. We are easily frustrated, we have no balance and we can’t seem to find a moment to breathe. It’s in this season, this month, this moment. we need to move from “Distress to De-stress.” Here are five steps to make that happen and put an end to seasonal stress.

1. Side Step
Side step your normal busyness and hurried routine throughout the day for a few minutes. Get “out of the flow” of hurry. Find that place of quiet for a few moments. Maybe your car or in the corner of a room so you can remove yourself from hurry and be alone. “After Jesus fed the five thousand He left to be alone.” Matthew 14:21NLT

2. Sit Still
Sit still for a few moments. Mary and I did this activity for a session we were teaching last month on what happens when we sit still. We had the entire group sit still for three minutes and then asked for some feedback on how they felt to sit still for three minutes.

Most people said they felt anxious and tense BUT after a minute or so they began to relax. Some wanted more time! Sit still in silent

Why You Should Change Chairs At Church

Changing your chair at church isn't that big of a deal, or is it? As it turns out, it IS a big deal. Not so much for us, but for others. Now I will tell you that we normally sit in the same spot every week. Right side, second row, middle seats. Why? Well, our friends sit there, we like it there and we are comfortable there. All good reasons to keep sitting in the same spot.

However, for the last two weeks we mixed it up a bit, we changed our seats at church. We moved from the right side to the left side. We moved from the second row to the fourth row. We moved from middle seats to end seats. And, we created a mild form of chaos in the process. One of the band members even exited stage right to come by and make a funny comment to me about the “big move.” I learned a few things from moving seats that can apply to all of us in one way or another.

What Happened When We Changed Chairs?

It Caused Questions
“Why are you sitting over here?” “Why the change?” “Why did you move over here, did the ticket price go up over there?” Yes, I was asked all three

7 Attitudes To Keep You Soaring

7 Attitudes To Keep You Soaring

Did you know that your attitude will effect your altitude? If you aren’t sure about that then the next time you board an airplane take a look into the flight deck. Better yet, ask the pilot what attitude the plane is in at the moment!

No, you won’t get a laugh. You will most likely get a smile and kind response from the pilot. They may say something like, “right now the plane has a pretty level attitude.” If you have a clever and creative pilot they may say something like this. “Well, last time I checked the plane had a level attitude but, to be honest, the plane is a little unpredictable. Ask me in about 30 minutes and I bet the attitude will have changed.”

What? Are you telling me a plane has attitude? Yes, that's what I am telling you. If you look...