We have talked for years about how important ‘first impressions‘ are. Everything from how you just a have few moments to make that impression to how its almost impossible to change someones attitude about a first impression once its been made. We have often referred to whoever was at the receptionist/from desk as the “Director of First Impressions“. I would say that everyone of us at Amor wears the ‘Director of First Impressions” title at one time or another. I had an experience yesterday at the Los Angeles airport recently that reminded me how important this all is.
I was helping 144 kids from the United Kingdom board three different buses at three different times from a bus company they had chartered. The first bus was the most challenging. We called the bus company ten minutes before we needed them to arrive. I stood on the street curb looking for the bus. As it turned out she had driven around the airport twice before she saw me as I flagged her down. She was nice, but after she opened the cargo doors she just stood back and watched. We loaded he suitcases ourselves into the underbelly of the bus. Once everyone was on the bus I asked for her microphone. I said, “Hi, I’m Scott Congdon, Founder and CEO of Amor Ministries and I have just one thing to say to you….WELCOME TO AMERICA!!!!” They went wild with rock concert cheer!
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Team Leader Bible Study Meeting Notes: 3-30-2010
We are still in chapter 3 of “Leading at a Higher Level” by Ken Blanchard.
Scott recapped some things from our last meeting when we started chapter 3.
Leading At A Higher Level
1. Recover from your mistakes. Our discussion primarily focused on what had happened last Sunday during the registration time before lead-ins with our groups heading to Mexico. We discovered that we had canceled the lead-in time of noon in order to accommodate the church service 0f our new tenant next door. This left us with very large numbers of people and groups registering at noon and 1pm. Groups were standing around in the heat for long periods of time and they got really thirsty. We made a decision to let groups in the back of the building to fill their water containers. It wasn’t until later that someone got two large thermoses and put them on a table in the front by the registration table. We realized that we hadn’t anticipated the effect of not allowing groups to register at noon and also didn’t anticipate their need for water.
On a broader level we discovered that there are often valuable things that we individually and as a group learn that we don’t share or communicate at a group level. The lessons are learned, but don’t get learn from each other’s experiences very well. Part of our discussion also centered around A.A.R.’s (After Action Reviews) of which one was done shortly after the Sunday registration lesson. So the question arises, how do we create a culture and a system to share our learning experiences? Out of this discussion came the need for communicating the results of these very meetings, the Team Leader Bible Studies. So, the Team Leader Bible Study notes will be posted here each time after each meeting.
Scott recapped some things from our last meeting when we started chapter 3.
Leading At A Higher Level
1. Recover from your mistakes. Our discussion primarily focused on what had happened last Sunday during the registration time before lead-ins with our groups heading to Mexico. We discovered that we had canceled the lead-in time of noon in order to accommodate the church service 0f our new tenant next door. This left us with very large numbers of people and groups registering at noon and 1pm. Groups were standing around in the heat for long periods of time and they got really thirsty. We made a decision to let groups in the back of the building to fill their water containers. It wasn’t until later that someone got two large thermoses and put them on a table in the front by the registration table. We realized that we hadn’t anticipated the effect of not allowing groups to register at noon and also didn’t anticipate their need for water.
On a broader level we discovered that there are often valuable things that we individually and as a group learn that we don’t share or communicate at a group level. The lessons are learned, but don’t get learn from each other’s experiences very well. Part of our discussion also centered around A.A.R.’s (After Action Reviews) of which one was done shortly after the Sunday registration lesson. So the question arises, how do we create a culture and a system to share our learning experiences? Out of this discussion came the need for communicating the results of these very meetings, the Team Leader Bible Studies. So, the Team Leader Bible Study notes will be posted here each time after each meeting.
Mexico Is Facing Six Wars Not One
As mentioned in this morning’s Team Leader Bible Study, below is a link to the article that first appeared in yesterday’s Miami Herald. It explores the idea that, for the future of Mexico, the drug war may pale in comparison to other socio/economic issues. Its a very interesting article for us to review in that it may have implications for Amor’s long term strategic planning. We have to ask ourselves how different Mexico may look in 10 or 20 or perhaps even 30 years……and how can Amor plan to be prepared for these potential futuristic scenarios? What new opportunities await Amor Ministries in our beloved Mexico?
Article Link: Mexico is facing six wars, not one
Article Link: Mexico is facing six wars, not one
Thoughts on Workplace Productvity and Morale South Africa Style
Gayla said it at one of our leadership retreats……. that I am a voracious reader. I didn’t used to be one, that’s for sure. Ask my dad. I remember when I was a freshman in high school and he was reading the newspaper one day. He said that I should read the paper too. “Its important to to know what’s going on in the world”, he said. I replied that kids my age didn’t worry about those things. He still said I should read the newspaper. I picked it up and went straight to the comic section and began to read. I don’t think that’s what he had in mind.
Luckily this sunk into my head finally. Perhaps what my dad said those many years ago did it and perhaps adding what one of my favorite graduate school professors said, “you need to keep reading everything you can get your hands on about your field” cemented this concept. Either way you look at it, I can’t read enough about my field and about the world in general. I am blessed to live an age that gives access to and makes available more information than anyone can read.
One of my favorite readings these days in flipping through local papers from various newspapers in Africa. In particular, one from South Africa called The Citizen. What’s funny about reading these international newspapers is that your never know what you will read that will be really interesting and useful. Recently, I read one that I thought would be great for “Simply Lead”- this blog.
Luckily this sunk into my head finally. Perhaps what my dad said those many years ago did it and perhaps adding what one of my favorite graduate school professors said, “you need to keep reading everything you can get your hands on about your field” cemented this concept. Either way you look at it, I can’t read enough about my field and about the world in general. I am blessed to live an age that gives access to and makes available more information than anyone can read.
One of my favorite readings these days in flipping through local papers from various newspapers in Africa. In particular, one from South Africa called The Citizen. What’s funny about reading these international newspapers is that your never know what you will read that will be really interesting and useful. Recently, I read one that I thought would be great for “Simply Lead”- this blog.
CEO Blogging (and any kind of blogging)
CEO blogging has become a new phenomenon. Many CEOs have been blogging for years, but this still tends to be a rarity. I have been searching for other nonprofit CEOs who are blogging and will start posting links to their blogs as I find them. I have been blogging since January of 2007. I was encouraged to do so by our lead Technology team member and our Director of Communications. I set up a short blog on www.blogspot.com, a blogging tool owned by Google. I looked at several other blogging websites that host blogs and settled on Blogspot since I like the available templates for graphics and ease of use. Recently I have been asked to move my blogs from blogger.com to wordpress.com and am finding wordpress to be a delight. Its worth looking at!
Here are a few key things I have learned in the last year or so of blogging:
1. BE PATIENT
There is a definite learning curve with this stuff. Its can be like a new language. Its different than Microsoft window or publisher. Fortunately with a website like blogger it has become easier and simpler to set up a blog than even a year or so ago. You get to use templates that guide you through the process.
2. KEEP IT SIMPLE
I often get carried away and blogging can consume you if you’re not careful. The templates keep things fairly simple but the options and add-ons are growing by the day. Writing posts for your blog are the most important thing you need to do. All the cool features you can add on are very tempting, but they can suck your time and energy very quickly. I often spend hours an evening just playing with all the new options and seeing what other people are doing on their blogs.
Here are a few key things I have learned in the last year or so of blogging:
1. BE PATIENT
There is a definite learning curve with this stuff. Its can be like a new language. Its different than Microsoft window or publisher. Fortunately with a website like blogger it has become easier and simpler to set up a blog than even a year or so ago. You get to use templates that guide you through the process.
2. KEEP IT SIMPLE
I often get carried away and blogging can consume you if you’re not careful. The templates keep things fairly simple but the options and add-ons are growing by the day. Writing posts for your blog are the most important thing you need to do. All the cool features you can add on are very tempting, but they can suck your time and energy very quickly. I often spend hours an evening just playing with all the new options and seeing what other people are doing on their blogs.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Why a leadership blog?
Sure, I write a couple other blogs, but I just didn’t seem to have a place to ponder and share ongoing leadership issues of serving in a nonprofit organization day to day. I have also felt a need to have a way to communicate and share the current news that has implication for the leadership at Amor. In part, I am very committed to leveraging technology to help Amor Ministries, and I also desire a venue to dialog about developments and issues we are experiencing. Wow, there are a lot of “I” statements in this post.
So, bottom line, this is a journey to explore the musings of leadership at a ministry and sharing and discussing issues that affect what can best be described as leadership, which we all participate in. There isn’t a clear path or even an objective in writing this blog. I will let the issues and ideas flow as we grow and dialogue together.
Perhaps this is like the proverbial “iron sharpens iron” paradigm. We will grow together and strengthen each other as we wrestle with the matters of the day, in the life of ‘leading simply‘ at Amor!
So, bottom line, this is a journey to explore the musings of leadership at a ministry and sharing and discussing issues that affect what can best be described as leadership, which we all participate in. There isn’t a clear path or even an objective in writing this blog. I will let the issues and ideas flow as we grow and dialogue together.
Perhaps this is like the proverbial “iron sharpens iron” paradigm. We will grow together and strengthen each other as we wrestle with the matters of the day, in the life of ‘leading simply‘ at Amor!
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