Simply Lead

WELCOME TO AMERICA!!!

2010-05-05T17:08:00.000-07:00

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!

The second bus had a gentleman bus driver who was constantly talking on his cell phone. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t about business. He didn’t drive around the airport like the first bus. He parked across the street and waited. I just happened to notice a bus parked there and walked across the street and asked him if he was there to pick up Urban Saints. He said he was. Good thing I looked. I asked him if he was going to drive over to the curb like the first bus. He said, “Oh no, they need to walk across the street and come here to the bus.” I guess it didn’t matter that many of them had been traveling for 20 hours and had very heavy duffel bags. So ran back across the street and had them carry all their luggage across the street. Once at the bus he opened the cargo doors below the bus and just watched. I started lifting bags, stuffing them into the cramped quarters under the bus. One bag after another. I had to literally into the cargo area on my knees to stack and lift the bags. All the while the bus drive looked one. I did at one point wonder how this not so young man’s back was going to feel after doing all lifting his doctor had told him not to do. Oh well, the job had to get done. Once the bus was stuffed with luggage I climbed onto the bus and asked for the microphone. Once again I said, “WELCOME TO AMERICA!!!!” The cheer repeated.

The third bus is probably why I am telling this story. The bus arrived ten minutes after I called and stopped curbside right by me. The bus driver said, “Why don’t you climb on and I will take you to them.” I did and he drove right up to the curb. He had a big smile and shook my hand. When he climbed out of the bus he opened the storage bay doors and started heaving every last suitcase into the bus. He climbed in it at times, he stopped to wipe his sweat at times, and he stopped to smile at times. Once everyone was in the bus and all the bags were loaded I climbed onto the bus and asked him his name. He said, “My name is Larry.” I said, “Its so nice to meet you Larry!” I asked him if I could use his microphone and I said, “Hello everyone. My name is Scott Congdon and I am the Founder and CEO of Amor Ministries. WELCOME TO AMERICA! After the cheer subsided I said, “And here is Larry…THE GREATEST BUS DRIVER IN ALL OF AMERICA!!!” The bus went wild!!!!!

So you ask why “WELCOME TO AMERICA” is worth mentioning? That’s easy. Several years ago when I landed at the Johannesburg Airport in South Africa, Rainbow FM 90.7 station manager Humphrey Birkenstock met us and greeted us with…”WELCOME TO SOUTH AFRICA!!!!” We will all never forget it. It was authentic. It was exciting. It set the tone. We were in AFRICA! Whenever I land in South Africa I have this expectation that someone is going to once again greet me this way. If they don’t….I am sadly disappointed. I hope that every group land arrives in South Africa, or arrives in the US, or first gets to Mexico hears from one of us…”WELCOME TO MEXICO” or maybe “WELCOME TO AMERICA”, or the classic that Humphrey set the bar for….”WELCOME TO SOUTH AFRICA!!!!” Why not give them all a first impression that may last a lifetime!

The other part of this story is about “Legendary Service.” Its about Larry the bus driver who is greats everyone with a , who takes people out his way, who seats and toils toils to provide the service his can for his customers, and in my mine, greatest cheer for a job so well done. Larry majors in the minors and the majors. He drives a great looking, clean bus and he makes sure his customers are happy and satisfied. Larry looks at the big picture and the small details. It reminds me of how Jesus who died on the cross for all of humanity still made sure that the disciples interrupted their day to allow him to spend time with the children. Its so easy to get focused on the big picture, the big need, the amount of work, and forget the people around you, the customers around you, the people you work with around, and even your family around you.

I won’t forget Larry the bus driver and his “Legendary Service.” I am thinking about writing a letter to the owner of the company and telling him what an incredible servant leader Larry is. No wait, I think I’ll offer Larry a job at Amor. He sure would fit right in! Remember the impression you make. Remember that Christ came to serve, not to be served. And remember, even the small things get notice, if not here on earth, by your heavenly Father. Nothing gets missed!

Team Leader Bible Study Meeting Notes: 3-30-2010

2010-05-05T17:07:00.000-07:00

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.

We acknowledged that we have a culture of allowing us to make mistakes, and learning from them. Now we need to take this to a higher level by supporting and facilitating the sharing of these experiences and lessons in the most appropriate and thorough ways.

2. No Problemo. Scott shared how once in Piedras Negras, Mexico where he worked with a group that was building homes with cement blocks. The youth did a poor job of leveling the blocks. At night the Mexican Pastors would come by the houses and kick down the walls since they though they weren’t adequate. When the group arrived the next meeting they were devastated. So they rebuilt the walls. It happened again that very night. When Scott asked the Pastors why they said, “No bueno, no problemo!” Meaning, “the walls aren’t ‘good’, but its ‘problem’…..just rebuild them.” Scott and trip leader found a cap store in town that printed out, “No Bueno, No Problemo” on the caps. This helped with moral with the group and framed the cultural issue. Its not having an attitude of ‘No.’

Scott further shared how even in the last few months Gayla had shared with him that he was saying ‘no’ to team members somewhat frequently. Something he never used to do. As in chapter three in our book, we need to have default response of ‘no problem’ first, always. We always need to first try and find a positive solution. Doesn’t mean we never say ‘no’. It just means we always start with ‘no problem.’

3. Plan for ‘Legendary Service’. We discussed how ‘planning‘ is essential for us to provide great customer service. The A.A.R. meetings are key to this. The strategic planning process is key to this. Communicating this is essential.

Mexico Is Facing Six Wars Not One

2010-05-05T16:27:00.000-07:00

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

Instead, a paper written by former U.S. Department of Defense Latin America chief Roger Pardo-Maurer, whose first draft was published by The Small Wars Journal, leads me to wonder about the other five critical challenges that Mexico is facing, unbeknown to much of the rest of the world.
First, what will Mexico do when it runs out of oil? Oil revenues represent up to 40 percent of Mexico’s federal budget, but it’s rapidly running out of oil. The U.S. Energy Information Administration projects that the country will be forced to start importing oil in 2017.
Second, what will Mexico do when it runs out of water? Mexico City already has acute water problems, and water shortages are already causing tensions along border states. And global climate change is likely to make Mexico even more arid than it is today, experts say.
Third, what will Mexico do to better compete with China, India and other emerging powers with better education systems and more skilled work forces? A recent World Economic Forum study into Mexico’s competitiveness conducted by Harvard University economists concluded that the country’s main problem to compete in the world economy is its bad education system, and that it’s not doing much about it.
Fourth, what will Mexico do with its new generations of unemployed young people if it can no longer “export” them to the United States because of stricter immigration procedures? An estimated 1 million young Mexicans enter the labor force every year, and Mexico needs to grow at about 5 percent a year – much more than it has recently – to absorb them.
Fifth, what will Mexico do to bring its indigenous people to the modern economy? While recent governments have poured billions into southern states, where most of the indigenous people live, since the 1994 Chiapas rebellion, it is not clear that the region is benefiting as much as northern states from Mexico’s insertion in the global economy.
Intrigued, I asked Pardo-Maurer whether he is afraid, like some of his most alarmist colleagues, that Mexico might become an ungovernable place, a “failed state.”
“Mexico is very unlikely to be a failed state because of narco-terrorists,” he told me. “It is far more likely to become a failed state because of these other issues, and I fear that we will miss sight of them if we reduce our agenda with Mexico to narco-trafficking.”
In my view, judging from what happened in Colombia, the tighter U.S.-Mexico security relations will be able to squash the drug cartels militarily, or drive them to other countries. But it won’t do much to reduce narcotics trafficking while U.S. drug consumption remains at the current levels, and it will certainly not do a thing to help solve the other five wars that Mexico is facing.
The United States has been lucky to have neighbors as peaceful as Canada and Mexico. Russia, China and many European countries would love to be that fortunate.
If President Barack Obama wants to keep it that way, he should launch the Community of the Americas he promised during the campaign – a trade, energy, security, infrastructure and education alliance that would allow all countries in the region, including the United States, to compete more effectively in the global economy. And the place to start would be Mexico.
Andres Oppenheimer is a columnist for the Miami Herald. His e-mail address is aoppenheimer@miamiherald.com.

Thoughts on Workplace Productvity and Morale South Africa Style

2010-05-05T16:26:00.000-07:00

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.

A local Johannesburg office designer offered some great tips to improve the work environment which ultimate improves productivity and morale.

1. Provide natural lighting. Studies show that natural light pushes up productivity by 21%. Open blinds and plan offices with lots of windows.

2. Mix up the seating arrangements. Introduce non-traditional seating areas so senior and junior staff can interact freely.

3. Go virtual. Encourage staff to work from in mobile environments or from home. We have the technology and not all suburbs are load-shedded simultaneously.

4. Save energy. Motion sensors can be set to switch power off when the staff has left the building..

5. Go green. Plants and artifacts increase productivity by 15%.

6. Encourage discussions. Have conversations not meetings. Don’t print something you can email, don’t e-mail something you can talk about, and switch your computer off when you to to a meeting.

CEO Blogging (and any kind of blogging)

2010-05-05T16:24:00.000-07:00

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.

2. READ ABOUT BLOGS
One of the best things I did early on was start reading some good books from my local book stores about blogging. This has helped immensely. I recommend the following:

Publishing a Blog with Blogger: Visual QuickProject Guide

Clear Blogging: How People Blogging Are Changing the World and How You Can Join Them

Clear Blogging: How People Blogging Are Changing the World and How You Can Join Them

3. STICK WITH THE TEMPLATES
Blogs are actually written in HTML and CSS. A programing language of its own. If you don’t know this code, you could spend a lifetime learning it so you can write it. For some of us, like me, its tempting. I like a challenge. But you have to ask yourself, where is the best place to put your limited time. If you use the templates you can do almost all you need to do without writing code. There are many amazing add-ons that you can copy and paste without knowing these languages, but again, where should you be putting your effort and time. I say its writing content for you blog.

4. DON’T GET HUNG UP ON YOUR AUDIENCE
My first few blog posts were painful. I couldn’t figure out who I should be writing to. Is it our team members (staff), the board of directors, our donors, the general public? It almost caused me to get writers block before I even wrote my first blog. START WRITING. As you write each new post you will start figuring out who you want to write to. And you may decided to create another blog or blogs for these different audiences, but don’t worry about it at first. WRITE!!

4. RELAX ABOUT THE GRAMMAR (and typos)
I hated hitting the “POST” button on my first new blogs. It was worse than sending an email to a bunch of people. It was going out into cyberspace and I had little or no control over where it went. It was like launching a missile without knowing where it was headed and what type of damage it was going to do. I made my own rule ,that I reread each post 4 times before I send it. If you look at other people’s blogs you will see that some use no grammar at all: lower case, no punctuation, and practically follow no grammar rules. Write the best you can, and post it. Even after reading my posts 4 times, I almost always find one typo after I post it. I always read a new post at least once to find potential typos.

5. WOULD AN EMAIL (newsletter or zine) WORK BETTER THAN A BLOG
I just had to ask this. I have been asked by several nonprofit leaders about if they should blog after they hear that I have been blogging for some time. In this case I would ask myself, do I have an audience that would read a blog or do they even read blogs? For example, a good friend of mine serves a very good size church. He has managed to collect the email addresses for most of his members. They read emails, they don’t read blogs in this case. I would suggest creating a really nice email template and writing in the text box and sending it as a email. The features of a blog may not be needed or appropriate. You could use something I use like Constant Contact that is actually a very powerful email manager that fairly easily creates amazingly vivid, graphic emails/enewsletters for small and huge lists of email recipients. They can even subscribe or unsubscribe to your email on each email page you send. An email would be very sufficient in a lot of cases. And it would be a lot easier and less time consuming to do it this way. Some people, like me, do both. I create a post in my blog, and I have created a template in Constant Contact that looks very similar to my blog post. I send this post via email with Constant Contact that also contains a link to my blog. There is even a subscription to email option on the top left page of my blog.

The best part about all this blogging stuff it that its fluid. Write is such a way that people can respond, reply, comment, and add to your posts.

Anybody have any points they would like to add?

Why a leadership blog?

2010-01-20T16:22:00.000-08:00

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!