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Jody Giles Blog
I wish I could always remember to ask these three questions before providing input:
Am I trying to make it better, or make myself look better? Am I trying to make it right, or be right? Am I GIVING advice, or taking their pride?
The same information can be communicated as helpful and appreciated comments or polarizing and destructive critiques. (Frequently advice-giving is dignity-stripping).
Jody Giles Jody@ExhortAdvisors.com
There’s a huge difference between being a leader and being bossy.
When we get called out for not being the leader we could be, often our natural reaction is to get “bossy”. Why? Because that’s the easiest form of leadership. It is also the laziest. When we get bossy, we are imposing our will and vision of the way things should be on another person.
True leadership inspires others to willfully join a vision. In Marketing speak: a pull strategy, not a push.
Being bossy, isn’t being a leader. Because leaders serve a cause. Bossiness is a self-serving technique.
Jody@ExhortAdvisors.com
I remember once seeing U2 invite a young man, a guitar player, to join the band on stage. He seemed to be picked randomly from the crowd. I'm not sure if he had a sign saying "I want to play with you" or it was pre arranged, but it was clear...he was just a normal guy...with some skills. As the song began, Edge was speaking in his ear, over the crowd noise, telling him the chord progression of the song. I, along with every other person that's ever played a guitar, every fan, wanted to be THAT guy. We all wanted to be THAT guy, right then, getting to join the band. Not just any band but U2! A successful and greatly admired band.
I've seen new employees, hand-picked to join a successful organization, do the same thing.
And for those that follow Him, That's what Jesus does for us: He invites us to bring our meager skills, gives us a little bit of instruction, and enjoy being a part of Him.
Imagine if the young man said "hey Edge, I'm really thinking we should play it in this key...or you know, a different song altogether...let me teach you one I think the fans will love." "Hey Bono, You ever hear of Robert Plant? I think you to sing like him." "Adam and Larry, for our next album...and we could call ourselves U3.0."
At a minimum the response of the band, in polite, or maybe not so polite, Irish accents, would be a scoffing laugh. "We are already famous. We know what the fans want. We don't need you to make us more famous. We are just sharing our fame with you."
How must Jesus feel, when we, as hand-picked members, cross the line from joining the band, to dictating to the band how things should be.
Perhaps, it's not our our desire to make the band, the company, or Jesus, more famous...we really can't make them more famous...that's a ridiculous idea we tell ourselves (and others) to mask our desire to make ourselves famous.
We are invited to join, to enjoy, for our benefit. Not given a platform for our own glory.
What are you afraid of? What keeps you from starting the task or from quitting what is not satisfying?
It must be the UNKNOWN. I could start..but UNKOWN won't tell me if it will be successful. I could get off my current path, but UNKNOWN doesn't make the new path clear.
So we don't start. Rather than risk being unsuccessful we guarantee no success.
Strangers can be scary, until you get to know them, or at least learn about them, using Google, LinkedIn and common acquaintances. It's helpful to learn about the UNKNOWN.
Jody Giles MrJodyGiles@gmail.com
