A digital commonplace for a Regular Guy called Charlie Pharis

Month: June 2005 (page 3 of 3)

Of Turtles and Fenceposts: The Power of Acknowledgement…


The old saying is true…if you’ve ever seen something like the picture above, chances are it didn’t happen without some help. We all are indebted to the people around us, before us, and behind us for the contributions they’ve made to help us get up on our particular fencepost.

One of the greatest – but often overlooked and underperformed – aspects of leadership is acknowledging the amazing contributions of others in our lives and journeys.

This little article from Fast Company Now is a good reminder to acknowledge those who help us get where we’re going every day.

A little exercise from the article…

1. Who has contributed to your life significantly in the past five years?
2. Send them a note or take them to lunch.
3. Let them know how they’ve helped you and why you appreciate them.
4. Recognize that you don’t have to wait until something is over to thank someone.

I really like that last one. Why do we wait until some amazing shared journey is ending before we take the time to show our appreciation to those who’ve shared the journey with us? My challenge today – and yours?

Take some time to acknowledge those who make a contribution to your life and journey.

Links I Intended to Get to Later…

As I mentioned earlier, it was over a week before today since I last put anything up in this space. Some of that has been by design, most of it by default. Anyway, here’s some of the stuff I’ve been collecting over that time…

There’s some more…I’ll get to it later this evening.

Behind Every Number, There’s a Real, Live Person…

One of the real misconceptions that a lot of folks have about church growth is that it’s all about numbers…more, bigger, greater, etc. There are people out there who actually think it’s somehow unspiritual to even count the people or keep track of their spiritual progress.

Mark Waltz, at Granger Community Church, wrote one of my favorite new books First Impressions: Creating Wow Experiences In Your Church.

In one of his recent blog posts, Mark wrote about why counting and numbers and all that are important. Numbers are important because behind every number, there’s a person who matters to God, and who ought to matter to me. Behind every number, there’s somebody who’s hurting or seeking or wandering or wondering. Behind every number, there’s a unique individual with an awesome story of how God is working in her or his life.

They count carefully at Granger. Why? Mark says…

  • We still count attendance on the weekends to measure the effectiveness of our efforts to draw a crowd to hear that God says they matter.
  • We still count those who are volunteering, serving in the ministry. We believe that’s a good sign of growth, ownership, or at least interest in our mission of following Christ.
  • We still count giving. We believe it reflects growth and surrender of people’s hearts. It also helps us be responsible with our ministry vision. Oh, yeah, the auditors like it, too.
  • We still count people who are connected in relational environments such as groups, core classes, retreats and events. Every step taken toward Christ matters.

We should count because counting is one way – not the only way – to determine if we are being faithful to the missio Deo, the mission of God.

We shouldn’t count just to post higher numbers than the folks across the street or up the hill or in the next town. We shouldn’t count just to be able to brag on Mondays. We shouldn’t count just so we can look good when our denomination comes calling.

We should count because people count. As Mark says, every time you click on his blog, “…because People Matter.”

How to Be Truly Rich…

OK, so I’ve never won his money. I’ve never used the eye drops he hawks. I’ve never even been in his class. But Ben Stein is a heck of a writer.

In this New York Times op/ed piece from Sunday, he talks about how his father taught him about gratitude. And how gratitude – not positions or possessions – is what made him truly rich. Check these excerpts…

Now, I have found that I cannot predict the stock market except over very long periods. I cannot tell you when the housing bubble will burst – only that it will burst. I cannot tell you when the dollar will stop rallying – only that it will stop. So I cannot tell you anything that, in a few minutes, will tell you how to be rich.

But I can tell you how to feel rich, which is far better, let me tell you firsthand, than being rich. Be grateful.

And this…

Gratitude. As my pal Phil DeMuth says, it’s the only totally reliable get-rich-quick scheme. Gratitude. Losing the luxury of feeling aggrieved when, if you look closely, you have an opportunity. My father washed dishes at the Sigma Psi house so that he could build an education and a life for the family he did not even have yet.

A good read, that’s worth the registration hassle. (Of course, there’s always that cool BugMeNot thingy…)

Seven Days Without Blogging…

…makes one week!

(Sorry!)

I’m still here, still thinking, still reading, still watching, still listening…just not taking a lot of time to put stuff down…

(It’s not like you’re missing anything, that’s for sure!)