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Quote Your Dad

“People matter to God.”

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Podcast Season 3, Episode 16: Lessons on Leadership from the Little Things in Life (People Matter to God)

Life is full of examples that teach us lessons. That’s why stories and illustrations make learning so much more effective. When a story can be used to illustrate or demonstrate a valuable lesson, the story makes it much more understandable, relatable, and memorable. With that in mind, I want to take some time to do just that – share examples of circumstances and stories experienced in everyday life which illustrate leadership lessons that we can learn and apply. This is one of those examples, and it reminds us that people matter to God.

Here is the link to the podcast.

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Lessons on Leadership from the Little Things in Life: People Matter to God

Life is full of examples that teach us lessons. That’s why stories and illustrations make learning so much more effective. When a story can be used to illustrate or demonstrate a valuable lesson, the story makes it much more understandable, relatable, and memorable. With that in mind, I want to take some time to do just that – share examples of circumstances and stories experienced in everyday life which illustrate leadership lessons that we can learn and apply. This is one of those examples, and it reminds us that people matter to God.

My work schedule is often not structured or consistent from day-to-day, so I will look for pockets of time to get certain tasks done throughout the day. One particular day, I got up early to get work done in the quietness of the morning. Everyone was still asleep, and I was expecting to knock out a few things during that time. I had just gotten set up to start the first task when one of my grandchildren got up earlier than expected and decided I needed all of her attention. Initially (and unfortunately), this was causing me to get frustrated because of the work that was not getting done. However, when I complained to my wife, she reminded me that this opportunity to be intentionally involved in the lives of my grandchildren is only for a season. They will grow older, and these moments will end, so I needed to see it as the blessing from the Lord that it was.

This was a reminder that I needed to hear. I can easily be a structured, analytical, and task-driven person, focused on getting something done, but not giving attention to the people around me. This was the mindset that was driving me in that moment when my grandchild wanted my attention. The result was that I was focusing on the task at the expense of a person.

I once read that Henri Nouwan said later in his life, “My whole life I have been complaining that my work was constantly interrupted until I discovered the interruptions were my work.” This reminded me of something that happened in my first head-of-school job. I was trying to craft and put in place all of my wonderful plans, but I kept getting frustrated because people were interrupting me and keeping me from getting to the work I needed to do. Eventually, God hit me over the head with a significant reminder that people matter to God. He brought to my mind the theme of a message that our pastor had preached at my previous church on the last Sunday that I was there before we moved. Over and over, throughout the message, he kept saying, “People matter to God.” His message flashed back into my mind, and I realized that my job was really about people, and so I needed to see those “interruptions” differently.

That’s the leadership lesson from this little thing in life, from the interruption of my work by one of my grandchildren. Very simply, people matter to God. That does not mean that tasks are unimportant. There are lots of tasks that have to be done in order for everything else to function correctly. But this is not an “either/or” dilemma. Yes, there are tasks that need to be done, but people matter to God and to you, so see those interruptions as important relational opportunities, and relish them. Because people matter to God.

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Quote Your Dad

“Sometimes it costs less to have somebody else do it.”

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Podcast Season 3, Episode 15: Lessons on Leadership from the Little Things in Life (Let Somebody Else Do It)

Life is full of examples that teach us lessons. That’s why stories and illustrations make learning so much more effective. When a story can be used to illustrate or demonstrate a valuable lesson, the story makes it much more understandable, relatable, and memorable. With that in mind, I want to take some time to do just that – share examples of circumstances and stories experienced in everyday life which illustrate leadership lessons that we can learn and apply. This is one of those examples, and it teaches us that sometimes it costs less to let somebody else do it.

Here is the link to the podcast.

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Lessons on Leadership from the Little Things in Life: Let Somebody Else Do It

Life is full of examples that teach us lessons. That’s why stories and illustrations make learning so much more effective. When a story can be used to illustrate or demonstrate a valuable lesson, the story makes it much more understandable, relatable, and memorable. With that in mind, I want to take some time to do just that – share examples of circumstances and stories experienced in everyday life which illustrate leadership lessons that we can learn and apply. This is one of those examples, and it teaches us that sometimes it costs less to let somebody else do it.

I tend to do the grocery shopping in my family. Typically, that involves a plan and a routine that I am comfortable with, and it results in visiting two or three stores every couple of weeks to get the different things that we need. I enjoy that time (I know, I’m a little weird) because I am an analytical introvert, so this process of being alone with my thoughts while selecting and organizing the things we need meets some of my personal recharging needs.

But recently, for the sake of time, I used the online ordering and scheduling that was available in the apps for the stores where I was doing my shopping to order what I needed online, so that I could drive to the stores to pick it up curbside. In this particular season, with other things that I needed to do, it was a much better use of my time. As I was waiting at the curbside pick up spot for the store employee to bring my order out to me, I was reminded of something my dad used to say. My dad was mechanically inclined, and both skilled and experienced in a lot of things, so he could manage almost anything that had to be taken care of around the home, and he usually did. But at times, he would pay somebody else to do something, and then would tell me that sometimes it would cost him less to have somebody else do it so that his time could be used in a more profitable way. My wife has often said a similar thing, reminding me of the value of delegating to other people the things that they can do that save me time, so that I can use my time for the things that I need to do to earn a living for my family. When I allow myself to do that, the result is that it’s often done better, uses my time better, and ironically saves us money in the long run.

This is a great lesson for your leadership. Just because you are responsible for everything doesn’t mean that you are responsible to do everything. As a matter, fact, you can’t do everything… at least, not well. Other people have skills that you don’t have, and the skills that you do have need to be what you invest in for your work and your people. By allowing other people to do what they do well, you get to use your strengths, they get to use theirs, and your time is much better spent, which is a benefit to you and your organization.

So the lesson on leadership from this little thing in life, from my willingness to use an online ordering service rather than spending a lot more time in a store, is a valuable one. In Exodus 18, Moses’ father-in-law pointed out to him the problem of trying to do all the work himself when he could serve the people better and more efficiently by sharing the load and delegating responsibility. The point was that if he would do that, it would cost him less – less time, less inefficiency, less frustration, and less likelihood of burnout – which, in turn, would be much more profitable. Because sometimes, it costs less to let somebody else do it.

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Quote Your Dad

“One of the secrets to parenting is that you have to be smarter than your kids.“

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Podcast Season 3, Episode 14: Lessons on Leadership from the Little Things in Life (You Need to Be Smarter than Your Kids)

Life is full of examples that teach us lessons. That’s why stories and illustrations make learning so much more effective. When a story can be used to illustrate or demonstrate a valuable lesson, the story makes it much more understandable, relatable, and memorable. With that in mind, I want to take some time to do just that – share examples of circumstances and stories experienced in everyday life which illustrate leadership lessons that we can learn and apply. This is one of those examples, and it teaches us about the importance of trying to stay ahead of the issues.

Here is the link to the podcast.

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Lessons on Leadership from the Little Things in Life: You Need to Be Smarter than Your Kids

Life is full of examples that teach us lessons. That’s why stories and illustrations make learning so much more effective. When a story can be used to illustrate or demonstrate a valuable lesson, the story makes it much more understandable, relatable, and memorable. With that in mind, I want to take some time to do just that – share examples of circumstances and stories experienced in everyday life which illustrate leadership lessons that we can learn and apply. This is one of those examples, and it teaches us about the importance of trying to stay ahead of the issues.

My grandson was sitting on the couch watching an episode of paw patrol, and he was in the process of his potty training. It was time on the training schedule for him to go, so I said, “It’s time to go sit on the potty.“ He was very invested in the show he was watching, however, so he said, “I’m too tired to sit on the potty right now,” lay over on the couch, and started pretending to snore with his eyes open while he watched the show. I said, “If you’re that tired, I will turn off the TV so that you can sleep,” to which he replied (as I paused the show), “Now it’s too quiet for me to sleep, you have to press play so that I can hear some noise while I sleep.” I suppressed my laughter and told my wife that we are going to have to be two steps ahead of this boy, because if we are not, he will always be one step ahead of us!

Even though he was a toddler, he had his own interests in mind, and was trying to accomplish his own ends, so he was thinking ahead as I was thinking in the moment. That little experience with him made me think of some things that I’ve heard my dad and my wife say. Shortly after my wife and I had our first child, I was having a conversation with my dad about some of the things my little baby kept trying to do, and my dad said, “Jeff, I think one of the secrets to parenting is that you always have to be smarter than your kids.“ What he was really telling me was that you have to be able to discern the thought process and the motive in a child’s behavior, think about what that looks like in the future, and have the wisdom to respond appropriately. Years later, when I was navigating an issue in my first head-of-school role, and I was trying to communicate something to parents, my dad told me, “Jeff, it’s always good to try to answer questions before they asked.“ He was helping me to see that I needed to discern what people were really concerned about or what they really wanted to know, and give them the answers that they were seeking before it became a bigger issue by leaving those questions unanswered. That also reminded me of something my wife said in that same first head-of-school experience, when I was venting to her about an issue, but had not yet communicated anything to others who needed to know, and she said, “If you give people a blank page, they will write their own story.”

Those are three valuable principles for leadership that were brought to light by that simple interaction with my grandson. They are true and applicable to your own leadership, and not applying these will result in issues escalating rather than de-escalating. These are critical skills that will help you get ahead of an issue rather than having the issue get ahead of you and wreak havoc. Therefore, when you are facing an issue:

  1. You need to be smarter than the issue and the people involved. That doesn’t mean you have to have the highest IQ in the room. What it means is that you have to be able to discern what is behind the issue, understand the motives and concerns of the people affected by the issue, and be proactive in how you address those things.
  2. Answer questions before they are asked. When you are facing an issue, be intentional about thinking through the steps that need to take place, the things that will need to be resolved, and how the difficulties will be managed. Then communicate the information that will answer those questions. And that becomes important because of what’s next.
  3. If you give people a blank page, they will write their own story. If you don’t communicate the information that they need to hear, but leave them to make up their own ideas, they will likely decide their own reasons behind what is happening, and will talk or behave in ways that are counter to what you need to do, then you will find yourself having to do damage control.

So, the leadership lesson learned from this little experience in life, from a simple interaction with my grandson on the couch, reminds us of how important it is that we respond to issues intentionally. We need to stay ahead of the issues by thinking about the implications and how others are going to be affected, so that we can be proactive. We need to communicate the information that they need to hear, and we need to do it before they make up their own stories about what is happening. And the reason why this is so important is because if you don’t do these things, your mess is going to get messier.

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Quote Your Dad

“Say what you mean and mean what you say.”

(James 5:12, But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your “Yes” be “Yes,” and your “No,” “No,” lest you fall into judgment.)

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