Tackling Projects

Summer time season can be tricky if we aren't paying attention. With each spring comes the excitement and anticipation of summer. For me, summer can never get here fast enough. However, as soon as I blink the month of June is ending and we are staring 4th of July right in the face. In a panic, I check the calendar to see that we only have 6 weeks before the kids head back to school. Summer tricks us into thinking we can kick back, relax, enjoy bike rides and family gatherings. So, why does the time go by so fast? I think one of the reasons is that we try and pack too much into too little time. Whether its the yard projects, family vacations, or we take on more projects at work because we think things will slow down for us. 

For a couple of years I have been able to stay on top of my projects (albeit more so at work than home) through a very simple process. It can be a little overwhelming when we take on projects both at work and home, and even more daunting when we have several projects going on at the same time. This is a nightmare for those who cannot easily multi-task. In some situations we are able to complete one project before working on the next, but that is a rarity. Most of the time we are trying to work on several projects at the same time. Currently I have 19 projects at work that I am currently working on or will soon begin to work on them. This is on the low side of what I usually am doing. 

A project is actually nothing more than a series of tasks. For example, renewing my Passport was a project. While it wasn't as large as landscaping my yard, it did take more than two steps to finish. It also took much longer than I anticipated. It sounded so simple that I did not even follow my own rules. I just began working towards renewing my passport. Now that it is done, or at least I got it sent it in, I went back and wrote down each action step it took for me to complete the project. Here is what I did:

1. Pick up a Passport Renewal form at the Post Office (Errands)
2. Fill out the application. (Office)
3. Order new checks so that I can pay the renewal fee. (Computer)
4. Wait for checks to arrive. (Waiting)
5. Take the form and a check to the Post Office. (Errands)
6. Wait for my new passport to come in the mail. (Waiting)

The entire process took about 2.5 weeks as I had to take the time to fill out the form and wait for my new checks to arrive. That was much longer, and a little more complicated than what I anticipated. Had I written the list out before I started I could have prioritized some things to make sure it happened much sooner. (You cannot travel outside the country when your passport is within 6 months of expiring.) The parentheses is the category that each action step fell under in my "To-Do" list. I will share more about that in another post. For right now I want to encourage you to breakdown your project into manageable action steps by writing down everything you will need accomplish in order to complete your project. 

When you begin to think about your projects in terms of little steps you will see a few things begin to happen:

1. Your projects will not overwhelm you or own you! When we write everything down that needs to happen it will help to ease your mind. If we try and keep all of the steps in our head, or we don't think through the steps, the "project" will consume us. Steps will be forgotten or messed up and in the end the project will either take too long or it will not go as planned. 
2. You will have more time to enjoy your summer. When you list all the steps it will help you to see how much work it will take to complete the project and how much time you will need to set aside for it. I had no idea that it would take so long to renew my passport. 

In my next post I will share with you some resources I use to help me categorize my Action Steps. If you want to get a head start or want more information on this topic then I highly recommend David Allen's book, "Getting Things Done." It is a life saver!

Create Memories With Your Kids

One winter night I was bored at home with the family. I'm not sure what gave me the idea, but I got out the iPad and began interviewing my two daughters. I meant for it to be a short little activity, but  it ended up taking about an hour. What transpired was really fun. I began by asking them questions about their future in terms of where they will be, what they would be doing, who they will marry, how many kids they will have, etc. As they talked, I picked up on little things in their answers that would lead to more questions. I can't wait to get the video out in 5 to 10 years from now and relive the memories and to see how close or far off they were from their answers. 

Part of our responsibility as a leader in the home is to create fun memories with our family. I wish I would do that more. Quite often I am too self absorbed with what I am doing or want to do and don't think about what we could be doing together. As dads we can't be serious all the time either. It is important for our kids to see us having a good time and not care what others think. (Check out this link in YouTube: Entertainment for the Ride Home) This summer I encourage you to make it a goal to create one fun family activity that you can do each week.  

Why I Will Never Again Misplace My iPad!

It was the last leg of my trip as I flew from Detroit to Ft. Wayne. Sixteen hours earlier I had boarded a plane in Berlin to fly back home. I was exhausted! My goal on this short flight (29 min.) was to stay awake so that I could sleep that night. So as soon as I boarded the plane I got my iPad out to read until we were ready for takeoff. I was able to read for a few minutes before I had to put it in the seat pocket. (You cannot have electronic devices on during takeoff and landing.) My intentions were to take it back out and start reading again when we had reached a high enough altitude. I laid my head back and "rested" my eyes for takeoff. The next thing I know we are landing at the airport in Ft. Wayne. I had slept the entire flight! 

As we taxied to the gate I was still coming out of a deep sleep as my body thought we were still on European time. My mind wasn't entirely clear. As we got to the gate I looked at my backpack under the seat and semi-remember putting my iPad in there before I fell asleep. I didn't even glance in the seat pocket! As soon as  I got home I went to sleep and didn't realize what I had done until the next morning. I was in disbelief as to why I didn't check the seat pocket! Well, long story short, I contacted the Ft. Wayne airport and they had my iPad safe and secure. What a relief! 

I have had my iPad for almost a year now and it didn't occur to me, until I lost the thing, how much I use and rely on this device. I practically take it with me everywhere I go. Most of what I do in terms of work or personal time is on the iPad. I continue to see and hear more people using an iPad, or some kind of tablet device (my wife has a Kindle Fire). So, how do I use my iPad? Below is a list of the most frequent ways I use the iPad.

1. Reading: I read a lot of material. If you are a leader, then you have to be a reader. A reader will usually indicate a self-learner that wants to grow. 
• Book Apps. I use iBooks (Apple), nook (Barnes & Noble), and Kindle (Amazon). I will typically put a book that I want to buy on my wish list with my Amazon account. In reality this is my "To Read" list. When I am ready to purchase a book I will check all three of these stores to see who is selling it the cheapest. 
• Google Reader. This is how I read blogs. I like to read what other leaders and people are saying. I will write another post on which blogs I read. 
• Glo Bible. I have made the transition from using a regular Bible to using Glo Bible on my iPad. I wasn't sure if lightning would strike me dead at first, but so far God doesn't seem to mind if His Word is in paper or digital form!
• KPCNews.com. I have shortcut on my home screen to our local newspaper's website so that I can read it on my iPad. 
2. Work Tools: I use my iPad a lot for work. I have a lot of ongoing projects that need my attention. The great thing about most of these Apps is that they are web-based, so I can work on the same content on my computer in my office or on my iPad at a coffee shop (Jeremiah's Brewed Awakening).
• Evernote. By far, this is the App I use the most. I use Evernote to write blog posts, take meeting notes, write down sermon ideas, make packing list, and just about anything else that I need to write down. Evernote syncs to a cloud, so as soon as I make an entry it will also show up on my other devices such as my desktop computer and my iPhone. 
• Mail. Along with my iPhone, the iPad is where I check my emails the most. 
• Smartytask. This is the program I use to keep my projects and to-do list organized. It allows me to list all of the steps I need to do in order to complete a project. I can set reminders and prioritize my list. If you use GTD then consider using Smartytask.
• Preaching/Speaking. I am just beginning to learn how to use my iPad for preaching and speaking. I have already used it in classes where I used Keynote, but I have yet to preach/speak from it. In fact I am performing a wedding and preaching this weekend and planning to use the iPad. Since this is my first time and not sure how it will go I am planning to print out my notes as a back up!
3. Personal Time: There are many other things I do on my iPad as I am becoming more comfortable with it. 
• Paying the Bills. About a year ago I transitioned to paying all of my bills online through my bank and keep an online checkbook using clearcheckbook.com. This has cut my time in half when it comes to paying the bills. I have also used TurboTax the last two years which makes doing the taxes easy and even fun!
• Sports. I listen frequently to my ESPN Radio App  as well as have multiple shortcuts to my favorites sports sites on the internet. 
• Social. Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and YouTube are the social networking tools I use to stay up to date with family, friends, and other people. 
• Shopping. As with paying the bills, I have grown more accustomed to shopping on the internet as well. While most of my online purchases have been books I have also bought clothes, shoes, and backpacking equipment as well. Quite often when shopping at a brick and mortar store, I use either my Shopsavvy or Amazon Apps to scan the bar code and see if there are better deals online. Nine times out of Ten I can buy the same product online for 30-40% cheaper than in the store. If I don't need the item right away I will make the purchase online.
• Netflix. We don't have cable at home, so Netflix is used frequently. We watch it through our Wii, or the kids will watch their favorite episodes or movies on their iPods. My favorite way to watch Netflix is to connect my iPad to our TV with an HDMI cable. 

It seems that almost every week I hear about new Apps or various ways people are adapting the iPad to use in their craft. You can pretty much adapt it to what you need.  It is certainly a handy tool that has made it convenient, easy, and fun to work and play! Which is why I will never again (with fingers crossed) misplace my iPad!

Leadership Transcends Culture

The last two months have been some of the most eventful for me since I have been in ministry. Earlier this week I returned from a two week trip to Europe. Prior to that I spent another two weeks in Africa. Combined, I traveled to (or through) 11 countries and 15 cities in 27 days totaling just under 30,000 miles by air and land. In Africa I traveled to Zambia, Kenya, and Uganda. In Europe I traveled to Germany, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Hungary. The intent of these trips was to visit missionaries, pastors, churches, and ministries that our church is connected with or to locations my travel companions were connected. 

The one lesson that I consistently learned during my travels is that the quality of leadership is a major indicator of whether a ministry will fail or succeed. If there is not quality leadership in place then, at the very least, the ministry will become crippled. If it stays crippled for an extended period of time then that ministry will ultimately fail. Unfortunately, individuals are frequently placed into leadership positions who have no experience, lack any self-introspection, and have no idea on how to lead a team, let alone an organization. Some individuals are placed into leadership positions out of default because there was no one else willing or available. Others were voted into a leadership position because they were the most popular candidate. Others will force themselves into leadership because they were the most powerful or vocal. Some will assume a leadership position because they were successful in another job or business. None of these scenarios should qualify anyone to be placed in a leadership position. 

There are however, many characteristics that do qualify someone as a leader. While it is not an exhaustive list, I believe they are important characteristics that can be found in a leader. A leader may not possess everyone of these characteristics, but they should have many of them and be working towards developing the rest. These characteristics are not partial to western leadership and must be a part of any culture, regardless of the ministry or organizational context. 

The stakes are too high for epic leadership failures. Especially when these failures translate into churches closing, Christianity loses its footing, and donor money is wasted. As bad as those are, it becomes even more tragic because this also means that orphans have to move, people can no longer hear about Jesus Christ, and many are left wounded by the church... again. Put all of these together and it is no wonder why Christianity has a bad reputation and has become irrelevant in culture and society. The Church needs quality leaders! Para-church organizations needs quality leaders! Mission agencies need quality leaders! The stakes are simply too high for bad leadership!

---

Below is my list leadership characteristics. It is not an exhaustive list, but I believe these characteristics serve as a foundation for anyone in a leadership position. I encourage you to read through them, come up with your own list, and begin to identify them in your own life and leadership context (work, home, community). 

Visionary - Humility - Integrity - Servanthood - Communicator - Strategist

Problem Solver - Self-introspective - Steward of Resources - Relational