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Commitment

BlogLeadership

Charlotte’s Web and Stuart Little and Hope

by Ron Potter
Image source: Paul K, Creative Commons

Image source: Paul K, Creative Commons

Once again, my favorite blogger Shane Parrish at Farnam Street Blog exposed a wonderful little piece.

He talks about E.B. White, the author of the above books, writing to someone who had lost faith in humanity.

In White’s letter, he says, “Hope is the thing that is left to us. In a bad time I shall get up Sunday morning and wind the clock as a contribution to order and steadfastness.” Now my mind tends to go to something deeper (or higher) on Sunday morning than a clock, but his point is a good one. Keep on keeping on. We have hope for the future.

One observation I’ve had of myself and every team I’ve worked with through the years is that for whatever reason the human mind tends to project in straight lines. When things are going bad we can only imagine them getting worse.  When things are going good, we seem to think the good times will just keep rolling.

Maybe this is why it bothers me that people don’t seem to know history as much anymore. It doesn’t take much historical examination of our personal lives, our companies track, the fate of nations to realize that life runs in cycles, not straight lines. Part of the reason for knowing this is hope and preparedness. Hope that the bad times will be followed by good and we must be prepared for the down turns that eventually come.

E.B. White ends his letter with “Hang on to your hat. Hang on to your hope. And wind the clock, for tomorrow is another day.”

Keep adjusting your vision and keep working toward it.

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BlogLeadership

Busily Bored

by Ron Potter
Image Source: Carol Schaffer, Creative Commons

Image Source: Carol Schaffer, Creative Commons

Are you bored? I know that if I were to ask any of my clients (or even myself) that question the answer would certainly be, “Are you kidding? I’ve never been busier in my life!”

But, the opposite of bored is not busy, the opposite of bored is purposeful and focused. We can be very busy but without purpose and focus. That’s boring.

We mentioned the seven deadly sins a few blogs ago. Isn’t it interesting that one of the seven deadly sins is sloth. What’s sloth? Most of us think of it as lazy. It’s actually a close match to the definition of bored. Being bored (busy or otherwise) is being slothful. It’s a sin. It does you and no one else any good.

Years ago when I was in the engineering/construction business, there was a person on one of our job sites who would head for the equipment shed every morning, pick up a bucket and a mop and head off in a particular direction with a very purposeful stride. And then an hour or so later, we would see him heading in another direction, bucket in hand, mop over his shoulder with that same purposeful stride. However, after a few days of observation we began to understand that he wasn’t heading any place in particular. He had just figured out a cleaver way of avoiding any work other than walking around. We fired him. He was being slothful.

Most bored activity is not that visible. People start early with a steady pace and go home at night having been active all day. Unfortunately, they are also going home bored. It’s the job of leadership to help people connect their daily activity with the overall purpose and focus of the company (division or function). One of the signs of a great corporate culture is that people understand the connection between their personal goals and objectives with the vision, mission and strategic direction of their work group.

Have you provided purpose and focus for each individual on the team you’re leading?
Have you figured out your own purpose and focus?
Or are you just busily bored?

Thanks to Pastor Bob Lynn for his thoughts and teachings on the concept of Boredom.

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