Pride is the Enemy of Improvement

As demanding as great leaders are, they repeatedly allow their teams to fail. In spite of these failures, they never lose confidence in their followers. One of the most powerful techniques a great leader can use is the creation of a team environment where failure is routine - it is expected. Excellence and failure are partners, not enemies. In fact, the only way to achieve excellence is through repeated failures and learning from them. Great leaders are great learners. To be a learner, you must be humble - willing to admit you don't know everything. Pride is a serious enemy of improvement. Put yourself in a learning mode whenever possible. Instead of talking in meetings when people ask for advice, listen. Tackle a new discipline, even if it makes you feel inadequate. Ask questions anytime you don't understand something. Adopt the attitude of a learner not an expert, and you will become one. Do you need help developing a learning environment where failure is acceptable? Do your followers repeatedly fail on their journey to becoming part of a high-performance team? Truth@Life can help. Call 248-396-6255 or email me at curtis.songer@gmail.com for a FREE consultation. For more info on help I can provide check out http://truthatlife.com/

Teams: How do I Help You Help Me? (part 2 of 2)

The wise leader suggests, "Don't come to me with a problem without at least three solutions!" Why is this important? Because when we explore additional options with an open mind, new insights appear. We may have originally assumed that option A would be best. By searching for an option B, and C, we are forced to think beyond the first "right" answer. This approach also helps teams break free of gridlock and impasse over option A or B. If we can't agree or come to consensus, let's look further. There are always alternatives. Now the question becomes, which option should the team go with, A, B or C? The more common reality is frequently option D, an option that was not even listed as a choice! When teams brainstorm multiple options to a problem, it is amazing how often the ideal solution is "none of the above" or "all of the above" in some hybrid fashion. Either way, this powerful team-building technique reminds us that we are better off focusing on interests and not positions. Interests are what we generally all have in common (like survival). Positions are conclusions we have made (most often based on assumptions) on how best to get there. Interdependent thinking reminds us to think “we” and find solutions that are a win-win for all. It does us little good to solve one problem and create two or three more problems in the process. High-performing teams use interdependent systems-thinking to unite cross-functionally, align with a shared vision and unite as one. Stephen Covey once said, “Independent thinking alone is not suited to interdependent realities. Independent people who do not have the maturity to think and act interdependently may be good individual producers, but they won’t be good leaders or team players. They’re not coming from the paradigm of interdependence necessary to succeed in marriage, family, or organizational reality.” Look carefully at great teams in action in your workplace, sports, family, church, and community. You will almost always see them practicing interdependence. Do you need help developing or leading a high-performance team? Truth@Life can help. Call 248-396-6255 or email me at curtis.songer@gmail.com for a FREE consultation. For more info on help I can provide check out http://truthatlife.com/

Teams: How Do I Help You Help Me? (part 1 of 2)

One of my favorite exercises in team-building workshops is a simulated "survival" activity. It begins by having participants complete a paper and pencil instrument independently, ranking fifteen items in terms of their importance to surviving a crisis event (e.g. a crash landing in unknown territory like a desert, subarctic, or jungle region). The idea of the exercise is to examine how people make decisions, first individually and then as a team. Once everyone has completed ranking the items independently, they form teams and repeat the exercise using an interdependent, consensus process. In both cases, the participants select their items based on limited information and assumptions. It becomes quite clear that flawed assumptions can be disastrous in the exercise, just like in real life. An interesting result of this simulation is that the teams consistently outperform their own average individual scores. In fact, most teams survive (according to a survival expert's well-researched ranking), while most individuals do not. Why is this? What is the secret? It is clearly more than coincidence. The answer is interdependent thinking: How can we help one another help one another? How can I help you help me? Where is the creative, win-win solution? One of the most powerful and creative problem-solving techniques I know is to find at least three options for each problem. It is simply too easy for someone to say, "Don't come to me with a problem without a solution." We all hear this from time to time. But the wise leader suggests, "Don't come to me with a problem without at least three solutions!" Why is this important? Because when we explore additional options with an open mind, new insights appear. Do you need help developing or leading a high-performance team? Truth@Life can help. Call 248-396-6255 or email me at curtis.songer@gmail.com for a FREE consultation. For more info on help I can provide check out http://truthatlife.com/

Power Corrupts

Some leaders' rise to power and influence can only be described as meteoric. Such an ascent often leads to pride and to the assumption that one is an exception to the rules. We all know that power tends to corrupt. As a leader, you may already have felt its corrupting claws in your own flesh. How can a leader remain uncorrupted by power. From what Scripture tells us, Joseph avoided financial impropriety, political scandal, and sexual seduction. He stayed unstained to the end. What was the key to Joseph’s integrity? He saw his leadership as a holy stewardship for which he would someday stand accountable to God. Moral authority comes from a completely surrendered heart, an unsoiled mind, and a clean conscience before God. Joseph had the kind of integrity that led to moral authority and he kept it throughout his entire lifetime. Do you struggle with the temptations that often come with leadership? Do you have difficulty remaining humble in the light of your success? Truth@Life can help. Call 248-396-6255 or email me at curtis.songer@gmail.com for a FREE consultation. For more info on help I can provide check out http://truthatlife.com/

Time to Change ... Who Wants to Go First?

As a leader, deciding to make changes is the easy part. Getting your people on board is more difficult. Why is that? Quite simply, change is both an intellectual and an emotional process. We are all creatures of habit who usually welcome routine...and uncharted waters are scary! To successfully motivate ourselves or others to change, we have to address both the rational side and the emotional side of our thought processes. The truth, of course, is that change can be a wonderful gift. In fact, it is the key that unlocks the doors to growth and excitement in our lives and in any organization. Without it, your life will stagnate and/or your competition will pass you by. A big part of success, as a leader, will be your ability to inspire your yourself and your team to get out of their comfort zones; to assure them that even though they are on a new path, it's the right path, for the right reasons. Do you need a change in your life or organization? Truth@Life can help. Call 248-396-6255 or email me at curtis.songer@gmail.com for a FREE consultation. For more info on help I can provide check out http://truthatlife.com/

Have a New Outlook in 2014!

New information can change your whole perspective and give you a new outlook. The theme of the book of Philippians in the Bible is "joy." Paul had no reason to be joyful when he wrote this book. He was in a dungeon, chained to a guard, waiting to be executed. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:2-6 NIV) Much of our life is wishing things were different. We want to live somewhere else, we want a different vocation, we want to be married, we want a different marriage, we want to be older when we are younger, and we want to be younger when we are older. 1. We all have a "what" and we don't understand the "why." 2. God has a "why" behind our "what." God always has a plan. 3. You don't have to understand the "why" to be at peace with the "what." Instead of asking "why" we should be asking "now what?" Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5, 6 NIV) When we are in a trial or difficulty or simply lacking joy and contentment, we must ask God, "now what do You want me to do?" What has happened to you that you did not plan for? Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear. (Philippians 1:12-14 NIV) If you are going to change your outlook in 2014, you are going to have to also ask "so what?" It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, (Philippians 1:15-18 NIV) We can get all uptight about what people are saying about us, FaceBooking about us, Tweeting about us, blogging about us, but what does it matter? If we can identify what does not matter and let that go, we can begin to focus on what does matter! What matters? Telling others about Christ, loving our family, using our gifts and talents to glorify God: For I know that through your prayers and God’s provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. (Philippians 1:19-21 NIV) To live is Christ, to die is gain. If we can develop a whole new outlook, we will develop a whole new level of joy, just like Paul. Do you need a whole new outlook in 2014? Truth@Life can help. Call 248-396-6255 or email me at curtis.songer@gmail.com for a FREE consultation. For more info on help I can provide check out http://truthatlife.com/

Self-Discipline: A Key to Success

Why are some people more successful than others? Why do some people make more income, live happier lives and accomplish much more in the same number of years than the great majority? Again, I ask, "Why are some people more successful than others?" This question changed my life. Over the years, I have read many books and articles on the subjects of success and achievement. It seems that the reasons for these accomplishments have been discussed and written about for more than two thousand years, in every conceivable way. One quality that most philosophers, teachers and experts agree on is the importance of self-discipline. Of all the success principles I have discovered, the most important one is: Do what you should do, when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not. There are many other success principles that I have found in my reading and experience, but without self-discipline, none of them work. Self-discipline is the key to personal greatness. It is the magic quality that opens all doors for you, and makes everything else possible. With self-discipline, the average person can rise as far and as fast as his talents and intelligence can take him. But without self-discipline, a person with every blessing of background, education and opportunity will seldom rise above mediocrity. Do you need to increase the level of self-discipline in your life? Do you find it hard to do what you should do, when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not? Truth@Life can help. Call 248-396-6255 or email me at curtis.songer@gmail.com for a FREE consultation. For more info on help I can provide check out http://truthatlife.com/

Happy New Year 2014!

Have a wonderful day and a bright New Year! Start off the new year right by choosing to dwell on good thoughts, thoughts that are based on the truth of God's Word. Thoughts that will build others up rather than tear them down. Let us make this celebration meaningful by offering a silent prayer of thanksgiving to give glory to God. Take time to thank God for renewing your mind, your body and your soul. Most of all, thank God for giving you a fresh new attitude of hope. Tough times do not last as the arrival of a fresh year gives testimony to this fact. Your trials and difficulties will not last forever so never abandon hope nor lose your confidence. Let us remember that the New Year gives you another another chance of undoing the errors committed in the past, asking for forgiveness from those we have offended and offering forgiveness to those who may have offended us. But most of all, remember that faith in God is all we need as we move forward into 2014. The future is unknown, and the unknown can be a dark and frightening place. Consider the words from "The Gate of the Year," a poem written in 1908 by Minnie Louise Haskins: "I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year, 'Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.' And he replied, 'Go into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God, That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way!'" How true. Are you facing an uncertain future? Is change on the horizon that you are not sure how to manage? Truth@Life can help. Call 248-396-6255 or email me at curtis.songer@gmail.com for a FREE consultation. For more info on help I can provide check out http://truthatlife.com/