To Serve well

Serving with Excellence for a Life of Excellence

Inspiration

The most powerful weapon for world change

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I started the dialogue Sunday on vision, citing scripture that backs up the call for us to have a vision. Maintaining a vision for our lives calls forth a commitment to pursue excellence at all times.

If you read this blog, you likely have a vision to feed your mind with positive and always be “moving toward” a life of excellence. To me, having a vision increases the ownership and personal focus I have and it also accelerates my energy level, as I move toward those goals.

One topic that I wanted to put out there this week is the importance of casting a VISION toward world change. I know I don’t have a strong enough vision here. I honestly feel this is our biggest need right now nationwide, to redirect away from ourselves and toward larger issues that loom. I honestly have no idea what to do about this election, which is reason enough. I also have strong feelings about the ongoing prejudices that happen, both silent and vocal and the tragedy of lost lives rings in my ears. If you are like me, you might not know where to start, where to put your best foot forward, without creating more tension around you. The problem of course is that if we choose to be silent, then we choose to give permission to the unacceptable.

Quite simply, people always have needed a PLAN wth a vision. A step by step explanation of how to move from vision to reality. A simple first step for today is to begin to think through who you need on your “team” to accomplish your vision. Bill Hybels shares the 3 “Cs” of selection in his Courageous Leadership book. They include CHARACTER, COMPETENCE and my favorite, CHEMISTRY. This quote had an immediate impact on me: “I never  invite a person on to the team who doesn’t have a positive emotional effect on me from the minute I meet them.”

How good is that? To create real world change we need a VISION, and after we define something we want to work toward, we need to decide who we want to accomplish that with… START with this simple thought and let’s move FORWARD TODAY.

The 12th man – Who are you helping “win” the game?

blog_836804_2955958_1473892133I love the “12th” man! The FAN, the one cheering on the team to victory! While I wish I would have been in KC watching the Chiefs win their home opener, I was fortunate enough to to be at the Seattle Seahawks game on Sunday, and their rallying cry is the “12th” man. Texas AM, also uses the “12th” man but it’s legacy is that of an actual extra “man” from the stands that they had to call into the game.  (See the story below!).

Over time this legacy of the “12th” man has become the same rallying cry… The “12th” man is the FAN and the FAN helps WIN THE GAME. (After researching this, there are actually quite a few other schools that use this term… Apologies if you are a fan of one of those!)

While this concept to me is super cool, the idea really goes into an area that is actually super important.

Who are you helping “WIN THE GAME?” I am going to dive into a work scenario here, but hoping you can see it’s application in your world. I have noticed over the years that far too often, employees don’t have a “champion” that is helping to move them forward in the workplace. Someone that is pointing out their strengths, advancing their status and cause, and quite literally cheering them on to win. I have seen some of the smartest people be in their roles for far too long, without advancement, without proper recognition. Far too many leaders are so saturated with their own agendas, full schedules and personal goals that advancing their team is not taking the proper priority. This to me is one of the great crises of our workplace today.

If you do not have a champion at work, you need to consider whether or not you can work toward that, and if not, then you may quite honestly need a new “gig.” If you are a leader, I hope that this post is a call to action for you to consider whether or not you are truly championing your team and individual team members. No matter what their personal goals are at your workplace, how are you putting them out front and center and cheering them on? We shouldn’t be afraid of someone getting promoted on our team and sometimes even ahead of us. That means we did a great job hiring and being an effective “12th” man. It makes our teams stronger and our companies stronger and ultimately makes for a better world.

My hope is that we can all be a strong “12th” man for our teams!

COOL STORY ON THE ORIGINS OF THE TEXAS AM 12th MAN:  (RE:  BUZZFEED)

  • Origin: The 12th Man tradition began on January 2, 1922. A&M played defending national champion Centre College in the first postseason game in the southwest. So many A&M players were hurt during the first half that Coach D. X. Bible feared he wouldn’t have enough men to finish the game. He called into the Aggie section of the stands for E. King Gill, a student who left the football team after the regular season to play basketball. Gill put on the uniform of injured player Heine Weir and stood on the sidelines, ready for action.
  • Why it’s awesome: Although Gill didn’t actually play in the game, his readiness to play symbolized the willingness of all Aggies to support their team to the point of actually getting in the game, hence why the student body stands throughout the entire game.

(Photo creds: We Heart It, Pinterest)

TAKING ON YOUR ROLE WITH EXCELLENCE

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For the not so big football fans… No, this blog’s main point is not about the game, so hang on!)

NFL Football starts today! Finally! I’m more of a college football fan, and most of you know that kicked off last weekend. Wasn’t it great? The University of Texas started a true freshman quarterback and he showed up big. So did the fifth year senior quarterback that didn’t start, but DID RUN FOR THE WINNING TOUCHDOWN. He didn’t get his “dream” to START the game, but he was READY when his NAME WAS CALLED. We don’t know whether or not he felt this way at the time, but we do know that he played a key role for the sake of the TEAM. We all have our role in the game of life, and stepping into that and supporting the entire team around us is when we all are able to WIN BIG. (As a side note:  sometimes our role shifts, just like this quarterback from starter to finisher- sometimes as a parent we play the referee role, sometimes the coach, and sometimes the FAN, sitting on the side lines cheering to victory.)

What are some practical steps we can take to be sure we PLAY WITH EXCELLENCE WHEN OUR NAME IS CALLED?

  1. PRACTICE – We all know this one, right?  It makes perfect sense when you’re referencing football, but practicing to be a good team player is important in every role we play.  If you are on the offensive line, your role is to protect the quarterback and the called play.  If you are a mom or dad, your role is to protect your children and play your role in developing their growth, physically, emotionally, spiritually, etc.   Just like the offensive line goes thru practice in this example, practice is also required for life’s other roles.  This happens through surrounding ourselves with other positive examples, reading, watching learning, etc.  PRACTICE is critical in every role.
  2. CULTIVATE relationships with your team. I started out saying “Friendships” and then I realized not all team members are necessarily able to be friends. Unfortunately, there are people that will like you, and people that won’t, even on your own team. That is okay I’ve learned here in the past few years.  (Trust me, this one took we awhile). What is really important is respect and mutual understanding. Take the time to better understand others points of view and how they see the world. EXCELLENCE requires UNDERSTANDING, and it doesn’t just happen, it’s work, and it’s worth it – It WINS GAMES.
  3. LEAN IN to your role. What does that really mean? Whatever role God put you in, EVEN IF IT’S NOT YOUR DREAM ROLE as I talked about in the opening paragraph, you are there for a reason. EMBRACE it. I heard the other day that 70 percent of the people aren’t happy in their jobs. That’s not good for so many reasons, but if you do choose to stay where you aren’t thriving, then you MUST “LEAN IN” in order to be effective as a team player. It would be worth the time to think thru, write down, and figure out what YOU CAN DO at this time, in THIS ROLE to be EXCELLENT. You may just find out that you are EFFECTIVE and you may just enjoy it!  This of course can be work, school, and even in your role in a local community, (PTO, football, soccer, dance parent… Etc.).

I’m cheering you on as you TAKE ON YOUR ROLE with EXCELLENCE.

This is one hero we need to emulate

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Today, Mother Teresa will be Canonized by Pope Francis and officially becomes a saint. I had to look that up as many of you might have as well.

Thankfully, it’s as simple as it sounds. Canonization is the process by which the Catholic Church solemnly proclaims that a holy person becomes inscribed on the list (i.e. the canon) of those persons who may be venerated publicly in the liturgy of the Catholic Church. In the case of Mother Teresa she will receive her own feast day with a Mass and a liturgical office constructed to offer due veneration to her.

Of course many of us already unofficially consider her at the highest level a human being could attain in displaying the virtues of a life of service to others. A true hero, a life to emulate.

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Mother Teresa is perhaps “the best” example for us of living a life in the real, postmodern world, and trying to serve as the “salt and the light” improving our communities, home, schools and workplace. Although she was clearly a holy person, her life service was primarily given to non-Christians and those not normally of the church. In fact, if you take a few minutes to study her life more carefully you will find that she often acted out her mission without the help we might expect a saint to have surrounded themselves with. She shared how she often found no encouragement in prayer and “had a bewildering sense of absence of God; finding little but dryness in her encounter with scripture.” (Cunningham, Vatican, 9/3/2016)

Many of my friends have confided this very reality to me and I can say prior to 5 years ago when I went deeper in my faith that this was often true of me as well. What’s important to me here is that she was doing ordinary life, and to her doing ordinary things, and had no idea that what she was doing was truly extraordinary. The message to me is to keep reading scripture, keep praying, keep serving, keep digging deep and God will reveal the EXTRAORDINARY IN YOUR LIFE.

Have a week that is blessed beyond. My bold prayers for you all!

(Photo creds: We Heart It, Ruthie Stark Photography)

Why you need to know Natalie!

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I so hope everyone is taking time to read this today.  Who doesn’t love this picture? This picture is full of soul, but more on that below.

This, my friends, is an extraordinary gal we can all learn from… NATALIE! I personally never met her, which just doesn’t seem right to me since her father is one of those business colleagues that you love to see on your schedule. Him and his wife, lost this sweet girl Natalie after a battle against cancer three years ago. As you can imagine (and many of you know first hand), it is a pain that never quite heals.

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However, with their faith and belief that we are here on this planet to serve, her family is using her legacy to help and serve others. I love that so much. They have created a wonderful non-profit that centers around Pediatric Cancer and specifically in:

Raising Awareness (A)
Funding Research (R)
Improving the Treatment experience (T)

(Natalie was quite the young artist, so the name for their efforts was a natural one.)

This Saturday morning, if you are in KC and in town, please join a whole bunch of others that want to jump in and support these efforts. The events are being held at South Creek Office Park, 7200 W 132nd street in Overland Park (135th and Metcalf approximately). You can get the details off of the website, too. I know Steve and his family would love to have you there! I’m walking with a team so join me!

I want to say a few words about this picture, and really this quote. “Skipping through life.” That quote quite literally CAPTURED me. These were the words of one of Natalie’s teachers and this picture to me depicts a brave and beautiful girl ready to conquer the world. I put the two together because truly a life well lived is an all out life. One where we take the good and the bad and we don’t quite walk or run, sometimes we trip, and fall and sometimes we SKIP. When is the last time you SKIPPED? We need more skipping! We need to be like the Fleischaker family, and take a life event that is down right awful and turn it into something magical, something helpful, something that SERVES WELL. We only have a bit of time on this planet, so I hope you take this weekend to SKIP AND SERVE! (And again, JOIN US IF YOU AT ALL CAN!  I PROMISE IT WILL BE AN INSPIRATIONAL MORNING!)

LET GO…

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THERE IS THRILL IN LETTING GO.

It is exhilarating to be the one jumping, and it is about the same but in a scarier way to see children, yours or anyone’s, releasing from the rope swing … off the lake cliff… into the water!

It’s about the same with life decisions. Exhilarating (Check). Scary (Check). And I can think of a few other choice words…

The great news is that we weren’t designed to take on the world and in fact, God designed us to be his helpers as our key role… We have an unbelievably capable leader who will handle our lives much better than we can.

So, what do you need to let go of this week? What is better left in God’s hands? Your job? A Relationship? Your spending decisions? Your “up late worrying” track record? Overthinking?

Let’s each identify something we need to let go of this week. The summer is seeing it’s last days, and there is no better way to launch into fall than letting go! “Into his capable hands and out of mine!” LOVE THE IDEA!

Have the BEST WEEK EVER!

(Photo creds: We Heart It)LET GO…

Add this to your bucket list! Happy 100th anniversary National Parks!

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Folks we are going light today since we were heavy with the pain topic Tuesday…

Today, August 25, the National Park System (NPS) is 100 years old. President Woodrow Wilson signed the official act and since then we have expanded their services to include 412 areas and 84 million acres of land in all states except Delaware. When prepping for this blog here is what I found is included in the footprint… some surprises for me here:

  • National Parks
  • Historic Sites
  • The White House (who knew?)
  • Lake shores
  • Sea shores
  • Battle fields
  • National Trails

My son Tucker and his friend Hunter went on an adventure this summer that included a trek through Zion National Park in Utah. He absolutely LOVED IT. The pictures are stunning. My friends, Susie and Sid Womack, took their adult children on a national park tour ROAD TRIP also this summer. VERY COOL. Between these two stories, I decided exploring these was a pretty cool idea.

In fact, I can’t believe it, but I haven’t really even explored deeply any of our national parks. That’s just plain wrong! I’m one of a few, because last year a stunning 307 million people insisted a national park. Here are the top 10:

  1. Great Smoky Mountains
  2. Grand Canyon
  3. Rocky Mountain
  4. Yosemite
  5. Yellowstone
  6. Zion
  7. Olympic
  8. Grand Teton
  9. Acadia
  10. Glacier

I’m officially adding this to my life goal list: I want to fly fish, hike, and view the beauty of my own country… the National Parks are the perfect place to start.

For those of you who want to join in on this ADD TO BUCKET LISTS NATIONWIDE, here is some additional information.

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(Photo creds: We Heart It) 

WELCOME TO PASSION TOWN

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Seriously, what a COOL STATEMENT. At the recent KENNY CHESNEY concert at Arrowhead in Kansas City, he used this phrase to describe our GREAT CITY. I immediately pulled out my phone and put it into my “blog ideas” list. So, he may use this phrase in other cites as well… Heck, maybe he uses it every weekend at his concerts, but you know what, that is awesome if he does!

I hope every person is proud of where they live and recognizes that God put them in that place and that time, in this generation, to LIVE, GROW, and SERVE. This blog is all about becoming people of excellence and about SERVING WELL. I don’t know about you, but I want a PASSION TOWN t-shirt, so I can show off my city and remind myself that I need to show it the PASSION it deserves!

What is so cool about this picture, or a few things to get you thinking:

  1. THE PEOPLE! So, on the stage you have Christa Dubill, Emmy award-winning TV news anchor for channel the local NBC affiliate, who gives so much of her time to this community that it is truly amazing. You also have Gracie Schram, local singer, songwriter and philanthropist who at a very young age began a journey of showing her PASSION. In other words, no matter what your age, JUMP IN. God can and WILL use you! You also have some posters that are showcasing some local executives that stepped up to raise funds for the American Heart Association – how cool is that? They are using their platform in their industry to make a difference. Finally, let’s not forget the volunteers that are flanking the stage. These people give their time, weekends and all,  to make our CITY, well, PASSION TOWN…
  2. THE MESSAGE! This happens to be the AHA Heart Walk, but this is just one of hundreds of great causes that flank our city and that’s what brings out the best in all of us. KC is one of the most generous cities in America!
  3. THE FUN! We make it fun. A little confetti, a little enthusiasm… A Saturday morning that offers the unexpected delight of not only making a difference by raising funds to take care of each other, but the pure JOY of being with friends, new and old and making memories.

These are just the “top of my head” things that make KC PASSION TOWN! I’d love to know if you have others… There are so many! Who’s up for making a shirt?

Be a part of the pursuit.

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This idea of “PURSUIT” has been on my “to blog” list for quite awhile.

Not sure what held me back, but perhaps waiting for the absolutely PERFECT image to go along with the thought! This photo was on facebook, and I immediately asked if I could use it! It is simply WHAT I WANT TO PURSUE to LIFE:  Simple, Humor, Beauty, Relationships, Meaning, FUN. (Also, Seriously, who doesn’ love this picture?)

So I’ve titled this “Be a part of the PURSUIT,” and here is why: It seems that often when I’m listening to friends, my boys, neighbors, etc., (and looking in on my own life), we sometimes find ourselves unintentionally pursuing “things” or “activities” that are NOT WHAT WE ARE TRULY IN PURSUIT OF!

So…WHAT IF, WE ALL MADE THIS LIST OF WHAT WE WANT TO PURSUE…  COMPARE IT to what WE ARE ACTUALLY DOING and then MAKE THE NEEDED COURSE CORRECTIONS?

So what if we truly do want a more “simple” life?  Should we really have our kids in 3 activities, say yes to the PTO, the church choir and the company picnic committee?  Anyone who knows me knows I’m BRILLIANT at saying yes to all of the above (sans the choir, replace with anything else that doesn’t require musical talent…)…  WE HAVE A CHOICE! Imagine that? We don’t have to buy all of those “FUN” things at TARGET, and we don’t have to go out every night of the weekend. We CAN PURSUE what lines up with the LIFE WE WANT.

I’m going to work on my list… It may take more than a week-  (I actually have a list, but need to review it in light of this photo and this idea… )- I think I need to make some adjustments!

Would love to hear about your PURSUITS!

GO FORTH and CONQUER THE LIFE YOU DESIRE!

(Photo credit: Kia Bondurant, Courtesy of her family/friends weekend, but happens to also be a fabulous photographer – www.kiabondurant.com)

Changing the world

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Sometimes I wonder who “coins” a phrase a formal quote. After all, we all say things daily that likely are the words of someone whose thoughts we liked and added to our repertoire so to speak. Anyway, this particular quote is so strong and I have always loved it and shared it as often as it makes sense to do so.

As I considered what thoughts would I want to share with my neighbor and the other lovely folks I know who are graduating, this is what came to mind first. Regardless of if you are 18, 22 or a 49-year-old (congrats Deb!), these words hold much wisdom and inspiration.

So, here’s the question:

  • What part of the world do you feel needs changed?
  • Are you moved by social justice issues?
  • Are you moved by technology?
  • Freedom?

Now, take take that down a level and identify the issue that really stirs your soul…

  • Social Justice Issues?
  • Children going to school hungry?
  • Technology?
  • How will our children (or us) deal with face to face relationships with so much concentration on the use of technology?
  • Freedom?
  • Global issues in Israel/Palestine? Syria?
  • In our generation, does it make sense that we really have people that do not have a home or that have a wall separating them from their neighbors?

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How do we go about changing the world?

  • First make a decision that you aren’t just going to sit back and allow whatever it is that pulls your heart strings to happen on your watch.
  • Rally a small group (that can be one or ten…) and share your vision.
  • Put together a few steps you can take to start to take action!
  • Get going!

The only other key that I feel is important is that you can’t be concerned about your age.  There are so many great stories from young children (Gracie Schram… Right in our own community has done just that) to our wisest elders who made a decision to change the world and then did. Age isn’t a factor! Jump in EVEN IF you feel unprepared! Our world was built on the backs of those that did just that and NOW IT’S YOUR TURN!

BE BOLD!

(Photo credit: We Heart It)