Archive for February, 2010

February26

Conflog #1

By: Greg

What’s a conflog? It’s like climbing into the proverbial confession booth on a blog. It’s a confession booth blog. It’s a conflog. (John Candy on Spaceballs anyone?). This is a time to get real, share  issues, struggles or get something off your chest. I’ll start, you join in.

Here goes…

I love to read. In many genres. One of the reasons I read so much is to stay in the know and up-to-date on the latest in business, marketing, management and leadership. (or I just don’t want to be the only one who hasn’t read Seth Godin’s latest book or post). So, here’s the confession. Many times I will read those books with great anticipation than the Bible, thinking it’ll help me more and I wont get left behind. So, basically I put more hope in the thoughts of a human author than the creator of the universe.

I wonder how many pastors would admit that? Do you spend more time in the Word than reading Fast Company or Harvard Business Review? There’s nothing wrong with reading those magazines or any of the business books, unless we put more stock into them than the Word. It’s time for me to put more hope that God’s word can change me and make me a better leader than any NYT best-seller could.

You?

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Posted in: ConFlog, Leadership, Life4 comments

February24

How to establish your first (and great) Board

By: Greg

If you are starting a non-profit or a company where you need to establish a Board of Directors, here are a few tips to make the first go around a pleasant one.

1. Establish your goals for the Board before you ask anyone to join. Do you expect your board to give money, time, connections or something else? Most Boards should give a minimum amount of money each year. Establish that before asking anyone to avoid headaches.

2. Once you establish the goals of the board, identify a dozen people that meet one of your goals. Then, ask those to join who can help meet your goals as a board AND who believe in your vision or cause.

3. If you ask friends or family members to join your board, stay strict with policies, dates and procedures. It will be easy for a sibling or good friend to change meeting dates last minute. Your first year sets the precedent for the future.

4. Set important meetings as far in advance as possible. Set next year’s annual meeting this year. Set budget meetings early. Put them all on the calendar and make sure everyone can attend. Hold everyone accountable to the dates the board has selected.

5. When expectations of your board are clear, don’t be afraid to ask them to get involved.

6. If you have members who have served on previous boards, be sure to clearly communicated your expectations for them. If you don’t, they will assume it will be like their last board membership.

7. Keep them updated. In a start up, you are going 100 mph constantly. Things are changing. A lot is going on with your new venture. Most of the time your board members will not see this. You need to tell them. Be sure to share successes as this keeps people engaged if they know positive impact has been made.

Having a successful board is not easy, but it is worth it. Boards are not permanent, so do the best you can with the best you have. Ultimately your board is there to help you accomplish the goals and vision of your organization.

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Posted in: Leadership2 comments

February23

Ideation Conference

By: Greg

I love ideas. Big. Small. It doesn’t matter. I love ideas. If you have an idea or are in the process of pursuing an idea, you need to check out my friend Charles Lee’s latest way to help you put your idea into motion. It’s called the Ideation Conference. If you are interested in attending, there is a special rate for friends of Backstage Leadership. Email me greg@backstageleadreship.org for code. Here are the details:

What is this for?

Ideas are a dime-a-dozen. What really brings positive change to an individual, organization, or
business is the actual implementation of these ideas. But in order to get there, ideas need
intentional strategy, development of skill-sets, sustainable infrastructure, and a viable network.

The !deation Conference is a unique conference experience that gathers some of the most innovative thinkers and practitioners from a given field in order to help fellow practitioners develop thoughts and tangible next steps for greater impact in their respective work.

Who is this for?

The inaugural !deation Conference on April 5-6, 2010 in Long Beach, CA will focus on the
non-profit world, especially as it relates to humanitarian care. We are gathering some of the most innovative thinkers in this area that are bringing tangible change for millions around the world.

Designed as a conference to assist current professionals of humanitarian care as well as those
desiring to enter the field, the smaller setting of this conference (under 400) will allow for in-depth dialogue, access to thought-leaders, and opportunities for networking.

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Posted in: Leadership1 comments

February22

Why are you still sitting there?

By: Greg

Sitting down is nice. It’s easy. It’s comfortable.

Sitting down to do something meaningful is hard. Sitting down to write is hard. Sitting down to design is hard.

Many times I have to force myself to do the things I love because  the nice, easy and comfortable has an appeal that draws me in.

I think one of the reasons I struggle with this is for the first few years that I was in a 100% commission sales job, I would work long hours, trying to execute creative new ideas day after day, week after week. But this process was frustrating because there did not seem to be an apparent connection between input and output.

Here’s another lesson I’ve learned: there will not always be a short term connection between input and output. The work you put in now may not mean brilliant success now. But long term success is connected to the work you put in now. The key to success then is to recognize that you’re in it for the long haul. Then, get up, do the work and do it again tomorrow. Don’t just sit there. You have to keep going.

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Posted in: Leadership5 comments

February18

A little better than yesterday

By: Greg

That’s a constant goal of mine…get a little better than yesterday. The problem is, sometimes this is hard to notice with in a 24 hour window. So, sometimes you zoom out and get a little better than last week or last month and definitely last year.

Whatever it is  you are working on, no matter how big or small, long-term or short-term, find a way to get better. If you consistently do that, you’ll look back over a month or year or decade and see real growth. And usually when you see real growth, you’ll find real impact as well.

I love BHAGs (Big Harry Audacious Goals) like every other dreamer, but SUBSIGs (small unnoticed but still important goals) over time pave the way to the BHAG.

BHAG: Write a New York Times Best Seller

SUBSIG: Write another 1000 words to the story today (and the next day, and the day after that)

BHAG: Get a Ph.D.

SUBSIG: Finish Master’s degree

BHAG: Sell $1 Million in product this year

SUBSIG: Sell $2800 in product today

BHAG: Start a non-profit

SUBSIG: Fill out the right paperwork

You’ll never accomplish your huge goals if you ignore the small one’s along the way. You probably won’t be bragging about accomplishing the small goals or winning any awards for them, but getting a little better than yesterday will pay off!

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Posted in: Backstage Leadership, Leadership1 comments

February17

Deadlines part 2- Sprint to the End

By: Greg

In a follow up to this post about deadlines, here is another reason to set a deadline.

A deadline for your project is like the finish line for a runner. In a distance race, runners do not sprint out of the gate. They take their time with a planned purposeful pace. They don’t mess around, they run, but they run with a pace that allows them to finish. As they approach the finish line though, it all changes. At that point, with the end in sight, they push through the pain in their bodies and even though they can’t breathe, they sprint to the end. They give it all they have because they know as much as it hurts for those next few minutes, finishing will be all worth it.

What ever you have been working on that doesn’t ever seem to get done, set a deadline and when that deadline is approaching–sprint to the finish. You might lose a few hours sleep. Heaven forbid you have to skip your 10 favorite TV shows that week. You may even have to set the alarm clock an hour earlier or skip coffee with the girls. But it will be all worth it when you finish.

The last leg of a race is the most painful. You are tired, you might even hate running (or writing, designing, painting). But stopping right before the finish line will be worse because, long term regret is worse than short term pain.

Set your deadline. When you see it–SPRINT to the end!

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Posted in: Leadership2 comments

February16

The Perfect Ending

By: Greg

A conversation I had with a mentor has stuck with me for a long time. I was asking him about his writing and where he comes up with ideas and the process he goes about in developing his book. He said that he is always thinking about the ending and how can I get the reader there.

I’ve been using that in some writing projects, but recently have been thinking about how to apply that to my life and ministry. Here are some questions that have been useful:

  • How do I want my 20s to end?
  • What does a perfect ending look like for this semester of Backstage Leadership?
  • What do I want to look back on at the end of this year and be glad I did?
  • What is the end I’d like to see for participants in Backstage Leadership?
  • What does success look like in the end for Free Chains?

The key is then to follow up with the question, And how can I get there?

How can you get to the end that you want? The first step is figuring out what a perfect ending looks like.

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Posted in: Leadership5 comments

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