“After all, who…

“After all, who would follow a leader who wasn’t well-rounded?”
-Andy Stanley

Read more here: http://network.leadercast.com/content/#!/you-are-doing-too-much/

Andy Stanley has been a favourite speaker of mine at Leadercast events. As someone who constantly takes on too much, this message really spoke to me when he talked about it a couple of years ago. It’s something I think about every now and then, when I get in over my head.
As a young leader in my community, I’m still working on figuring out where I should focus my efforts in each of the things I’m involved with. It’s definitely a struggle, as I want to learn so much more than time allows for, and fear that if I don’t do it all, nothing will get done. This was reiterated to me during a webinar with John C. Maxwell, who said almost exactly that. “If you do it all, when you’re gone… nothing gets done.” 

Because of this, and a recent discussion with SHIFT’s Nathan Lawrence (watch for his guest post soon!) I have decided to start implementing some structure into one of the organizations I’m heavily involved with. Around our meeting table, there is so much potential but not a whole lot of motivation. I’m excited to get the team amped up to do big things for the organization, as well as challenging them to create opportunity for personal growth by identifying their strengths.

So go forth, read Andy Stanley’s message and see how much time and energy you get out of these changes!

Each of us can …

Each of us can make a contribution. Too frequently, we think we have to do spectacular things. Yet, if we remember that the sea is actually made up of drops of water and each drop counts, each one of us can do our little bit where we are. Those little bits come together and almost overwhelm the world.

Bishop Desmond Tutu.  One of 8 amazing speakers at Leadercast 2014.

I’m a firm believer in ‘every little bit counts’. As someone who works as a fundraiser, and is involved in several boards and organizations, this rings true time and time again. We run a campaign at work which solicits $10 contributions, and by the end of the campaign, we’ll have raised over $50,000. That’s huge!
So too is it true for organizational culture – if one person is trying to do everything, there’s a good chance it won’t be done to the level it could be done, or it may take much more time than it would take a group of people. If each person involved takes one task and runs with it, the goal is more easily achieved, or the project more easily completed. Being a leader doesn’t mean doing it all, it means motivating others to help reach a common goal.

John Maxwell said it best in his ‘Sometimes You Win, Sometimes You Learn’ talk… “If you do it all, when you’re gone… nothing gets done.”

So Leaders, don’t underestimate how your small acts of leadership are making good things happen. Go forth, and help create an ocean!