Leading By Example

How many of you have heard the term, “One of the best ways to lead is to lead by example?” What about this one – “Character is what you do when you think no one is looking?"

I can remember 5th grade history class like it was yesterday. I was sitting at my desk listening to Mrs. Hibbert teach about World War II and how though it was a great tragedy, great things came after it. She referred to the people that fought in the war, grew up during the preceding depression and came back from the war to rebuild America as the “Greatest Generation." I can vividly recall thinking, "if they’re the greatest generation, what can the other generations that follow possibly do to compare?"

Other journalists aside from Tom Brokaw have named some of the other generations over the years: The Lost (20's), The Silent Generation (50's), Baby Boomers & Generation X (those born after the baby boom).

Friends, I have a question for you: When these tough times we’re in now are over, when President Obama’s legacy is being written, and when we turn our America over to our children and children’s children, WHAT WILL THEY CALL OUR GENERATION? Names have meaning and I'm not sure I like what I see.

Let’s take a look at things from a very high level shall we? We'll start with the government, it's an easy target! Three examples come to mind:
1. We voted to approve a nearly $800B stimulus package in order to "rescue" the country and pull us out of a recession. I'm not saying that we should have done nothing along these lines, but $800 Billion? Here's my issue with this - what kind of debt will future generations be stuck with because of our unwillingness to deal with this problem responsibly? This action epitomizes passing the buck in my mind. This country was built on the backs of people that were mindful of the future and our posterity. This narrow-minded focus seems awfully selfish to me.

2. We’re doing everything we can to prevent big companies like GM from going out of business by giving them money when they’ve proven they can’t responsibly handle their own! In what dream world to the people making these decisions live in? When I was a kid, hell even now, if I don't do my job, my boss would fire me, not give me more responsibility! What kind of example are we setting here? Is it just me that's confused?

3. We’re printing more money today than we ever have in the history of our country – it’s just paper!! And worth about as much as a sheet of paper! Enough said.

Ok, so maybe the business world is better?

1. Madoff, Ebers, Skilling, Nacchio – all these names have something in common: none of them chose to play by the rules and now many Americans are still suffering the consequences. Regulatory Compliance (while it's helping pay my bills) is out of control because of a few that decided they were above the rules!

2. What about our selfish mentality? Of course we all want to work to get ahead and provide for ourselves and our families, but at what costs? Business today is moving faster and faster and leaving behind it a trail of debt and destruction all in the name of making $5 for every $1 we spend. It's scary to me to think about what implications this greedy mentality will have on our future as a nation.

3. Our National Pride really sucks. We send more and more work everyday to offshore, nearshore, and outsourced international companies. All in the name of saving a few dollars, and we wonder why we’re having a hard time finding jobs for everyone???

The Business world is not better.

So that leaves our private, family lives. That's got to be better right?
1. Stuff = Status – 80% of Americans are living beyond their means. We have enough debt as Americans to pay off the national debt of China (ok that's a joke). We have created a culture where the more cool stuff you have, the more status you have. I'm not pretending that I don't want the "stuff", because I do, and I actually have too much of it already, but my concern here again is what are we teaching our kids?

2. Instant Gratification: Nothing new here. The art of saving money is LOST! Amy and I are currently taking a money management class. We've found that when you have a baby, the dollars need to be stretched and saved even more. I bring this up because our instructor used this example in class that rocked me to my core. He pulled out an old "Budget Book" from the 1940's. It was basically what looked like a small day planner, but it had envelopes in it instead of pages. He pointed out that among the envelope labels of "Groceries", "Bills", and "Clothes" there was one envelope that simply said "Hawaii." OH MY GOSH!! WHAT A CONCEPT! SAVING FOR A VACATION? You mean they didn't just put it on the Visa and acquire debt? This is the mentality that's missing. It's not about what we deserve in life, it's about what we earn! Our instructor eloquently said, "Ladies & Gentlemen, the best vacations in the world are the ones that don't follow you home." AMEN!

3. A Hard-Earned Buck – 48% of American kids between the ages of 13 & 18 today have some kind of access to their parents’ bank accounts. WHAT? There are so many things wrong with this on so many levels.

If they wrote a history book chapter right now about the state of the nation today – would it compare to the attitude and values exemplified by the Greatest Generation? I think not.

I would like to issue a challenge to those of you who have made it this far through my rant. We are at a point in our own history where it is more critical than ever, to LEAD BY EXAMPLE.

So what does that mean? Am I asking you to change the way the President thinks? NO.
Am I asking you to protest big business? NO. Am I asking us all to live a neat little self-contained life where we do not indulge or enjoy the world around us once in a while? NO.

I’m asking all of us to take responsibility for our own actions to make peace with our own circumstances and stop blaming everyone else for the challenges we’re facing today and to stop making excuses and start producing results. The next generation is watching. They're watching what we do, what we say and more importantly, how we act and make decisions in the face of adversity. We need to teach our children and encourage each other that there is great pride and ultimately greater chances for success for those that chose to take responsibility for themselves. Our actions speak much louder than our words.

We have to CHOOSE to see these times as an opportunity to change the future for our children and our children’s children. There is no greater testimony to what our generation stands for than to simply look at the legacy we leave behind. I for one, hope that we all choose to stand for responsibility to ourselves and to others.

We must chose to lead by example with our own lives and with our own choices. Our future, and more importantly the future of posterity depends on it. If we can grasp that concept, then maybe, just maybe, elementary school teachers will someday talk about another "Greatest Generation."

Play Ball!

Today, February 25, 2009 is a great day! Today, the past becomes completely irrelevant. Today, everyone gets a chance to start over. Today, marks the official beginning of the 2009 Major League Baseball Season! Yes, it's true that Spring Training started two weeks ago, but it's never really official until two teams square off in Florida or Arizona in late February. Spring Training is its own animal - third color jerseys, guys wearing numbers north of 50 on their backs, rookies taking the field with or against the guys that they idolized growing up, catchers lined up 12 abreast catching bullpens, and hundreds of fans coming out to see the game. It brings a feeling of a fresh, new beginning each spring that you won't find in any other sport. Players are gearing up for a grueling marathon that will consume their minds for the next 6 months, and only those that are determined, committed and even lucky enough, will be playing in October for eternal glory.

It's baseball. Our national pastime. The only game in the world where the ability to endure failure and rise above it is truly a daily occurrence. This season will no doubt be remembered for it's own version of drama - walk off homers, maybe a no-hitter or two, perhaps we'll see the last 300 game winner ever?

It will also be remembered for another thing. America is at a crucial turning point in its history. Unemployment is the highest it's been in a long time, people are going to jail for tax fraud, insider trading, cheating the government, and banks are disappearing over night. What was once the leading, free market economy in the world is now a hollow shell that makes the "good old days" seem light years away. Baseball represents a return to simplicity. A return to what is...normal; an example of what has carried us through the tough times in the past, and it can do it again!

As Americans usher in a new beginning in this baseball season, I can't help but feel we'll also usher in a new sense of hope. Not because of our President, not because of a ridiculous stimulus package, but because of the grit, determination and pride that this great country was built on. We all come from a long line of brave, proud, old-school people that are responsible for weaving the tapestry of this country that has represented strength and the ability to achieve anything to the rest of the world.

We all have a decision to make, and I hope we all decide to roll up our sleeves and get tough. We need to remember who we are and that it's up to us to own our future. Be positive! Be confident! With all that said...PLAY BALL!

Great Quote

"Wonder is rooted in the deep reverance for the God who made all things."-- Ben Patterson

Recently I was listening to some old sermons from college and I came across this one-liner from Ben.

What a great thought to meditate on!

Making Sense Of All This

This week has been an interesting one! It's amazing when you look back on a week like this one and you realize all that you forgot, all that you wish you'd have done differently, and all that you did somehow manage to experience.

This week, I kept thinking back to C.S. Lewis' quote: "If we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered to us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."

Indeed, if I'd taken two extra minutes each day to put things in perspective this week, I would realize that we've been promised so much more than what we have. Let me elaborate...

The newest source of joy in my life is my 3 month-old son Brady. When I hold him, look into his eyes, talk to him and hear him talk back to me in "goos" and "gaas" I am overcome with gratitude, love and amazement over this beautiful little life that God has blessed me with. When I see Brady and play with him or just hold him and watch him sleep, it makes all my worries, all my frustrations and all my issues just melt away. If you're not a parent, you've never experienced anything like this feeling, I promise. However, God has put on my heart the thought of these "unblushing promises" that Lewis references this week and I must say it has really wrapped me around the axle. Even something so sacred and close to the fiber of my being as holding my baby boy just pales in comparison to what our Father has in store for us! The human mind cannot comprehend the depth of that kind of love!

What we can do is rest in it and declare it to our hearts. We are so loved by the Father, that not even the love of our own children is comparable. The Father chose us, He blessed us, and He has made these promises to us!

Friends if you read this, please don't make the same mistake that I have. Take a moment, reflect on what gives you pure joy, and then remember that so much more is offered us! It'll rock your world.