LEADERSHIP QUOTE:

"People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." Maya Angelou

A LITTLE BIT DEEPER:

We're going to explore this word INFLUENCE over the next number of weeks. I'm hosting a Global Leadership Summit in Georgia in March with Leader Mundial, and the theme this year is The Influence of a Leader. While we have a number of topics, books and presentations to address this, I wanted to simply look at some quotes that explore this more.

This quote from Maya Angelou is so powerful. As we talk about influence for a couple more weeks, we're reminded that the way we treat people shapes our influence.

One of my favorite books from last year is the book Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara.(Thanks Eric for introducing it to me). Really impactful because the entire book is really about this quote.

How people are taken care of, how customers feel, how memories are made, how people are valued, how generosity impacts people.

While the book is written from the perspective of a restaurant, it's applicable to us all in any industry.

I've shared this before, but it's worth sharing again.

Years ago, as a young youth ministry couple with small kids and no money, we were invited to a couples retreat in Santa Barbara. We had to pay a little bit of money, but were told it would be a great "break". When we arrived, we were treated like royalty. There was a gift bag for us, the hotel we were in was right on the beach and was nice. We were welcomed warmly, and then they shared that the purpose of our time was to simply catch our breath and build some meaningful relationships. The 3 days were filled with great food and worship, time as a couple enjoying the beach and the area, and zero expectations. We were celebrated for the work we were doing with young people, and we were filled up.

The last evening, we were taken to a special dinner with the President of Westmont College where he thanked us personally for our impact into youth ministry and he shared about how Westmont College cares about youth pastors, and that this retreat was a gift of appreciation from them.

That was it. No sales pitch, no bait and switch, no expectations.

Just appreciation.

Can I tell you how many people I've encouraged to check out Westmont College over the past 35 years as a result of their "hospitality" in our lives?

Their genuine care for us at a time that mattered still sticks with us today.

Hospitality & Influence.

Think of a time when someone invested into your life and made you"feel" something?

LEADERSHIP QUOTE:

"Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing." Albert Schweitzer

A LITTLE BIT DEEPER:

We're going to explore this word INFLUENCE over the next number of weeks. I'm hosting a Global Leadership Summit in Georgia in March with Leader Mundial, and the theme this year is The Influence of a Leader. While we have a number of topics, books and presentations to address this, I wanted to simply look at some quotes that explore this more.

When I read this quote, I'm reminded of another quote from a hero of mine, Jim Burns. He said this often when he was training me as a young youth pastor: "People won't remember what you say, but they will remember what you do."

He then went on to ask this question:

Name 10 of the greatest sermons you've ever heard: who preached it, what was it on... we always struggled with that question, and even though my dad was a pastor, I had to dig deep to identify 10 messages that I could remember. (Sorry Dad!)

He then asked this question:

Name 10 people who impacted your life: name them, how did they make you feel? 10 people were easy, and once I got thinking, I could keep going and going.

That's this quote. EXAMPLE is the only thing

We LISTEN to people all the time. We capture their message, we hear their words, we ponder their presentation.

We also WATCH people all the time. We watch close up and from a distance, we watch what is done and what's not done, we watch peoples reactions.

Bill Jones was a family friend who influenced my life in many ways. But in writing this, I remember how he taught me how to pull a water skier behind a boat. I was living with his family in Northern California, and they had a Boat House on Lake Shasta. We would head to the lake just about everyday after work, and it was some of the best skiing I've ever done.

Bill was the one who taught others to ski, who drove the boat, and who made everything happen, but often, he didn't get to ski because he didn't trust anyone to pull him the right way. Then I came along. He had me watch him drive the boat for weeks pulling skiers, then he had me take the boat out on my own just to get comfortable. He talked me through speeds, wind and the boats capabilities, and he then let me "practice" on his kids (what a great dad!) I did fine.

Then one day, he stopped the boat in the middle of the lake and jumped in. He said to me, "you're ready... Hit it!". I then became his personal driver, and spent the rest of that summer pulling people around Lake Shasta, and giving Bill some great time on the water.

That's example, and years later when we had our own ski boat, those lessons kept with me, and I passed them on to many other people.

"Things are CAUGHT not TAUGHT".

Bill led by example and modeled for me not only how to drive a ski boat, but how to live life fully.

Who has lived an EXAMPLE in front of your life, teaching you and molding you into who you are today?

LEADERSHIP QUOTE:

"I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the water to create many ripples." Mother Teresa

A LITTLE BIT DEEPER:

We're going to explore this word INFLUENCE over the next number of weeks. I'm hosting a Global Leadership Summit in Georgia in March with Leader Mundial, and the theme this year is The Influence of a Leader. While we have a number of topics, books and presentations to address this, I wanted to simply look at some quotes that explore this more.

This quote from Mother Teresa is a powerful reminder of the importance of INFLUENCE. We've been exploring this topic over the past couple of weeks and you can see the previous posts HERE.

When I reflect on the work and life of Mother Teresa, a word that just comes up over and over again is that she CONSISTENTLY served others over her 87 years of life, and her impact and influence is impossible to measure.

The idea of a "Ripple Effect" simply reminds us that sometimes our influence continues to spread and expand, even after we're gone.

This past weekend, Gina and I attended the funeral of our good friend, Ellis. Ellis and his wife Frankie were friends of ours for over 25 years. We were introduced to them when we stopped in to visit the church Ellis was pastoring, and one simple conversation led to a long-term relationship, and we have been deeply impacted by their lives and their love.

As we sat in the Celebration of Life service the other day, I was overwhelmed by the number of people in the room who's only connection was Ellis. There was evidence of his "ripple" in all of our lives, but in many different ways. He consistently influenced people from all walks of life, in different ways, from all over the world, and he did this for years and years.

What a celebration of life!

What is your "Ripple Effect"? How does your influence continue to spread and impact people, even when they are far away from you?