It's Tuesday at 2:00pm! (PST Time: I live and work from Southern California)
Greetings to you!
Each week I send out a short leadership blog that's called "Tuesday at 2:00pm". The purpose of this is simply to provide a brief thought on leadership that you can read and think about in just a few minutes. I send it out every week at 2:00pm (PST) and encourage you to make an appointment with yourself to pause and think about the thing I'm writing about.
Russ...
LEADERSHIP QUOTE:
"If you really look closely, most overnight successes took a long time." Steve Jobs
What does this stir up? Either write me HERE or comment at the end of the blog post HERE.
A LITTLE BIT DEEPER:
This month I want to look at some words from the late Steve Jobs. While much of his life was focused on building Apple, he has a lot to say about leadership, culture and perseverance.
I love this quote today from him.
In a world of instant communication, a world of comparison marketing and a world where we can say anything we want, it's pretty easy to jump to conclusions about someones journey or story.
On one hand, we assume that people are sharing the whole story, when they're really just sharing the highlights.
We also assume because they're we're only seeing the success side, that there wasn't any failure or struggle along the way.
Jobs quote is a reminder that there's no such thing as an overnight success. Most great stories are a part of a journey, and it takes work, dedication, perseverance, resilience and discipline to keep moving forward. It doesn't usually JUST HAPPEN.
I was recently talking with a young leader, and my challenge to him was to start small, build a working model, then scale it little by little, adjust along the way, and if it works, continue to grow it.
This is a pretty standard formula but in a day when people can achieve some quick success without much effort, we are often looking at the easy way to build something, not the best way to build something.
Think about something you built or created in your life and leadership... Take a moment to revisit the process you went through to see that thing grow and work.
DEEPER STILL:
This week, Gina and I have the privilege to celebrate 30 years of ministry in and through Youth World/ Mundo Juvenil in Quito, Ecuador.
In 1994, Gina and I moved to Quito to begin this work, and we had the joy of serving in Ecuador through 2010, and we saw Youth World grow from an idea into an organization that continues to make a huge impact into peoples lives.
Here are a couple of things I'm continuing to learn about leadership:
It's ALWAYS a Journey: We start heading one direction, but there are so many turns, bumps, obstacles and challenges that things are in a constant state of change.
It takes an ARMY of People: For Youth World to succeed and have the impact it's had, it's required so many people and different stages of the journey. Each of us have contributed to the culture, to the story, to the impact. We're all a part of it, and while the first year was just Gina and I, we then built a team and that team continues to morph as they lead, grow, change and affect all that Youth World has done and continues to do.
SUCCESS comes and goes: We experienced many seasons of great success, but we also experienced seasons of challenge, of pain, of disappointment and of complete failure. This is what organizational leadership is all about. It's a journey!
It's NOT about ME: This isn't my story, but it's a much bigger and more important story of God at work in our lives, in the country of Ecuador and in the lives of so many other people. It's not my story, it's HIS.
CHANGE and TRANSITION are OK: Gina and I stepped away from Youth World in 2010, but we're still fans, cheerleaders and are incredibly proud of the work that continues to come through this great group of people. We'll always be a part of the story even when we're no longer a part of the day-to-day work.
The journey is where the biggest learnings have come from.
Don't rush to overnight success... that's impossible, but embrace the journey and the story that's being written over time in and through your life.
...And don't forget to celebrate along the way. There's so much to celebrate and give thanks to God for!
Things I'm Reading, Listening To and Watching This Week:
I enjoyed listening to the short podcast series from Sharon McMahon on her podcast, Here's Where It Gets Interesting. This story, The Vigilantes, is a true story from early in the 1900's in Georgia.
I often listen to a podcast from Guy Raz called How I Built This. Every podcast is the story of a leader or company and their journey. I've learned so much by listening to these stories, and he also captured some of these in his book by the same title in 2020: How I Built This These stories remind you that it takes hard work to build something!
I'm a part of a local Convene Group here in Southern California. It's a monthly gathering of CEO's and I am challenged, encouraged and equipped through this community of leaders and friends. Check out Convene!
I've been going to a local 24 Hour Fitness near my home for the past number of months. It's a great way to begin the day and I really look forward to the weekend when my day doesn't begin so early!