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:
"Everyone has inside them a piece of good news. The good news is you don't know how great you can be!
How much you can love!
What you can accomplish!
And what your potential is." Anne Frank
What does this stir up? Either write me HERE or comment at the end of the blog post HERE.
A LITTLE BIT DEEPER:
As I dig through some quotes that talk about ENCOURAGEMENT this month, these words from Anne Frank resonated with me in a couple of ways...
First, she says that "everyone" of us have some good news inside of us. All of us have something we can be positive about, something we can encourage other people with.
Second, it's just that it's simple: people don't know how great they are, and if we want to be encouragers, we need to tell them.
The thing that I am reminded of is this: THE POWER OF WORDS.
We can be used to encourage someone by using our WORDS to speak into their life or we can use our WORDS in a written note or message that speaks truth into them.
Words are free, but they are so powerful!
This past week, a colleague of mine affirmed me. He literally pulled me aside, made me look at him, then he spent about 2 minutes speaking words of encouragement into my life. He was intentional, he was articulate, and I knew he had thought about what he wanted to say.
It was impactful to me and it gave me a boost in my spirit for the rest of the day.
Words matter!
I want to speak powerful words into peoples lives because I know the impact of those words and how it be used to change someones perspective or their reality.
When was the last time someone spoke words of encouragement into your life? Who was it? What did they say? How did it make your feel?
DEEPER STILL:
Dr. Paul White shared an article to help people "Use Your Words".
I'm paraphrasing a couple of his ideas here:
To be most efffective, words of praise should:
Be personal and individualized. Group blasts are good, but a more personal word is more powerful.
Be specific. People don't want to hear "good job!". They want to to know why? Share specifically why they did a good job.
Tell them why it's important. As you thank them or celebrate them, remind them of the bigger impact or how it will affect others.
Remember that words are not equally important to everyone. Some love words, others want to be shown appreciation. Create ways to not just tell them, but to show them using other languages.
Dr. White goes on to share some practical methods of encouraging others:
Leave them an encouraging voicemail.
On a blank sheet of paper, write: "This is what I appreciate about you. You are...." Be specific.
Recognize someone specifically when you're in a team meeting.
Find a photo or image of something they like and write a note with it.
Use technology to record a short video and tell them why you appreciate them.
We should always be encouraging others. Using words is just one way for us to do that!
Who can you encourage in the next 2 days using your words?
Things I'm Reading, Listening To and Watching This Week:
Gary Chapmans book, The 5 Love Languages A timeless classic to help us communicate effectively with those we love! Lot's of carry-over into all aspects of life in this book.
Gina and I are finally finishing The Crown on Netflix and watching the latest season. It's been a while, but we're enjoying it so far!
I've used custom note cards from Vista Print for years and always have some in my office to send personal notes out.
I've been really happy working with David at Story by Image for some video stories for our Barnabas Group. Highly Recommend them to you for story-based videos!
Can you say, "short rib grilled cheese"? Yes, this was our Super Bowl treat this past week as Gina and I watched the game alone due to sickness... but the sandwich from The Stand was incredible! We had a side salad too so it balanced out!