Leadership is not about position, a title, or status. It is about influence. Plain and simple

Take a moment and let that sink into your brain.  Leadership is about people following you, not the title on your business card.  In John Maxwell’s excellent book, the 360 Degree Leader, he devotes and entire section to leading from the middle.  This is influencing peers, as well as those above you and below you on the corporate ladder.  Anyone can be a leader as long as they are exerting influence (and it can be good or bad).  Title is something we use to denote pay grade, not leadership.

That reminds me of another great quote:

If you think you’re leading and no one is following; you’re just taking a walk.

True that.

Via Gizmodo, this is about the freakiest thing I’ve ever seen.  It’s certainly one way to get the attention of drivers. Wow!

This morning, I reported to Knox County Common Pleas court (the picture to the right is the beautiful Knox County Courthouse). Oddly enough, it’s the first time I’ve been to court and not working in the longest time. After some 23 years as a registered voter, I got called for jury duty.  I was kind of looking forward to it.

There were 75 of us in the jury pool this morning.  Because of the nature of my work (I testify quite a bit in personal injury cases and expenditure petitions), I was quite certain I would get bounced. Unfortunately, I didn’t make it that far and my number didn’t come up. Today’s case was a civil trial regarding a dispute over possible fraudulent transfer of assets. It was going to be a short trial (a day max) so it would have been perfect for me (not in my practice area). Alas, it was not to be.  It took 15 people to seat the nine jurors. Very interesting to watch the process. I loved it and have considered going to law school at some point. Just not today.

We’ll try it again next week and see what happens.

A classic from the late great Ray Charles. I’ll take this over Lee Greenwood all day long.

This morning, I am attempting to restore some order. The first step in this having my coffee and sitting in front of my computer.  There will be reading (news, sports, the Bible) and writing (blog, Tumblr, journaling) and hopefully I can get myself centered again and restore some order.  I am also speaking at a church in Columbus tomorrow so I am going to take advantage of this quiet time and get my thoughts together for that as well.

That’s it for now. Have a terrific Independence Day!

The picture is of a McDonald’s in the Buenos Aires airport.  It’s good to know you can have a touch of home no matter where in the world you are.

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If you feel the need to pray for mom and dad too, that would be fine.  We really miss our kid.

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What are you anticipating today?  Shouldn’t we live with a great sense of anticipation as well?  What if everyday was filled with an air of expectancy that I feel waiting for my daughter to call?  Think about it.

Heading to Paraguay

Originally uploaded by ryaninmtv

This is perhaps the most real picture I have ever taken (and with a Blackberry no less). This is Becky leaving us for six months. I didn’t realize how scared she looks until I saw a large version of it. I felt (and to some extent still feel) this way. As I type this, she’s in Houston waiting for her flight to Argentina. I am praying for her that God will not only keep her safe in her travels but use her in a big way once she gets to her destination.

I love you, Beck.

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I hit this briefly on my Tumblr page but I think this warrants a full blog post.  We are spending most of this weekend hanging out with Becky and essentially being at her beck (no pun intended) and call. We had a great dinner at Martini tonight which was proceeded by getting a family picture and spending way too much money shoppoing.  In short, we’re going on Becky overload for a couple of days before she heads out.

In case you are reading my blog for the first time, Becky is leaving on Monday for a six month missions trip to Paraguay.  She will be teaching in their preschool and reaching out to the homeless children of Asuncion.  She’s had five years of Spanish and spent the last year in Teacher Academy so she’s well prepared for the task.  It should also be noted that I am more proud of her than words can say.

You spend 18 years raising a child and your influence diminishes each day. It’s just a fact and candidly, that’s healthy. Every parent should be striving to raise well-adjusted independent children. Otherwise, they become what we call in clinical circles “co-dependent” and that is NOT a good thing.  So for the last 18+ years, Charity and I (but mostly Charity) have done everything we know how to make Becky a well adjusted adult who is not just a productive member of society but is grounded in her faith in God.  I feel pretty confident that we’ve accomplished both of those goals.  The job isn’t done.  She’ll come back and go to college and all of that but at this point, I think I can exhale as a parent and sent her on her way.

So in front of God and my 19 blog readers, I want to let my number one kiddo know how proud I am of the young lady she’s become and how excited I am that she’s entering ministry in her own right.  You know your grandma would be proud.

Go with God, Becky.  Mom and I love you.

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