“How Can I Serve You?” This one question captures the servant leadership, smart management mindset.

There are books in my library that I continue to go back to over time. Often my return visit is to a single well marked page or two, the message of which continues to inspire me to better thinking and improved performance over time.

And that is the case with this short passage from Understanding Leadership, published in 1991 and authored by Tom Marshall.

A Question of Character, Not a Question of Function

There are, Robert Greenleaf in his seminal book “Servant Leadership”, says,

“two kinds of leaders.

Firstly there are the strong natural leaders. In any situation they are the ones who naturally try to take charge of things, make the decisions and give the orders. Generally they are driven by assertiveness or acquisitiveness or dominance.

But secondly there are the strong natural servants who assume leadership simply because they see it as a way in which they can serve.

If things are ever going to change for the better in society, says Greenleaf, only natural servants ought to lead and we should refuse to be led by anybody who is not a natural servant.

Furthermore, the biggest obstacle to change in society is natural servants who have the capacity to lead, but don’t.

Nature, Not Activities

The first thing we have to get clear is that we are dealing with a question of character or nature, not a question of function. The servant leader is first and foremost a servant by nature, it is what he is, not merely what he does.

Servanthood is the motivation that drives his behaviour, and motivation is all important in a servant.”

From: Understanding Leadership, 1991, Tom Marshall, Emerald Books

One Who Came to Serve

This reminds me of Jesus, who informed his detractors, “I am not seeking glory for myself,” and backed his message up with actions that sought the good of those very detractors. He did not seek gain for himself but gain, at incredible cost to himself, for others. He characterized himself as one who “came to serve.”

Pretty deep stuff, I know. But these things have bone practical implications and raise challenging questions for those of us who are in any form of leadership today.

Those Who Report to Us

Do we seek to assist those under our supervision to be their best? To be their servant? Is it our aim, insofar as we have opportunity, to help them improve skills, increase knowledge in their area of work, gain experience and generally improve and develop as a person and as a contributor to the shop floor, the office, the organization or in the general traffic of public life.

Are we listening to what they have to say? Acting on their observations and requests? Implementing their suggestions? Partnering with them in practical ways? Aligning together to achieve desired outcomes? Are we seeking to move them forward … in brief … to build into their lives for their good both on and off the job.

Those We Report To

Do we (again, insofar as we are able) seek for those opportunities to help our boss be his or her best? To give them every opportunity to rise up to spirit of their position and beyond with our encouragement and support? To step forward with suggestions on improvement or safety or information about a fellow worker with need?

Do we freely bring possible solutions with our concerns? Not in a we/them posture but with an “us together” attitude? In short, to do our part in honoring those over us and to help them be the best they can be in every way?

The Benefits of the Servant Leadership Smart Management Mindset

We/Them paralyzes governments, decreases productivity and demoralizes individuals and whole workforces.

The “How can I serve you?” attitude

• Lifts individuals
• Lifts 1st, 2nd and 3rd shifts
• Lifts the moral fabric of a company or town
• Lifts whole populations.

That sort of “what can we do to help you be your best” attitude, increases engagement and encourages a more satisfying day at work and a richer life beyond it.

A positive “you matter to me” attitude raises quality, increases productivity, and contributes to a significant bottom line.

Again, in brief … servant leadership gives a disproportionately high return for just caring about people and valuing the pursuit of a relationship with them.

The Need to Serve, A Way of Seeing

With this type of leader there are deeper things to be satisfied and it is the need to serve.

The servant leader works to succeed, (in the same way anyone else works to succeed) to build better products, to improve critical processes, to see services delivered more effectively tomorrow than they were today.

But in stark distinction, the one seeking to be a servant leader achieves those outcomes in a broader context of desiring for the people who make them happen, do well and thrive at home, at work and in life.

Beyond Commitment to Ownership

It is the mind and heart of the servant leader that takes OWNERSHIP of what it is they are doing and who it is that does the work around them. Commitment may suffice to do the work, but ownership makes it soar and builds up as many as possible that contribute to make it so.

Making it my own because it’s right and good to do and because people matter sees beyond “the daily grind” to something both higher and deeper that says, “it’s a way in which I can serve.”

Did you catch that critical statement from the book … “the biggest obstacle to change in society is natural servants who have the capacity to lead, but don’t.” This is your day, my day … our day to step up and make critical adjustment to the way leadership seems most often to be done around us … starting right where we are.

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Here are 7 reasons I wouldn’t be without the Clarity Model. All of them relate to the fact that on any given day I need to move priorities forward.

It doesn’t matter what hat I happen to have on, personal, professional or leader, I need the tools to get the job done.

I wouldn’t go out trekking in the wild without having a compass and map. Nor would I navigate through the wild of life, business and service without the compass and map of the Clarity Model at my ready disposal. Here’s what makes this knowledge invaluable to me

1. I Can Use the Clarity Model Anywhere

I liken the Clarity Model to the flexibility, usability and availability of the famed Swiss Army Knife. It really doesn’t matter where my clients work, what they work at or what they are dealing with. The Clarity Model can be applied wherever it is needed. And it’s the same for me personally. If decisions need to be made, plans need to be put in place and action steps need to be outlined, if I need it, the Clarity Model will apply.

This is critical for those professionals who are dealing with different people, providing leadership in all sorts of situations, or moving between business, nonprofit, faith-based or general market settings and decisions throughout the course of their career. Using the Clarity Model, you can shorten the search for practical solutions and quality decisions.

• Flexible, useable, available
• Can be used in multiple settings
• Shortens the time between what’s needed and what’s possible

2. The Clarity Model Enhances What I Already Know

The Clarity Model can be used with any training or methodologies I have learned, am being exposed to or am expected to work with. Because of its nature resembling a “behind-the-scenes” operating system, I find that everything else fits somewhere into one of it’s five key areas – outcomes, clarity, ownership, structure or momentum.

What’s the advantage of this? It means I can make even better use of those things I already know. The Clarity Model gives me a construct in which to apply other tools and concepts in a way that will have maximum impact and value for my client.

Billions in training dollars are probably wasted each year because professionals don’t quite know how to implement what they have learned. The Clarity Model gives a way to begin implementing valuable training in real time. For all the training I’ve been exposed to, I run it through the model and it gives me a platform from which to best succeed in helping others.

• Can be used with any other training
• Reinforces what you already know
• Creates a platform for better implementation of new learning

3. The Clarity Model Enables Me to Assist More Thoroughly

I want to give real practical value to those I serve, helping my clients identify what matters and be in the best position to take any action steps to reach their priorities.

The Clarity Model helps my clients pinpoint exactly where they are, what they need to pay attention to, the various alternatives they may have for action and what to do next. It gives simple concepts and wording to build their thoughts on. It allows them to explore all those things that might influence their decision-making, whether external or internal.

In short it provides me, in one simple yet profound tool, a degree of scope unlike anything else that I’ve used.

• Helps create real tangible value for those served
• Helps clients pinpoint critical points and know what to do next
• Offers great scope for use

4. The Clarity Model is Wisdom-Based and That Gives Me Confidence

This flexible model is built on the fact that God is a God of order, and that he has established patterns we can learn from. For those of us who embrace this, it is absolutely reflective of the way God works. It is not a Bible study but a working tool. It’s not limited to the Christian community but applicable globally.

I can be confident in using it in a faith-based environment. It is easily used with as much Christian discussion or content as my client wishes, answering to their faith and particular situation. Equally I can use it in a general market setting where secular language and concepts are predominant but where the content of the model applies just the same.

Since this is absolutely in line with what I believe from God’s Word, I have great confidence in using these insights for serving in my little corner of the world.

• Reflective of the way God works
• Equally applicable for all people
• Can have confidence in the very basis of the model

5. I Never Have a Problem Remembering the Clarity Model

I can pull the Clarity Model from memory and present it to an audience of one, or one hundred. It’s that basic. I can go as deep as any individual or organization needs to go with the many options for exploration the model affords, and still it’s easy to remember.

Things don’t have to be complicated to be profound and incredibly useful. The better we know what it is that we are talking about and what it can do, the more our assistance is welcomed.  When we deliver, we gain respect for being able to help move individuals and organizations forward. That means it’s best to have my key tools and approaches top-of-mind.

• Easy to memorize
• Can go as deep as needed with using it
• Depth in simplicity

6. I Can Illustrate the Clarity Model Easily for Anyone

Simple drawings engage. In the same way that I can remember the Clarity Model so well, I can also draw it quickly and simply. It isn’t complicated. I don’t need to fire up a computer or pull out a book and shuffle through pages for an illustration. Give me a pen and a piece of paper and I draw it. It’s so simple I can use it over the telephone and people get the drawing right after my explanation. Beautiful.

Depending on the topic of the individual or the group, I have a whole series of possible ways to illustrate the model in a way that is compelling and totally helpful.

Isn’t it interesting how creating a drawing can provide a way for us to structure our thinking and ideas or approach a problem? Drawings can be gateways to breakthrough thinking and the Clarity Model illustrations certainly work on that front.

• A picture is worth a thousand words
• Can illustrate appropriate to the audience
• Gives a structure to organize thinking and ideas

7. The Clarity Model Has Proven It’s Value

It’s pretty hard to be unaware of the on-the-ground, practical value of something if you’ve worked with it for over 17 years.

I’ve used the Clarity Model in coaching, facilitating and consulting in all sorts of settings from corporate leadership to small Christian boards and committees, from government departments to small businesses. All along the way I made adjustments that would allow people to learn it more thoroughly. Leaders, executives, business owners, managers and professionals, doctors, lawyers and scientists have used it. This means it’s been put to the ultimate test in everyday situations by really smart people.

Here’s why I mention this … it works. That’s the report I consistently get back when I use it as a tool or give it to someone else to try in some particular situation. It works. And it will work for the rest of their lives.

• Not a Johnny-come-lately “next thing,” but has a track record
• Has been used with all sorts of professionals in all sorts of settings
• There has been verification of its value from those who use it

Can the Clarity Model Do the Same for You?

There is no doubt in my mind that you will benefit for a lifetime by learning about and understanding the Clarity Model.

At home it’s going to help you with relationships, raising a family, managing the day to day “stuff” of life, taking care of finances and so much more.

At work, using it has the potential to position you as the go-to person for finding solutions and thinking things through. And that means increasing responsibility, credibility and confidence. Hopefully it will look good in the bank as well.

In leadership, there are just no end of benefits you will experience having the Clarity Model top-of-mind. I know. I’ve experienced it. I suspect not a day would go by for most leaders that some management, personnel, planning, troubleshooting, decision-making or action plan implementation activity wouldn’t benefit from applying the Clarity Model.

• Click here to find the dates of the next Clarity Training
• Register yourself or your team
• Benefit right from day one of the training

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The Bible verse reads: “But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” Matthew 6:6

Now I’ve spoken on this verse before while covering the topic of prayer. After all that’s what Jesus is speaking about. He’s giving his Disciples a practical lesson about the importance of having intimate fellowship and an ongoing conversation with God versus putting on a performance to create an image for people.

So, it’s very possible I might be saying a few things about the importance of prayer.

Nope.

Not that I don’t think it’s important. It’s really the nub of what this passage is all about and deserves a lot of commentary. But that’s for another time and place.

I want to focus on the importance of “shutting the door” as a strategy for focusing on those things that are important.

Far too many leaders and professionals are distracted from giving high-focus time to the task or project at hand that is truly the highest priority. The result: low quality creativity and results, rushed efforts, the temptation to take shortcuts, a sense of lacklustre performance and generally being bummed out when they know they are capable of so much more.

Oh, we all know the culprits.

• Chimes and dings and snippets of tune that tell us something is happening just one click away
• Colleagues with few boundaries and low standards who interrupt on a whim
• A crushing sense of overwhelm that makes too much turn out too little while we fritter away time
• Forms, reports, tedious meetings and to-do lists that are longer than our leg
• The creation of productive habits stomped on by the great suck down of daily stuff

You get the picture. We could create such a list together, the two of us …

Hence the benefit of closing the door. What’s it mean?

• Close the door. Period.
• Refuse to be distracted.
• Apply your focus on what’s most important until it’s done.
• Train the troops to stop bugging you at the most inconvenient times.
• Get clarity about what the true priorities are.
• Take ownership of doing whatever it will take to change your distracted ways.
• Shut off the chimes and dings and anything resembling them.
• Clear the schedule – and protect it fiercely – so you have a straight 90 minutes of concentration.
• And much more …

Close the door. If you and I are going to achieve those things that we feel are truly important we need the time to work on them. No one else is going to do it for us. You and I are here for a reason. Your job and mine have purpose. We have been given important “assignments” to do and achieve. Let’s not settle for half-baked results when we could be reaching far higher.

And by the way … your efforts could be well rewarded, in life, work and leadership … and in prayer.

The post Shut the Door – Something Jesus said Helped Me Be More Productive Today appeared first on G.E. Wood & Associates.

Since I happened to have a copy, I wrote out several of my underlined passages that I thought might be encouraging, challenging and inspiring for my friend. I thought you might feel the same. So here they are, just as I sent them off to my client.

Failing Forward, John Maxwell, c. 2000, Maxwell Motivation Inc.

“What distinguishes winners from losers is that winners concentrate at all times on what they can do, not on what they can’t do.”

“In The Psychology of Achievement”, Brian Tracy writes about four millionaires who made their fortunes by age thirty-five. They were involved in an average of seventeen businesses before finding the one that took them to the top. They kept trying and changing until they found something that worked for them.”

“Steward B Johnson remarked, “Our business in life is not to get ahead of others, but to get ahead of ourselves – to break our own records, to outstrip our yesterday by our today.””

“People naturally tend toward inertia. That’s why self-improvement is such a struggle. But that’s also why adversity lies at the heart of every success. The process of achievement comes through repeated failures and the constant struggle to climb to a higher level.”

“Deep down, nobody wants to look bad. And if you take a risk and fall flat on your face, you might embarrass yourself. So what? Get over it. The only way to become better is to take steps forward – even shaky ones that cause you to fall down. Little progress is better than no progress at all. Success comes in taking many small steps. If you stumble in a small step, it rarely matters. Don’t gift wrap the garbage. Let little failures go.”

“Johann Wolfgang von Goethe addressed the importance of commitment: “Until one is committed, there is hesitance, the chance to draw back, and always ineffectiveness … The moment one definitely commits oneself … a whole stream of events issue from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and material assistance which no man could have dreamed would come his way.””

“William Knudson joked, “Experience is knowing a lot of things you shouldn’t do.””

“Failures are milestones on the success journey. Each time you plan, risk, fail, reevaluate, and adjust, you have another opportunity to begin again, only better than the last time.”

We all have different takeaways from books we read. What’s mine from this read? Be encouraged. Never give up. Keep reaching for what’s possible.

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What are your desired outcomes from this upcoming week, the next quarter or the year ahead?

What do you need to do to make those things happen …

… find a solution?
… take advantage of an opportunity?
… troubleshoot something that isn’t working?
… just focus, tweak, maintain momentum and get the job done?

Let’s Be Clear

Those who get an Action Plan Advantage

• Find solutions.
• Take advantage of opportunities.
• Troubleshoot problems more accurately.
• Focus. Adjust, maintain momentum and GET THE JOB DONE.

Making Plans

I’ll bet hardly a day goes by that you don’t make a plan to achieve something.

We’re always creating action plans. Some smaller. Some bigger. Sometimes just involving us. Sometimes as leaders and professionals involving tens, hundreds or thousands of others.

Sometimes our action plans (or our contribution to those plans) affect projects, programs, causes, companies or whole countries.

• Perhaps you have a plan and you’re not yet achieving what you set out to achieve.
• Maybe you are well down the path of achieving but have a sense you can do even better … or achieve even more.
• Could it be you need to do some major troubleshooting to correct a problem or get things back on track?
• Or maybe you don’t really have much of a plan at all.

Getting an Action Plan Advantage

Action plans come in all shapes and sizes. Some are big … like strategic plans for corporations with a lot of moving parts.

Other action plans are smaller, more focused on you, your family, your group or your team.

But the simple truth is …

Far too many action plans fail or falter.

Goals get set but outcomes don’t get reached.

In many cases the dream of what’s possible dies.

More often individuals and organizations simply live with the frustration and disappointment of not being able to make something happen.

It’s crucial you can pinpoint what’s going on and what to pay attention to in order to move things forward. Reaching a successful conclusion is all about making your action plan work.

Why Clarity is So Essential

I’ve discovered over many years that the Clarity Model helped to give individuals and organizations that Action Plan Advantage.

With the Clarity Model as their “operating system” they are able to come up with:

• More informed options
• More complete solutions
• More strategic execution
• More achieved outcomes

That’s why I started training coaches and other leaders and professionals in the use of the Clarity Model.

If you want to gain this kind of advantage then you MUST pay attention to five critical clusters of activity and thinking that The Clarity Model highlights. Why? Because they reflect the way God set it up in the first place.

• Defining Outcomes – getting guiding direction and specific objectives in sync is like super-charging all that follows
• Getting Clarity – reaching clarity around any number of things can either accelerate you forward at a faster rate
• Taking Ownership – decisions, attitudes, positions and postures will make you or break you (or the staff, department …)
• Creating Structure – aligning everything needed to reach outcomes is like a goal multiplier
• Maintaining Momentum – getting started, staying focused and knowing where to make critical adjustments puts you way ahead

Write those five areas down somewhere. Your decision-making will ALWAYS center around one of those five areas. No matter if it is at home, at work or from the smallest to largest organization or company. Always.

And if you pay attention to this, you will have an Action Plan Advantage.

Imagine that.

You’ll be among the 3% who achieve more than the other 97% combined … why? … because you have a quality action plan and you keep executing the highest priorities until you reach success.

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT CLARITY TRAINING  Click here.

Finding Solutions

Clarity isn’t something people tend to go out looking for. They look for a solution to their problem. Their problem is that they are not achieving what they want to achieve. They’re having problems with their action plan. Or … they know they can do even better.

Do you see that?

They want to fix their action plan and keep things on track. Clarity is but the means we can give them to get there.

Action Plan Achievement is the real outcome everybody wants. They want their plans to come to fruition. They want a plan that works. You can measure achievement. It either happens or it doesn’t.

Clarity “shows up” in a good action plan and the results that implementing it produces.

A successfully executed action plan is the object. Clarity is only a means, a tool, a methodology to get there.

But … without that crucial clarity, nothing else will move forward, guaranteed.

Get clarity … for you, your clients or your organization.

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Usually there is one small (or large) piece to any project that we would love to avoid having to do. It is a bottleneck, but it will have to be faced and done sooner or later. Avoid the mental fatigue and get to it. Get it done and behind you. You will gain the satisfaction of completion and the rest of the project should progress more smoothly.

Take the time now to identify bottlenecks to your moving forward. Decide to deal with them today. Find a way around it, through it, under it or over it, but get that tough stuff done and gain momentum.

 The potential of trying new things, reaching for more and suffering a setback or a rejection, is something that, ultimately, you can deal with, whereas the fear of that event is formless, elusive, and difficult to fight. Fighting fear is like trying to sack fog; you just can’t get a handle on it.  Dr. Phil McGraw, Life Strategies

Five Days of Action

Day One

Make a list of the tasks or projects you procrastinated on until it hurt. How might outcomes have been different if you had simply got to work? Is this a habit that needs radical reversal? Determine that if it needs doing and it’s in your power to do it, it will be done now.

Day Two

Take something that has been hanging there unfinished, waiting for you, and just get it done. Create an action plan and do it today. Break through.

Day Three

Resolve to be proactive and the kind of person that doesn’t wait for others to act first. Become an action taker.

Day Four

Today, learn to recognize bottlenecks. Being able to accurately identify a bottleneck and put a name to it is half the battle towards getting it done. If you can name it, you can do something about it. What are your bottlenecks? Your organization’s?

Day Five

Deal with bottlenecks. Be conscious of your own resistance to action. Find a way around it, through it or over it but determine to get on the other side of it today. Don’t stop until you’re finished.

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Every individual and organization creates lists. We call them action plans. Sometimes they’re big like a strategic plan covering many years, large workforces, several countries and multiple products or programs.

Other times they’re more personal, like the around-home to-do list that gets the lawn mowed, the dog washed, the washer in the hose changed, the windows cleaned, next week’s meals planned, the … well, you get the picture.

Plans come in all shapes and sizes.

All of us in business for ourselves or leading an organization to help others, create plans.

The Humble To-Do List

Today I want to make some simple observations and comments about the most basic of all action plans – the humble to-do list.

Bottom line, this little piece of paper, digital entry or mental checklist guides how we spend our time and what we think needs to be worked on next. How we handle it will determine whether the larger goals and dreams we have created will be achieved or not.

When it comes to to-do lists, getting something from your head down on to paper is only the initial step. Most of us need to organize this way.

I realize for some the to-do list is a non-starter replaced by a few clearly defined actions to remember and possibly repeat daily. But for most of us, we need that list, somewhere in some form.

My To-Do List Options

A number of years ago, in partnership with my wife, Alice, I led Beacon Bible Camp, a wonderful camping organization for youth and families. I remember looking back and picking one month at random in which I counted 373 items on that month’s to-do lists. (Ok, so I kept many of the lists .. what’s that tell you about me?) That’s a lot of to-do, even over one month’s time.

Of course, I had many options available to me in order to deal with the items on the list. I could,

• Starting at the top and work down.
• Pick the easy ones first.
• Start with a hard one and get it out of the way.
• Pick and choose depending how I feel.
• React to the first crisis that appears and hope the others go away.
• Bog down, go into overwhelm and decide to goof off instead.

Or

I could prioritize my lists based on desired outcomes, pre-determined strategy and current time realities.

Thankfully, I chose the later path.

It was this massive need to complete my all too common long to-do lists that ultimately got me started thinking on how best to manage all the things I was doing to move this super organization and its aims forward. I gave close attention to my list and in what ways it was reflective of the aims and standards of the organization playing out and being met. In short, I controlled the list. It didn’t control me. (Most of the time.)

How I went about tackling my to-do list mattered. What I did first and next, and then next made a big difference in achieving those things that we had decided needed to be accomplished and that were important to us in an ongoing way.

Your Current List is Not the Final List

The point is, your current list is probably not the final list (mine wasn’t) and we ought not to treat it that way. Being an Action Plan Achiever means I don’t let the list control me. I control it and use it for what it is … a tool to assist my goals.

Moreover, as a Christian leader and professional, I wanted my goals to reflect God’s goals. Only in that way way did I experience maximum effectiveness and a clear sense of how I fit into God’s agenda for that day, or year.

What’s your default attitude toward your list? The law, a rough guide, a big Stress with a capital S? Something else?

How would you approach your list if it were not the final list?

What one change could you make to tame your long to-do list?

How much time have you actually spent thinking about how you approach executing your to-do lists?

Long Lasting Results and Some Encouragement

This isn’t the definitive post on how to tame your list, merely an initial encouragement to consider doing so. I’ll follow up with some more pointed tips another time.

It was from this humble list pressure that the Clarity Model had its start. Developing a model, a methodology, an approach helped me to troubleshoot or evaluate whether or not I, we, the team, the board or the overall organization were doing the most productive and effective things possible at any given time.

And it was from this need to be productive every day that I learned and practiced what is now the 52 personal productivity practices in my book, 52 Solutions for Those Who Need a 25 Hour Day. You see, taming the long to-do list created all sorts of long lasting results for me. And it can for you too.

Don’t let the roar of your to-do list get the better of you. Tame it. You can take control and achieve more than you might have thought possible. If need be, take Clarity Training and learn how to evaluate and execute any action plan you may have, from corporate to personal. Or work with a coach. Take a professional planning retreat and create a fresh way forward for yourself.

Whatever you may do, I urge you to pay attention and have your lists and action plans serve you. It will save you a lot of stress.

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If you have promised to prepare for something, start on it right away. Research your information. Find and price alternatives. Open a file and collect materials so you can assemble and organize all that is needed well before the time you need to write or ready your presentation.

The more critical your information is to the desired outcome, the more attention you should devote to its preparation.

 Some issues require more time for reflection than others. Too often I catch myself praying for wisdom and guidance; then I go off and make a decision without a pause. God does not always provide answers with the speed of a McDonald’s drive through window.  Patrick Klingaman, Thank God It's Monday

Five Days of Action

Day One

If you have promised to prepare for something in the past, how well have you done? What is your history of being prepared for meetings? Providing background information? For other events in which you had to play a part? Can you be counted on? Effective people do their homework. This is the day to make a decision that from now on, you will be prepared.

Day Two

If last minute preparation has been your norm, try doing your prep work well in advance. Nearing the deadline then becomes about reviewing your notes and refining your thoughts. The same work needs to be done, just complete it earlier. You will find that the stress relief is significant.

Day Three

Create a file for an upcoming meeting for which you need to gather information or materials. This should be a place where you can return easily to review what you have. A little organization now will make your preparation smoother and less stressful.

Day Four

How much of the outcome is dependent upon the preparation that you are doing? This should indicate to you the quality of time and energy you should put into being ready. Whether or not anyone sees your effort, determine that this will have your full attention and best work.

Day Five

If your preparation work has been insufficient for those you work with, apologize … and change. Stop being the road-block and start being a catalyst for forward movement.

The post Prepare for Meetings. Be Noted for Quality Contribution appeared first on G.E. Wood & Associates.

Being prepared ahead of time allows you to make better decisions about what you will do, have a quicker response for those who make demands on your time and remain focused on effective actions.

And don’t get sidetracked into agreeing to do something else. If it is related to your not-to-do list, it probably means don’t volunteer to do it. It’s not that you are being miserable. It’s that you know what your priorities are and you are vigorous about accomplishing them.

 In the same way, today many are harming themselves through the temptation to do more than their limits will allow. Walking, running, and ambition are not necessarily unhealthy. Too much, however, is universally unhealthy. Overload is like that. The problem is not with the ‘load’. The problem is with the ‘over’.  Richard Swenson, Margin

Five Days of Action

Day One

Take some quiet time to answer this question today: What matters? Check last week’s to-do list against your answers to this question.

Day Two

Today create your not-to-do list. Don’t be ambiguous. Clearly record your thoughts. If it doesn’t stay on the top of mind, refer to your list frequently to avoid being drawn into ineffective or low-priority action.

Day Three

Anticipate requests that might be made of you, or actions that might require your time. Plan now for your response, particularly to those things that you need to respond “no” to.

Day Four

If appropriate, create a not-to-do list for your company, organization, team, family or any other grouping you are in. Consult with those involved. This may represent a big step forward.

Day Five

Get over the guilt of not being able to do everything. You are now much more focused and able to act on the true priorities. This will have a bigger impact for good on the people and causes you care about than having an ineffective list of scattered to-dos.

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The model really had its genesis back in the early to mid 90’s when Alice and I set aside business for a time and I took over as Executive Director of Beacon Bible Camp.

Leadership and Management

It was a pretty intense time of leadership as you can imagine. Beacon was a small but vibrant organization and we were the only full-time couple who were there. We felt the weight of taking over leadership from the founders.

We had a very small but dedicated handful of volunteer helpers who came in at least once a week to help us clean and maintain the property. But the rest of the work, and there was a lot of it, was done through a volunteer group of about 40 Session Directors, assistants and leaders and a mailing list of about 360 volunteers who led and worked at camp as they were able across the years.

By God’s grace the work was growing and we led in a very successful period of camp history. Waiting lists were long, families wanted to be there, young men and women were engaged and sold out on Beacon. Ideas were flowing and good things were happening.

Ah Yes, the To-Do List

We’re so thankful for that good success. It was clearly the hand of God. As might be expected of any leader, I continually asked myself, “How can I be the best leader possible in the overall and day-to-day leadership and management of this ministry.” Plateauing wasn’t an option. Growth is intentional.

But I had long to do-list, often felt swamped and flirted with overload. There were really important things that needed to happen and I was the one who needed to initiate them.

I really needed to prioritize my work – those things that were important for advancing ministry and those things that were needful for the day-to-day managing of all that needed to get done while working with the many volunteers so they could do what God called them to do.

A tipping point of sorts arrived when I took the time to count over 300 items on my to-do list.

I began asking the Lord, “How do you sort things out? You are a God of order.” I was praying and understood that God wasn’t the author of confusion.

So how did He work?

The Way God Works

At that time, I happened to be doing some studying in Romans. In particular Romans chapter six caught my attention. In Romans six I noticed a progression or pattern that turned out to be the genesis of the Clarity Model. I was so intrigued with this scripture “discovery” that thinking about it almost took up some part of every day.

The beginning of Romans chapter 6 says, “Don’t you know?” There’s something to be known. “Don’t you know that you died with Christ? Don’t you know that you were raised with Christ?” Quite simply, and this is where the term “CLARITY” first struck me, there is something to KNOW. Ah ha … so God pays attention to us getting CLARITY.

Then the chapter goes on to say, “Even so CONSIDER yourselves ..” In other words to take what you now know and make it your own. It’s an accounting term. Own it. Put it in your account. Consider yourself to be this. Consider this to be yours. This is where the term OWNERSHIP came from in the model. Ah ha … so God pays attention to ensuring OWNERSHIP.

Then the chapter points out that a new relationship with God through Jesus really moves us from being subject to a human-centered mindset to OBEYING God and having a renewed mind set on Him. With Christ, God gives us a new STRUCTURE to work within. His structure is a structure of grace – getting what we don’t deserve. Where once we were in a structure bound by self-effort and endeavoring to to do things entirely with the focus on self and man’s opinions, polls and prevailing mindsets, God took our focus from our-self to him-self through our Lord Jesus Christ. Ah ha … so God pays attention to getting the right STRUCTURE.

And when begin to focus on on Him, of course things begin to happen. RESULTS begin to come in. Results let you know how well things are going. A whole string of results creates MOMENTUM toward those things that really matter. Ah ha … so God pays attention to keeping MOMENTUM.

At the end of that Chapter 6 in Romans you see references to results and benefits. God cares about what’s happening and where your efforts and response to Him is taking you. He cares about OUTCOMES, either at the end of this life or at the end of an assignment that he gives (“As the Lord has assigned to each his task.”) Ah ha … so God pays attention to what OUTCOMES are important and achieved.

5 Areas I Could Use in Everyday Life, Work and Leadership

This period of study showed me that God worked in five areas I could easily describe. Clarity, Ownership, Structure, Momentum and Outcomes were a simple description of how God works. And therefore, if I paid attention to these five areas (I could count them on one hand – simple) I could be a better manager of those affairs assigned to me.

That really is the genesis of it as I sought to be a better leader and a better day-to-day manager. I wanted how I did my work and the leadership I provided to be reflective of how God works. And really, in Romans six, I found those five areas in which, so far as I could discern, God was very clearly working.

Then, with further study, my eyes really got opened. I began to see this same pattern all through scripture. These five elements showed up again and again from Genesis to Revelation.

Even then, I never said it was the only pattern but certainly it was “a” pattern that helped me very quickly distill all of the things that were available for me to work on and say, “Well, this, this one activity, is key to work on.”

I could take any long list, any important business or leadership decision and see where it fit in the scheme of these five areas and figure more easily what needed to happen next that would make the biggest difference moving forward.

One Thing is Needful

I kind of went on that principle the Lord Jesus told Martha, “One thing is needful.” There’s one thing that is important to focus on at this given time. That’s what I sought to do.

This model helped me put whatever was happening in context. It showed where I need to focus my attention – on taking ownership, on commitment, on my attitude – whatever word I might’ve used there – or in providing clarity for the volunteers who work at camp. The model just helped me distill my thoughts, gain focus and know what to do next.

I began writing these things down a little later on. Particularly once I finished at Beacon Bible camp I began putting the model on paper and formalizing it.

I’d come up with illustrations of Clarity and I might say, “No, that’s not the word. This word works better” or, “This more clearly illustrates what I see.” I would put those things in illustrations, of which I have some 400 of them now. Some of the word adjustments were just fine nuances of terms which really just helped me translate what I saw into everyday everyday language and practicality for myself and those I worked with.

Used for Professional Coaching and Consulting

I developed this binder of of illustrations and of course once I began coaching then I began reflecting and doing even more work on the model.

I correctly reasoned that the Clarity Model was reflective of the way God works, reflective of the fact that He’s a God of order and has created orderly ways for us to conduct our affairs in this world.

And … if using this God given pattern was pivotal to my providing forward moving leadership and management, it would be of great and practical help to other individuals and organizations as well.

I began using the Clarity Model for clients and experiencing good results, for which I give the glory to God. I never swamped them with all the details I had learned. The model served more as an “operating system” for me, a behind-the-scenes, totally adaptable operating system that could help me help my client zero in on where they needed to pay attention and take action to get the best results.

Ultimately it’s God’s pattern. I just sought to be reflective of the way in which He works.

I hope this gives you a little bit of an understanding of where The Clarity Model came from, what drove it and how I began to use it on a daily basis in the work and leadership that I was tasked with providing.

It continues to be a tool, a methodology, an operating system, my Swiss Army knife of planning, troubleshooting and decision-making that I use every day.

I hope one day I can pass it along to you.

P.S. If you’d like to attend the next Clarity Training, beginning January 2015, click here.

If you’d like to watch me explain this on YouTube, click here.

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