The See-Through CEO

I found this article very interesting. To me it highlighted what is TRUE in the world, regardless of your faith. People value authenticity. I wonder...are businesses becoming more transparent and honest than the local church? The local church should be leading this charge. We should be the most authentic and genuine people on the planet, but since I'm part of the local church, I know that I'm part of the problem. I could stand to lead with increasing vulnerability. To that end, I highly recommend "Leading With a Limp" which I read over vacation last week. You should check that out too. Peace.

Link: Wired 15.04: The See-Through CEO.

The Toddler Perspective

With very limited internet access this past week I wasn't able to really blog, but wanted to share one story from our roadtrip up to Boone, NC...

The set up is this...in the days prior to leaving, Mackinley decided to start incessantly vomiting and then pass it on to Heather.  Somehow Sydnie and I managed to escape, or so I thought.  About 3 am last Friday, just hours before our departure, the dreaded sickness caught up with Sydnie.  So our 8 am departure turned into 1 pm.  By this point I'm a bit frustrated.  I have snapped into "let's make good time" mode which is a bit difficult considering we look like the freaking Griswolds!  We have two vomiting kids, a 90 pound dog, a car packed to the ceiling and now on top of the roof (thanks to our new Thule rooftop bag).  By 2 pm we have gotten lunch, driven 3 miles from our house and already stopped because Mackinley is now expelling out the "other end" all over her car seat.  I realize this is probably more information than you probably need.  At this point I'm thinking we'll be lucky to get out of Florida by nightfall.  Needless to say, the trip up had us all a bit frazzled.  But here's the point...as they have so often done, our kids help put things in perspective.  It's now about 8 pm and we have just changed the girls into their pajamas in hopes that they would fall asleep in the car as we drive the remaining 6 hours of the trip.  We are exhausted.  None of us are feeling great.  The car smells.  The dog has taken to constantly biting and itching himself.  The rooftop carrier is helping us get about 6 miles to the gallon.  I haven't had any coffee in several hours.  We hardly slept since we'd been up all night with the vomiting kid.   And then Sydnie made her proclamation in her most exuberant voice..."I'm so happy!"  Perspective returned.  The kid got it right.  The kid was unfazed by the circumstances and instead was focused on the gift of the family getting to take a vacation together.  It couldn't have been more timely.  It's amazing how quickly I can lose sight of the good in life.  I was grateful to be taught by my almost-3 year old.

Thanks for reading, assuming you've made it thus far.

Greeting from Boone

Having a great time in Boone, NC.  Some pics from our trip are posted to the right under "Boone March 2007."  Got some snow yesterday, which was fun for our Florida girls! 

Sydnie Sings to Mackinley

Cultural Insight

You reallly should read this article, especially if Orlando is home, but even if it isn't.

The Theme-Parking, Megachurching, Franchsing, Exurbing, McMansioning of America: How Walt Disney Changed Everything

International Justice Mission

Our church recently had a representative from International Justice Mission come and preach on Sunday.  I've included the recording here...

Download 02_the_unfamiliar_passion_of_god_2.m4a

If you are unfamiliar with them, they work to rescue people from slavery, sex trade, etc.  Their stories are unbelievable.  In fact you can listen to an interview with their founder, Gary Haugen, on the Fermi Podcast by clicking here.

In the interview he mentions a new movie that deals with issues of slavery in our world today.  Contrary to conventional thought, slavery is as big an issue today as it has ever been.  The movie is entitled TRADE.  I've included the trailer below.  Haugen says the movie is quite rough and violent, but that is because it is accurate. 

Catalyst Podcast

If you're not listening to the Catalyst Podcast you really should be.  Every month they feature a fantastic interview with a leader who will challenge your thinking.  This month featured Andy Crouch who is pioneering something called the Christian Vision Project.  It was a great interview.  He spoke about the need to be CREATORS and CULTIVATORS of culture.  The guy just oozed intelligence.  If you click the link below it will launch iTunes and you can subscribe to their content for free. 

As a related aside, PODCASTS are so cool.  They are a great example of redeeming technology.  The iPod becomes a discipleship tool as we get to hear from people all over the world. 

You can subscribe by clicking this link.

Vision & Details

We recently read an article as a staff that helped you pinpoint what type of leader you most naturally are.  The three categories were VISIONARY, STRATEGIC & OPERATIONAL.  One of the things that was "troublesome" to me in the article was this...

those that are visionary but also care about details/excellence are often very annoying to work with.

Though I can agree with that to a certain extent, I also find that somewhat disconcerting.  Shouldn't a visionary leader care about the details?  If a visionary leader has a clear picture of "how things should be" then they are going to want things to look and feel a certain way.  Obviously this can become obnoxious and only serve to fuel the identity and idol issues of the visionary leader.  But the desire for excellence shouldn't be dismissed.  Anyway, a blog I follow had a great post today addressing this tension.  It's linked below.  Let me know what you think.

Link: Evotional.com - Originality, Authenticity, Creativity.