Categories
communication writing

Is it too cold?

women s black zip up hooded jacket
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We’ve been in Indiana and Ohio for Thanksgiving the last few days. Coming from Florida, it was a shock to the system when the wind chill recently dropped below 9° Fahrenheit. But is it too cold?

If you go by the headlines, the answer is yes. Of course, they have to add some drama to their spiel.

Snow and Arctic cold will blast the Midwest and Northeast

Is it too cold? man in rainy weather spots a melting snowman.

The guy in my illustration may think the icy rain makes it too cold. But if the snowman could speak, he may disagree. A nine-degree windchill may seem too frigid to a midwesterner, but it may sound like a heat wave in Barrow, Alaska.

Generalities can cloud your communications. Be specific when you describe a situation. Otherwise, your intended receiver may think you are too vague.

Now, excuse me while I find a nice, roaring fire.

Categories
motivation

Consider it pure joy

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How can anyone consider it pure joy when we face trials? How can anything good come from the pressures and challenges in our lives?

James 1:2-3 Consider it pure joy.

Untested faith is unproven. How can you know if your faith holds without putting it into practice? In a story, a hero without a trial is a hero without a story. How can the hero save the day if there is no problem to confront?

We don’t like trials and tribulations. Yet, problems have benefits. We need them. So when it comes to trials of various kinds, consider it pure joy.

Categories
love

To Love and to be Loved

woman carrying a baby
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We strongly desire to be loved from the moment we are born. Our survival depends on it. If someone doesn’t care for an infant, they are doomed. All of us are here because someone cared for us. Oh, to love and to be loved!

to love and to be loved by Nicolas Chamfort
Nicolas Chamfort Quotes. (n.d.). BrainyQuote.com. Retrieved November 24, 2024, from BrainyQuote.com Web site: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/nicolas_chamfort_143427

Yes, we all want love. However, our adverse experiences, fear of rejection, and selfishness make us skittish about loving others. Yet, how can we expect love to increase if we are not part of the solution?

What the world needs now is love, sweet love. That’s the only thing that there’s much too little of.




Categories
motivation

What Motivates Volunteers

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In The Essential Drucker, Peter Drucker insisted that management increasingly needs to lead knowledge workers as if they were volunteers because their skills make them mobile. They can always go somewhere else to work. So, what motivates volunteers?

I’ve had the advantage of witnessing how my wife has effectively motivated volunteers in a ministry. Some of the factors that motivate volunteers are:

  • Cast a compelling, inspiring vision you want to be a part of
  • Get to know each volunteer
  • Provide training and educational opportunities
  • Publicly show appreciation
  • Correct behavior privately
  • Always consider The Golden Rule
Cartoon of a man tossing a donut to a teenager. The man says, "The youth have been great voluntters. Plus, they word for donuts!"

Perks such as doughnuts don’t hurt either. The bottom line is ordering knowledge workers around doesn’t work. An effective boss of knowledge workers leads instead of dictates. Knowledge workers are paid to think. Indeed, What motivates volunteers also motivates them.

Categories
Business motivation

The cure for sudden Incompetence

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Peter Drucker asserted that people encounter sudden incompetence when they believe in a new role; they can continue doing what made them successful in the old role. This YouTube video summarizes his thoughts and the cure for sudden incompetence.

Making mistakes isn’t fun, but it’s necessary. What happens when mistakes occur and a person doesn’t learn but stubbornly does the same thing again?

At what point does someone become unteachable? That is when sudden incompetence occurs; a person in a new role keeps doing the things that gave them success before, but they no longer work. Yet, they refuse to learn and adjust to their new role.

The cure for sudden incompetence is to be humble enough to remain teachable regardless of experience or past successes. Be humble enough to remain a lifelong learner.