Prayers Answered

I've been praying for courage to be more outgoing and meet new people. I am longing for community within the church so I decided to introduce myself to someone I've never met before every weekend. I did that tonight, I met Diane. I've also been praying that God would use me and teach me to be generous and self less. Tonight, He did that by having me pick up a student volunteer. I had two people tell me they thought about me during the message. I had a group of older couples ask if I'd do dinner with them after church one weekend. I said sure they said they'd love that. It's funny how I prayed for community and a sense of belonging and God put me in the arms of loving grandparents. I never had grandparents growing up so I am looking forward to having good influential mentors in my life!

WCAGLS and Dr. Brene Brown

This lady was great! My favorite speakers probably went Bob Goff, Patrick Lencioni, and Dr. Brene Brown. She is a groundbreaking researcher into the topics of shame, worthiness and courage. She wrote a book called Daring Greatly and she shared some of that information with us. 

Love and belonging are irreducible needs. 

People need to be seen and loved.

Love is not something we do by ourselves, it grows through connection.

It's very difficult to love people more than we love ourselves.

People need to be seen and loved, need to belong , and need to be brave.  

Love is messy and hard. It's a struggle.

Connection gives purpose and meaning to our lives.

Love and belonging are two irreducible needs of men, women and children. In their absence is suffering.

We can't give what we don't have.

We cannot give help if we ourselves cannot ask for it. 

When you judge yourself for asking for help, you are always judging when you give help.

A leader models the courage to ask the questions, not to have all of the answers.

We cultivate love when we allow our most vulnerable and most powerful selves to be deeply seen and known.

Love is a practice, not just a profession.

What kills love (shame, blame, and withholding), kills organizations.

Without failure there can be no innovation.

If you want to be innovating you better be praying for lots of mistakes.

Shame can only rise for a certain amount of time before people disengage to self protect. 

People aren't looking for perfection, they are looking for people who practice love.

The space between how we behave and what we practice everyday is where we lose people.

Blame is the simple discharging in pain and discomfort.  

Blame is toxic in organizations as much as it is in relationships.

Feedback is a function of respect.

Lack of feedback is the number 1 reason for leaving a company.

Feedback by definition should be vulnerable. We don't like it because it's uncomfortable.

You can't be good at giving feedback if you aren't willing to be vulnerable. 

You can choose courage or comfort but you can't choose both. 

You have to make a space for people to show up and be seen for who they are.

Belonging can't have checkboxes attached to it.

People are desperate for belonging.

People want to be a part of something that's bigger than themselves.

We were born to be brave.

Shame is universal.

It's not the critic who counts... the credit belongs to the man who is in the arena. - Theodore Roosevelt

I want to be in the arena and I don't think I have much of a choice. My faith calls me to be courageous every day.

Have clarity about your values and someone who loves you because of your imperfections.

If you are not in the arena, I'm not interested or open to your feedback.

Contribute more than you criticize.

WCAGLS and Bob Goff

Bob Goff is hilarious and so full of wisdom! I loved his stories and could have listened to him talk for at least another hour. He was great! I think him and Patrick Lencioni made the Global Leadership Summit. I bought Bob's book, Love Does months ago, but have not gotten around to reading it yet. But now, after hearing him speak, I am more eager to read it than ever! Just like my other posts, below are notes from Bob's session. 

Love God. Love People. Do stuff.

Let it develop over time. Do not rush it, it ruins it.

Live a life worthy of the call you have received.

See people for who they are becoming.

Say to people, "It's good to see ya!" 

Let all that you do be done in love.

I want to hear God say, "You are who I made you to be."

Put the exclamation point after the right stuff.

I used to want to fix people, but now, I just want to be with them. 

Nothing will ever separate us from the love of God.

God's ability to forgive us is not limited by our ability to get it.

God wants to blow your minds. He took the foolish things of the World to shame the wise so that no one can boast. 

If you create some margin, Jesus will shove some terrific things in that space. 

Too often, we are posers. Don't be afraid. Be you. Live a life worthy of the calling you have received.

Leadership is more than giving pointers.

If we lead strong, we will lead people towards Jesus.

1 John 3:18