S.I.M.P.L.E.

Simple is in. In today's fast-paced society every so often something so revolutionary comes along in a tidy simple package that it sweeps the world up in the wake of it's impact. Time and again these world-sweeping innovations are the love children of simplicity.

Think about this all of the successful companies in our world are the drivers of our economy and interact on a daily basis with the most complex systems and methodologies known to man, yet their approach to the public is a clarion of simple...

..."have it your way"..."expect more, pay less"...15 minutes can save you 15% or more on your car insurance"...etc.etc.etc.

For today's leader to be successful he or she must learn to harness the awesome power of simple.

Simple narrows down everything your organization or movement is about and channels it into an easily accessable statement that becomes the marching orders for all who have connected themselves to your work.

Simple is memorable and memorable is portable.

Here are 6 steps to make any organization flow smoothly down the river of simple:

S - Start with the vision

Vision must be the starting point for the simple movement you are desiring to accomplish. Vision brings with it focus and clarity as well as a conviction that what you are proposing "ought" to be done. Nothing achieves results like a man or woman driven by a heartfelt "oughtness."

I - Internal Purging

Internal Purging is the process of evaluating everything your organization is doing through the lense of vision and purging the things that are no longer compatible with that vision. This process can be difficult, but is critically important in the movement toward simple. In the internal purging process you must be willing to make the tough decisions that will more than likely result in some people not agreeing with you and even challenging your motivation for change. In the end you must constantly refer to the vision. The vision leads you toward the purging.

M - Maintain open lines of communication

Communication is the Achiles' heel of any leadership team. Always remember where there is great communication great things happen, where there is good communication good things happen, where there is bad communication bad things happen, and where there is no communication no things happen. Be extremely intentional about communicating the process of simple to all those involved in key leadership positions in your organization and encourage them to communicate that with all those falling under their spheres of influence.

P - Prepare passionately

Preparation time is not wasted time. Simple is not easy, therefore you have got to put the time in so that the vision is given the proper environment to grow and mature. Simple is a process that fosters development among the vision, the visionary, and the visionees. Do your homework. Ask the right questions. Meet with the right people. Find everything you can about what you are trying to accomplish and put in into words in an impacting and memorable way. This can only be done while standing on the shoulders of your preparation.

L - Let go of the un-important

In leadership there is a constant struggle between the urgent and the important. Sadly many of us place far too much time in the urgent and let the important fall by the wayside. Time management is critical to creating an enviromnent of simple. Urgent things require time, but you must begin to schedule time to deal with the urgent as well as time to deal with the important. Consider this: going to the restroom after a 9 hour car ride is urgent, whereas having a fully functional zipper on your pants is important. Learn to let go of the un-important and focus your time and energy into the things that are producing results and drawing your organization closer to the realization of the vision.

E - Energize people toward the goal

Energizing people is alot like flying a hot air ballon. You must constantly keep filling the ballon in order to rise and stay in the air. Creating an organization of simple is not easy and it will require a great motivational leader who can energize the people (both staff members and casual observers) toward the goal. A great practice for any leader is to remind the people of the vision about every 21 days. Because of the hectic nature of our lives (as noted above) we can lose sight of the big picture so it is a great leadership practice to remind the people of the vision about every three weeks. Proper vision casting leads to proper mobility throughout any organization.

Well there you have it. A 6 step guide to implementing simple into all that you do. Simple is becoming a war cry of all successful enterprises and is soaking into the hearts of millions of people worldwide. As we strive to point our organizations toward the future it will be up to our leadership to bring about success. Our success is found at the end of the rainbow of simple.

misplaced ambition

We recently experienced the 46th anniversary of an event that rocked America. On November 22nd, 1963 John F. Kennedy was assassinated as his motorcade passed through the heavily populated city streets of Dallas, Texas.

Moments after the three shots rang out that took the President's life authorities arrested 24 year old Lee Harvey Oswald and charged him with the murder of President Kennedy. Oswald would never see the courtroom thanks to a bullet from the nose of Jack Ruby's 38 special.

In 24 hours the nation was rocked. The leader of the country lay slain, the victim of an assassin's malice. The guilty party lay slain the victim of another assassin's burning anger.

4 bullets and 2 men rewrote the history books and changed the course of American politics forever.

We can learn a lot from Lee Harvey Oswald and Jack Ruby.

Both were men who changed the world, albiet in a drastically negative way, but their actions had an immediate impact on "life as usual."

History tells us that as a young man in the United States Marine Corps that Lee Harvey Oswald was a very ambitious man. He wanted to change the world. He had a true desire that his life was meaningful and that he would be remembered forever. Oswald often felt as if he were a lone eagle soaring above the mediocrity of his peers. He was ambitious. He was carismatic. He was hungry for change. He was a leader.

He was a leader.

Lee spent several years in the Soviet Union working with and for Communist regimes in hopes of fulfilling his aspirations of greatness. While Lee did find love in Russia (he met and married his wife Marina Prusakova) he fell far short of the ambitions of his heart countless times. Wherever Lee searched to find his destiny it seemed to be the wrong place or the wrong time.

Misplaced ambition will destroy us.

Eventually Oswald and his wife and children moved to Dallas, Texas where Lee would finally find a place to manifest his desires for greatness. His misplaced ambition found a voice in the murder of President John F. Kennedy.

Oswald couldn't find the proper outlet for his ambitions of greatness. He tried, and tried, and tried, and tried only to find no respite for his soul's craving for significance. He had a sense of destiny, but no outlet to release his potential.

The thing that strikes me the most about the story of Lee Harvey Oswald is that at the time of his assassination of JFK Oswald was only 24 years old. He was young. He was very young. He had the possibility of a great future ahead of him and his family. He was bright-eyed and ambitious, yet he could not handle the pressure of failure so instead of finding the proper channel to place his ambitions he took matters into his own hands and destroyed the course of the nation.

Where are your ambitions placed? Are you that young Lee Harvey Oswald, full of potential with no place to experiment? Will you learn to let your gifts and talents develop instead of jumping ahead of your time?

These are questions that all leaders must come to terms with. We are all young Lee Harvey Oswalds in the sense that we have a desire for destiny and significance. We must allow our ambitions to be placed in the stream that carries them away from the rocky crags of assassination and toward the flowing falls of justice, peace and redemption.

That's what leadership is all about. Administering justice. Creating peace. Facilitating redemption.

Evaluate your leadership to see if you are allowing your frustrations to control your actions. Frustrated leaders produce frustrated people. We must realize that if we are truly going to be leaders that frustrating circumstances come along with the territory! We cannot completely eliminate bad situations. A friend of mine once said to me, "Great leaders are not known for the great situations they walk into, but rather the great situations they create."

Leadership is about creating great situations out of bad situations. Learn to manage your frustrations properly and process your disappointments. Oswald was disappointed at an early age. I wonder what history would look like if he had only taken the time to realize that he had plenty of great years ahead of him and he had no need to "make something happen."

One of the greatest sins of any leader is to try to make something happen.

Lee Harvey Oswald made something happen...

At 12:30 pm November 22nd, 1963 Lee Harvey Oswald made something happen. He entered the Texas School Book Depository building where he was an employee and made his way to the 6th floor. In a few moments the President would be dead at his hands.

I say again misplaced ambitions are dangerous.

Oswald had a choice that November morning. He didn't have to enter the building. He didn't have to ascend to the 6th floor. He didn't have to shoot the President.

But he did.

We as leaders must refuse to let our misplaced ambitions destroy us or those around us. We have got to make the right choice and refuse to enter the building. When frustration, disappointment, doubt, anger, fear and the like come creeping into our hearts trying to derail us from the vision we have for our lives we must say "NO!" to the Texas School Book Depository. We must refuse to go in. We must refuse to be led by our misplaced ambitions, but rather find proper avenues of leadership and service that will allow us to truly live the fulfilled life that we have all been destined to live.

Lee Harvey Oswald didn't do this. We must learn from his example.

Oswald did make history. In fact he was on the front page of every newspaper in the country. He fulfilled a temporary high only to pay a permanent wage.

Jack Ruby shot and killed Oswald less than 24 hours after Oswald shot the President.

His time in the spotlight was short lived.

So will ours be if we continue to have misplaced ambitions.

Let us move forward with bold faith and properly cultivated ambitions. Let us learn from Lee and move away from frustration and into fulfillment. Let us process our pain and heal the hurting places in our lives.

Let us lead.

Let us live.

Just Name It

     Sir Isaac Newton changed the world around him with one small, seemingly insignificant act. He gave a name to something that was already present around him. The name "gravity" was coined by Newton as he noticed that what goes up must come down. He didn't invent gravity...he named it. Science remembers Newton for a number of things, but none are more significant than his articulation of gravity.

     I wonder what the world will remember us by? Often as I watch leaders scurry about the hallways of their organizations I wonder if they are making the most of what is around them, like good ole Isaac. I think that many times they are covering up their lack of creativity with their busyness while other times they are simply waiting for that perfect idea to fall into their lap.

     A good friend once told me, "Great leaders are remembered not by the perfect situations they walk into, but by the perfect situations they create."

     What perfect situation will you create in your organization?

     The same is true for you that was true for Isaac Newton. You don't have to spend time and energy reinventing the wheel. Gravity is all around us...will you be the one to name it? Learn to recognize what everyone else is thinking and feeling and then don't be afraid to give it a name.

     As leaders we need to be able to "pull the trigger" and fire on a great idea. So I ask you, what great idea is in your sights that you have been waiting on the right time to fire? Wait no longer. Pull the trigger.

     
     Ghandi pulled the trigger on non-violence and changed the world. Mother Theresa pulled the trigger on love for the un-loveable and changed the world. Martin Luther King Jr. pulled the trigger on racial equality and changed the world.  Jesus Christ pulled the trigger on salvation and changed the world.  Pull the trigger!!! Gravity is all around you and it is waiting on you to pull the trigger.

     The people all around you are waiting on you to pull the trigger. Will you be the one to do what needs to be done? If you say yes to that question you will change the world around you forever.