There is nothing wrong with technology,
networking, profit, policy-making, or multitasking . . .is there?
Line ‘em up, squeeze ‘em off.
That’s how I learned to shoot.
- 100% sure of target.
- Front sight rests in the “V” of the back sight.
- Breath normally.
- Finger on trigger.
- Pressure don’t pull.
- Fire at exhale.
I have not forgotten how to manage sightlines. But sometimes I forget my “target,” my focus. I get excited about the outcome. My goals are based on immediate over long term. Philosophy and purpose take a back seat to policy and production. At times I begin from the end, not the beginning.
At times we lose sight of where we started. Our vision is sacrificed for implementation. We think what we see on the other side of the fence is greener. Sacrificing what got us started might finish us. Aglocal admitted that partnership with a large enterprise caught their attention. The company forgot whom they served for a short time. The large windfall became an apparition. Aglocal returned to its original commitment: supplying local communities.
Are we adapting to and adopting from others simply because something works? Do we create policy based on our beliefs, our philosophy of life, or on pressures from the marketplace? Creating social media policy without an anchor to ethos or ethic serves self, individualizes the immediate. When policy is built without philosophy, leadership becomes top-down.
Our choice of words communicate what we think, our person, our behavior. “Networking” seems like linkage for the
sake of personal advantage. “Leveraging” seems like using people, relationships, communities, for gaining things. “Marketing” seems like our vocation is driven by advertising, promotion, and money over benefiting others.
We can be technology rich and wisdom poor. Is our interest in the latest classroom gadgets circumventing our philosophy of education? Victor Davis Hanson’s concern about what passes for education:
“The latest fad of near-insolvent universities is to offer free iPads to students so that they can access information more easily. But what if most undergraduates still have not been taught to read well or think inductively, or to have some notion of history? Speeding up their ignorance is not the same as imparting wisdom.”
But there are those who “get it.” FastCo Labs reminds its readership that single-mindedness to complete a project, an assignment is necessary.
- Focus.
- Turn off the phone.
- Forget email.
- Lock the door.
- Think about nothing else but what’s in front of us.
Leaders think about what is in front of us. James Beshara at Crowdtilt.com (@jjbeshara) agrees. For years I have been teaching leadership based on the inversion of the typical pyramid diagram: at the top point are the leaders, at the triangle base are all the peons: the normal flow chart of many companies and churches. Crowd Tilt connected to the same point in a recent post. Jesus’ turned the world upside down (Acts 17:6) by becoming a servant (Philippians 2:1-11). The triangle is turned on its head, the leaders serving all others. It is a pleasure to see the biblical dynamic applied in the workplace as it should be everyplace.
I love change. I enjoy being on the cutting edge. I use all the tools available to me. But I constantly have to refocus.
When we get our sightlines right, 100% sure of the target, we can bring Heaven to earth.
Mark likes to shoot. Mark enjoys leadership. Both are taken very seriously, practiced very carefully. Dr. Mark Eckel teaches leadership classes for various organizations, institutions, and schools.