So there’s all kinds of speculation as to whether this shot is actually real or an allusion of special effects.

What fascinates me about it is that it COULD be real.

If I were the one trying to knock a bottle off someone’s head with my tennis serve, I might actually get the job done but only because I took out the person, not just the bottle.

But when Roger Federer, possibly the greatest tennis player who has ever lived, takes a shot like this there is room to believe it could be real.

That’s the power of excellence.

Excellence fascinates me because it’s the product of hard-work, dedication, discipline, devotion… the list could go on.

Excellence isn’t given. It’s earned.

Excellence isn’t a bonus.  It’s a reward.

Excellence is something we all aspire to, but rarely are we patient enough and committed enough to realize it.

What do you hope to be excellent at someday?

Control.

Direct.

Manipulate.

Maneuver.

Arrange.

Plan.

Organize.

We do these things all the time.

We’re always trying to create the outcomes that we want in life.

But inevitably, with nearly everything in life, there comes a point when you can no longer plan, control or manipulate the result.

There is always something beyond your control.

That’s when you get to the letting go.

How do you handle that moment?

Do you become…

Anxious?

Fearful?

Peaceful?

Angry?

Frustrated?

Numb?

Detached?

Can you surrender the uncontrollable to God?

What do you do when you get to the letting go?

** This is a pondering left over from this past Sunday.  Have you ever felt this way?

I wasn’t needed today.

3000 +  attendees

25 staff

Hundreds of volunteers

Baptism at one campus

Communion at the others

And I wasn’t needed.

I wasn’t needed to:

• Solve a problem
• React to a crisis
• Identify something that was missed
• Be worship assistant
• Substitute for a campus pastor

Nope.  Everyone was there playing their part and I wasn’t needed… actually, I wasn’t needed for the obvious or urgent.

I WAS needed though, for what I really ought to be doing most days.  I was needed to:

• Coach/encourage our staff and volunteers
• Praise what went well
• See my team in action and celebrate their unique contribution
• Pray for those attending and ask God to meet them today
• Encourage someone who had a tough week

I was needed today for what doesn’t come easy.

It wasn’t to be in the spotlight.  It wasn’t to be the hero.

It was to let my team play those roles.  It was to celebrate their victories and to see them succeed.

I hope I did my job today.

I’m enjoying this great little book, Unwritten Travels, written by my friend Jenny Black.

One of the exercises in the book is to describe how you would spend an ENTIRE DAY if you could do whatever you wanted?

Here’s mine:

On a beach… in the fall

Sun is out, but temp is moderate

Walking, reading, praying

Sitting in silence

Not hurrying

Not worrying

What would your day look like?

August 18th is our next Cultivate Her event here in Nashville and our team is excitedly gearing up for it!

This month we’re going to be talking about the power of influence.

We’ll be celebrating stories of women who have influenced our leadership in a significant way.

Was there someone in your life who believed in you even when you didn’t believe in yourself?

Is there someone in your life that is a constant support and encouragement to you?

We want to hear YOUR stories and we want to inspire you with the stories of others.

Here’s my story…

I was 15.  shy.  insecure.  timid.  nervous.  scared.

Standing over to the side of her busy ice cream shop, I waited patiently for an opportunity to inquire about a job.  I’m quite certain that I nearly bolted out a few times, but I needed to do this.  I wanted to work here.  I needed a job to earn money for college and I was going to stretch myself to branch out.

But she noticed me. This kind, outgoing, sweet woman noticed me.

** Hop on over to the Cultivate Her blog for the rest of the story and the details for the August event.

“The Leader’s voice always speaks the loudest”

“When  decision needs to be made, a leader will eventually emerge.”

I’m not sure if these are direct quotes from anyone, but they are phrases that have stuck with me.

Leaders are seemingly born to take charge.  We do this naturally.  If we feel the slightest bit of lack of direction, we step in to save the day.

But when positional leadership collides with natural leadership, you may find a gap in leadership development throughout the organization.  Natural leaders will always step up and speak up, and when that natural leader is a positional leader, both that leader and the team expect him to always play the part.

As the leader of your organization, how are you letting other leadership voices surface?

In meetings and decision making environments, does your team always wait for you to speak up?

What happens if you don’t?

I’m gonna bet it gets really quiet until you just can’t stand it and you take charge once again.  Right?

This is another big, massive grey leadership issue for us to tackle as leaders.

We’ve got to understand the power of our voice and we have to be willing to muffle it sometimes for the sake of the development of our teams.

So how do you muffle your voice?

1.) Allow awkward moments to exist. Get comfortable with the silence and encourage others to speak up.

2.) Remove yourself. Are there meetings that you need to purposefully NOT be a part of so that another leader has to take the reigns?

3.) Don’t answer questions directly.  Don’t spoon feed instruction.  Ask questions that help your staff make decisions on their own.

As leaders we become so programmed to provide direction, solve problems and take charge that we sometimes forget that our most important responsibility is to develop others around us. There are plenty of times where your natural leadership or positional leadership will require you to be a strong voice, but look for the opportunities to muffle it and let other voices shine!

I remember very vividly the first time I served under a floundering leader.  I was a pompous 20-something that was actively reading everything by John Maxwell that I could get my hands on, so I thought I had leadership all figured out (in spite of the fact that I really wasn’t leading anything.)

My arrogance and attitude of superiority caused me to think things like:

“I could do this so much better than them.”

“Don’t they understand how frustrated everyone is?”

“Why aren’t they doing anything?”

I learned a lot about leadership during that season.  I really did.

Since I’ve now experienced my own seasons of floundering, I have so much more compassion and grace for that leader.

If you’re following a floundering leader, here are a few things I would caution you to consider:

• You have no idea what that leader is facing. You may think you do, but I guarantee that you don’t.  Give them grace.  They need it.
• Pray, watch, observe and journal what you see. Don’t talk to others about it – that just turns into backbiting and gossip.  Study what that leader is doing and how they are doing it and make some notes that you’ll want to read when you find yourself floundering sometime down the road.  (Because if you are leading, you WILL flounder at some point.)
• Engage that leader in conversation. Don’t give them an earful of everything you think they are doing wrong – they probably know everything you’ll tell them.  Tell that leader that you are praying for them.  Ask if there is anything that you can do to help them or support them.

If you’re the flounder-er, here’s my advice to you:

• Don’t deny it. Floundering is one of the seasons and passages of leadership.  Don’t try to convince yourself it’s not happening.
• Humble yourself. Everyone knows and sees that you’re floundering, no matter how hard you’re trying to cover it up.
• Be honest with your team and find ways that they can help you pick up some of the things that are weighing you down.  I bet they would be honored to help you.
• Talk openly with whomever you are accountable to. You need to set some purposeful time to share with them what has you floundering and work together to create a plan to pull you out of this season.  It’s detrimental to everyone, especially yourself, to stay in this space.

Have you ever observed a flounder-er or found yourself floundering?  What did you observe?

I did it again.

One of my greatest repeated leadership failures.

I failed to L I S T E N.

Oh, I hear words.  I read emails.  I have conversations.

But sometimes I just don’t listen.

I don’t pick up on attitude.

I don’t read eyes.

I don’t notice lack of enthusiasm.

I don’t observe signs of stress.

Oftentimes in my haste, I miss the subtleties that are really the mark of good listening.

My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,

James 1:19

And if I’m not listening, I really can’t lead.

If I’m not listening, I’m not aware of what the team needs.

If I’m not listening, I race to task and solutions and miss feelings and emotions.

If I’m not listening, I convey that I don’t value what the team is telling me (however silently they might be saying it.)

The first duty of love is to listen. Paul Tillich

How well are you listening to your team?

Ever been in a season of life that you just don’t like?

Maybe it’s a new job that isn’t what you expected?

Maybe it’s a season in your child’s life (like the terrible 2′s) that you wonder if you both are going to live through?

Maybe it’s being single or single again?

Maybe it’s a relationship with a family member or friend that for as much as you try to get it right, it’s just all wrong?

Ever been in one of those seasons where you’ve been trying so hard for so long that you just want to quit?

Walk away.

Give up.

I’ve had my share.

There have been seasons of my life when it has taken everything in me to push through and stick with it.

I didn’t want to.  I really didn’t want to.

I’ve literally begged God to fix the situation.  To let me give up.  To release me from the frustration and the pain.  Usually he doesn’t let me, and I find myself reflecting on this verse:

2 Corinthians 12:7-10

⁷To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. ⁸Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. ⁹But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. ¹⁰That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Although my circumstances may be different from Paul’s.  They say that Paul’s affliction may have been physical.  Maybe for you it is.  Maybe it’s metaphorical.  But either way, I think the thing that most captures my attention when I read these verses is this part:

⁸Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. ⁹But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

I think sometimes God allows us to live in the discomfort of a season or circumstance because He is up to greater work than we can see.  It’s for His glory, not ours.  It’s for His power and strength to be seen… even if it’s just for us to see.

In a world that encourages us to:

…seek comfort

…find the easy way

…play to your strengths

…live your best life, etc.

I think we find ourselves very restless with the thorns.  We think we deserve better and so we whine and cry and blame instead of trying to find a way for God’s power to be made perfect in our weakness.

I love this next part of verse 9, Paul says:

“Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”

Did you catch that?

“So that Christ’s power may rest on me.” There’s something very comforting about the idea of God’s power RESTING on me.

In the midst of your thorn, there is comfort if you’ll allow God’s power to be made known through your weakness.

How can you allow God’s power to be seen through your thorn?

My life feels very frantic right now.  I can’t really catch my breath and I’m constantly feeling edgy.

Ever been in one of those seasons?

I don’t like the feeling and I don’t like myself.

So, today while I was walking I found myself praying, “God, what’s the deal?  Why am I so restless, stressed, frantic and irritated?  What do I need to do?”

And just as that word “do” came out of my mouth, I felt God kind of stop me in my tracks and say:

“You don’t need to do, you need to be.”

“Be?  Be what?  How do I be?”

I don’t know how to be.

Be still.

Be calm.

Be quiet.

Be prayerful.

Be listening.

Be thoughtful.

To be means simply to “exist or live”.

In all my frantic-ness, I’ve forgotten how to simply live.

Psalm 46:10

Be still, and know that I am God.

John Ortberg says in The Me I Want to Be

My main job is to remain connected to God.  When my primary focus is being present with him, everything else has a way of falling into place.

That’s what I want to be.

I just can’t figure out how to do it.

How about you?