Category Archives: Weekly Devotions

Strength

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As leaders, we have the responsibility to give others strength – strength to get through difficult times, strength to accomplish move than they thought was possible and the strength to carry on everyday. A leader’s job is to inspire those around them, be a source of encouragement, a resource for guidance and a cheerleader for them as they go beyond their limits and try new things in their own personal growth. When your people speak of you, do they say “He’s always encouraging me, helping me figure things out and giving me opportunities to stretch myself”? I’ll never forget a very special leader I used to work for. She saw things in me that I never did. She was always there with a smile and a “good job!” when I completed something that I’d never done before. She’d tell me what she wanted and let me get it done, this sounds a lot like great delegation but it was always more than that, it was great mentorship.

Philippians 4:13 “I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.”

So, where do you get your strength? This passage reminds us to find our strength in God – “Him who gives me strength”. In our fast paced lives sometimes we forget that! We can do everything through Him because God is our strength, he is with us all day – everyday. Our privilege to lead is a gift from God; He has put us in this place at this time to achieve greatness. We too, have had a great mentor – Jesus Christ. He taught us to have compassion, patience and to be encouraging to those around us. You can be the source of strength for those you work with by being a positive role model. When people ask you “Where do you get the strength to lead from?” You can answer quite easily: God gives me the strength. In order to maintain your strength, like in any good workout routine, you need to work at it daily. We’ve all experienced a few days off from the gym; it gets harder to go back the longer you are away. Remain Strong!

Are you accessible?

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Do people know where to find you at work? Do they refer to you as approachable and accessible? Many people in “leadership” positions have an open door policy but their door is often found closed or worse yet; the door is open but the mind is closed. There is an old management theory called the “Seagull Theory of Management”. It is when the leader flies in, leaves droppings everywhere and then flies out. I hope that this doesn’t describe you or at least not how your people do. There are a lot distractions in today’s working environment: e-mail, cell phones, instant messaging and last minute demands. We work in what I call the microwave world – everything is ready in less than two minutes. Leaders need to take a few minutes to examine how these distractions are affecting their relationships with the people who count on them. The main purpose of leadership, as opposed to management, is to motivate and encourage others toward a common goal. In order to achieve this, we must spend time with our people, find out what their needs are and provide them a vision that they can see. We can’t do this is we aren’t accessible.

Jeremiah 29:13 “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

God knows we are easily distracted; look how long it took for Eve to get distracted/tempted from the one rule they had “Don’t eat from the tree in the middle of the garden”? God set in our minds and hearts that we will find Him when we seek Him with all of our heart. This isn’t a “microwave” solution: fast and when we want it. The lesson here is that we need to become immersed in God’s word, seek him with all of our heart; not just a minute or two but spend time with God, everyday. If you are like everyone who receives e-mails, you’ll read 15 minutes of “funny” e-mails or check the stories and scores on ESPN.com or another favorite website. Are you devoting that much time to seeking the Lord with all your heart? God is always accessible to hear your prayers, accept your thanks, receive your praise and forgive your sins. He just asks for you to do it with all your heart.

Are you ready?

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“Equip you with everything good”; sounds like a tall order to fill if you are in a leadership position. It can also be perceived as an insult if you are the employee. I’m suggesting that you view “equipping” as a means of employee development. As leaders, we have the obligation to develop our people and equip them for everything good. We can be so busy taking care of the “business” that we often let our responsibility for employee development fall away. We should make it a priority and work with each member of our staff to help them achieve more than they thought was possible. Set a regular meeting time and help the employee establish reasonable goals for their career or even for their personal lives. Goal setting, at first, will be hard for employees to do. You might have to suggest some direction or offer options. Give them short-term goals that are easily achieved so they know what success feels like. Once they see that the developmental goals are for them, they will start to bring their own needs to the meeting. Your success of “equipping” can be measured by increased productivity or job satisfaction by your staff or even if they advance into other positions of increased responsibility. Succession planning and coaching are two models/programs that can help you equip them for everything good.

Hebrews 13:20, 21 – “May the God of peace…equip you with everything good for doing his will…”

You should work in your vocation to the glory of God, doing His will. You have been blessed with the ability and the responsibility to lead others; God has equipped you with everything good for doing His will. How do you feel about the other areas of your life, are you equipped? Most of us took advantage of the opportunities that were put in front of us at some point in our lives. We have to remember that God works in mysterious ways and sometimes we simply don’t always recognize them. When was the last time you attended a bible study or read a book that contained a message from God? These are tools that God will use to equip you for doing His will. Take advantage of the equipping that He is doing and seize upon the opportunities to do His will and witness to others. You will never know when the words you choose or the actions that you take will make the difference in someone else’s life.

Diligence

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Diligent is defined as “Characterized by care and perseverance in carrying out tasks”. How can a leader govern diligently? They can start by paying attention. Pay attention to the details of your work; don’t let things fall through the cracks. People are looking up to you for guidance, information, instruction, and decisions to complete assignments and to provide direction. You must be clear about what is needed or provide the details necessary for others to complete their tasks. If you are not able to provide good guidance, people will jump to incorrect conclusions about projects, assignments or work products. Diligence also requires accountability; you must ensure your people are meeting their obligations – timelines and deliverables within fiscal constraints. There are a number of ways to handle accountability; at one end is micro-management and at the other end is leaving people alone without any follow up on your part. Obviously, it is best to work from somewhere in the middle and to adjust toward either end as the team or team members require. We all work better with some guidance; your responsibility as the as the leader is to provide it, diligently.

 Romans 12:6, 8 – “If a man’s gift is … leadership, let him govern diligently…”

As Paul writes in his letter to the Romans, if we are to lead, we must do it diligently. We must pay attention to the small things; the devil is in the details. It is easy to obey the straight forward commandments like not stealing or killing but what about the “details” of the others like not being jealous of what others have or putting other activities before worship with God, especially during football season. Who is keeping you accountable for what is happening in your life? Confess your sin, give it to the Lord, repent and turn toward God. The good news is that Jesus took it all upon himself on the cross for us. Be diligent in your daily study and time with the Lord, you’ll be rewarded in many ways.

Are you listening?

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During these times of uncertainty and frequent change, we need to get as many perspectives on an issue that we can. Employees, our boots in the field, have a very keen perspective of what’s happening that we, as leaders may not. The old expression “you can’t see the forest through the trees” has a lot of validity the further up the ladder you go. As James reminds us, “be quick to listen”; you might be surprised by what you hear. God gave us two ears and one mouth for a reason.

The deeper down you dig, the less polish you’ll find on the things you hear or statements that are made. Listen to what is being said, not how it is being said. Search for the facts, they may not be stated in a way that you’re used to hearing them. Be slow to speak, let the speaker get everything out before you speak. There are times we simply justify why we are doing something or why we can’t change. Resist the urge to become angry in the face of criticism, remember there can be more than one right answer. If you want honest feedback and assessment of a situation from your employees, keep your emotions in check. The employees are giving you a gift, accept it with grace and they’ll do it again. If you don’t accept the gift well, you’ll never get a second chance.

James 1:19 “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry…”

As brothers and sisters in Christ, we need to heed these words as well. Listen to the words contained in the bible; be slow to speak about why that isn’t realistic or how it’s impossible to follow the example of our savior Jesus Christ. How often do you actually hear the Word, is it only in worship? The Word is a guide for us to learn and apply but it’s hard to do when you only hear it once a week. As you listen to the Word, let the meaning sink in. Look for what is being said beyond the words. Be slow to become angry or frustrated when you read the bible as you compare your life to what you are reading. Don’t feel guilty about how you lead your life or think that acting in a Christ-like manner just won’t work; try it, you might be surprised.

Fact, Fiction or both?

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As we crest the hill for Vibrant Response 13, it is time to shed a little more light on this whole exercise. Command and Control(C2) elements (C2CRE and DCRF) are the primary training audience for this event. Each “element” has subordinate units assigned to address the needs of the civilian authority requesting assistance. The DoD is subordinate to the local authority, which in many cases will be the State. When state resources are reduced/depleted, they request assistance from the federal government. We usually see this with FEMA assisting during disasters.

National Guard troops are governed under Title 32 of the United States Code which allows them to function under the direction of the Governor to preform basic “maintain order” missions of which disasters are recognized. Federal military forces are governed by Title 10 and are under the direction of the President. Title 32 forces can be federalized into Title 10 forces by order of the President, which is how NG troops are sent to foreign wars. The C2 elements were activated following the events of 9/11 and Katrina. The key guiding principle is that they support the civilian authority. In fact, federal forces are prohibited from carrying weapons on US soil.

The C2 elements bring their assigned resources in aviation, operations, medical and logistics to assist. The exercise is designed by the 5th Army’s training arm – ARNORTH. They are set up in two areas of Indiana to replicate the events I’ve been describing. The Muscatatuck Urban Training Center(MUTC) is located outside of Seymour IN and at Camp Atterbury outside of Edinburg IN. They have venues that include crashed a helicopter and airplane, damaged buildings, subways, rubble piles for victims, ground transportation areas, landing zones and a vacant city that was once the state hospital complex. They use hundreds of people portraying “victims” who go through “make-up” to appear as injured. There is also a news crew that produces twice daily broadcasts using live footage they shoot throughout the day. It’s a real production.

We are running about 15 missions a day now at the two venues, which is significantly less than last week. In addition to overseeing the missions, we also provide current SA/SU (situational awareness/situational understanding) to the group role playing the State agencies and to the ExCon (Exercise Control) group. We are able to provide them with current mission status with our field commanders reports to us in the Area Command.

We have a few more days of events before it ends on Monday. Not a lot will change between now and then which, may make this my last post on the Vibrant Response Exercise. Send me comments if there’s something you want to know about.

Here we go again

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The second phase of Vibrant Response kicked off on Sunday with series of small explosions and two nuclear devices detonating but not at their full strength. The Governor had ordered everyone in the effected area to remain in place until further notice. Today, he ordered the evacuation of more than one million people and has requested federal support. The US Army has deployed two Task Forces of resources to assist. This version of the exercise is for the C2CRE – Command/Control of CBRN Response Element. Yes, is an acronym within an acronym: CBRN is Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear.

There will be fewer troops moving on this event and fewer live missions for this portion. The missions on Sunday and Monday were completed by a single resource who rescued 60 live people. The number of missions and troops has no bearing on my work schedule, long days that repeat over and over. The movie “Groundhog Day” is exactly what its like.

In the meantime, I was sent these in an e-mail and pulled out a few of the best enjoy – IRONY:

 

Opportunities Abound

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Nothing motivates a group of employees like a shower of praise for good work. There is an old saying that “one ‘oh no!’ will wipe out a series of ‘atta boys’”. This does not have a place in the progressive leaders being. Everyone fails or makes significant errors at some point and leaders need to recognize these as opportunities for development or encouragement. There is a story that many have not heard that comes from IBM. A working group was given a 5 million dollar budget to create a new software program. The group worked tirelessly, overcoming obstacles along the way and stayed within budget. The senior management of the company was brought together for the presentation on their final results and the program failed to meet any of the expected results. Following the meeting, the CEO was asked approached by a senior leader and asked “that was a complete disaster, when should we get rid of the team leader?” The CEO replied “why would we get rid of any of them? We just invested 5 million dollars in their education.” As that message spread it told people that it was okay to fail or make mistakes which caused morale and creativity to pick up. Indirectly, they sent the message that they praise good, hard work.

Ezekiel 34:26 – “I will bless them and the places surrounding my hill. I will send down showers in season, there will be showers of blessing.”

God has also blessed us with showers from above. He created everything that we can see and those things that we can not. How blessed are we to see a sunrise or sunset?  The majestic colors that they create and the shades of light that are cast are unmatched. The showers of blessing that rain down on us each second of every day can not be counted. Human beings are incredible creations that fight off sickness, repair injuries and respond to the environment around us. We are however condemned to death because of sin. No mater how many “atta boys” we have, we will still die because of sin. The ultimate blessing we have is the gift given to us through Christ; the gift of eternal life. God blesses us here on earth but the real blessing is that we have Christ in our lives today and will have eternal life because of it. All of our “oh no’s!” are wiped out by His one act of accepting the punishment for our sins. God invested His only son in our education, He won’t let us fail.

Alphabet Soup

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Tomorrow, the Exercise Director will call EndEx or End of Exercise for this portion of the mission, known as VR 13 – DCRF 1 – Vibrant Response 13 for Defense Consequence Response Force 1. Basically, the training and evaluation of the JTF-CS (see previous posts). The daily missions continued with water purification, mass casualty decontamination, chemical detection and identification, search and rescue, search and extraction from rubble piles and collapsed buildings, transportation of supplies via ground and air and the creation of a civilian relief center. In total over 250 missions will have been completed in about 7 days. A lot was learned by the training audience has occurred which is what we came here to do. Sometime tomorrow, we will start to shift to VR 13 – C2CRE A&B or Vibrant Response 13 for Command and Control for the CBRN Response Elements A and B (yes, an acronym within an acronym). The mission will continue with a new training audience and a new command staff.

I thought a little insight into military speak would be fun – alphabet soup as I call it. Here it is as it sounds with the acronyms attached: ” We need a R-FF (RFF) sent through Jiff-flick(JFLCC) to NorthCom for the crest(CREST) to report to the fob (FOB) in the Joe ah (JOA). They will be establishing a dee see r see(DCRC) as requested in the may toe(MATO) and for an e-med(EMEDS) unit. They however, must wait for the frag-go(FRAGO) to be cut.

In english, this reads like: We need a request for forces(RFF) through the joint forces land component command(JFLCC) to Northern Command for the contingency real estate support team(CREST) to report to the forward operating base(FOB) in the joint operations area(JOA). They will be establishing a displaced civilians relief center(DCRC) as requested in the military assignment task order(MATO) and for an expeditionary medical support unit(EMEDS). They however must wait for the fragmented order(FRAGO) to be cut.

One of our new guys has been compiling a list of these and so far has encountered over 150 of the ones that didn’t make sense to him. The scary thing is that I knew most of them when he asked me. I hope that after 21 days of this two things don’t happen 1) I start talking like this 2) My writing is effected because everything I write now is a lot of alphabet soup.

TTFN

Tata for now…

Answering the call

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The work you do, no matter what it is, can bring glory to God. Some people have made choices that put them in the right place at the right time – answering a calling. God can guide your path by offering you choices that lead to your calling. Some people search their whole lives for a calling, while others know they are in it. Moving into management/leadership positions takes just the right combination of education and experience, planned by God of course. It can be a calling that allows you to glorify God; if you want to see it that way. In a leadership role, we are privileged to guide, develop and shape other leaders. There are times when it’s frustrating and we’d like to “just do our job and be done”. That isn’t what God called you to do. Your life at work and at home will influence what type of leader you are. If you watch a lot of “educational” television, the shows that teach you about places and things that you never knew, you probably find that you are teacher at work; rooted in your interest to learn. Take notice of what you do, read, view and spend time doing and you’ll see that its reflected in your work and your leadership practices.

Ephesians 4:1 “I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.”

“Live a Godly Life” is great advice and probably one of the hardest things that we, as sinners, can follow completely. This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try. By being nurturing, forgiving, understanding, slow to anger, patient, honest, trustworthy and caring is how we start. This will help us do our work in God pleasing ways and honoring Him in the process. You have received two callings as a leader, both from God, one to lead others and the other is to do it as a disciple of God. Live your life in a worthy way because the responsibility of what you have received is awesome.