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Archives for August 23, 2011

Tom Brady on Leadership

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This was an enjoyable and insightful read.

Key point:

But I really enjoyed the second half, and focused on Brady using every spare moment to mentor and teach. For almost the entire third quarter, he sat with his top three receivers, Deion Branch, Wes Welker and Chad Ochocinco, newly acquired from the Cincinnati Bungles (see photo below). Brady was talking non-stop, gesturing, getting up and demonstrating, etc. Ochocinco was asking questions, and Welker would get in on the reply. Crass and disparaging as it is to compare football to mission, I have to admit that the exchange really reminded me of a missionary teaching his men how to run with the ball entrusted to us by our Coach. We are to do and teach. Show and tell. Find a “Peter, James and John” and help our disciples to be successful (in God’s eyes) …

5 Points on Sustaining Interest in Your Presentations

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Also from my notes on Chip and Dan Heath’s article:

  1. Before the audience will value the info you’re giving, they have to want it. Demand has to come before supply.
  2. Therefore tease, don’t simply tell, by opening knowledge gaps and filling them.
  3. “Great presentations are mysteries, not encyclopedic entries.”
  4. “Curiosity must come before content.”
  5. Don’t structure your presentation by asking “what’s the next point I should make” but “what’s the next question I want them to wrestle with.”

And, here are a few great points on using data well:

  1. Don’t lead with the data — that leaves it abstract, and doesn’t move people emotionally. Tell a story about an individual first, and then say “our research suggests that there are 900,000 stories like this, in Mumbai alone.”
  2. “Data are just summaries of thousands of stories — tell a few of those stories to help make the data meaningful.”

Tim Keller on Discerning Your Calling

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The other day I linked to Michael Horton’s article on discerning your calling. Tim Keller also has a very helpful article on that as well (online as a pdf).

You’ll notice these articles are in agreement with the same basic three questions to consider, but they complement one another in a helpful way.

Here’s the summary from the end of Keller’s article:

Your vocation is a part of God’s work in the world, and God gives you resources for serving the human community. These factors can help you identify your calling.

Affinity—“Look out.”
Affinity is the normal, existential/priestly way to discern call. What people needs do I vibrate to?

Ability—“Look in.”
Ability is the normal, rational/prophetic way to discern call. What am I good at doing?

Opportunity—“Look up.”
Opportunity is the normal, organizational/kingly way to discern call. What do the leaders/my friends believe is the most strategic kingdom need?

Your life is not a series of random events. Your family background, education, and life experiences—even the most painful ones—all equip you to do some work that no one else can do. “We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do“ (Eph. 2:10).

(HT: Resurgence)