Many view change as a scary undertaking. For some, venturing into new, unknown, undiscovered territory could be a horrific concept. Frankly speaking, many people in business, higher education, and professional circles are perfectly comfortable with the “same-ole-same-ole”. They hate the idea of change. Yikes!!!
Embodying effective change is a necessity that all leaders need to grasp. Today, our global world changes at an incredibly rapid pace. Organizations can quickly go from competitive to obsolete, almost immediately. Change is one consistent behavior as a leader that we all need to adopt if our organizations are to grow.
Reluctance to change can especially be the case within higher education. It is true, sometimes we in higher education move at a glacier pace. Imagine that!
When I first started serving as a higher education administrator, I was given some excellent words of wisdom regarding change that have served me well these past 10 years.
“Inch-by-Inch and it’s a Sinch”.
This simple saying communicates a wonderful and powerful concept of how to move small change into large charge. Slowly, surely, and consistently over time small change can lead to large charge.
If you want an effective way to drive large charge, it needs to start with a cluster of small ideas, which over time come together to shape large, impactful change. I have found that this is an approach that has worked well when encouraging change for higher education.
There are a few reasons why I believe this to be the case:
- Small charge is less scary than massive, large change. Therefore, it is easier for people within your organization to adopt.
- Small change allows for you to “test case” to be sure you are driving “effective change” in the right direction.
- Small, incremental change allows you line up an army of champions, influencers, and key decision makers to support large change. As a leader, if you are driving big change, you are cannot do it alone. You are going to need an army to advocate and support the change you are driving.
- Large change is much harder to plan for and execute. Accomplishing small change victories over a consistent period of time will add up to long-term, big change. Plus, it is much easier for you to do. (Remember, how do you eat a whale? One small bite at a time).
Remember, change is a good thing when it improves your organization and makes a better impact for those you serve!
“Inch-by-Inch and it’s a Sinch”.
I love how we get the opportunity to change, and to change often! If you embody this type of thinking, then the best is truly yet to come!
Leadership is in a sense a pattern of thinking that is shown through a leader’s behavior. This past weekend I read a very interesting study about effective leadership behavior within higher education. I would like to share with you the important points from that study.
This quantitative study asserted that if certain leadership patterns or behaviors were present, this would lead to improvements in the subsequent processes, and in turn the quality of services provided by the higher education institution.
These desirable leadership patterns are known as Bryman’s proposal of desirable higher education leadership behaviors.
Desirable Leadership Behavior for Higher Education
- A proactive approach to pursuing the university’s missions
- An emphasis on a visionary approach that guides and provides focus for what the leader seeks to achieve for the institution
- Being internally focused, and well connected in the institution, being seen and drawing inspiration from its participants
- Being externally focused, having a good understanding for higher education, and networking with a variety of constituents and reinforcing within those constituencies the direction the university is taking
- Having personal integrity
- Introducing changes in a way that entails consultation with others
- Importance of not sealing leaders off from the university at large
- Importance of not undermining pre-existing organizational culture
- Being flexible in approach to leadership
- Entrepreneurial and risk-taking
- Influencing the organizational culture and values to support change
- Designing structures to support change
In addition, this study identified another set of undesirable leadership behaviors to avoid within higher education:
Undesirable Leadership Behavior for Higher Education
- Failing to consult
- Not respecting existing values
- Actions that undermine collegiality
- Not promoting the interests of those for whom the leader is responsible
- Being uninvolved in the life of the department or institution
- Undermining autonomy
- Allowing the department or institution to drift
I pray this is a good encouragement for you higher education leaders out there. I will leave you with this excellent quote and bible verse;
“The authority by which the Christian leader leads is not power but love, not force but example, not coercion but reasoned persuasion. Leaders have power, but power is safe only in the hands of those who humble themselves to serve.” – John Scott
But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant. – Matthew 20:26
———
Works Cited
Flumerfelt, S., & Banachowski, M. (July 12, 2011). Understanding leadership paradigms for improvement in higher education. Quality Assurance in Education, 19, 3, 224-247.
If you are reading this post, then I assume you are interested in being productive and growing in a positive direction for 2015. That is great!
Last year, I received a good amount of feedback on the blog about goal setting titled; Target Practice: Being a High Achiever in 2014. Therefore, I wanted to “dust off” that post and share some additional perspective that I learned from this past year. This post summarizes how I personally am effective in establishing yearly goals. Please choose what is most valuable for you.
Each year, I continue to spend a week or so before and after the New Year for goal setting. I think about all sorts of ideas, tasks, plans, and desires I would like to be apart of in the future. I set this time aside so that I can focus my energy and time productively during the future year. Most importantly, I spend consistent time in prayer bringing these thoughts to God; asking Him for direction in the upcoming year.
Here are a couple of very important reasons why goal setting is valuable:
First, high achievers are goal oriented. People who achieve, create goals, and plan. We are a great deal more effective in our personal, professional, and even spiritual lives when we set goals for ourselves. This is a plain and simple truth, if you want to make the most of your year and really achieve great results, SET GOALS!
Second, We tend to get what we focus on. I want to focus my energy on good, timeless, and God-honoring goals that are beneficial for myself, my circles of influence, and those I care about. I have found that if you do not set your sights to focus on good things, you will get distracted by things that aren’t. You get what you focus on — focus on the Lord and the plans He has for you. If you do not set your sights on a good target, you will decrease the likelihood of hitting anything worthwhile.
When setting your goals for this next year, here are a couple of important things to keep in mind:
1) Make SMART goals.
SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Assignable, Realistic, and Time Related (SMART). Make your goals with SMART in mind.
After I start thinking through my ideas for the next year, I make sure that all of my goals eventually fit these characteristics. Here are few examples of my 2015 goals using the SMART guidelines:
- Become a basic conversationalist in Spanish by completing the level 1 and 2 courses by Rosetta Stone (carried over from 2014).
- Maintain a regular exercise pattern by working out a minimum of three times a week (carried over from 2014).
- Continue to maintain my Website and Blog, actively post new knowledge and engaging content bi-weekly (carried over from 2014).
- Develop as a teacher of the bible; evaluate and commit to preaching at 5 different church services, opportunities, or events this year (New Goal).
2) Write down your goals.
By writing down your goals you engage yourself to really think about what is important to you during the next year. If you do not take the time to write out your goals, you will be less likely to achieve them.
Michael Hyatt shared on his blog last year about a conclusive research study by Dr. Gail Matthews, a psychology professor at Dominican University in California. Her study on goal-setting with 267 participants found that you are 42 percent more likely to achieve your goals just by writing them down.
3) Get accountability and regularly discuss your goals with others you trust.
After I develop my goals for the year, I share them with a group of close men whom I trust. One of them is my good friend Sam, who shared with me last year the following reminder about goals setting and accountability:
“The ultimate outcome we want is to go through life together and get each other’s back so that we can successfully keep moving in the direction God is calling us to. So, spend some time just thinking and praying about this next year … Remember, Community is God’s answer to defeat. Ecclesiastes 4:10 says, “If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.”
Remember, you can try, but you can’t live life well on your own. We all need other people to walk with us, work with us, and watch out for us. In fact you Be sure you share you goals with someone you trust and ask for accountability in how you are working to achieve your goals throughout the year.
4) Do not get discouraged when you feel that you’re not meeting some of your goals.
This past year I personally missed achieving about half of my 2014 goals. That does not discourage me, most high achievers frequently miss their goals. Think how many goals I would have achieved if I did not set any yearly goals? Probably little or none. Goal setting for the year is key; but realize you may not achieve all that you set your sites. Do not get discouraged.
5) Do not be afraid to re-prioritize your goals throughout the year.
An exciting part of goals setting is that they can be changed. Frequently I will go through the year, stumble upon some additional information or be led by God in another direction. During these times some of my yearly goals will change. Given that we desire to constantly learn more, our aim or goals will frequently change. Do not be afraid to tweak your goals, this is not admitting defeat, but rather applying additional knowledge that you received to improve your aim.
6) Make sure your yearly goals build your purpose in life.
Purpose in life is largely derived from the belief that you have valued activities in which to engage.
You do not wake up one morning and simply accomplish your purpose in life. It is a constant, consistent, and committed set of activities that you will complete each day, week, and year. They compound into a long-term impact for those around you, and ultimately for the glory of God. Setting your yearly goals is deciding upon which activities are most important and most beneficial for you to accomplish, which build your purpose in life.
If you are still breathing (which I assume you are if you are reading this), then you have a purpose in life. There are important things that God is wanting to use you for, to make positive impact in our circles of influence, serve others, build His Kingdom and glorify Him. How you are going to achieve your purpose in life without knowing what that is, asking him for direction, and then working on those things through the year?
Remember, if you do not pick up your arrow and set your sights on the target, you will miss 100% of the time. If you wish to be a high achiever for 2015, be sure you take time to set your yearly goals!
God Bless in 2015!
I love the quote from Tom Peters, “Leaders don’t create followers, they create more leaders.”
I have thought about this quote often while at Dallas Baptist University. There are a number of questions that I ask myself about producing other leaders:
“How do we create other leaders at DBU?”
“How are we creating a culture of leadership development in our office?”
“How is my office a leader making factory?”
One way that I believe a leader can create other leaders is through delegation of responsibility. For a leader, delegation is essentially asking someone else to complete a task. That may sound strange, but I promise it has everything to do with leadership development. Let me explain:
1) Think about delegation and training as complementary. They go hand and hand.
When I assign a task onto a colleague I have much more in mind than just getting that task accomplished. I consider delegation (or asking someone else to complete a task) a method of training as well. When it comes to delegation, I am thinking about the experience that employee with go through, what skills they will pick up, and the opportunities they will have to learn to improve their professional development.
I am looking to train our team through the tasks or projects we assign. There is a good amount of effort we go through to look at our team, as well as the work we need to complete, when it comes to delegation. We attempt to meet some of our training needs through delegation at DBU.
2) Connect the delegation (task) to the person.
When you start thinking about delegation as not just trying to get the work done, but also as an opportunity to develop your employees, it changes the way you will assign tasks.
Let me give you an example; when I look at large projects or tasks to be completed in our office, I routinely think about our team. A couple of routine questions that I ask them along the way are:
“What do you see yourself doing in 10 years? Why?”
“What do you need to learn to be effective in that role?”
“What tasks or projects would you like to be apart of in this office? Why?”
“What are the tasks or projects that you have enjoyed in this office? Why?”
“What are the tasks or projects that you have not liked doing in this office? Why?”
The reason I ask these questions is because I want to understand further about our team. I think about what professional experiences they have and also what their future career aspirations are. I am searching to learn more about their calling and the purpose that God has for them.
In the end, I am seeking to connect their callings and professional development to the tasks or projects I assign them. I am hoping to make the work relevant, valuable, and practical for them.
My desire is to help others reach their full potential in front of God so that He can use them to their maximum potential. I want our office to be a leader making factory.
For Hayden, who says he wants to learn more about finance and desires be an analyst, I am assigning him the tasks that afford him opportunities to grow this skill set. Plus, we tend to get excellent work done from him.
Not only have I found this to be very effective in their professional development, their future callings, but I have also found that job performance and job satisfaction seem to be higher as well.
3) The value is not in the task, but in the trust.
It is essential to have high trust relationships with those you work with. Having a high performing team, that is making a positive impact on your clients, department, and organization, is all about establishing and maintaining high levels of trust. You cannot work well with someone who you do not trust.
So, what does delegation have to do with trust?
Well, consistent delegation to employees by way of not only completing the work, but also by assigning tasks that enable growth and experience, will help to engender trust.
When it comes delegation, it’s much more than just the work you are trying to accomplish. It’s the imparting of the skills and habits that will transform the behavior, and eventually the character of the person you are delegating to. As a leader, it’s about helping to produce other leaders.
Once your team understands that it is just as much about their development as it is about completing the work, trust will soon follow. Your team will learn you have good interests for them, that you care for them, and they will follow you for it.
Higher performance will also soon follow, and you will have a group of people that will quite literally pour their hearts and efforts out for you and the organization.
4) Discipline produces habits, habits eventually transform into character. Character builds trust.
Trust in your team is also critical to you as a leader. You have to trust your team. You have to confidently know that they are capable, able, and are completing their work.
Have you ever assigned a task and then wondered if it ever got done? Well, that is not trusting your employees.
Through delegating tasks, you can create an environment for building trust. Experience by experience, delegation by delegation, the leader should coach employees to follow through and follow up with assignments. This is especially important with new employees, it is important to help develop a discipline, which will turn into habits, and eventually a character that builds trust.
The long-term value of having an employee you can implicitly trust is much greater than the time you will give in delegating work and training them.
When you do this, you can assign a task and know confidently that the work is completed well. For the leader, this is such a great situation and peace of mind.
By engendering these four suggestions, consistently modeling this behavior, I believe this is one practical way for you as a leader to produce other leaders in your organization.
Give it a shot. You may just see some incredible things happen!
In your mind, picture for a moment your perfect dream house. Imagine that you are able to build the perfect custom home of your dreams. Complete in every exact detail and way you would like. Think about how many rooms you would have. Would it be one-story or two-stories? Will your house have a circle driveway, a pool? Will it be made of redbrick, or stone? What will be special or unique about your dream home?
Ok, now that you have that picture perfect dream home in your mind. How do you go about making that home a reality? Well, I often think about building a dream home in a similar way that I conduct project planning and long-term strategy for my organization.
Strategy is defined as a high level plan to achieve one or more goals under conditions of uncertainty. I often equate my dream home to a desired state or positive outcome I am looking for in my organization.
Over the past few months, I have encountered multiple situations where I was discussing strategy or project planning at my organization, so I felt compelled to write a blog post using this “dream house” analogy (credit is also due to Mr. Trey Hudgens at DBU, without whom this wonderful analogy would not be possible):
5-Step Process to Building a Dream Home (aka Strategy):
- It starts with a Vision – Picture your dream home! In the end, what is the desired state or goal you are looking for at your organization? It starts with a clear vision of the desired result that you are looking for at your organization. You can’t even begin to build your dream home, or begin working on a project or strategy until you first know what the end or vision will look like. To read more about Vision, check out the blog titled: Exceptional Leaders Know How to Share their Dreams
- Draw up your Blueprint – Once you know what you would like for your dream house, or desired end goal at your organization, it’s time to start drawing up your blueprint plans. You would not dare begin building your house without first having a set of good blue prints. This goes the same way for executing a project or strategy for your organization; you simply can’t move forward without a plan.
- Identify Resources – Specifically, think about who and what you will need to actually build your dream house. Using the dream house analogy, this means identifying your general contractor, your electrician, concrete works, framers, and so on. For your organization, this means taking time to identify the people (or stakeholders) who will be involved in the strategy, project, or task. Think about who needs to know about this plan, and spend time to include them early on in the planning process.
- Stick to the Plan – A dream home does not come overnight. It takes time and usually a specific order of tasks that need to occur for the home to be properly built. Using the house analogy again, you first need to pour your concrete foundation, let that dry, put up your wooden frame, roofing, draw wall, and so on. For us guys, one thing is for certain, we will all have a 55” inch high definition plasma TV hanging on the wall of our living room, complete with a custom-made surround system. However, as cool as this TV will be, we would not dare try to hang it up until the walls are up, roof is completed, and the house is ready. Stick to the plan, identify the step-by-step process you need to successfully build your dream house, and do not get ahead of yourself!
- Buy Insurance and Maintain the Home – Once you complete building your home, the first thing homeowners do is buy insurance. Incase of flood, fire, or other disaster, they want to be sure their house is protected. Furthermore, the homeowner will take great care to maintain their home to keep it in the best shape possible. The same way, a good strategy is maintained and reviewed periodically. Sometimes the environment around you, or within your organization will change. You will need to have a good sense of this to determine if you need to add on other elements to your strategy, or decide to start building a second lake-house. Strategy is continual, just like maintaining and protecting your dream home.
I hope this was a helpful reminder for you. God Bless in building your dream home! Also, remember Joshua 24:15 – For me and my household, we will serve the Lord.
Over the past few months I have been reading the book 30 Life Principles by Charles Stanley with my Thursday morning men’s bible study. This is an excellent book and I would highly suggest checking it out. This past week, I read a section of this book which had good application for leadership and professional development that I wanted to share: Life Principle #25 – God Blesses us so that we may Bless Others.
I work at Dallas Baptist University, where we talk a lot about Servant Leadership. Reading through this book, and reflecting on the concepts of Servant Leadership, I wanted to share a couple of important ideas of why it is vital for leaders to be obsessed about serving others:
1) God gives each of us all unique abilities and resources.
You may feel that you don’t have much to offer people, or you may be confused about what your talents, abilities or purpose is. Realize that if you know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, God gives you a tremendous gift that you can use to bless others. That is a promise!
1 Peter 4:10 says, “As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Romans 12:5-8 says, “In Christ, we have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.
2) These Abilities and Resources have been given to us in order to bless others and build His kingdom.
We need to realize that the reason God has given us such immense blessings (abilities and resources) was so that we would use them for His glory and for the furtherance of the gospel. God’s gifts to you were never meant to be hoarded. They were given to be used wisely as you serve others through the power and wisdom of the Holy Spirit.
We are most effective as leaders when we intentionally use our talents and abilities in our work, our ministry, and all other aspects of our lives to serve others.
Ephesians 4:11-12 says, “Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service”. Romans 8:28 tells us, “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
3) We have a choice whether we are going to encounter God to discover these abilities, then use them to bless others and honor Him.
Our love for God and others motivates us to serve, it inspires us to give freely so that others can be blessed and one day come to know salvation and enter into a relationship with Him. However, we have a choice as to whether we are going to our abilities for our own purposes, or bless others.
Only you can stop God’s goodness, the abilities he has given you, from flowing through your life and into the lives of others— and you do it by hoarding His gifts.
Acts 20:35 says; ” In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Luke 12:32-34 tells us, “It is our Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom … a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Luke 12:32–34)
4) Are you using your gifts in a way that honors God and blesses others?
I used to selfishly use what God has given me to pursue after money, power, recognition, and personal gain. I can promise you these pursuits will not end well. You will be left empty, without meaning, and alone. You will end up with a perpetual state of chasing after stuff the rest of your life. I do not want that for you! Purpose and meaning is found alone in Christ.
Therefore, look for opportunities to use your talents and resources to love and serve others. Then watch how God works. Soon you’ll see that it truly is much more blessed to give than to receive.
As leaders, we need to model the way, using our talents to invest into others through mentoring, and showing that through our words, actions, and decisions we truly desire to serve others. We need to take intentional opportunities to help others find what their abilities are and how they can practically demonstrate their love for others through their calling to bless others.
We are told the only thing that will last the test of time is the gospel and the church. I don’t know about you, but I want to build something that lasts forever!
Cited Source: Stanley, C. F. (2008). 30 life principles: Study guide. Nashville, Tenn: Thomas Nelson.
Over the years I have served in variety managerial roles for over ten different departments at Dallas Baptist University. I believe that hiring is one of the most important things that I do for my institution. I have supervised and hired part-time student workers, adjunct professors, and also seasoned full-time staff. During this time, I have participated in hundreds of interviews and reviewed countless resumes for would be job seekers within higher education.
Hiring can be pretty scary business at times. In the end, the leader’s hire decisions will either make or break your team — when you hire great, you get great results. Just the same, when you don’t hire great, the work environment can be a pretty gloomy place.
As a leader, the ability for me to locate, attract, place, and develop exceptional employees is and will always be a critical part of my responsibility. I endeavor to grow and in my ability to hire exceptional people and I have a strong commitment to my team to only hire the best.
Based on my time as a hiring manager, I would like to impart a few practical pieces of advice on resume building. The resume is an important tool that you will need to communicate who you are, what you have done, and what value or impact you can potentially make for an employer or organization.
These concepts are not meant to be the end all, be all, of resume tips, just an overview for what I consider when developing a resume:
Start with the End in Mind
First and foremost, get a very clear idea in mind of your objective, the job you are applying for, or your career goals. This is sometimes a very challenging part of resume building — but picture for you what the end looks like.
If it’s a job, then start by researching that particular job. Research and identify the skills, knowledge, experience, and values that are needed for that particular job. If it’s a college or other career goal, then the same goes for that too, what does the end look like and what is valued once you are there. Think about the job skills that are needed for that particular job.
As a reminder on job skills, check out the blog titled: The Top Job Skills Needed for Future Graduates
Put yourself in the hiring manager’s shoes for a while and think about what they will be looking for in an ideal candidate. This will also help you later when you focus your resume on the target audience — IE: the people you convince that you are the ideal candidate for the job.
Build a Resume with Purpose
After you have a clear idea of the goal, and what is needed, then it’s time to work backwards from there.
First, before sitting down to write-out a resume, it is wise to get out a note pad and start jotting down your skills, knowledge, and experience. I think you can best do this by taking the time to reflect on who you are, where you will be going, and what you will be doing in your job or career. I call this taking the time to build a resume with purpose.
The bible tells us in Psalm 139:13-16 that God “created my inmost being; He knit us together in our mother’s womb … we are fearfully and wonderfully made; His works are wonderful … All the days ordained for us were written in His book before one of them came to be.” Also, Ephesians 2:10 says “We are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
I have mentioned before, they we each have been made with purpose and have a reason for living; the fact that we are breathing and living on this planet is because the Lord has prepared us in advance to do good works.
That being said, you have a purpose, and you are special. The resume is simply another medium that you can use to communicate who God made you to be, how you can serve others, and impact His kingdom!
Second, after you get yourself in this mindset, start listing out (1) your skills and talents, (2) your work experience or internships, (3) your education, training, or professional development (4) extracurricular activities, volunteering, and awards or special recognition received. This will be the core content, and it really helps to have a list of these items when you actually start to create sentences and build your resume.
Communicate Value
Now that you have your clear objective in mind, and a good list of skills in hand, it’s time to connect these dots together. This is probably one of the most important parts of resume building. It’s about developing the content and action statements that will communicate to the employer the value you will bring to their organization.
As discussed in the first section, you have a your objective in mind and have a good understanding for what is valued in the type of job you are applying, start crafting sentences based on your experience and skills that nicely fit in line with your target job or career path. These are to be action statements — simple, tight, clear, and powerful action sentences that emphasize the results benefited to your employer or organization.
VERY IMPORTANT – Don’t just tell me what you did, tell me how you contributed and brought value to your previous employer. What did you do, and how was it helpful?
Here are examples of a bad and a good action statement:
BAD – Oversaw operations for study abroad office.
GOOD – Supervised and trained a staff of four work-study students to courteously and efficiently respond to inquiries regarding the university’s study aboard program.
By developing clear, powerful action statements you communicate that you added value to your job and understand the results of your work. Additionally, you demonstrate the contribution you made to your previous organization, and also outline the potential value that you can add to your potential new employer.
Make it Special
You have a clear objective, a purpose in mind with listed out content, excellent action statements, now is about catching the eye of the hiring manager. Let’s make your resume special. This means having a resume that is (1) relevant, (2) unique, and (3) the best thing you have ever written in your life?
First, your resume is not a “one-resume-fits-all” document and needs to be made relevant and targeted to the unique audience, target job or college you are applying. As we discussed earlier, you need to start with the end in mind and communicate value with your resume. With each job you apply for, and at each company, the target audience and values change a bit.
I’m not saying that you should create a resume for each job that you apply, but I am saying there are tweaks that you will need to make for each resume you complete. It needs to most relevant for your target audience.
Second, make sure your resume is “eye catching” for the employer. The average hiring manager spends two minutes or less reading your resume. In fact, there will be many times that the manager will simply glance over your content or skim read. So, what makes them want to put your resume in the “to call pile” and not the “throw away pile”?
This is where I think formatting and resume design plays a big part. Choose a resume format that is professional and clean, but also do not make it boring like everyone else’s. I suggest using bullet points, artfully bolded text, underlining, or italics to highlight specific areas or action words. Also, consider using other formatting techniques like blocking off specific sections with a text box, or even using a gold paperclip instead of a silver one to catch attention.
Remember, you have less than two minutes to catch the eye of the manager. What is unique or special about your resume?
Lastly, if your resume is not the best thing you’ve ever written, then do not turn it in. It needs to be crafted, with absolutely no grammar or spelling errors in it. You need to be proud, confident, and excited about turning in your resume.
For the employee, the resume is one of the most important communication tools you use to assure the hiring manager that you are the right hire. The resume helps take the uncertainty out of the hire decision. This is why having an exceptional resume is absolutely necessary!
We each have a deep felt need for meaning in this life. I have had the opportunity to travel to many different countries around the world, and consistently I see that we all yearn for a sense of meaning or purpose. We all want to belief that there is a reason for life. This question comes in many shapes and forms, but it sounds something like “What am I hear for?” or “What is the meaning of life?”
At some point of another, we all have these thoughts or questions. The problem is, many of us seem to dismiss the idea of “purpose” or “meaning in life” as some kind of fairytale, abstract thought, or crazy concept — one that we will never come to understand, let alone personally discover.
Over the past few years I have been personally wrestling with the concepts of purpose. As a young professional in Dallas, TX, I have watched my counterparts (and myself for that matter) chase after money, power, pleasure, etc. to eventually get caught up in the perpetual state of breathing, consuming and sleeping, as a continual cycle of life.
I observed this mind-numbing trend, but it was not until my first semester of my doctoral program that I begin to put a name to what I was noticing.
I keenly noticed that were some people that were driven by a pursuit of something greater. There were those who were driven by a belief that they were fulfilling a purpose (some valuable aim which benefited others that was beyond the intrinsic). There is subset of people who believe that they are contributing to something greater than themselves, and that in this pursuit they have meaning and happiness. They have a deep understanding of their purpose in life. And they understand how they are fulfilling that purpose through very practical and specific ways in their career and personal life.
I began to zero in on this idea, and came to call it “purpose in life” or “meaning” for the individual. Purpose is the reason something is done, created, or for which something exists.
I believe that the understanding for one’s “purpose in life” is a journey of self-exploration, self-awareness and actualization. This is a journey that is different for each individual, but I think we can use certain tools to enable this discovery: Finding Purpose.
The Source of Purpose
As a Christian, I am led by my belief that there is a one-true God and that through his son Jesus Christ, we can ultimately find meaning for this life. It is through accepting his son Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, can we come to know this. I believe this to be true because of my personal experiences with Jesus Christ that I have encountered in my life, and in the lives of those around me.
The bible tells us in Psalm 139:13-16 that God “created my inmost being; He knit us together in our mother’s womb … we are fearfully and wonderfully made; His works are wonderful … All the days ordained for us were written in His book before one of them came to be.” Also, Ephesians 2:10 tells us that “We are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
The fact that we are breathing and living on this planet tells us that we have a purpose. The Lord has prepared us in advance to do good works, He is not done with us yet if we are still alive.
We have been made with purpose and each of us have a reason for living. It is our ultimate purpose to bring Him glory with the various aspects of our life. Following Christ is the greatest adventure that each of us will ever have, it is an adventure and life of purpose. The question is, in what way or through what vocation will you live your purpose?
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To read more about how purpose contributes to organizational leadership, read the blogs titled: Exceptional Leaders lead with Purpose and Finding Purpose on the Job – Motivating the Millennial Workforce.
There has not been a shortage of criticism for the millennial generation and their recent entry into the workforce. Heavily entitled, lacking communication skills, as well as critical thinking abilities, many believe the millennial generation wanders into the workforce unprepared, and lacking motivation to perform at expected levels. Millennial, if you want to know what I am talking about, check out the blog titled: The Top Job Skills Needed for Future Graduates.
As we look at the state of the workforce, and the development needs of our millennial generation, I believe a primary reason for this lack of preparedness in the millennial is due to a gap between their purpose (or) personal meaning, and a connection of personal meaning to their vocations.
The Millennial Difference
Today the millennial generation focuses much of its attention on careers that have a strong sense of meaning, fun, or exciting work, as well as opportunities for personal, professional, and intellectual growth. For the millennial, compensation and security does not hold the same powerful motivation to perform at one’s job as it did for their parent’s generation. For the millennial it is much more about the adventure and the impact!
Second, the millennial generation wants to feel a part of their organization, many times they want to be a part of a community. The millennial wants to do work together, they want to know they are valued, and they want to know you will be alongside them through the journey. For an example, read the previous blog titled: Let’s do War, Together.
This is very interesting to know, because if you are an organizational leader with a millennial team, then you cannot utilize the same development and motivation techniques used with previous generations. The way to motivate the millennial subset of the workforce is vastly different than the generations ahead of them, IE: the baby-boomers, generation x.
Mentorship
I have found that directly mentoring a millennial worker is an excellent source of motivation and increased job performance. Specifically, I suggest having intentional conversations on purpose, meaning, personal self-discovery and their future outlook.
I have found that when the millennial identifies a purpose for their life (or at least begins that self-exploration journey), and then connects that purpose to their vocation, their job takes on a relevance and personal meaningfulness that might otherwise lack. As a result, job performance sky-rockets. In this way, purpose can serve as an important source of achievement motivation.
As the millennial generation continues to become of age and enters the workforce, we as organizational leaders must take the opportunity to engender trust and motivate this new group of workers by aiding them to the discover their purpose (or) meaning and connect that to their organization and their job. This connection of purpose to an individual’s job responsibility resonates heavily to some of the values that the millennial generation holds to be of critical importance. IE: sense of meaning, exciting work, personal and intellectual growth. In fact, the millennial is willing to constantly job hop in order to find these things.
In short, give it a shot to mentor the millennial. Have regular, intentional conversations. Take “teachable moments” to show them new ideas or something valuable they do not know (you may even learn a thing or two yourself). Help the millennial find purpose in themselves and their work. I promise you will not be disappointed!
You will find many definitions for what exceptional leadership looks like. In fact, exceptional leadership can often times be relative to the environment of the leader. However, I have noticed that there seems to be three trends which are present with exceptional leadership. First, exceptional leadership begins with a Purpose, being the foundation. Second, exceptional leaders have a timeless Vision, or communicating dreams into reality, and third exceptional leaders inspire great Action, which are the results of a purpose being fulfilled through a timeless vision.
I would like to take a few moments to talk about what Purpose in leadership looks like:
Purpose
Having a well defined Purpose is a critical foundation for exceptional leadership. Purpose is defined as “the reason for which something is done or created or for which something exists”. In other words, this is your “WHY”. When you relate purpose to yourself or to your leadership, the question is “WHY” are you here? “WHY” do you even bother? “WHY” do you lead? The answer to this questions is far beyond just making money, or having a secure job. We are not talking about management, this is exceptional leadership. Exceptional leaders are compelled by something greater that just monetary gain. Exceptional leaders are compelled by a clear, well define Purpose.
To expand further, exceptional leaders possess three key elements when it comes to purpose: (1) a greater than average sense of purpose in life and meaning; resulting from a heightened level of self-awareness, (2) a strong understanding of what their organization’s purpose is and, (3) a belief that they are fulfilling their purpose in life which fits with the identity of the organization they are leading.
Without having a clear understanding of your purpose in life, you will not be able to grow to the most exceptionally leader that you could be. Let me give you a few examples; Martin Luther King, Abraham Lincoln, Steven Jobs, Ghandi, Mother Teresa and countless other authentic leaders were each driven by a deep understanding of what they or their organization was trying to do. They were led by their deep sense of purpose, which was communicated through their vision, and put into action by their decisions.
The first step for taking your leadership to the next level, and even understanding “WHY” you yourself exists, is defining your purpose in life.
This past year, I began a new journey in my life when I started my doctoral program in organizational leadership. As I interacted with other leaders from across the country, I ran into a powerful idea … Purpose. Throughout my coursework, I grappled with and researched further as to what purpose meant for leadership. My results were compelling, almost all of the leaders I perceived to be exceptional, had a well defined purpose in life. Furthermore, their purpose was timeless and was not motivated by extrinsic rewards (such as money, recognition, or power).
What I also found to be interesting was; Leaders who lead with a strong purpose, and also aligned to the organization’s mission that they lead, tend to perform to greater extents than others that do not.
Praying through these ideas, seeking guidance from God and others I trust, I established my own purpose statement which is a reminder for me on my purpose in life. Here is what I believe to be my purpose in life:
Model the example of Jesus Christ in a manner that is pleasing to the Lord for my family and circles of influence, consistently serve others by influencing them to find their purpose, excel in their callings, and point them toward God.
I will accomplish this by:
- Modeling Jesus Christ’s example, and letting everything that I say, do, touch and have influence over be honoring to God.
- Helping others to find their purpose life by mentoring and developing them to become more effective in their vocations.
- Leading within Higher Education, helping institutions become the most effective environment to teach others How to Think and to Choose for themselves and developing others to have the ability to tell the difference between a groundless argument and one based on fact or logic.
- Building Trust relationships.
- Growing in Transformational leadership.
- Transforming others into a life with Jesus Christ.
- Passion is something that I will pass on …. I will do it with God’s love!
My purpose for writing this is so that you can spend time in front of God asking him to reveal your purpose in life to you. I pray that God can use you to authentically lead with Purpose and Vision to produce extraordinary Action for His Kingdom!