Greg Darley:

Growing too fast has its downsides.

The up and coming Twitter seems to be over tweeting right now.

Can you plan for something like this? 

Branding is such a buzz word right now.  Maybe it has been for a while and I’m just catching up. Either way, I’ve been paying more attention to it lately and realizing that branding is more than a logo or slogan.  Branding is what people think of when they think of you, your product, your company, your church (yeah, your church is branded too), you ministry, even your family.

What are the things that make up your brand?  Let me give a few observations I’ve seen:

Do you return emails or voice mails?  How soon? I met someone last year that is doing some pretty cool stuff.  I asked if I could take him to lunch or email some questions to get his thoughts.  4 emails, 2 phone calls and 3 more in person conversations and have received no attempt from him.  That’s Branding.

Do you show up for meetings on time? I just left a meeting with someone trying to sell me something and he was 5 minutes late.  No thanks.

Do  you hand out professional materials? I was in a meeting a few weeks ago and met sales person that had his cards printed from a “free” company. Of course I knew this because the company that printed them had their info and logo on the back of the card.  I wonder if he thought no one would look there?

The issue here is that as Christians, we represent the biggest and most important brand ever…the name of Christ.  All the things from emails to websites reflect back on Him.  Are you selling that name short?  That puts a new spin when Paul said to watch your doctrine and  your life carefully.  What you believe and how you live matter.

I’ll be attending a seminar tomorrow that is supposed to help with the foundational issues of leading a non-profit.  I’ll post notes tomorrow and share all the info that I’m taking in.  Should be a great time of learning about systems and effective communication.

Always striving to get better (and Lord knows I’ve got a long way to go!)

Jim Collins (author of Good to Great) must have been very proud of Sergio Garcia yesterday.  He confronted the brutal facts.  After winning the TPC at Sawgrass, Sergio thanked Tiger Woods for not being there!  He said it does make it easier with Tiger at home.  I loved it.  It’s true.  Not many “professionals” would want to admit it, but its true.

This is an idea that if embraced could have great impact in many areas of life, business, and ministry. Confronting the facts of your current situation will help you make better choices and decisions.  For World Causes we’ve looked at all our current human and financial capital and have seen what we can and cannot do right now. We want to do everything with excellence, which right now is Free Chains.

Check out his speech and think about areas where you need to confront the brutal facts.

I think I have a slightly better understanding of what happens when a non-Christian looks at a believer when they are clearly no living out what they say is a foundational belief for them. Be it love, patience, faithfulness, honesty, you name it. Any of the foundational truths that a Christian should not only profess, but live.

So, I go tonight to pick up some dinner for my wife and I. I need something quick, so I think where can I get something that is Hot’n Ready?  Where can I walk in and walk out with dinner in just a few minutes?  According to Little Caesar’s, you can get a pizza that is hot and ready for you.  Well, after sitting for 15 minutes to get my pizza, I also watched the other 7 people waiting for their pizzas.  I was thinking…this is why we come here over the other guys!  This is what you’re supposed to be doing!  This is what you’re known for…allegedly.

I wonder how me people have had the expectation of me and they sat there amazed because I didn’t live up to my key brand.

I was listening to an interview yesterday with Andy Stanley and he mentioned something about how he uses his time. If you’ve been any where near North Point, you know there is some serious amount of effective time usage there. Here’s the takeaway I got: Find the times during the day and week when you are most productive and maximize those times. Guard those time slots with intensity. When are the times when I can get the most done? When are my most creative times? When are the hours when I’m just not there?

I think my most productive hours are in the mornings before 11 and then from 3-6 in the afternoon and usually not at home. Having the option of working from home is great, however, it can be a large distraction. I know for me, it helps tremendously if I get out of the house.

The new goal for the week is to restructure my schedule around those key times.  I’ll try and plan all meetings, sales opportunities, phone calls, etc not in my zone times.  We’ll see what happens.

When is your zone and what can you do to protect it?

It has been a pretty overwhelming few weeks for me.  I’ve been learning, studying and taking in so much. From my time at Q in NYC, to talks with my wife, to today’s sermon at church.  I sometimes feel that I’ll never catch up. There’s just too much to learn. There’s too much to grasp.  In my quest to become a better husband, a better friend, a better leader, a better communicator, a better writer, a better musician, and a better wii baseball player, I have a hard time dealing with slow growth.

The problem with our world today is that we usually only see those we respect or admire when they are hitting on all cylinders. We watch Tiger win on Sunday, but we didn’t watch him practice all during the week.  We listen to our pastor deliver an incredible sermon, but we don’t watch his hours of study time.  We watch a couple with a great marriage, but we don’t see all the little things over many years that enable the greatness.   The question I have to ask myself is Am I willing to do what it takes to be great in those areas?  So what does it take to be great?  Time, talent, skill, work, education, knowledge, wisdom, experience? What do you think?

I would have to say that one of my biggest challenges I face each week are the “important” distractions (and if I’m honest, the not so important ones).  Distractions come is all shapes, sizes, and colors. Emails, phone calls to return, more emails, start on a new idea, start another book.  Instead of finishing a short list of priorities, I continue to make a longer list of distractions.  This has got to change and I would make a handsome bet that the most effective leaders out there are great at this.

The adventure continues…