Summoned to Lead-Chapter 3

Well, I'll just say that I didn't really like the last chapter. I thought he had already said everything he was trying to say in that chapter. But thanks for keeping the "sound" analogy going.

Now, I thought chapter three blew the last chapter out of the water. Mainly I loved it because he was emphasizing how things sound better when there is more than one.

So there are like three things I will walk away with from this chapter (I chose three, because that's the perfect leadership number but I might actually have two or four).

1. The test of an organization is not the mission statement, but instead the spirit of the group. (78) Now, there might be a bunch of good people with great spirits doing the wrong things, though, so I think this has to be thought through. You don't want to put somebody in a place where they are doing something that they're not good at. But I like the idea of when searching for somebody to do something, you look at the heart before you look at the massive skills.

2. The best spirit is confidence and humility.

3. A team needs inspiration more than guidance (87). I think about this in light of my youth worker team. They don't need as much training as much as they need somebody to encourage them and give them hope for what they are doing. Remembering some of our youth staff meetings, some of the best ones were when we created space for me to tell them the possibilities and then to have them tell stories of victories that they've seen.

4. Difference is good. We don't want everybody on the same note. Difference produces harmony. So, on my youth worker team, I don't want a bunch of hyper 20 somethings, or a bunch of laid back parents.

5. Confidence in the leader is needed. not cockiness, but confidence that says, "I think we can do this, and I believe in the people who are doing this."

Shackleton's Story

1. He brought a banjo. he made sure there was a musician and that everybody could sing.
2. He took risks. He knew they couldn't stay where they were.