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This weekend, Mark Beeson read “A Letter to the President” on the eve of President Obama arriving on campus at Notre Dame amidst all the hub-bub… If you get a chance… view it here on/before May 24th.

A simple takaway… when talking to your team, employee, spouse, kids… stop and T.H.I.N.K.

• Is it True?
• Is it Helpful?
• Is it Important?
• Is it Necessary?
• Is it Kind?

The right thing said the right way at the right time has a chance of connecting… otherwise, we can expect to swing and miss. At the end of the day, we all have people in our lives we would like to influence. How can we connect/influence?

• Encouragers are influencers. Who do you like being around? People who beat you over the head or those who call out the best in you?
• Integrity Matters. Having principles that guide your discussions and actions allow you to be consistent and trustworthy to those values. Wild cards, hot heads, and unpredictability don’t make it to many circles of trust.
• Work for Other’s Success. Sure…this goes against the crowd, however… when people know you’re “for” them and celebrate their success… they may listen to constructive feedback.
• Apologize when you’re wrong or screw-up.
• Keep Casting. You’re not in control of other people. They may not respond the way you want, expect, or not at all. Keep casting your net… sometimes you end up connecting with an unexpected audience. Perhaps, that’s where you should have been all along.

“We all will have an opportunity to speak Truth to those in power…”- Mark Beeson 5/17/09

The question is…. will we connect?

Knots restrict, discourage, block, confuse, entangle, stall, frustrate, slow, and disable.

Knots exist in our organizations, marriages, theology, and more…. only to prevent us from fulfilling our purpose, design, and experiencing opportunities in life….

What does it look like?

• Withholding key information from a team member (lack of communication). KNOT.
• Fear. KNOT
• Analysis Paralysis, studying all the variables but never get to the “doing”. KNOT.
• Being full of all the reasons “why not”. KNOT.
• Nitpicking theology only to discourage people trying to do something good. KNOT.
• If you find yourself blowing holes in people’s opinions or methods you might be a… KNOT.
• Waiting for all the stars to be aligned… KNOT.
• Ignoring inefficiencies. KNOT.
• Really smart people full of theories but no action. KNOT
• Employees that are better than nothing. KNOT.
• Disregard for policies and procedures. KNOT.
• Overkill policies and procedures. KNOT.
• Not telling your spouse what really frustrates you. KNOT.
• Complaining about all the knots. KNOT.

You want to be a “differentiator” as an employee, volunteer, spouse, or friend? Be great at identifying and un-doing the KNOTS that exist everywhere…. and DO.

To see Mt. Rushmore in a magazine is one thing, to go there and see it in person is amazing, but to focus in with binoculars (as my son Easton is doing here) gives one a whole new appreciation of the detail that went into sculpting this monument. It took Gutzon & his son Lincoln Borglum 14 years and 400 workers to complete this work of art.

In our workplaces, ministries, and even small day to day encounters, the ability and power of focus can be a maximizing, life-changing differentiator.

Most of us fall into rock-skipping. We’re busy, trying to consume only what we absolutely have to, and are sprinting an inch deep and a mile wide at work and in life. We’ve all heard “focus”, but what can that really look like?

• At work…. The nature of my job is to be an inch deep and a mile wide as Operations Manager…however, our initiatives won’t get done without focus. Bill Hybels talked about having a “6 initiatives in 6 weeks” approach to your critical items. I find this very helpful to be able to say “no” to important things but will simply have to wait. Here are my current “6″ that are my focus to April 15th at Pinnacle as an example:
  Web strategy with blog- initial steps to build a contributing writer team for future blog
  Video research for online snippets for training and solutions for clients
  Bootcamp- 2 week training curriculum developed for new sales executives/employees
  Chief Technology Officer strategy as more companies are looking to outsource IT
  Marketing plan rolling with client experience focus
  Existing Customer process defined
• Freakanomics is a good read about focus. It shows how much common knowledge we all believe to be true is actually false when someone takes the time to dig into the data/details. (Like, is it more dangerous to have a gun in your home or have a swimming pool?) Real information is power, it takes focus to find real information…. Focus= Power
• Every day interactions. When we take time to stop and focus on a person (maybe at the grocery store or with a neighbor), we can make a real impact rather than having a relationship of news/sports/weather. Rob Wegner delivered a great message on this available here for $4 http://www.wiredchurches.com/s.nl/it.A/id.2717/.f His statement: Small intervention + Focus= BIG IMPACT Small intervention + No Focus= Little or no impact.
• I get overwhelmed with the amount of information available to me. I can’t read all the blogs, books, or attend enough conferences to keep up. I find myself “wishing” I knew more about scores of subjects. I’m learning…”it’s OK not to know it all, take a deep breath, pick my target, and focus on something to be an expert in…” Having great people around you with their expertise’ will fill in your gaps of information.
• Ever been to a Cirque du Soleil show? You’ll see what crazy, amazing ability can come from focusing on one talent. To see how fast and how many bowling pins two people can fire off at each other without dropping a single pin was staggering. I admire their focus to a single craft.

The people around me that are changing the world are focused on specialties. They are not spread thin, Jeopardy wanna-be-winner, know-it-alls. They are satisfied with being great at tackling a single problem/challenge, in a single area, for a single company/organization at time. They know what they can and cannot do. The employees I see that make a real impact have the ability to focus and be a real expert in their field…they do not skim the surface. Great Mom’s and Dad’s are taking time to focus with their kids in small interventions.

Are you focused or are you just trying to keep up?