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The Radical Leap (2004-06-20 - 8:05 a.m.) I promised a new entry today, and, voila! Here it is. Another book that I finished recently was The Radical Leap: A Personal Lesson in Extreme Leadership. Now, I don't usually read books like this. Because, it's, you know, a book on leadership methods. I don't really do much of that. But for some reason, this book caught my attention at the library. It's written by Steve Farber. This is a small book. Small in size as well as only 181 pages. It's one of those books that uses the size made popular by The Prayer of Jabez. I've already talked about that before. I would link to it, but I don't know where it is right this second. Anyway, I loved this book! Go figure. He writes this book in parable style, so it doesn't read quite so dryly as a typical leadership method book. Plus it's all set in southern California, San Diego/La Jolla area. I've been there once. I loved the area and recognized some of the landmarks that he mentioned. For example, he writes about walking through the lobby of the Catamaran Resort Hotel. We stayed there for two nights on one trip. So I was like, "Hey, I've been there." I know that's lame, but that's the way it is. Ok. On to the topic of the book. Farber's premise is that leadership must begin with love. That's right love. He insists that all good leadership must begin from the heart. Love inspires or creates energy. From energy we move to audacity (a synonym for boldness) and then we must prove we mean what we say. Hence, the acronym, "LEAP." Remember the title? The Radical Leap. Love, Energy, Audacity, Proof. Sounds silly, but I think it works. The parable was entertaining. The author meets a surfer dude, who turns out to be the son of one of the most successful business men on the planet. The surfer dude proceeds to educate the author in leadership principles while helping his friend keep her job at the same time. I wrote down a couple of quotes from the book. "You have to fall in love with your life's work again, my friend, or your energy will wane, your voice will falter, and there will be nothing to prove but the fact that you're taking up valuable space." How many of us love what we do? Why don't we? How many of us have the audacity to stop doing what we don't love? Or how many of us can afford to? "Do what you love in the service of people who love what you do." I loved that one. Now, those who know me know that I have two jobs. I have a full time job that I tolerate. I don't love it. And nobody there really loves what I do. But I have a second job as a praise and worship leader in a small church. I love to lead worship. Because I love to worship. There are times that I can't believe that I actually get paid to do this! And guess what. The people/congregation love what I do. So I'm fulfilling that last quote. I'm doing what I love in the service of people who love what I do. Finally, I wanted to share the answering maching message. "You've reached the number of (whoever). You may think that this is an answering machine. It is not. This is a questioning machine. And there are two questions: Who are you? and What do you want? And lest you think those are trivial questions, consider that most people go through their entire lives without ever answering either one." Beeeep. Who are you? What do you want? Ciao, baby. 0 comments so farMissed anything? |