Big Is The New Small

Criticism is a one of those words that seems to cut most people like a knife.  Although the knife doesn’t seem as sharp when we put the word “constructive” in front of the word criticism; none-the-less the word still seems to pierce.

When I was growing up my mom would always tell me: “Son, you can’t control or worry about what people say… you can only control what you say and what you do.”  Later on in life, as a young leader I had a mentor that would always say “If you’re doing something worthy of people taking shots at you… they will.  I would much rather have a leader that people don’t always understand and who are occasionally criticized, than a “leader” that no one ever talks about.”   I’ve heard my pastor say something like “If you want to find the leader, look for the one with the arrow in their back!”

Don’t get me wrong, sometimes criticism is necessary.  It’s important to have the people closest to you speak candidly into your life and seek wise counsel from those who will shoot you straight.  It’s important to view criticism as neutral… “It Is What It Is!”  This neutral mindset allows you to be comfortable with, “Eating The Meat and Spitting Out The Bones!”  If you don’t want to be criticized, I have some advice for you: Say Nothing, Do Nothing & Be Nothing! If you want to silence the critics, be yourself and do the right thing.

“It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause, who at best knows achievement and who at the worst if he fails at least fails while daring greatly so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.” ~Theodore Roosevelt

I don’t ever want to find myself in the place with those “Cold and Timid Souls.”

Silence The Critics!

Share Your Thoughts?

The willingness to take a risk is a direct complement to the drive towards success. If you are unwilling to take risks, you are unwilling to succeed.  Some risks may be more calculated than others, however in order to get to the success side of the mountain you have to climb a hill called risk.

We were not created do play it safe, we were created for more.  We were created to be more, get more, give more, do more and risk more.  A person can never know how much more they can be or how much more they can do, unless they are willing to get off the shores of comfort and jump into the waters of dreaming BIG and thinking BIGGER.

I believe the Roman Philosopher Seneca sums it up quite well with this quote: “It’s not because things are difficult that we dare not venture. It’s because we dare not venture that they are difficult.”

I Dare You To Risk Something! You might just realize that you’re like a box of cereal… there is a prize deep down inside.

Risk Something!

What do you need to risk?  Why are people so unwilling to take risks?

Many of us grew up hearing the phrase, “It’s not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game.”  The reality is that statement isn’t totally true.  Winning does matter and we all have the deep desire to be a winner.  Everyone wants to win and everyone wants to be a winner: The business that you work for, your church, your children’s school, and even those who don’t like winners.  As much as I don’t like Kobe Bryant, I like the fact that he’s a winner.

The Difference Between A Winner & A Loser is the desire to win.  It does matter whether we win or lose and what matters are the things that we can control.  I described those two things in a previous post I had written titled, The Two Things That Leaders Can Control.

Vince Lombardi said it best when he said, “Winning isn’t everything, but the will to win is everything.”  If you want to be a winner, you have to want to win.  Larry Bird says it this way, “A winner is someone who recognizes his God-given talents, works his tail off to develop them into skills, and uses these skills to accomplish his goals.”

The Difference Between A Winner & A Loser is the habit of winning and the desire to win. Winners get in the habit of dreaming BIG, thinking BIGGER and doing what losers don’t.  If you want to be a winner… Go Win! dream BIG. think BIGGER. If you want to be a loser, sit on the sidelines, complain and make excuses why you can’t win.

The Difference Between A Winner & A Loser.

What do you think?

Marcco Belluci

GUEST BLOGGER: Today’s guest post is from Jen Johns (@goingbyfaith) who writes and edits GoingByFaith.com. If you would like to submit a Guest Blog Post for BigIsTheNewSmall.com, click here.

Are You a Doubting Thomas?

Most of us know the story of Thomas the Apostle and how he refused to believe the resurrection story without personal evidence. We can shake our heads or raise our eyebrows at his lack of faith, but how many of us turn skeptic when it comes to putting our complete and total trust in God on a daily basis?

Sure we believe, but sometimes that belief is restricted to certain areas of our life – areas we think God is more likely to work. Church is in; career is out. Family life is in; social life is out. We go on and on with these lists in our mind. But we mature in faith when we let God into the areas we resist most … or where we doubt his existence at all.

Confronting Doubt

Which areas of your personal life are you still keeping in the dark? And … why? If you doubt that God can work in those areas – they’re too worldly, out of control, shameful, etc. – then it’s time to confront those thoughts in His presence. It’s time to admit there is doubt and stay open to how He can work it out or turn it around. We know that what is sometimes meant for evil, God can use for good.

Pray for wisdom and openness in the hardest areas. Pray that He will help you live more by faith and less by limitation. Pray that He gets in your face, that He shows Himself, and helps you to see that it’s not by the work of man but through His grace that anything good gets accomplished. It may sound like a small prayer, but the results could change your life in big ways.

Confirming Faith

We don’t know where the road will lead, but God does. Having faith that He’s in charge, and that He knows what’s best for us even when we can’t see it, is the first step to facing our doubts. It also confirms our faith and supports our spiritual growth.

Once Thomas saw the wounds, he professed his faith. In John 20:29, we’re told that Jesus said to him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.”  We can all change doubt to belief, but it doesn’t always come by our own works. Sometimes we need to cultivate a deeper faith by asking for God’s help to diminish doubt, trusting completely that He will deliver. We do the best work of our lives when we grow in faith, and like Thomas, who was later called “Thomas the Believer,” realize that there is something much greater happening than can be seen.

What do you think?  Share your thoughts!

One of the most intriguing words to me is potential.  Potential is defined as — Capable of being but not yet in existence; latent.  Having possibility, capability, or power.  The inherent ability or capacity for growth, development, or coming into being.

I was once a young leader with a lot of potential and I had a leader that was willing to take a risk on me.  His belief in me along with my potential, allowed me to me one of the youngest Prison Wardens in the country at the age of 25.  Of course his leadership rubbed off on me and I have always loved taking risks on unproven leaders with a lot of potential.

Potential is a great thing and the ability to recognize it is an even greater thing.  The greatest problem with potential is the simple fact that “Potential Unrealized Is Just Potential!”  We all have known those individuals that we have to sadly utter these words about them, “So and So had so much potential!”

We are all made for so much more than just potential; we are made to realize our potential.  If you have potential go after it, reach for it and realize it.  If you lead someone with a lot of potential, help them to realize it; encourage them to dream BIG & think BGGER.

The greatest waste in the world is the difference between what we are and what we could become. ~Ben Herbster

Potential Unrealized Is Just Potential!

What do you think?  Share your thoughts and experiences of people with realized and unrealized potential.

Most organizations and leaders would love to have “High Capacity” leaders to fill the slots within their organizations. The sometimes overlooked challenge is the fact that with “High Capacity” leaders, comes the need for those leaders to lead at a uhh… “High Capacity.”

This will sometimes leave organizations scratching their head and asking the question what do I do with so and so?  They are knocking it out of the park, their potential is off the charts and they actually have the leadership margin to spread their wings.

Spreading their wings means different things for different leaders, but it boils down to how can I steward their talent/potential and continue to allow them to make a positive impact on the organization. Many times organizations make the decision to just bury that talent and therefore putting a lid on the height of that “High Capacity Leader.”

It’s like the Parable of the talents: The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more.  The one with the two talents gained two more.  But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ 
“His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Matthew 25:25-26

If your organization, team, staff or business has been blessed with some great talent, Don’t Bury It!  There is a new type of harvest to be sown with this “High Capacity” seed.

If you figure out a way to maximize the potential of the “High Capacity” talent that you have been blessed with, you will be rewarded.  This may require you getting creative, dreaming BIG, thinking BIGGER and setting some clear expectations; however the potential of the harvest is immeasurable.  If you manage the talent wisely, you may get this response: ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ Matthew 25:25

Don’t Bury Your Talent!

dream BIG. think BIGGER.

Share your thoughts!

As I was reading some C.S. Lewis I found this little piece of material that is so rich as it relates to temptation and Bad People.  Here is what C.S. Lewis had to say:

“A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is… A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later.  That is why bad people, in one sense, know very little about badness. They have lived a sheltered life by always giving in.” ~C.S. Lewis

The reality is that you are going to be tempted, the even harsher reality is that it’s difficult to not give in and the harshest reality is that the only way you win is to not give in.  Put your trust in The One who gave you the ability to trust.

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.  Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Genesis 3:6-7

What if they would have never eaten the fruit?  What if you would have never…

Temptation…

What do you think about C.S. Lewis had to say?  Share your thoughts and experiences about Temptation.

I Love This Video… Go For It! Enough said!

Share your thoughts!

Organizations tend to live and die by their Policy and Procedure Manuals.  There are policies and procedures for literally everything.  Just think about your organization and the number of policies and procedures that guide what you do.  Some policies and procedures are written, while others may simply be spoken or understood organizational mores.

There is one policy that in my opinion is the most devastating to an organization.  It’s the Behind Closed Doors Policy! You won’t find this written in your organization’s policy and procedure manual; however you will find it written on the faces of organizational leaders around the globe.

There are many different types of Behind Closed Doors Policies that a detrimental to an organization, just ask Mr. Enron and Mrs. AIG. The Behind Closed Doors Policy that I’m referring to is this — What I say to you in your face is different that what I say about you behind closed doors.  This policy is a killer and often times it’s implemented without even realizing it.  This policy is born out of The Fundamental Flaw Of Leadership, which is rooted in not shooting straight with team members and not allowing them to know where they stand.

I remember changing supervisors one time at a particular job and my new supervisor brought me in his office and said this “Do you want to know what people say about you when you are not in the room?  Well here it is and proceeded to share.” That’s a good starting place.

The policy that I have always had in affect with my team is simply this:

• a.  You will always know where you stand and never have to guess.
• b.  I won’t say anything behind close doors that I have not or don’t plan on saying to your face.
• c.  I will be gracefully-brutally honest with you and when necessary, in front of the entire team.

Behind Closed Doors Policies born out of a coward spirit need to be revised, as they are detrimental to the health and wealth of an organization.  Replace your Behind Closed Doors Policy with an Above Board Policy.

Open The Door and Release The Potential!

Have you experienced negative implications of a Behind Closed Doors Policy?  Share your thoughts on Behind Closed Doors Policy and Above Board Policy.

DO IT ANYWAY

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered;  Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish ulterior motives;  Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and true enemies;  Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;  Be honest anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;  Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;  Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;  Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;  Give the world the best you’ve got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God;  It was never between you and them anyway.

~Mother Teresa

dream BIG. think BIGGER.