Big Is The New Small

It seems like yesterday when I was in college pledging to become a member of a fraternity.  The whole process of pledging was quite a memorable series of events and one of the things that I vividly remember was quoting this short phrase that we called excuses.  The phrase was recited follows: “Excuses are tools of incompetence, used to build monuments of nothingness… those that specialize in using them, never amount to anything.”

One of the reasons the lack of diversity in the church is still a problem today is primarily because of all of the Excuses.  There are a plethora of excuses that pastors, ministry leaders, congregants and the general populous use as justification to not address the issue of Church Diversity.  Here are a few common excuses:

• It’s about culture, so diversity is not necessary
• There is no ethnic diversity represented in the communities near our church
• Race is not an issue, we look beyond race… we’re color-blind
• Talking about race is divisive
• Nobody cares, it’s a non-issue

This list of Excuses could keep going like the Energizer Bunny.  Let’s make some wording adjustments to that Excuses phrase from above that I recited while pledging my fraternity.  Here is a new version of that saying being directly related to the topic of Church Diversity: “Church Diversity excuses are tools of incompetence, used to build churches of diversity nothingness… those pastors, churches, leaders and congregations that specialize in using them, will never be diverse.”

The bottom line is that if a pastor or ministry leader chooses to be serious and intentional about making progress in the area Church Diversity, they will have some positive impact.  I you try and fail, that’s fine… but stop making Excuses about why you can’t.  Start with the baby step number one: Have a conversation about diversity and you will be one step closer to having “His will done on earth as it is in heaven.”

If we truly want to have our churches be a place where everyone feels welcome and we can reach “All People” for Jesus, we can no longer sit around and make Excuses.

Do you feel that pastors, leaders, churches… make too many excuses relative to this topic.  Are any of these excuses valid?  Share your thoughts or additional excuses!

Do you know what today is?  It’s our anniversary… Some of you may be too young to remember that old Tony Toni Tone song.  It’s stuck in my head right now because today is my anniversary. You can check out the old video here and the song will be stuck in your head as well.  I met the love of my life in 1996 and shortly after meeting, I told her that she was going to marry me one day. Some people called me cocky, I called it prophetic.

I thought I would share this video from a year ago today, where our two son’s surprised us by starting their own restaurant called Anniversary Cafe.  It’s the sweetest thing ever.

I love Jesus, LaKendria & my sons!

Happy Anniversary!

We have all worked in environments where we observe, work for, or work with “Yes Men or Yes Women.”   Being a “Yes Man” is not a good thing, as a matter of fact having nothing but a bunch of “Yes Men” around is the opposite of true leadership.

True leaders want people around them that will challenge them, speak the truth and just be themselves.  True leaders will never substitute a candid environment for the lack of excellence.  Instead, they expect the people around them to be open and honest, perform at a high-level and grow to become a next-level leader.

The sad thing about “Yes Men” is that most of them don’t go into an organization as “Yes Men.”  Often times a weak, insecure, micro-management, dictatorship, brown-nosing type environment can turn gifted leaders into gifted “Yes Men.”

True leaders create environments where genuine dialogue can occur and that’s when some of the most innovative ideas will surface.  True leaders create environments where other true leaders can flourish.  True Leaders Don’t Want “Yes Men,” instead they would prefer to have people around them that will keep it real and tell them the truth even at the risk of losing their job.

True leadership is not about denigrating and dictating, it’s about delegating, conversating and celebrating.

Share your thoughts and experiences with Yes Men, Yes Women and overall Yes environments.

The Twitter profile pic. has become an integral part of an overall Twitter profile.  These pics. take on many different shapes, looks, forms and fashions (The Good, The Bad & The Ugly).  The diversity of Twitter pics. speaks to the diversity of folks in the Twittersphere.  In a previous post titled “6 Ways To Make Your Twitter Profile Work”, I outlined a simple strategy to effectively leverage your overall profile.

The Twitter profile pic. can be broken down into 30 distinct looks.  I’m sure there are more than 30; however in this post 30 will be the definitive number.

30 Types Of Twitter Profile Pics.

1. Picture Me Rollin‘-  This is the person that uses their vehicle or maybe even a dream vehicle as their profile pic.

2. All Up In Your Face- This is the person whose Twitter profile pic. is extra, extra tight shot.  This is the type of Twitter Profile Pic. that I use (@scottwilliams).  I personally prefer the tight shot because no matter the application you use, the profile pic. is going to be very small.

3. The Rock Star- This is the person who has a microphone, stage, instrument, pulpit or podium somewhere in their profile pic.  This person is saying, watch me do my thang.

4. The Bird- This is the person who either doesn’t know how or hasn’t taken the time to add a profile pic.  This person is perfectly content with the standard ugly Twitter Bird.

5. The Model- This is the person who looks off into space and has a side-shot photo.  The model means serious business when they strike their America’s Next Top Model super pose, they will even bust out a glamour shot pic.

6. Love Birds- This person is so in love that they cannot be separated from the love of their life.  They can’t even be separated in their profile pic., singing “Just the two of us, we can make it if we try just the two of us… you and I.”

7. Too Cool For School- This person is so cool that they can get away with wearing their sunglasses at night.  Not only do they wear their sunglasses at night, they represent their sunglasses in their profile pic.

8. Show Me The Money- This is the person that has pics. of money or dollar $igns in their profile pic.  Many of the affiliate-network-guru-spammer type folks that claim you can make $5,000 a day roll with this pic.

9. Fantasy Island- is the person who would love to have the little guy named Tattoo from Fantasy Island be their spokesperson.  They are enamored with their ink and represent their tattoos in their profile pic.  If you are too young to know who Tattoo or Fantasy Island is, click here.

10. I’m Too Sexy For My Twitter- This is the person who takes the sexy strike-a-pose pic. for their Twitter profile.  This person’s pic. is not quite inappropriate, but they are darn sure trying to be sexy.  Their theme song is “I’m too sexy for my shirt… too sexy for my…”

11. Read My Lips- This person is so proud of their lips that LL Cool J can’t even compete.  Don’t look into my eyes, Read My Lips.

12. The Porn Star- This is the inappropriate and many times down right vulgar spammer that we all wish would just go away.  Sorry, I can’t give the Porn Star Love, so this profile pic. is from XXX Church.

13. Peta Tweeta- This is the person that loves their pet so much, the pet is front and center on their profile pic.  It’s just kinda weird receiving a tweet, @reply, or DM from Scooby-Doo.

14. Front Page - This person represents their profile pic. as their featured front page magazine article, news paper clip or album cover.  Just a reminder that you can grab a copy in a store near you.

15. Logo No-Go- This person represents their logo instead of a pic.  Often types this person has difficulty distinguishing between their personal brand and their logo brand.  This featured profile pic. brand created my brand, so they’re all good.

16. The Animator- This is the annoying moving motion graphic profile pics.  These profile pics. definitely stand out, although that’s not necessarily a good thing.  I’m sorry but this polar bear eating his fish just cracks me up.

17. The Cartoonist- This person represents a cartoon looking avatar version of themselves.

18. The Little Guy- This person has used a full length pic. or one that is so far away that you can’t tell what or who they are.  This person should invest in a zoom and take some tips from ”All Up In Your Face.”

19. The Photographer – There is second guessing that this person is a professional photographer as their Nikon or Cannon is front and center.  It’s the digital camera version of “All Up In Your Face.”

20. The Kid- This person allows their children the opportunity to be front and center in the profile pic. Sometimes the twitterer themselves are in the pic. with their kid(s) and other times it’s the kid(s) are all by themselves.

21. Weirdo- Some Twitter profile pics. can only be summed up by calling them weird.  Weird is not necessarily a bad thing, just a weird thing.  The profile pic featured here is my man @crazie_eddie, I mean the name Crazie Eddie puts him in the weirdo category.  I happen to like Eddie, he retweets my posts on a regular basis.  Everyone has some  weirdos on their list, just scroll through your followers and you will find a weirdo. If you don’t find a weirdo by scrolling through your list, take a look at your personal profile pic.  You may just be that weirdo.

22. The Half-Face- This person is a kissing cousin to ”All Up In your Face” but they are so cool that they will only show you half of their face.  I guess if your name is LeBron James, you can sport The Half-Face and you can even hold a 1hr. event to let everyone know about your decision to do so.

23. Six Pack Jack – It’s all about representin’ the six pack and we are not talking about beer.

24. Say What! - When you look at this profile pic. the only thing that you can say is “Say What!”

25. Handyman - This person represent had motions that consume the profile pic.  Talk to the hand!

26. Get Your Grub On - This person not only tweets about their frequent stops at various eating places, they represent the vittles in their profile pic.

27. Red Bull - This person has more energy in their profile pic. than most of us will ever have in real life. Their profile pic inspires you to drink a Red Bull.

28. I’m Smarter Than You - The pondering and contemplative ruminations in this profile pic are enough to intimidate Albert Einstein.  Hmm, I bet you wish you knew what I’m thinking, but you don’t. I know what you’re thinking!

29. Sports, Sports and More Sports – All things sports, jersey’s, logos, names, players, fields, trophies… you name this profile pic. represents it.

30. I’m Not On That List- The person that says “This list is funny, but I’m nowhere on the list.”  This ones for you! Feel free to insert your 30th Type of Profile Pic. in the comment section.

Where do you fall on the list?  What’s missing?  Share your thoughts on any of the Types Of Twitter Profile Pics. above or add additional to the list.

There are tons of people joining Twitter every day and more people who have questions about how to make their Twitter Experience a Smarter Experience.  Below are some Basic Twitter Tips to Help You Tweet Smarter.

Share your thoughts on the list.  What Twitter Basics can you add to the list?

I remember having a conversation with a pastor friend of mine who happens to be a female.  She was sharing the various unique things that women in the church struggle with and things they have confided in her.  One of the things that she shared made me have one of those “hmm” moments.  She stated that women that she’s talked w/ in various churches struggle with the fact that They Think Their Pastor’s Sexy!  Not to be confused with the popular country music song “She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy.” Not only do they think their Pastor’s Sexy, but they struggle with their mind and eyes wandering into inappropriate places.  It becomes a challenge because they will have these lustful thoughts as their pastor is speaking. The same can be true for men with a female pastors or lust in general.

Many pastors teach the concept out of the book Every Mans Battle called “Bouncing Your Eyes” in other words don’t keep your eyes focused on someone of the opposite sex for too long.   Keeping your eyes moving can keep you out of trouble.  This is something that is stereotypically geared towards guys… but what about the ladies?  There is a book called Every Womans Battle, although I have not heard anything about the content.

After my conversation with my female pastor friend; it’s probably fair for me to make the assumption that there are women sitting in pews and seats of churches all around the country that may be struggling with the inability to “Bounce Their Eyes.”  As their eyes are having to fixated on their “Sexy Pastor,” who happens to be in front of them for relatively lengthy periods of time each and every week.  The fact that their pastor is a man of God, tells great stories and seems to be rather put together only increases the the sexiness factor.

The thoughts running through their head might be something like this: He’s Hot, I like that suit, Are those True Religion Jeans, He’s so spiritual, I wish my husband treated me like that, He’s so Handsome, Nice Hair, He dresses so fly, I can tell he’s been working out, He’s so considerate, I know he’s married but, I would, I wonder if I can share that with him, I bet he… After thinking these thoughts, their mind wanders for a moment or two or three or four and unfortunately, this cycle can repeat itself on a weekly basis.  The Bible says this… ”But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Matthew 5:28  Ladies this passage applies to you as well, so please Stop Lusting After Your Pastor!

God created us with a unique ability to train and control our eyes, actions and mind.  Exercise your ability and gain control.

Do women get a pass? Is this a problem? How does play into the overall adultery scheme of things? Share your thoughts.

GUEST BLOGGER: Today’s guest post comes from @JoyBowen.  Joy helps churches have a greater impact on the next generation as an Orange Specialist (www.WhatisOrange.org).  She gives away her art on www.ImpulsiveJoy.com. If you would like to be a guest blogger for BigIsTheNewSmall.com, click here.

Art was my least favorite subject in school.  To this day, I can still only draw a stick figure at best.  Since I have no natural giftedness, I have never attempted to get better at it.

Although I can barely color within the lines, it may surprise you to know that I now consider myself an artist.  I think we all are actually.

Seth Godin has been challenging me to see art in a whole new light.  I now believe that art has very little to do with anything I ever did in art class growing up and everything to do with the passion God gave me for ministry.

“An artist is someone who uses bravery, insight, creativity and boldness to challenge the status quo.  And an artist takes it personally.”  (Linchpin, p. 83)

If you have been leading in ministry for any amount of time, chances are you are coming up against the status quo of what has always been.  But the church needs artists, like you and me, who will continue to push at what is cultural so that we never lose sight of what is core.

And your art should bring you joy.

It should bring you so much joy that you can’t help but share it with others.  Your ministry – your artwork – is not meant to adorn the walls of your church.  Art is a gift.

“You cannot create a piece of art merely for money.  Doing it as part of commerce so denudes art of wonder that it ceases to be art.  There’s always a gift intent on the part of the artist.” (Linchpin, p. 85)

Our challenge in ministry is to look beyond ourselves to see how we can live a life of generosity without reciprocity.   If your art brings you joy, share it with anyone who will pause to take it in and be transformed by the experience.

Because the reality is, there are many leaders in ministry today who need artists.  So if you are passionate about what you do, give it away so it can change someone else.  I promise you, your gift will actually come back to you….in the joy you receive when you have impact on those who receive your labor of love.

So, do you consider yourself an artist?

Food For Thought…  There is BIG power in a small quote.  ~BigIsTheNewSmall

• If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader. ~John Quincy Adams
• A leader must have the courage to act against an expert’s advice. ~James Callaghan
• Inventories can be managed, but people must be led. ~Ross Perot
• It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare, it is because we do not dare that things are difficult. ~Seneca
• Leadership can be thought of as a capacity to define oneself to others in a way that clarifies and expands a vision of the future. ~Edwin Friedman
• The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint to keep from meddling with them while they do it. ~Theodore Roosevelt
• The real leader has no need to lead – he is content to point the way.  ~Henry Miller
• If I have seen farther than others, it is because I was standing on the shoulder of giants. ~Isaac Newton
• A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don’t necessarily want to go but ought to be. ~Rosalynn Carter
• A great leader doesn’t care about being the leader, but instead cares about the mission, the vision and the people they are leading. ~Scott Williams

Thoughts, comments or favorites from the above list. Share other personal favorites!

It truly breaks my heart every time that I hear about people having affairs; especially those who have been entrusted with a leadership role.  It doesn’t matter whether we are talking about the President, Politicians, Teachers, Pastors, Coaches, Worship Leaders, Sports Superstars…  These individuals who have been blessed and entrusted with the responsibility of leadership influence should hold that influence tightly, lightly and responsibly all at the same time.

Honestly, as a pastor this selfish cheating mess is probably one of the most frustrating/irritating areas to counsel people through; especially when the individuals don’t seem to understand the impact of their selfish actions.  Not only do they not realize the impact, but they would have probably continued if they hadn’t gotten caught.  This tragedy can also be one of the most rewarding areas to celebrate/praise on the other side, through total repentance and legitimate restoration.

I know people may say Scott you are naive and it can happen to anybody, but I say this with all the humility I can muster up “IT DOESN’T HAVE TO HAPPEN TO ANYBODY!”  I read through 1 Corinthians 6 again today and I don’t care what version I read, The Message, New Century or NIV, they all communicated the same thing.  Run, Flee, Your Body Is A Temple, You Were Bought By God For a Price.  As Christ Followers and especially as Christian Leaders; we don’t get to pick and choose how we act.  We are held to a higher standard and if we can really do all things through Christ who gives us strength; I have to believe that “all things” encompasses honoring our covenant vows before God and to our spouse.

None of us are perfect, we all sin, we all fall short, we all know right from wrong and I would argue that even a non-believer understands that they are not supposed to cheat on their spouse. Marriage is serious, Treat It As Such!

A word to Pastors, Leaders or anyone else who is cheating, flirting or going down that road: Stop, Flee, Run and Pray.  Proverbs 5:5 talks about the adulteress woman this way, She’s dancing down the primrose path to Death; she’s headed straight for Hell and taking you with her.

Satan doesn’t have any power over you, only the power to deceive.  If you’re choosing to go down this road of deception, ultimately Satan is Playing you like a drum and Pimpin’ you like a prostitute!

Pastors, Leaders, People…  Stop Having Affairs!  Thank You!

Meetings, Meetings, Meetings…  Many people believe that Meetings Make Them Better.  Because of this belief system they will have a lot of meetings and will even schedule a meeting to schedule meeting.  This belief system is inaccurate and unproductive.  Often time’s meetings are unnecessary, unproductive and make you worse.  You just sit around and talk instead of believing in your people and releasing them to go Get er’ Done!

Don’t get me wrong there can be some amazing epiphanies that come out of meetings.  They key is to understand that it’s not the process of the meetings that breeds success it’s the strategy, confrontation, dialogue, thinking and ultimately the implementation of what I call “Success Plans” that ultimately creates the success.   These Success Plans vary from individual to individual and organization to organization.

Meetings Don’t Make You Better, Success Plans Do!

Meeting is defined as – the act of coming together.

Strategy is defined as – a plan, method, or series of maneuvers or strategy for obtaining a specific goal or result.

Meetings Don’t Make You Better, Strategy and Success Plans Do.

If teams and organizations would focus more on the implementation of their “Success Plan” and less time meeting, their results would be exponentially greater.  The bottom line is that meetings cut into our time, which happens to be our most valuable resource.  A good first step in implementing a Success Plan is to change the way you do meetings.

Below are some strategies to create more opportunities for success and less time for meetings.

• If a meeting is regularly scheduled for 1 hour, change it to 45 minutes.
• If you can handle it with a brief water cooler chat; don’t schedule a meeting.
• Require only the necessary people to attend particular meetings
• Conduct a quarterly meeting assessment. (What’s working, what’s not, changes…)
• Discourage unnecessary surfing the web, e-mailing, chatting during the meeting.
• Know your employees and facilitate types of meetings that motivate them.
• Change the setting – Starbucks, Golf Course, Restaurants, Outside, Different location…
• Get rid of the PowerPoint presentations; too much prep time and nobody cares.
• Get everyone involved; encourage everyone’s contribution.
• If an email or video will serve the purpose, don’t call a meeting.
• Ask your employees to honestly evaluate the productivity of the meetings.
• Don’t get me started on conference calls.

Share your thoughts and experiences with meetings.  Do they make you better?