Win to the Win-th Power – Creating Greater Success Through Innovation and Collaboration

NOTE to Readers: Dear Friends — I was recently invited to write an article for the Dear Christian Radio blog and have decided to re-post it here, just as it was posted there. Obviously, it is directed to a Christian audience, so if that’s not your jam… please don’t keep reading! If you choose to continue, I encourage you to consider how these thoughts / activities apply to your situation, your team, your organization. Enjoy!

 

Dear Christian Radio…

“If the rate of change outside your institution is faster than the rate of change inside your institution, the end is in sight, the only question is: When?” 

~Jack Welch, GE – Year 2000 Annual Report

While Christian Radio is not a traditional business, I believe Jack’s quote is still relevant to you even 18 years after he said it. The ways of doing business today are vastly different than they were even a few years ago, and seem to be ever changing on a daily basis. Couple that with the proverbial fight for your listeners’ attention and underwriters’ funding, and your ability to thrive is seriously challenged. Which is why I want to introduce you to Win to the WinthPowerthinking and how it can change the way you think, act, and experience life and work.

But first, the fight!

Fighting for Attention

It’s true – it is a fight! We are so inundated with demands on our attention these days, it’s increasingly difficult for any one organization to grab and hold us for any length of time. A recent online search for current statistics revealed that we are bombarded daily with an average of 4,000 media messages; some sites claim it’s up to 10,000 messages. It depends on how “connected” you are and what kinds of media you attend to, but the demand is real and it’s impacting your ability to connect with your audience.

Call me a contrarian, but I think this fight actually may be a good thing for you because what you’re “selling” is perfect, timeless, profound, meaningful, and significant. All of which are things people are longing for, searching for, seeking… even if they don’t realize that’s what they are doing.

Once we’ve moved beyond our basic needs for food, clothing, shelter, survival, we step into the realm of deeper psychological needs for certainty, variety, significance, growth, connection, and contribution. This is the place where we long for the deep, meaningful, significance in our lives… needs that truly can be met in only one way – through the Cross – and by only one person – Jesus.

Christian radio touches on each of those needs:

  • You remind us of the certainty we are not alone: The Holy Spirit is with and within us.
  • You remind us of the certainty of the outcome: Jesus wins and we win, too, if we’ve accepted him as our savior.
  • You offer a variety of voices and musical styles for listeners to connect with, and a variety of ways for listeners to connect and interact with the station.
  • Yours is a significant message, often providing a very meaningful experience – transformation, even – for many listeners and their families, especially on dark days and times of crisis.
  • You provide a way for your listeners to feel connected to something bigger than themselves; and truly, who doesn’t long for that deep sense of belonging?
  • You invite listeners to participate in making a contribution, financially and otherwise, allowing them to actively take part in the mission of spreading the Gospel and bringing more people to the family and body of Christ.

I know this is not news to you, but sometimes we need reminding of why we are here and the importance of the work we are doing.

What’s at Stake

Committed to spreading the Gospel, providing support and encouragement, and building an army to do God’s work in the world, Christian Radio is uniquely positioned to be a conduit, a pathway for this connection to begin, to grow, and to thrive. For you, it’s not about profit, competition, power, or any of the other common reasons people create business endeavors. It’s about following your calling and doing good in the world.

Nonetheless, that doesn’t make you immune to the challenges any business faces; which is why it’s all the more important you are wide awake, moving forward with intention, and embracing innovation and collaboration.

A Shift in Mindset is Required

Today, and into the future, we will be seeing more and more people building businesses that are creating a Win to the WinthPowershift in the world economy. It’s not just about me winning in my business anymore, because if I win and you don’t or you win and I don’t, then there won’t be a thriving economy around either of us to support our endeavors.  No, today we need to be thinking this way:How do we create organizations where I win, you win, and in the bargain, as we collaborate and support each other, there is even greater benefit to a larger community –creating something that has ripple effects into the future and is bigger than either you or I could create alone?

There isn’t just one right answer to that question, nor does the shift happen by accident or chance. It is created purposefully and intentionally by wide-awake, Conscious Leaders®… people like you and me who are willing to step into the arena, take some chances, learn new things, and multiply ourselves and the power of our efforts by inviting others into the experience with us.

Taking Chances – Playing with Innovation

According to the dictionary, Innovation means to try a new method, idea, or project; a change, alteration, revolution, upheaval, transformation, metamorphosis, or breakthrough.

Although I’ve not been able to confirm it, this quote is attributed to Albert Einstein: “A problem cannot be solved with the same level of thinking that created it.”

In order to innovate – to create something new – we must think different thoughts. Thinking different thoughts requires that we do something new, put ourselves into new environments and situations, gain a different perspective. Here’s what I suggest, to stimulate your creative juices, as they say:

  • Play:Unstructured time for play is crucial to our ability to create. We must take the time to release expectations and boundaries and allow our imaginations to run wild. During play, our brains are able to connect previously unconnected ideas, thoughts, and concepts. We are able to make associations we wouldn’t normally make within the boundaries of “acceptable thinking and behavior.” We are able to see and recognize patterns that we would otherwise miss when we are focused on the work and the business at hand.
    • If you don’t already make time for play, I encourage you to try it… make it an important part of your day, a sacred part of your time, similar to setting aside time to pray.
  • Start small.If the idea of making time to play makes you a little uncomfortable, start small… give yourself 15 minutes each day to do something fun, something silly, something with no predictable outcome, and set no expectation that it will result in anything that might be defined as productive or useful. Discover where the practice takes you.
  • Add to it.Over time, give yourself more time and do it more often. In his book, Essentialism, author Greg McKeown shares a story about Jeff Weiner, CEO of LinkedIn. Weiner builds two hours of blank space into his schedule every day for thinking, doing nothing, and being playful. He’s found it allows him to be more focused, creative, and effective in his work.
  • Have toys.You may think it’s silly to see toys on an adult’s desk, but it’s really not. Having something to keep your hands busy while your mind runs wild and free is extremely powerful, stress reducing, and stimulates creativity – required for innovation. Try a Koosh Ball, a Tangle, a doodle pad… whatever appeals to you.
  • Steal something.I don’t mean to literally steal something, rather take something that already exists and modify it, personalize it, reimagine it, make it yours. In his book, Steal Like An Artist, author Austin Kleon explains that “nothing comes from nowhere… all creative work builds on what came before. Nothing is completely original.”  To prove his point, he quotes the Bible: “There is nothing new under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9).
    • There are only 12 notes. If you are musically inclined (beyond your work in radio), you know there only 12 musical notes. Yet, consider all the different variations, styles, and configurations those 12 notes have been pulled together into. Limitation drives creativity. Contemplate the resources you have available (and trust me – you have far more than you are actually aware of) and how you might arrange or rearrange them to be of benefit in some new way, in alignment with your vision or mission.
  • Give yourself permission.As adults – and adults running businesses / radio stations – it’s often difficult to justify doing any of the things I’ve just suggested. You’re doing serious work – God’s work – after all; this is serious stuff… with eternal consequences, no less! It’s true and I’m not making light of your work. I just know you have so much more inside you than you may give yourself credit for, and I want you to release your inner creative genius.
    • In God’s Image…God is the ultimate creator, no doubt.And the Bible tells us we were created in His image. That means we are creative beings, as well. And He made us this way for a purpose, so for us not to use the creativity He’s endowed us with is kind of disrespectful, and seriously wasteful. The world needs you at your best, living into your giftedness to its fullest, and I believe that means stepping into creativity – in whatever way that is birthed through you – proactively and in a lively fashion!
    • Just say, “Yes.” Repeat after me: I give myself permission to play, to be silly, to have unstructured time, to exercise my imagination, to be a creative being. (Repeat as many times as it takes you to actually try it.) Then, actually do it. Explore, experiment, try something new, share ideas, breathe life into a new endeavor… and do it with others.

Creating Together — Collaboration

We were built for community and we are better together. There is strength in numbers. We’ve heard all this before, and logically, rationally we know it. But we don’t always do it. It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that because we are a leader in some official capacity, we are responsible for figuring things out on our own.

Real leaders, today’s leaders know this isn’t true. And I believe you’re one of today’s leaders, so I trust you know you can’t do this alone. I suspect you have a team around you, and how many people that is will depend on your market and the size of your budget. If you limit yourself to creating only with those people, you will severely limit your reach.

How to Collaborate:

Look outside.  The number of potential collaborators is nearly endless, if we will just open our eyes. Most of those people will not be directly associated with Christian Radio, but there are countless people with ideas, skills, resources, expertise, and creativity you can benefit from, regardless of their official work or affiliations. Spend some time considering who you know and who they know; the networks you can tap into are much greater than you might imagine.

Look outside, again.  What can you learn from other industries that will help you move your mission forward? In his book, Practically Radical, author William Taylor tells a story of business partners mining for gold and coming up empty. They had all kinds of data that said the gold was there; they were very close, but still couldn’t find it.

One of the partners decided he needed a break, so he went to an IT conference; not at all an IT person, he just wanted to immerse himself in a completely new environment and get away from the gold mining operation. While there, he learned about “open source coding,” where a developer would create a piece of software and put it out on the web for others to play with, modify, change, repurpose, improve.

That’s exactly what he and his partner did with the mining data they had. They put it out on the web and invited others – total strangers across the globe – to play with it and see if they could figure out the next step for the mining operation; they even offered a prize. If I remember the story correctly, they ended up paying two prizes, as a couple of people connected, collaborated, and found the solution.

The point is this – there are people with whom you can create and collaborate who might not be the obvious ones you would seek out or intentionally try to work with; they may even run other Christian Radio stations that may – on the surface – appear to be your competition. But remember, God used (and still does) the crack-pots, the loners, the outliers… and you might find incredible collaboration partners in unexpected places, as well. 

Go deep with listeners and underwriters. You’re grateful to them and for them, to be sure, but when was the last time you invited your listeners or underwriters in for a meaningful conversation about what you’re striving to create in the world?

They’re connected to you and supporting your work for a reason. What is it? If you don’t know the answer, I encourage you to ask the question and listen carefully. I suspect there’s a wealth of information, ideas, creativity, commitment, and willingness to become a part of the effort in ways you’ve not even imagined.

It’s easy to imagine they would step forward and offer themselves and their ideas up to you proactively, but that’s not always the case and by not inviting them in, I guarantee you are missing out on some great ideas, opportunities, and expertise that could help you move forward faster.

Shifting to Win to the WinthPower into Action

We live in a world where we’ve been taught that there can be only one winner, and to win means to win at all costs, crushing the competition. I think it’s time for a new paradigm, one in which we can all win and in the process, create something bigger, more meaningful, and more beneficial for a community larger than those directly involved in the effort.

Stepping into this new paradigm will require you to step into the unknown, embrace uncertainty, experience some discomfort, be vulnerable, invite others into your realm, and ask a lot of open-ended questions about “what if…?”

  • You have everything you need to be successful in your endeavor; it will require a mindset shift and actively thinking new thoughts.
  • Innovation begins when you give yourself permission to play, explore, examine, and discover.
  • Collaboration may result in ideas, initiatives, missions, and undertakings far greater than you might have imagined and the potential impact you can have on the world is exponentially more powerful than you’ve dreamed.

The key is engaging in the exercise. So, get started. Think bigger. Let your imagination run wild. And invite others into your process.

To see the article as originally posted online, go here: https://dearchristianradio.com/wintowinth/
/by

Are You Your Own Worst Critic? Here Are 2 Ways To Gain Control Back

Woman worrying about being her own worst critic and what it is doing to her life.

Are you your own worst critic? Many times in my life I have been told that my expectations for myself are extremely high, and that is true. I’m sure I could tell you all kinds of reasons why that is, but in terms of Strengths, I attribute it to having Maximizer as a dominant theme. Folks with high Maximizer have high expectations and work hard to make something strong into something superb.

Yet the truth is being my own worst critic often hurts my progress. I spend lots of time worrying about doing things “right” and lose the potential of the moment. Can you relate?

Today, I spent time with a team of fairly young leaders from a company I’ve been blessed to work with for the last several months. It was our first workshop together and it was a FULL day. As the day came to an end, and I packed up all my materials, I felt the all-too-familiar “let down” that I often experience after teaching a workshop. I suspect part of it is the actual physical disconnect that comes when one has been fully engaged, mentally (and for me empathetically), with a group of bright, interested, interesting individuals for an extended period.

I suspect the other part is the process of my internal self-assessment otherwise known as my own worst critic. She shows up every time I have a great desire to serve clients and an underlying worry that I may not have done enough. Or completed my work as well as I could have.

You see, I can always think of one or two things I could have done more effectively that would have allowed me to connect at a deeper level, served more effectively, facilitated more insights, or offered new perspectives. When my own worst critic shows up, she forgets all the good I have done and can obliterate all the good I have accomplished in the day and leave me feeling useless, down and worried.

Do you experience your own worst critic in the same way?

Now you should know that I am fully aware that my opportunity here is to make note of these insights so I can implement them in the next workshop. What I strive for is to be able to have those insights earlier, to be able to adapt as I go through the actual workshop and improve in the moment. But, learning from my experiences allows me to adjust the next time. My inner critic serves me in many good ways because she allows me to see my higher goals for the work I do and my life in general.

So in these moments of doubt and worry, I employ two strategies to manage my inner voice so I don’t give too much credit to negativity. As you do your work, you will learn that what you give time and attention to really does matter.

If your inner critic, your own worst self, is hijacking your success I offer you these two reminders to help set you on a healthier path:

One, remember that you can’t see the picture when you’re in the frame. What that translates to is that you don’t always see yourself as others do. Your version of yourself in your head is a filtered version. He or she is edited by your own emotional awareness and insecurities.

If you find yourself feeling worried, sad, unsure or otherwise anxious that your performance wasn’t up to par, find a trusted person and ask for feedback. Allow their words to wash over you and hear what they are really saying. If your own worst critic shows up in that moment, ask him or her to politely take a seat and give your brain some space to HEAR the words being shared. Then, write it down so you can remember and revisit the feedback at later times.

Two, find a way to be thankful for the experience that’s showing up. Your inner critic serves you in times of stress and when you need to perform. What’s harmful is when the critic in your head is misleading or unrealistic in what’s possible or required for success.

Answer this statement: “Today was great because ___________, and would have been even better if _____________”.

Make a list of what could have made the day better so you have a concrete example of how your inner critic intends to support your growth.

Then ask yourself honestly: Is this feedback possible? Is it helpful? Is it kind? Does it serve your higher good and finally, if you implement it, will it lead you to the place you want to go in your life?

If the answers are yes, then you have a blueprint for how to honestly improve your next event.

When you are dealing with your own worst critic, the greatest thing you can do is learn to understand how he or she is working to help you achieve your goals. When an inner critic is out of control and unnecessarily critical or unkind, healing and health are not possible. But, by learning how to nurture the message you receive from your inner critic, the experiences can serve you well and lead you to stronger performance and greater achievements.

 

If you’re struggling to manage your own inner critic or having a hard time really seeing your value or worth, I can help you. Reach out for a free consultation to see how working together can improve the quality of your life AND your work.

/by

Selling Popcorn

laura-prisc-selling-popcorn

At what point do we, as parents, begin to imprint our personal beliefs on our children? Arguably from the time we bring them home from the hospital; after all, we are teaching them about our values and beliefs simply as a matter of course in how we live life each day.

The question is, when do we become aware that’s what we are doing and decide to be intentional about it? I’ve had this discussion with myself, and my husband, on numerous occasions over the past several years, and most recently 30 minutes ago…on the topic of selling popcorn!

Our son is 7 and is a Wolf in his local Cub Scout Troop (or is it a den or a pack? Frankly, all those distinctions elude me, but I digress…). The biggest fundraiser for his group is selling tins of popcorn, caramel corn, and chocolate coated popcorn. Some members of his troop will sell by going door-to-door in their neighborhoods, after services at their church, by setting up tables outside local merchants to catch shoppers on their way in and out, and, presumably, some of their parents will even sell for them at their places of employment (I’m not sure this actually helps the child grow in any way, even though it does raise more money).

To motivate the kids, there is a listing of the incentives one might obtain by selling at a certain level. The more you sell, the cooler item you can receive. For example, if you sell $550 worth of popcorn, you can have a Lego Fire Truck (this is what my son has his eye on!), but the levels gone on up into the thousands of dollars sold.

In full candor, I cringed knowing this day would come. I understand the growth opportunity for the kids and the need to raise funds for the Troop. I am not a fan, however, of what the items are that are chosen to sell (usually cookies, cookie dough, very expensive wrapping paper, tins of popcorn) as they are often not anything we will eat or use or send as a gift. I’m not a fan of going door-to-door to sell, either (and have been shocked when young kids ring our bell and I see no parent in site, accompanying them). In fact, I would prefer to simply write a donation check and skip the sales process altogether! But, that wouldn’t allow the kids to experience the process and learn the lessons that come with it. I also recognize my thinking about and reaction to this “opportunity / activity” is not how everyone else looks at it.

My husband explained to our son how it works, and he’s excited. He says he wants to visit our neighbors, dressed in his Scout uniform, and sell them popcorn. Of course, it’s about earning that Lego Fire Truck! And no one has dampened his enthusiasm, yet. So, I’m working on restraint. I’m working on not coloring my son’s experience with my personal thoughts, feelings, or beliefs about this activity and process. It’s actually kind of fun to see his un-jaded enthusiasm for it, even if it’s one of the last things I would want to do.

Thinking this through has left me wondering about how we unwittingly impose our beliefs on those around us and change the way they view the world. Sometimes, those beliefs we instill in them are based on untruths and don’t serve them well later in life. Sometimes, they may bump into enough barriers because of those beliefs that they are forced to unlearn some things in order to achieve their goals and realize their potential. I don’t think we do this to the people around us intentionally, but it happens nonetheless.

All the more reason for becoming as self-aware as possible, so we can be more intentional about what we say, how we behave, and what we expose others to.

/by