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Dear Reader,
(Suzanne is on vacation this week.)
After today's guest column, be sure to click on the link to sample this month's Penguin Classic, Perchance to Dream, Selected Stories by Charles Beaumont.
Today's guest author, Shawn Lovejoy, is Founder and CEO of CourageToLead.com, a pastor, coach, consultant, Real Estate Developer, and author of Be Mean About the Vision: Preserving and Protecting What Matters. Shawn loves coaching leaders, and helping them conquer what keeps them up at night. He's been married 23 years to his best friend Tricia Lovejoy, and they have three children.
Be Mean About the Vision: Preserving and Protecting What Matters.
Though many books have been written on the subject of developing mission or vision statements, there have been few written on how to sustain or protect the vision over time. Shawn has dealt with hundreds of leaders and has seen countless struggle with keeping everyone on board with the mission and how to align the rest of the organization with the vision.
Email: [email protected] to say hello, and when you do, you'll be entered in his book giveaway. Ten copies of Be Mean About the Vision: Preserving and Protecting What Matters are ready to send out to readers.
Welcome to the book club author Shawn Lovejoy...
Being Mean...About The Vision
I don't consider myself to be a mean person. I don't think I'm a mean leader. Are you a mean person or a mean leader? You may have read the title and thought I was going to give you permission to be mean to people. No. That's not what I am talking about. In the sense I'm talking about, being "mean" about the vision is actually the best thing we could do, both for ourselves, and the people we lead.
If you look up the word 'mean' in the dictionary, you'll see several definitions. One of them says, to be mean is "to be offensive, selfish, or unaccommodating." That's the definition most of us are aware of. However, the other definition of the word mean is "to have an intended purpose." In this instance, the word mean has to do with intention. We'll sometimes say "What I meant to say was..." or "I meant that as a compliment." In these instances the word mean has to do with intent. That is what "being mean about the vision" is all about. Being mean about the vision is being intentional about the vision for our lives.
Solomon, the wisest men who ever lived, said this in the old Testament of the Bible: "Where there is no vision, the people perish." In other words, where there is no vision, things and people die! This is why I believe vision is the most important thing in the world. We must know the vision for our lives. We must be intentional about living it out. We must learn to say "No" to the good things so we can say "Yes" to the best things. We must be courageous. We must confront vision drift. We must be willing to protect the vision from potential vision hijackers. We must remember WHY we are doing WHAT we are doing or our passion will die first. We can not allow that to happen.
We have a purpose. We have a vision. We can't allow a few hurdles, setbacks, or kicks on the stomach to cause to us to shrink back, go away or God forbid, quit. We must get and stay focused. We must finish. We must live intentional lives and lead others intentionally. All of this is what it means to "be mean" about the vision.
The cry of our day is for courageous leaders, not cowardly ones. We need courageous leaders who will stand up for what's right and relentlessly fight to preserve and protect the most important thing in the world: The vision for our lives and the organizations we lead. So go be mean...about the vision!
--Shawn Lovejoy
Email: [email protected] and enter the giveaway for a copy of his book, Be Mean About the Vision.
* This month's Penguin Classics book is PERCHANCE TO DREAM: Selected Stories, by Charles Beaumont. Start reading now and don't forget to enter the drawing for your chance to win a Penguin tote bag: http://www.supportlibrary.com/bc/v.cfm?L=drclassqqxqZ1AFE3FA745F&c=CLASSICS
Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends
Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]
AUTHORBUZZ: NINE FACTS THAT CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE (Fiction) by Ronna Wineberg
Do you wonder how contemporary life affects our deepest relationships? The stories in this collection explore our essential bonds to partners, children, parents and friends. Intimacy, marriage, parenthood, adultery, divorce, and the past unfold. Men and women struggle with unexpected changes in their lives, but discover kindness, connection, and the ways we are renewed.
Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader click on NINE FACTS THAT CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE to find out more about the book and the author, Ronna Wineberg. Send her an email, she'd love to hear from you.
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