Brad drives an hour from the closest paved road to his village of 2,000 people. His refrigerator runs on kerosene, he collects rainwater for drinking, and he uses solar panels to provide electricity. When asked how far he has to drive to get mobile phone coverage, he replies, “Oh, we have coverage at the house.”

A missionary teaching Bible classes in the poorest areas of Nairobi, Kenya tells of his students’ daily struggle to feed themselves. But almost every student has a mobile phone. They need them to get work.

Since 1994, Kay and I have pioneered internet technologies to help people understand God’s love for them and to help believers grow in their faith. We now have an amazing opportunity to help pioneer in the use of mobile technologies.

In many parts of the world, mobile phones are leapfrogging traditional internet connections. The U.N. recently reported that one-fourth of the global population use the internet, but more than half use a mobile phone. Text messaging is used everywhere.

Mobile phones are a convenience for us in the U.S and other developed countries. But for people like Brad in Tanzania, mobile phones solve the problem of the last mile: the final leg of delivering connectivity from a communications provider to a customer.

We are excited to partner with a public university to develop a solution to the last mile. The university team is developing the technology. Campus Crusade for Christ’s Nairobi International School of Theology is developing the course material. Our Global Technology Office is helping organize a trial project in East Africa. The trial project will involve completing a class entirely through using a mobile phone and text messaging.

Kay and I will be in Manila, Philippines in mid-March to explain this opportunity to the International Leadership Consortium which gives leadership to all Campus Crusade’s 12 schools of theology. These leaders are very interested in the mLearning project.

How have you seen mobile phones used in discipleship?

According to my Kindle, I am 32% through Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? by Seth Godin. I think I like it now. I didn’t like it at first. The title grated against my understanding of humility and servant-leadership. The opening sections did nothing to change my perception.

But people I respect spoke highly of the book (such as Michael Hyatt here and here, especially since his company did not publish the book). Jay Lorenzen (onMovements) is reading it so I look forward to his thoughts.

It is growing on me. I’m intrigued by the concept of emotional labor. Some statements from Godin’s book:

• Emotional labor is the hard work of making art, producing generosity, and exposing creativity.
• Every interaction you have with a coworker or customer is an opportunity to practice the art of interaction [emotional labor].
• One of the most difficult types of emotional labor is staring into the abyss of choice and picking a path. [This is especially meaningful to me as a leader where I regularly stare into the abyss of choice and am responsible for leading us in a path towards our mission.]
• Emotional labor is available to all of us, but is rarely exploited as a competitive advantage. We spend our time and energy trying to perfect our craft, but we don’t focus on the skills and interactions that will allow us to stand out and become indispensable to our organization.

Then I thought about my partners in ministry — those who engage in the mission with Kay and me through faithful prayer, funding, and encouragement. Am I indispensable to them? Am I producing generously and creatively with them? Am I practicing effective emotional labor from their perspective?

I’m still working through thoughts. What about you? If you’ve read Linchpin and have thoughts, write them in the comments.

I read a great article by Jay Lorenzen Kindle the Missional Imagination. Jay explores how to be intentionally missional as a way of life. Words that come to my mind are connect with others where they are as part of your normal daily activities. Engage with others God brings across your path. Look for persons of peace who are seeking and inquisitive. Volunteer with non-profits. Walk your neighborhood, for the missional value connecting with others not just the aerobic value.

I think I’m going to take a walk now, with missional eyes.

One of my favorite email newsletters is Breakfast with Fred. His newsletter today was powerful ways to grow yourself into a better person and a better leader.

I’m unable to find a way to link to it, so I am duplicating his newsletter of 16 Feb.

Self improvement is not short-term.  It is a way of life.  We can do quick sprints with shots of motivation, but it won’t last.  My friends call me Fat Fred for a very good reason —-I haven’t adopted a Svelte Smith way of life.  I eat grapefruit for awhile, then lapse back into gravy on the mashed potatoes.

Make a plan to change your thinking.  Make a plan to make self-development second nature.

I didn’t have the advantage of a college education, a monied background, or a network of contacts.  But, I knew I wanted to grow and to make something of myself.  I knew I needed a plan.  I analyzed my strengths, looked for mentors, and set a life mission.  For me, my epitaph will read “He stretched others.”

How does a young man from the mill district of North Nashville do this?  Here are four support posts in my development plan:

1. Read- We cannot be informed unless we read.  Unless we are informed, we are not improved.  However, reading must be in line with our development objectives.  I read broadly, but with discrimination. For example, I read the classics to stretch my mind, improve my vocabulary, and brighten my personality.  I read the scripture to strengthen my values and keep me focused on truth.  The old phrase, “Leaders are readers” is a simple way to say it.

2. Associate- We are all chameleon-like to some extent.  We take on the habits, actions, and thoughts of those around us.  Therefore, it is important to match our objectives with our associations.  It is not social climbing to identify and attach yourself to those who are higher than you and accomplish more than you do.  It is just good sense and good judgment.  If you want water, go to the well; if you want knowledge, go to the wise.

3. Speak – The ability to speak is important in all areas of life.  Accept all speaking opportunities and then prepare.  I actually enjoy the preparation much more than I do the delivery.  As I work on a talk I am “riding under the whip” and this results in growth.  Even if the talk bombs, no one can take away from you what you have learned as you prepared.  Speaking will give you poise before a group and poise before many results in poise before individuals.

4. Write – One of my favorite quotes is from Francis Bacon, “Writing makes an exact man.”  It is impossible to jot down on paper an understandable statement until you first understand it.  In speaking you can use gestures, voice inflections, eye contact, etc. and massage your point.  On paper, it must be exact.  My mentor, Maxey Jarman, always said “nothing is definite until it can be written down.”

As we develop, we are constantly surprised and excited by opportunity and challenge. A growing life is never boring.

This week think about: 1) What is my personal plan for self-development? 2) What is the latest book I’ve read? 3) What current thoughts would writing clarify?

When I saw you last, you mentioned the “making meetings POP” idea that you were using to have Purpose, Outcomes, Process of meetings clear.  Could you send me any links or materials you have on that? Thanks for any resources you can pass on!

That’s what my friend Erik wrote me yesterday. I thought “That’s easy. I’ll send him a link to the blog post I wrote.” But the post wasn’t on this site. I found it in the drafts section, never published. So, I’ve finished it and here it is.

I run a lot of meetings. I sit in many more. Most of my days are spent in meetings.

A successful businessman once confided to me that he would no longer attend a meeting of our organization until we moved the focus of our meetings from discussion to decision. Fortunately, they were not my meetings, but his words continue to echo through my mind frequently when I’m in meetings.

Now, there are several types of meetings. We can assemble for discussion, for fellowship, for worship, for prayer, for parties… But it’s important to be clear about the purpose of the meeting, especially a business meeting.

Meetings are not leadership. But a good meeting can be an effective tool of leadership.

So, what makes “good meeting”?

Some online definitions of good. Some of my favorites in this context are:

• effective. exerting force or influence
• most suitable or right for a particular purpose

Some online definitions of meeting:

• a formally arranged gathering
• the social act of assembling for some common purpose

I’ve found a few resources that help me assemble colleagues together so that we exert force or influence in a way that is suitable for the particular purpose.

I’ve been greatly influenced by the article Make Your Meetings POP. When I prepare for a meeting, I think POP (Purpose, Outcome(s), Process). When I send a meeting invitation to others, the invitation is organized as Purpose, Outcome(s) and sometimes Process.

When we start the meeting, we review the purpose, outcome(s), and process. For a recent meeting, this went something like “The purpose of this time together is to be updated on the partnership plans and to address our questions so that we can make a decision. Outcomes will be a go/no-go decision to move ahead with the partnership and a better understanding of the staffing and funding needs that will require. The process we’ll follow is to hear from Doug and Mike on the latest developments, to hear from Mark (our potential partner organization) about why they see this partnership as beneficial to their organization, and to decide whether to pursue putting the partnership together.”

I’ve found that going through this process personally before the meeting sharpens my focus to execute the meeting well. Going through this at the beginning of the meeting sets the tone and focus of the meeting that significantly increases the productivity of our time together.

I still have much to learn. Another article with great ideas is How to Run a Meeting Like Google. Imagine being a part of 70 meetings a week! Some yet-to-be-learned skills outlined in this article are use data to avoid politics and stick to the clock.

Another good article is Why Most Meetings still Suck by Michael Hyatt.

I’m on the journey to better meetings. What ideas, tools, and resources have you found helpful?

I read a good article today. 11 Things to Consider Before You Send the Next Email.

Recently a friend sent an email that had some hard things that needed to be communicated. Email is typically not a good place for hard things, but my friend used a very creative idea.

He started his email with: Sorry for the robust nature of this email. I’d much rather have this discussion face-to-face, but given the timely nature of this issue, I felt it couldn’t wait. Here comes the truth. I’ll stop by your desks later to give you hugs of grace.

I don’t know how others received this, but for me, it worked!

Here is a leadership idea I’ve found helpful. I facilitate a meeting twice each year for our leaders in technology from around the globe. One of the main focuses of these meetings is developing as leaders.

Our organization has adopted a leadership development framework. One of the roles of a leader is the spokesperson role.

At the conclusion of each GTL meeting, we develop talking points of our time together, developed in the language of leadership. Then each GTL member is to have a briefing meeting with their Director to talk through our GTL meeting using the talking points.

I normally write an email reminding them to meet with their Director. I include my report to my director as an example, and to show that I do what I encourage them to do.

I have found a webpage doing a very similar thing for an industry conference. I thought the conference webpage was a brilliant example of coaching conference attendees in their spokesperson role as they seek their boss’ permission. Of course, it is capitalism at work. The conference organizers aren’t really seeking to develop spokespersons as much as to get people to pay the $2300 to attend their conference! But they realize that by helping potential attendees to articulate smart outcomes from the conference, they increase the attendance, and increase their profits!

We should be doing a similar thing as we focus on the spokesperson role of those attending our meetings. Help attendees develop specific outcomes they are looking for, to communicate those with their leadership as they request permission and funding to attend.

Begin BEFORE the meeting by coaching people into developing and articulating their outcomes for the meeting, using the S.M.A.R.T. metaphor.

What do you think? What have you done to help others grow as spokespersons?

Kay and I wish you a very blessed and merry Christmas. We are in Mesquite, Texas (Dallas area). We woke up this morning to a white Christmas. We were sure surprised. Click here to see some photos…

So, have a great day celebrating Emmanuel: God with us.

I’m going in to eat breakfast with the family!

Does social media work? How can social media be harnessed for the Great Commission?

I just read an amazing story from two weeks ago.

November 9th: Jon Acuff, a copy writer in an IT department in Atlanta, explains how it began here in this original blogpost. God led him to start a project to raise $30,000 by 31 December for a kindergarten in Vietnam.

November 9th: Abraham Piper interviewed Jon as the project started here in this blog post.

November 9th (15 hours later): Jon Acuff blogs how the project has reached $24,000 on the first day.

November 10th: Jon Acuff explains how $30,000 for a kindergarten school in Vietnam was fully funded in 18 hours.

Why do so many settle for commonness?

I was reading in 1 Samuel 8 this morning and came across this thought:

“We want a king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.”

We want to be like everyone else. We want someone else to fight our battles. We want to be led.

I dug out an old poster given to me by Larry Poland in 1976. It has marked my life for many years.

I Do Not Choose to be a “Common” Christian

I cannot separate my faith in Jesus of Nazareth from my everyday life, conduct and speech.

I cannot justify loving only those who love me, aiding only my friends, and praying only for fellow Christians.

I have no desire to carry the name of the Son of God to the level of my own base intentions.

I aspire to be like Him, to live on unseen resources by faith, to tap the unlimited supply of His love through the life of His indwelling Holy Spirit, to emerge from my moral conflicts “more than a conqueror” through His power, and to rise above all earthly standards to the completeness of His perfection.

I acknowledge that this is an impossible quest but accept the challenge of its impossibility in the knowledge that its pursuit will force me to rest on Him.

I desire no little challenges, expect no unrippled seas, and abandon all personal “rights.”

My present failure to fulfill these intentions merely proves that God isn’t finished reshaping my raw materials.

What about you? Will you join me today in choosing to be uncommon?