Creating Magic

Day one - didn't fare so well with the technology fast.  But I'm happy with the results.  I have NOT been enslaved to the computer, and that's been a very good thing.

Had a great time in the eleventh chapter of Matthew; I continue to be fascinated and enthralled by the man that I follow.  Finding myself constantly astounded by what feel like new revelations; I've been in church ALL my life, been a committed Christian for twenty years - and yet it seems that every single day, something new and different appears.  It was a source of wonder and joy today, and gratitude.  I'm sure it's a combination of experience, time, circumstances and situations - all wrapped together by the active and alive mystery of faith.  Way cool.  It was great to have some time to just soak in all that today.

I found myself crying a lot this afternoon, moved by music, by words...and I am not quite sure what to make of that.  Again, there are pools of gratitude all around.  It's not necessarily sorrow, but some emotional release.  I imagine I'll have some understanding before the end of the week.

It is really, really cold here - at least in terms of what you might think of as "beach weather".  I walked today and found myself quite miserable.  No sun, either.  But I'm not complaining....

Major in-depth work today was in this book; written by Lee Cockerell, Creating Magic is his "10 common-sense leadership strategies from a life at Disney".  Much of it I find very familiar in terms of what has evolved into some intuitive practices in my own leadership.  Much of it is exciting, and a great reminder of what really matters.  Frankly, I'm a bit surprised at how much I like this book - and how endearing it is.

Here are a few bullet points that I found particularly intriguing or affirming:

• Leadership starts with respect for all people.
• Effective leaders work hard to create democratic, participatory environments (sounds like a church volunteer structure to me).
• Achieve leadership excellence by spreading responsibility and authority throughout the organization; anyone at any level can exert leadership and make a positive difference.
• Leadership means making the right things happen by bringing out the best in others (alot like being a mom!).
• Authority is nothing without good relationship skills.
• Virtually every problem or conflict in the world can be traced to a leadership failure.
• Everyone matters and everyone knows he or she matters.
• One vital question:  "Is there anything else you think I should know?"

That's just the first bit.  I've a ways more to go, but so far, I've found this to be throught-provoking and encouraging.  Our church is growing, as our my responsibilities.  Structural change (another topic Cockerell addresses, which I'm still processing) is on top of us.  I want to be ready and be effective.