Category Archives for "Uncategorized"

Sick Day

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I’ve been a little under the weather this weekend, and I’ve been off-line for the most part.

As a result, I’m going to take a break from posting today.  Hope you understand.

If you want to have a conversation while I’m recovering, answer the question below in the comments.

See you tomorrow!

When was the last time you were sick?  What is your secret remedy for overcoming a common cold?

February 2015 – Top Posts & Commenters Plus BOOK GIVEAWAY

Here are the highlights from February 2015.  Thanks to everyone who read along and commented.  Your readership and participation in the daily discussions are what make The Stretched Community.  Thank you!

Overall, traffic was down from January (39.62%).  Traffic was up 75.13% compared to a year ago.  I made changes early this month to the URL link structure for my posts which contributed to changes in the traffic trends on the blog.  I expect it may take a couple of months to recover, but I think it was the right thing to do.  All the posts on the top ten list this month are from the month of February 2015, and three of the posts were related to my delegation series.  If you missed any of these posts, I hope you’ll go and check them out now by clicking below.  The posts with the most engagement were – Ice Breaker – Love Songs and January 2015 – Top Posts & Commenters Plus BOOK GIVEAWAY.

Top 10 Posts:

    1. 11 Keys To Delegation Success  (85)
    2. Confessions Of A Leader Who Struggles With Delegation  (76)
    3. 5 Ideas For Teaching Our Sons  (45)
    4. Short-Term Missions Survey Results – Part 1  (36)
    5. P Is For Presentation – 5 Steps To A Great Presentation  (34)
    6. January 2015 – Top Posts & Commenters Plus BOOK GIVEAWAY  (31)
    7. Ice Breaker – Love Songs  (29)
    8. Teach Us To Number Our Days  (27)
    9. Short-Term Missions Survey Results – Part 4  (23)
    10. 8 Things To Avoid When Delegating  (22)

Top 10 Commenters:

As promised at the beginning of the month, I have randomly chosen someone from the top commenters list to receive a copy of  On Track: Life Lessons from the Track & Field by ME!  The winner of this book is…(drum roll)…Dan Black.  Congrats to Dan!

For the month of March, I’ll be giving away another copy of On Track: Life Lessons from the Track & Field by ME! This month, the winner will be chosen randomly from the top 10 commenters.

Thanks to each and everyone for reading and for commenting.  I’m looking forward to February with The Stretched Community!  The month of February will include more STRETCHING posts.  The first part of the month will include additional posts on the topic of leadership and delegation.

If you’re interested in guest posting here, leave a comment to connect with me.

How was your month?  If you’re a blogger share a link to your top post in the comments?  What was your favorite Stretched post this month?  How were you STRETCHED in February?

In case you’re interested, here are a few other interesting stats about January (based on Google Analytics):

  • Users – Decreased 62.70%
  • Sessions – Decreased 40.41%
  • Pageviews – Decreased 38.99%
  • Pages Per Session – Increased 2.43%
  • Average Session Duration – Increased 5.00%
  • Bounce Rate – Decreased 4.76%
  • New Sessions –Decreased 12.34%

On Track – Life Lessons from the Track & Field is now available on Amazon in paperback and for Kindle.  Click the link below to get your copy today.

As a reminder, I am offering a FREE pdf copy of the interior of the book to subscribers of The Stretched Newsletter.  Head over to the main page of the blog and sign up on the right hand menu bar to get your copy today for FREE!

Ice Breaker – Love Songs

Each week on The Stretched Blog, I ask an ice breaker question. The questions are designed to help us get to know each other here in The Stretched Community. I’ll provide my answer to the question here in the post, and then you can leave your response in the comments. While you’re in the comments section, see how others answered the ice breaker question.

(I’m always looking for Ice Breaker question ideas.  If you have an idea, send me an email at jon@jonstolpe.com.  If I use your question, I’ll give you credit and share your links.)

It’s Valentines Day weekend.  Here’s an Ice Breaker to get you in the mood for love.

Question:  What’s your favorite love song?

My Answer:  Where do I start?  Here are a few of my favorites:

    In Your Eyes by Peter GabrielWonderful Tonight by Eric ClaptonI’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) by The Proclaimers

Answer this week’s ice breaker question by leaving a comment. I look forward to reading your response! (As always, feel free to share links.) And keep Stretching!

8 Things To Avoid When Delegating

We learn best from our failures.  When you touch a hot stove, you burn your fingers.  Lesson learned:  Don’t touch a hot stove.

When it comes to delegation, we can learn a lot by studying our delegation failures.  I’ve had plenty of opportunity to mess thing up when it comes to the topic of delegation.  Here are eight things I learned through my delegation failures:

8 Things To Avoid When Delegating

  1. Don’t micromanage.  When you delegate work to someone, let them do it.  When you hang over their shoulder, you exhibit a lack of confidence in their ability to perform the task at hand.
  2. Don’t under-manage.  When you delegate work to someone, don’t forget to check-in.  Your team or delegate may have questions or may need a little clarification from time to time.  It’s okay to let them figure it out for themselves for a little while, but don’t let them flounder to long.  This can be just as discouraging as micromanaging.
  3. Don’t follow the example of poor leaders.  If you had a leader who delegated poorly or not at all, learn from them.  Then avoid the delegation mistakes they made.
  4. Don’t get too far away from those you lead.  It’s easy to forget what it might be like on the front lines.  Take a lead from the hit television show Undercover Boss, and stay tuned into what your employees are up against.  As leaders we have to have empathy for our team members.
  5. Don’t delegate the same way to everyone.  Each of your team members is different, and they most likely need to be handled differently.
  6. Don’t try to do it all yourself.  You will stress yourself out.  You will burn-out.  And you will lose the interest of your team.  Ultimately, you will fail.
  7. Don’t set clear expectations when you delegate.  When your team isn’t told what they are supposed to accomplish, they will fail to meet your expected outcomes.  This includes deadlines.  If your delegate doesn’t now when to have the assignment complete, they may never complete the assignment.
  8. Don’t provide feedback on the results.  Don’t leave your delegate wondering if he did a good job or a bad job.  They need to know, so they can perform appropriately the next time you delegate to them.

Do you resonate with any of these?  What have you learned from your delegation failures?  What would you add to the list above?

Stressed, Exhausted, Inadequate Leader – You’re Not Alone

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What does your “To Do List” look like?

Do you have trouble accomplishing everything on your list?

Do you feel like you can never catch up?

Do you feel like you are always behind?

Do you feel stressed out, exhausted, and inadequate?

Do you wish there was an easy way to fix all this, so you could feel more productive, more effective, and more relaxed?

I don’t think you are alone.  In fact, I think this is a problem that many leaders face today.  They take on so much responsibility that they end up burying themselves.  I don’t think it’s meant to be this way.  I think there is an answer.  Before we get there though, I think it’s valuable to see how we’re not alone in this.

If you are familiar with the story of Moses and the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt to The Promised Land, you may recall that Moses didn’t always have it together.  He was the leader of a whole nation, and he faced times of stress, exhaustion, and burn-out.

In Exodus 18:1-18, we see it more clearly:

Moses’ father-in-law, Jethro, comes to visit Moses on the journey through the desert.  He brings Moses’ wife and children with him.  Moses had actually sent his family away, so he could focus on the task at hand – leading the nation of Israel.  During their visit, Moses shows Jethro everything the Lord has done for the people of Israel.  Jethro was thrilled with the news, but he began to notice a problem.  Moses spent all his time serving as judge for the people of Israel.  He heard every dispute, and he made every decision related to these disputes.  This was not a small task.  The people of Israel consisted of several hundred thousand people.  How could one man handle all this?  This was exactly the observation of Jethro.  No wonder Moses was facing burn-out.

I don’t know what your situation is right now.  Maybe you started the new year off with the best intentions and a long list of goals and tasks.  Maybe you are starting to feel the pressure and stress of trying to do too much.  If you are a leader (and I’m guessing you are), it’s time to do something about it.

Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll be posting about how you can turn this around – how you can overcome the burden of having to do everything yourself.

As we get started, it’s a good opportunity to evaluate your current state of your leadership.

How would you answer the questions we started with today?  As a leader, have you ever felt overwhelmed?

 

All Things New

It’s a new year!  (It’s January 17th.  I can still say that, right?)

Too often we let the world pass us by.  We fall into the trap of the same-old, same-old.  We fail to notice what is new right around us.

I don’t want this to be the case for me, and I don’t want it to be the case for you either.

With this in mind, here are some of the NEW things I experienced this week:

  • The Brand You Podcast with Mike Kim
    • I’ve been reading Mike’s blog for several months, but I didn’t start listening to his podcast until this week.  Wow!  Another fantastic listen.  I tuned in to get ideas for helping my wife with her life coaching business.  I think this podcast will be helpful.
  • Restoring a backup to your Mac is easy if you know the file structure. 
    • I spent several hours Thursday night and Friday trying to restore information to our Mac from an external hard drive.  I don’t use this machine very often, so I’m not very familiar with how the Mac is set up.  Our Mac was running very slowly.  We added virus protection which found 5 or 6 pieces of malware.  We added memory.  And we wiped the machine clean.  When I went to restore the files, it appeared that the backup didn’t backup some very important documents.  After hours of trying things out myself, I took the machine to The Geek Squad at our local Best Buy.  Within minutes, Ryan (the Geek Squad member who helped me) had located the missing files on our external hard drive, and we were back in business.  Watching Ryan as he navigated around our Mac taught me some new things.
  • Networking With Purpose Live with John Corcoran, Mark Sieverkropp, and Matt McWilliams
    • I was talking to a friend the other day about building my e-mail list.  He asked me why I wanted to do this.  He didn’t think it was necessary.  When I mentioned that I would like to take my next book project up a notch, he nodded his head in agreement that a bigger e-mail list is important.  I don’t want to grow my network just to be rich and famous.  I have a purpose for wanting to get my material in the hands of a larger audience.  For this reason, I’m excited about this event coming up February 10th.  The event features three dynamic practitioners who are sure to provide great information for growing your network.  Click here to find out more and register for yourself.

These are just a few of the NEW things I experienced this week.  Now it’s your turn!

What NEW thing did you experience this week?

Book Review: Rich Kids by Tom Corley (@RichHabits)

What does it mean to be rich and how do you get there?

I’m reading two books in the early part of this year that are forcing me to think about this question.  The first book is Redefine Rich: A New Perspective on the Good Life by Matt Ham.  I’ll share more about this book in the coming weeks.  If you want to hear some of my early thoughts on this topic, go to my blog post from September 29th by clicking here and then go listen to my podcast interview with Matt.

The second book is Rich Kids: How to Raise Our Children to Be Happy and Successful in Life by Tom Corley.  I received this book from one of my blog world friends, Matt McWilliams, and I am so thankful for the opportunity to read the book.  I wish I had read this book when I was a teenager, but I think it’s a book worth reading whether you are young or older.  And while the subtitle seems to point to parents, I think this book is a valuable resource whether or not you are a parent.

This book is not written from a religious perspective.  Rich Kids uses an easy-to-read story to provide practical tips for developing habits that will lead you to a rich life.  It would be easy to think this is only meant for those who want to have monetary wealth, but I think the principles and habits suggested in this book are great tools for anyone who want to live life to the fullest.

Here are a few of the things I captured as I was reading Rich Kids:

  • “Learn as many new skills as you can when you’re young.”  Keep learning.  Keep growing.  Keep stretching!
  • “You can’t be successful in life if you don’t have a passion for what you do for a living, and you can only find your passion in life by pursuing creative activities.”  Life is too short to live without passion.  So many people fail to find and follow their passion.  I don’t want to waste my life.
  • “Success is not easy.  Success takes time, persistence, passion, and an obsessiveness that borders on fanaticism.  Successful people are fanatics.  They are obsessed.  They understand that success is a process.”  Get rich quick schemes don’t work in the long run.
  • “When you find your main purpose in life you stop worrying about the ‘how.’  The ‘why’ is all that matters.  The ‘why’ is your main purpose.  Once you find your ‘why,’ the ‘how’ magically appears.”
  • “Success takes time.  Realizing your goals in life just takes time.  Life is a marathon.”  In a culture of “I want it now,” we have to remember that good things come to those who are patient.
  • “Having a mentor in life is like someone depositing millions and millions of dollars into your bank account.  Mentoring is critical to success.”  Who is you mentor?
  • “You can’t become successful if you’re always blaming others for your circumstances.”  Many don’t want to hear this one.
  • “Always focus on the other person and resist that human tendency to put yourself first.”
  • “Life is all about rising above your self-interest and getting into the habit of treating the other person as important.”
  • “Wherever you go, carry around a notepad, and when you meet anyone you want to get to know, don’t be afraid to ask them their birthday.”
  • “Making the effort to remember someone’s name tells them that they are important to you.”
  • “Parents need to lead by example.”
  • “Start by making a point to find something to be grateful for each day.”
  • “Always be grateful for the smallest things in life as well as the big stuff.”

These are just a few of the things that stood out to me as I read this book.  Having a “rich” life starts by making choices and taking actions that lead us down the right path.  Rich Kids will get you started down the right path.

What is one habit you have implemented that helps you have a “rich” life?  What is one habit you need to implement to have a “rich” life?

(Please note:  I received a copy of Rich Kids for free as part of a giveaway from Matt McWilliams.  I was not required to provide a favorable review.  I truly believe this book can be a helpful reminder to any reader in helping them to take steps to become successful – at work, in the community, at church, and at home.

Also to note:  There are affiliate links in this post.  Should you purchase Rich Kids or Redefine Rich by clicking one of these links, I receive a small percentage of the purchase.  These funds are used to support The Stretched Blog and to extend ministry and missions to Guatemala.  Thank you!)

Ice Breaker – Year of Stretch

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Fridays are Ice Breaker days here on The Stretched Blog.  Before we get to this week’s question, I want to ask you to help me out by answering five questions related to short-term missions.  The survey was initially presented on the blog yesterday, but I understand some had trouble completing the survey on the blog.  After answering the Ice Breaker below, please click here to go directly to the survey.  It will only take a minute (I promise).

Each week on The Stretched Blog, I ask an ice breaker question. The questions are designed to help us get to know each other here in The Stretched Community. I’ll provide my answer to the question here in the post, and then you can leave your response in the comments. While you’re in the comments section, see how others answered the ice breaker question.

(I’m always looking for Ice Breaker question ideas.  If you have an idea, send me an email at jon@jonstolpe.com.  If I use your question, I’ll give you credit and share your links.)

Many of us set goals for the new year.  Just over a week ago, you probably started or restarted some healthy routines.  Hopefully, you are still at it.  This week’s Ice Breaker question provides an opportunity to cast vision for your future.

Question:  What will it look like for you at the end of 2015 if you are really stretched this year?

My Answer:  I could go several different directions in answering this week’s question.  Looking ahead to the end of 2015, I will be stretched, and it will look something like this:  (1) I will have dunked a basketball again (see last week’s Ice Breaker), (2) I will have written my second book, and (3) I will have helped to build another house in Guatemala.

All three of these are major stretches for me.  I can barely touch the rim right now on a ten foot basket, and I’ll have to gain back nine inches or so to my vertical leaping ability.  After writing my first book last year, I now understand the work it takes to write a book.  This goal scares me, and I know it will be a stretch to complete this before the end of 2015.  Finally, I don’t currently have a trip planned to Guatemala, yet I believe God has given me a vision to impact others by building homes in Guatemala.  We’ll see what happens.

Answer this week’s ice breaker question by leaving a comment. I look forward to reading your response! (As always, feel free to share links.) And keep Stretching!

As a reminder, please take a minute to fill out the short-term missions survey.  To get to the survey, click here.

Bob Goff Is Coming – A Speaker You Don’t Want To Miss

“I used to be afraid of failing at something that really mattered to me, but now I’m more afraid of succeeding at things that don’t matter.”
Bob Goff, Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World

This coming Sunday, my church is hosting a guest speaker, and I am pretty excited.

I love the pastors at my church and what they bring to my church week after week.  Sometimes, they need a break, and they look for someone to fill in.  The leadership and worship planning teams did an unbelievable job planning for Justice Day at my church this Sunday.  I’m not sure how they did it, but they arranged to have author, speaker, lawyer, and founder of Restore International, Bob Goff, in to speak at all three services at my church this Sunday, January 11, 2015.

I came across Bob a few years ago when friends in the blogging world introduced me to his book, Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World.  The book itself tells the story of Bob and his whimsical pursuit to live out God’s love in every day life.  Love Does is one of the best books I have read in the past five years.  You can read the review I wrote about the book by clicking here (and you can get your own copy of the book by clicking on the link below).

If you happen to be in and around the Philadelphia area this Sunday, I would encourage you to find some friends and come up to Christ’s Church of the Valley in Royersford, PA.  Service times are 9:00AM, 10:15AM, and 11:30AM.  Hope to see you there!

Have you read Love Does?  If you could ask Bob Goff any question, what would it be?

Labels

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Labels are for filing. Labels are for clothing. Labels are not for people.

Martina Navratilova

Sunday afternoon, I changed my clothes before heading out the door to help with RIOT (our church’s high school youth group).  I glanced into the mirror quickly to make sure I looked presentable, and my reflection made me think.

I was wearing a Superman t-shirt under my zip-up sweatshirt with a logo from my company on the left chest.  I threw on a hat that boosted the name of my college (Grove City College).  My shoes had the Brooks logo on each side, and my socks had the Road Runner Sports logo on them.  My pants didn’t have a label, but my underwear said FTL (Fruit of the Loom).

I realized I was a walking billboard.  The labels on my clothing proclaim a certain message to those I see.  But they only tell part of the story.

Is it possible that people miss the real me because my identity is covered up by the labels I wear?

I’m sure it’s possible.  After all, I pass judgement on others based on the labels they wear.

We are more than labels.  We are more than logos.  We are children of the King.

And this is how we should see those around us.

What labels are you wearing?  How would your life change if you saw past the labels that others wear?

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