Florida, Rowing, and The Profit

I am heading off to Florida for the next week to see some family.

I decided NOT to post while I am gone, however, I do plan on taking a few pictures to share when I return on February 27th.

I also plan to check in on a cool fundraiser that is going on with a family of 6 from England.

This family also happens to have the same name as us (Prior), but we are not related to them.

The dad is rowing the Atlantic to raise awareness about Crohn’s disease.  

If you want to check on the progress of their boat – click here.

And if you want to see their short youtube vid about what inspired this great endeavor, click on the picture of the boats.

While in Florida, I am also hoping to watch a brand new episode of a show I just discovered.  It is called The Profit and a new episode airs on February 25th – on CNBC – at 10:00 p.m. EST.  details are here.

I have only watched two shows, from DVR recordings, but they were both SO good!  My boys like to watch Shark Tank, but I prefer this show for a few reasons.  One of the reasons is because the host, Marcus Lemonis, has all this practical wisdom. He goes into businesses and puts up his own money to help them improve – but he also points out things about communication, job roles, branding, and so many things that also sometimes apply to everyday life.

For example, in the Eco-Me episode, Lemonis points out how “business decisions should not be personal” – ethical always – but NOT personal.

In the Eco-Me episode, he has to tell a sales lady that she is not “good” at her job.  Now just because she is a partner there it means nothing about her ability.  And just because she has been doing sales for years, and likes sales, and has had “some” sales success, it does not mean she is good at it!  It does not mean she is operating from an area of strength.  She sort of “gets it” and agrees to be retrained – but the big take away is that in all areas of life we need to objectively look at where and what our talents are (and are not).

If we have an area that is not necessarily a strength, it is nothing “personal” – it is just a fact.  

Another example with this point comes from when I was in restaurant management (yeah, a bit of variety in my work background – ;).  We had a girl who wanted to work as a hostess, but she had horrible people skills and did not control her moods.   She also could not run the books, and in this restaurant -weekend reservations were tricky.  (Bottom line was that this girl was not suited to work in this hostess job because she di not have the people skills – or the mental acuity for the books ).

Another example is often found in churches, people want to “serve” in certain roles that are big or “cool” – but many times it does not match their wiring or gift-mix.   And sadly, in my experience, I have seen “big tithers” get to pick their serving spots -(cringe)

(For example, at one church – this big hitter tither was able to put himself into a key spot to teach- he was  up there preaching sometimes and people were literally pained when he spoke – and behind the scenes folks were complaining or saying they would not come on the days when he tried to preach – and well – this is a problem leadership needs to fix.  It takes a very strong — and smooth– leader to be able to stop this kind of stuff from happening – but this guy was such a big tither – and some think he gave more than your average 4 families put together – and I have other examples too… )

This is just wrong -but it is how churches and businesses sometimes operate.  Sometimes organizations operate with powerful shareholders (or hefty tithers) making calls that are not always the best – or even most sensible!  When people work from (or in) un-gifted areas, it comes with a price… it puts an organization out of balance and pulls from success!

I like the analogy of a “body” for organizations – because sometimes people are called to lead and they have big roles like a head or strong legs.   Then other times, and more often, people are called to be in less obvious/glamorous, but more specialized roles – like an elbow, an internal organ, or even a small little balancing toe!!

It comes down to working in your area of gift mix and strengths, and it takes self-awareness and objectivity to NOT take things personal.

An old Proverb says, “Blessed is the person who is not easily offended….”

And now why do you think it says that?  Because it is GOOD for us to lighten up, to relax, and to NOT take things so personal and not get offended all the time!  We need to celebrate who we are –  not apologize for it – and we need not ignore reality and wish we were wired like so and so.  We need to find strong areas  instead of doggie-paddling in areas that are not in sync with our wiring!

Well I will get off my soap box now – and go and do my final packing!

🙂

PS

To follow James Prior’s progress, or to sponsor the row team, visit www.crewingforcrohns.org.uk

~~~~ Have a great week!