I’m no expert on Haiti, earthquakes, or really much of anything for that matter. However, watching the Haiti earthquake coverage has brought some thoughts to mind.

Heartwrenching. How could anyone feel anything but great sadness for the people whose images overwhelm your TV screen? Oh my.

There’s nothing we can do about earthquakes but respond to them when they’ve happened, pick up the pieces, bury the dead, bind the wounds of the injured, and cry with those who’ve lost the people they’ve loved. But there is something that people—governments in particular—can do: be prepared. I love the fact that America is prepared. When we have disasters in America people run into the fray with their resources. Here in Tornado Alley citizens load their trucks with chainsaws, diesel fuel, and all manner of disaster recovery equipment. The national guard shows up. The president and governor talk and work out the disaster declaration—-aid comes!

Where is the aid in Haiti? Oh, I know that all manner of U.S. based charities are running toward the Caribbean. Franklin Graham of Samaritan’s Purse was on CNN tonight begging the U.S. Government to open Haitian airspace so his organization could put plane loads of aid into the country in the morning. Convoy of Hope from here in Springfield, Missouri where I live is already on the ground in Haiti. But where is the Haitian National Guard? Oh, I forgot. They don’t have one. The people in charge over the generations haven’t cared enough to educate, organize, train, and lead their citizens to build a better Haiti. As a result, simple commodities like gasoline are in such short supply they can’t even run the generators so badly needed to care for the injured. No water. No food. No tools—they are digging people out with their bare hands. Why?

For generations all manner of dictators and potentates have ruled Haiti. My guess is that—as is typical with dictators and potentates—they were in it for what they could get, instead of what they could give. There is gasoline in Haiti; to power the cars of the ruling elite. And, I’ll bet that—outside of Port au Prince—their toilets still flush.

I’m not a member of the ruling elite in the U.S. For the most part, we don’t have a ruling elite. But I am a member of the blessed, and my guess is that you are, too. Our obligation my friend is to exercise our leadership, and utilize our resources and abilities for the benefit and betterment of others. God blessed us so we could bless. We need to get our minds around that. It’s Core Value #1: It’s about the people depending on us! I have to believe a similar attitude by the rulers of Haiti would have built a country that lifted its people out of poverty and created the resources so that Haitians could participate in helping Haitians.

I think there is a spiritual component here. The philosophy of Core Value #1 (It’s about the people depending on us) is rooted in my faith. Whatever God has given me is so that I can be a channel of His blessing to others. I’m not a reservoir of blessing. I don’t contain it. I channel it to where it is needed. I’m not just talking about money here. I’m not even primarily talking about money. I’m talking about resources—-intellect, ideas, inspiration, energy, solutions, brain power, and ability. Those things are vested, I should say “entrusted” to us so that we’ll deploy them in lifting others up.

I wonder if their dictators and potentates had their countrymen on their mind when they took power in Haiti? I doubt it. Generation after generation has grown poorer and less able to help themselves because there is no sense of “us” and of “God in us” and “God for us” and “Us for God and them.” (Well, I misspeak. With dictators and potentates there is an “us” but its a pretty small circle, and if it comes to down to you and me, it’s gonna be me.)

Sanitize American history and detach it from it’s roots however you want. At the end of the day American’s rush to aid each other and the rest of the world because inherent in our DNA are Biblical Judeo-Christian values like “us” and “us as the image of Him.” We are better. Not inherently, but fortunately. We are better because our imperfect forefathers did plant seeds of righteousness in the ground from which we continue to reap a crop of blessing today. I’m grateful for that blessing and for the heritage from which it comes. I didn’t choose to be born here instead of Haiti. It was a gift to me for which I am grateful, and responsible.

I don’t know what you and I can do about Haiti. Perhaps not a lot. But we do have an opportunity to make a difference tomorrow in our workplace and communities. We’ll be wise if we recognize our responsibility to advance the ball for others and make the world a better place for the people who are depending on us.

No dictators. No potentates. Just servants using our gifts to make a difference.

Oh God, help me to be a Difference Maker.

Won’t you join me?

In speaking about the build up to World War II, General and eventual President Dwight D. Eisenhower said “Rarely have the forces of good and evil been so amassed against one another.” That quote was displayed on the wall in one of the museums. Eisenhower’s clarity caused me think of George Bush. In the aftermath of 911 he spoke clearly about “good and evil” and was castigated for it. It had become politically incorrect to call someone evil. We might hurt their feelings, or incite them to an angry outburst. Seems to me the outburst had already happened and the using the word “evil” was just speaking the truth. Eisenhower said it. He was right. Bush said it. He was right, too.

Evil was behind the Holocaust. Evil was behind 911. Evil caused my fellow classmate Fred Winters to be shot down in the pulpit of his church a few months ago. Evil caused the psychiatrist at Fort Hood to open fire killing 13 people while wounding three dozen this week; and the guy in Florida who opened fire in the office complex this week; and the sexual predator in Ohio in whose home they found 11 dead women; and back home in mid-Missouri where the teenager bludgeoned the nine year old girl to death last week. Evil. It’s the work of Satan. It’s not lack of education, or intellect, or empathy. No, it’s evil. The Bible teaches that Satan is our enemy and that he searches to and fro looking for those whom he may devour. Some get devoured mentally and emotionally; some physically in violence. But its all rooted in Evil.

Ike wasn’t trying to make a statement. He was just calling it like it was. Likewise, regardless of his faults, God Bless George Bush for recognizing Evil and calling it what it was. You and I would do well to examine and know the times, to recognize what’s behind them, and to not hesitate or faint to call Evil by name when we see it.

When it comes to executing your roles in your family, and in that responsibility for which you are economically compensated, are you a leader or a manager? Oh, I know some reading this post will say “I’m neither, I just……” but wait, in that case you are at least a manager; responsible for managing that particular responsibility which you’ve been assigned. So if you are willing to accept at least the “manager” designation, then I want to engage in thought with you about Leadership vs. Management. Perhaps in the mental conversation you’ll find a way to make a bigger difference in the world.

This matter arose in my company because of a management issue. I have colleagues who the world would call “managers” but I find myself talking to them about being better “leaders.” What’s the difference and why does it matter? Good question!

My mentor Lee Brower called my attention to the fact that we have way too much management in this world, and not nearly enough leadership. This is true from Wall Street to your street. Think about it: The large financial companies were gaming the system in the early 2000’s and proverbially “got caught with their pants down” causing legendary firms with centuries of history to vanish over night in 2008. The response was “We need more regulation.” That’s “management speak” and it’s wrong.

What we needed then and now is leadership which says “that’s wrong, danger ahead, you can’t cheat the system and keep inflating the numbers into perpetuity. There will be a pay day, some day.” Leadership speaks to the WHY behind those kind of decisions while management just seeks control. But control ultimately never works. In the 30’s the government tried to control liquor. All that did was make the bootleggers like Joe Kennedy and Al Capone rich. Today, we’ve got drug laws that seek to control use of illicit substances. How’s that working in your community? It won’t work on Wall Street either. Bernie Madoff’s ponzi scheme has already resulted in a great host of additional government “management” through financial regulations seeking to “control” unethical financial behavior. What’s needed instead is leadership born of personal morality that says “No. You can’t do it. We won’t allow it. And you should be ashamed of yourself for trying to do it. We shun you!” all the while teaching people about the financial, emotional, moral, social, and spiritual costs of such thievery. Really, we need stronger teaching, not stronger legislating. There are absolutes, and those of us who know that need to stand by them.

Lest you think this is just an issue on Wall Street, let’s look at your street. Lee has mentioned how leadership vs. management plays out at your kids school, or in their Little League, or Mighty Mights or whatever they are involved in. Have you heard about these places where the children’s athletic teams don’t keep score because “we wouldn’t want little Johnny to feel badly because his team lost”? Or how about the schools that don’t give grades because they wouldn’t want the low achievers to feel badly because they flunked. What kind of stupid thinking is that? Do you think that when these kids grow up they are going to get a passing grade in life and business just for showing up, without contributing…..”doing their homework” so to speak? Is no one going to keep score in life? Is their employer going to give everyone the same promotion and the same raise, or are there going to be winners and losers? Those who advance, and those who are held back? Those who succeed and those who fail? Ask the guy I terminated yesterday. He’s a prince of a fellow. I like him alot! But he wasn’t getting the job done. He wasn’t passing the class, and ultimately he got kicked out of school. He lost his job. To have kept him on the team risked the economic health of the entire company and ultimately the jobs of every person on the team. Management might have protected his job and thus his emotions, but leadership ultimately protected the jobs of 50 others.

I’m all for cushioning someone’s pain the best we can. Medicine calls it “palliative care” But I’m also for letting people learn by experiencing the hard realities that are life. You will lose, sometimes. You will get hurt. You will experience pain. You will someday die! This is life. Good leadership doesn’t try to “manage” away the pain, instead it equips people to overcome the negatives they face.

Are you leading your family, or managing them? What about your department? Your peers?

When it comes to the vision you are pursuing at home or professionally, are you throwing wood or water on the flame, or are you the keeper of the flame? One is management, the other is leadership.

Here’s another difference between management and leadership: Management focuses on short-term results—what will get the best response “tomorrow?” Leadership focuses on long-term results—what will ultimately make us the strongest as a family or a company over the long haul?

Which is best, short term management, or long term leadership? It depends on what you want. Pine trees grow rapidly. They are a “soft” open-grained wood and don’t have tremendous strength. Oak trees grow slowly. They produce a “hard” tightly grained wood with the greatest strength. So what do you want? A soft child that is emotionally weak? Then manage his environment so that he is protected from every unpleasantness. But if you want a strong family that endures and thrives amid the hardship of life you lead them in how they are to think, how they are to approach and experience life’s difficulties, and you produce a child that will have deep roots through which to draw water during the harsh droughts of adulthood.

In my company I want leaders. People come to us for our leadership. We even having a saying “We help people who have problems, not those who are problems.” That’s true. People come to us when their financial, investment, real estate and business life aren’t working, and we help them sort through their options and develop a strategy to move their life forward.

I want each member of my team—everyone I touch, really—to step up their leadership; to seek to influence for better, the situations in which they are involved and the people they are around. I don’t want people who know how to check boxes, though that is required. I want people who understand intuitively WHY we are checking the boxes. It’s NOT so we’ll have “checked boxes” at the end of the day. It’s because if we have checked all those boxes we’ll have followed a protocol designed to give the highest probability of a positive result for the people who are depending on us.

You see, it really is about WHY vs. WHAT. People who ask WHAT always work for people who KNOW WHY. WHY people set the temperature in the room. WHAT people monitor the temperature in the room.

If the WHY is big enough, the WHAT will always become evident, at least for bright people.

You are bright. You wouldn’t have been able to read this far in this lengthy epistle if you weren’t. You are bright enough to be a WHY guy (or gal). You can be a leader. You can be a difference maker in your family, your church, your community, and your workplace. It starts when you move through and beyond your management responsibilities to take up the mantle of leadership for all the people who are depending on you.

Perry Noble’s website  contains the following items he wished he’d learned earlier in life. They resonnated with me so I reprinted them here.

#1 – Everyone Will Not Understand You…SO Stop Trying To Explain Yourself. Cast Vision…And MOVE Forward!

#2 – Everyone Will Not Like You…So STOP Trying To Be Popular.

#3 – You Don’t Have To Be The Person Who Actually Solves Every Problem….Admit You Are Not The Smartest Person and Let Your Experts Be Your Experts.

#4 – Spend WAY More Time Talking About Who You Are Rather Than Who You Are Not.

#5 – A Leader Is Always An Easy Target Because They Are…A Leader. So, Get Over Yourself And Get On With What God Called You To Do!

#6 – When The Holy Spirit Presses Something Into Your Heart…Don’t Ignore Him.

#7 – Do NOT Expect God’s Next Step To Make Sense.

#8 – You Can’t Plan A Move Of God…But You Must Be Prepared For One!

#9 – Do Not Resist Something Just Because You Do Not Understand It!

#10 – People Who Claim You “Are Not Deep Enough” Are Obsessed With Information But Have No Desire To Live Out Transformation.

#11 – You Don’t Need To Listen To Everybody…But You Had Better Be Listening To Somebody Because God Didn’t Ask You To Take This Journey Alone.

#12 – Never Apologize For Asking People To Commit To Something…Jesus Didn’t!

#13 – The Church Has Been Underachieving For Way Too Long…So Dream BIG And Don’t Apologize For It.

#14 – There Will Be Days When You Want To Quit…Don’t…Jesus Didn’t! (Remember…DON’T GIVE UP…if you are discouraged, take a second and read this!)

#15 – The Gospel Changes Lives…PREACH Every Sermon Like It’s Your Last!!!

What do the members of your team say about you when you aren’t in the room? That is a telling indicator of your personal effectiveness and your impact as a leader. It’s a scary question for any of us to have to answer, and I write about it with some trepidation. Based on their awesome performance of late, I believe that when I am not in the room my team talks about how to reach our team goals. They know it’s not about me, or them, or even us, but (here comes Core Value #1) it’s about all the people who are depending on us.

This question came to mind earlier today after a meeting attended by a Big Cheese and three Lesser Cheeses one of who answered to the Big Cheese, and two of who are impacted by the Big Cheese. The conversation was polite and ostensibly about important “cheese” stuff while the Big Cheese was in the room. But then the Big Cheese excused himself to rush off to some other sandwich (or wherever Big Cheese goes), that’s when the conversation really got interesting, or……..truthful.

The Lesser Cheese who answers to the Big Cheese is unhappy with the Big Cheese’s lack of vision and direction for their business unit, but afraid to take the risk of being honest with the Big Cheese for fear of losing his own place in the sandwich pecking order. The other two Lesser Cheeses are terribly frustrated by the Big Cheese. They really care about the Big Cheese and want to help the Big Cheese in creation of the ultimate sandwich, but—though pretending to be seeking advice—the Big Cheese isn’t truly open to input from the Lesser Cheeses (maybe they are a threat?); at least not those who might disagree or challenge the authority of the Big Cheese. So they all pretend.

They pretend they are making progress. They pretend to be happy working together. They pretend their company is winning the game they are involved in. They pretend that everything is OK, when in fact, the Cheese is getting moldy. Everybody knows. Everybody smells the cheese going bad. Everybody cares. Everybody wants to fix it including the Big Cheese who is simply too fearful, in way over his head, lacking in confidence, and lacking in sufficient humility to ask others for their help and, God forbid, to actually implement their ideas and give them credit for contributing to the over all health and vitality of the company.

If we were really being honest, what would the Lesser Cheeses who report to you say about you if you weren’t in the room?

If this line of analysis troubles you, I want to suggest some things you can do to change the atmosphere of your company, enhance your leadership, and accelerate your difference making.

#1. Tell your people that they matter to you and that you need them; that you are a team working together. And mean it. (Insincere words are cheap, but very expensive for any leader caught using them.)

#2. Create an atmosphere where it is safe to tell the truth. Honestly, if a Lesser Cheese told you the truth and it stung you, would they be safe? Or, would you strike back at them, if not overtly, perhaps in some passive-aggressive way? Until it is safe to speak the truth—even an unpleasant truth—you’ll never have an organization that can develop and retain high performers.

#3. Create an atmosphere where everyone can contribute meaningfully. Just today one of the guys on my team, Glyn, contributed a couple of great strategic ideas to help out Shawn even though they work in totally different departments. They know we all win together, or we all lose together; and if we lose, the real losers are those who are depending on us.

#4. Help the Lesser Cheeses to know exactly where they stand and whether or not they have standing to speak into the situations your team faces. If they don’t have standing, tell them exactly what it’ll take for them to get to the level where they can contribute meaningfully. But don’t continue to lead them on by pretending that you want their input when your really don’t.

I’ll bet you have many good ideas to ad to this list, so I invite you to post a reply to this article and help build the list. You see, I need you to help me write a better article. You and me, working together, are a formidable team. My cheese, your cheese, all blended together can make a great toasted cheese sandwich. And……I believe together we can make a difference.