Posted by Rescue Mission Team on Wed, May 15, 2013
The idea of benchmarking, looking at other companies and industries to see where you relate according to their level of excellence, has been around a long time but that doesn't mean it's grown stale. In fact, it may be more important than ever.
With the pace of change due to technological shifts happening ever faster, we need to keep our eye on where trends are headed - and there's no better way to do this than to look at a few excellent outliers to see where you might develop and improve.
Even though I run a non-profit organization I have found it helpful to study great companies from totally other industries. Here are a few of them and what I've studied and examined to better our organization, or at least to build my understanding:
Apple - There are many lessons here - Their commitment to quality, retail model, genius bar, handheld checkouts, self-checkout apps, launch strategy, willingness to eliminate and simplify their product lines & products. I could go on and on.
Wall Street Journal - Their online strategy, video strategy, and content layering (print, video, analysis layer so that you can get content how you prefer it).
Coffee shops - Starbucks Roy St. Coffee model store was an inspiration for some of our classroom redesigns.
Magazines - There's only been two magazines launched in past few years that have made any money...Monocle is one of them. I picked up so much from them on how they are using content to connect with subscribers at different levels. It's euro-centric and not my kind of magazine generally, but it's well done on that point.
Metropolitan Market - Every time I go into this market I'm impressed at how different they run it, present the food, and curate for the customer. It's not your average grocery store... I wish there were more like it.
What are you learning? Who are you learning it from? If you have any great companies - big or small, that you are benchmarking pass it on so we can all learn from it.
David Curry
Read all of David Curry's blogs at
http://blog.rescue-mission.org or visit the Rescue Mission at
http://www.rescue-mission.org
Posted by Rescue Mission Team on Thu, Apr 18, 2013
Do you know what your actions, life, family, business or organization is communicating?
Every thing you do says something about what you value and believe.
Recently I've been so impressed by the actions and message of Pope Francis. Coming into a difficult and unhealthy situation he has managed to hit all the right notes. He seems to understand the message the official catholic church has been communicating through it's actions...and how that is in conflict with the timeless message of Jesus. Pope Francis has communicated love, forgiveness and acceptance by washing the feet of a Muslim prisoner and by eschewing some of the stiff formal trappings of power in order to connect with the poor. He said this recently in response to his leadership,
"The church exists to communicate this: Truth, goodness and beauty personified. We are all called not to communicate ourselves, but his essential trio" Pope Francis
In our own lives we are challenged to step back and examine whether we are contributing and communicating these same essential truths.
Am I truthful in all I do? It's possible to be truthful and loving. When you avoid truth you are not living authentically and are always holding back.
Is what I say and do full of goodness? Goodness is all about moving towards what is right, what builds others and is good in the long run. Just as good food will sustain you longer than fast, processed food, so goodness in action will last over the long term.
Are my words and actions easily described as beautiful? Seldom do we experience beauty, but when we do we recognize it. Beauty requires effort, an extra touch of consideration, care and thoughtfulness. Do these things and your life will be significantly more beautiful.
What feedback do you have when posed with these questions? Are there other more important questions? Let me know.
David Curry
Read all of David Curry's blogs at
http://blog.rescue-mission.org or visit the Rescue Mission at
http://www.rescue-mission.org
Posted by Rescue Mission Team on Wed, Apr 10, 2013
It's hard to finish because completion is always opposed, challenged, resented or feared. By others and by yourself.
While those closest to you often cheer and celebrate you, others will be unsettled by you completing. Even if the completion is related to simple tasks. Completion threatens others, it pushes others to examine why they've not finished what they've started.
It is also difficult because completion means opening yourself up to critique. Once you determined that something is "finished" you have to put it out there to be judged. For many people that can be difficult emotionally.
Completion is difficult because everything in us fights against it. We comfort ourselves with thoughts like "I've tried", "At least I got started" and "It's just too difficult" in order to make us feel better about not finishing.
It's also a spiritual problem, we are opposed on a spiritual level. Everything in this world fights against victory and completion of something good. To finish is to do something spiritual, no matter how practical the task.
So whatever it is, work hard to finish, to complete what you've begun. You'll experience emotional, personal and spiritual breakthrough whenever you "complete."
What thoughts, discouragements and beliefs keep you from completing? In my life I've noticed that I struggle to complete tasks that seem to "stretch on forever". The task becomes bigger and bigger in my mind, making it hard to want to finish. Share with me what you think about completion.
David Curry
Read all of David Curry's blogs at
http://blog.rescue-mission.org or visit the Rescue Mission at
http://www.rescue-mission.org
Posted by Rescue Mission Team on Tue, Oct 23, 2012
What are people you interact with each day looking for from you? Some seem to want you to solve their problem, others want to entertain you or sell you something. What everyone is looking for from you is attention. No matter what the situtation, you can make it better by being attentive. Often you can't solve someone's problem, or even begin to please all the requests you may get in a day, but you can be attentive. Unfortunately, with modern life and technology being attentive is getting more and more challenging.
Admittedly, attentiveness is a challenge for me, and so I've given lots of thought to it. Those of us who are always moving onto the next thing need to focus on attentiveness intentionally, while those who are more naturally attentive perhaps don't need to make such an effort.
Here are a few experiments to help yourself be attentive:
1. Make an effort to never bring out your cell phone in another's presence. It's so second nature for us to pull out phone out and glance at it that we don't even notice we are doing it. By making a game of never pulling out your phone to look at Twitter, Facebook, emails, and texts unless you are alone you will notice how often you do it, and begin to see how you could be more attentive.
2. Try squaring your shoulders towards those you are talking with, instead of moving right past them. People often don't want much of your time, but they still want you to be attentive. By stopping and squaring up to them you are signaling them (and yourself) that you will be paying attention.
3. Don't start conversations until you can be attentive. Often I will have people stop me to talk, but I don't have time at that moment. It's important to try to schedule times to really engage and talk, and not try to cram it intot every little space.
What are some others ways you can practice attentiveness?
-David Curry
Read all of David Curry's blogs at
http://blog.rescue-mission.org or visit the Rescue Mission at
http://www.rescue-mission.org
Posted by Rescue Mission Team on Mon, Sep 24, 2012
One of the overlooked principles of success in any arena is practice. We expect that athletes need practice to attain excellence, but somehow when we want get started in business, non-profit management, leadership, politics, or anything of value, we want to start at the top.
Would you start a bakery before you baked your first cake? Would you fly a jetliner without first getting hours of training in smaller planes? Would you drive a race car without first having a learners permit to drive on the road?
Don't neglect practice. Start small, learn and grow. He who is faithful with little...
David Curry
Read all of David Curry's blogs at
http://blog.rescue-mission.org or visit the Rescue Mission at
http://www.rescue-mission.org
Posted by Rescue Mission Team on Wed, Sep 05, 2012
Here at the Rescue Mission we are striving towards a healthy leadership culture where leaders at all levels of the organization are getting experience and training to run effective organizations in the future. Why? Because non-profits needs more GREAT leaders and the more leaders we produce here the better the world will be. To my great encouragement we have several leaders in our organization who will in my estimation will make great CEO's and Executive Directors in the near future. With that in mind, for the next few weeks I'm going to focus on 10 behaviors which are key to creating healthy leadership cultures. It will certainly be something we talk about and try to example within the Rescue Mission, but I am sure it will encourage others as well.
There are some behaviors which are characteristics of healthy leadership cultures which are openly discouraged in the majority of organizations because they are either seen as anarchical or at best a waste of time. Yet to have a healthy leadership culture you need these same key behaviors accepted, and even promoted.
This week we will focus on the importance of curiosity and persistence:
Ask Questions. So many leaders and managers suffer under the expectations that they will have "the answer" to the challenges they face. Instead, think of being the one who asks the most questions of those around you. Great leaders probe for understanding and have an insatiable curiosity. They are curious about why some people succeed and others fail. They are curious why some departments have high turnover or huge amounts of people taking sick leave. They can't stop wondering why innovation and creativity comes from one group and the other is always silent and reclusive.
Understanding comes through curiously seeking root causes and pushing for answers. I suggest that leaders ask no less than 5 questions on every troubling subject they are dealing with. In 5 questions you can get to the bottom of almost any problem. Try it. Don't give up after two questions, which is usually where people start to feel uncomfortable, but instead push through and keep asking. If you do it politely and without malice you will be helping uncover the real issues at the bottom of your systemic problems. Lead through asking questions. While people may wince at the idea (we don't like to be questioned) responsibility requires a leader know and understand what they are ultimately responsible for. If you are accountable, you have the right to ask those you lead lots of questions.
Likewise you need to be willing to accept and field lots of questions. You can't make decisions that affect others without being asked why you did it and what your plan is.
Question: How many questions do you ask in a meeting before you start to feel uncomfortable? Do you just accept statements from your team without questioning? Do you feel like asking questions is rude?
Let me know what you think.
DC
Read all of David Curry's blogs at
http://blog.rescue-mission.org or visit the Rescue Mission at
http://www.rescue-mission.org
Posted by Rescue Mission Team on Tue, Sep 04, 2012
This summer I was blessed by the Rescue Mission Board of Directors with a Summer Study Break to celebrate the completion of my 7th year of service. As described in a previous blog I divided my time up in three areas: Study, Service and Rest. Having never had a study break I wasn't sure what to expect. Here are a few lessons I learned during my Study Break:
1. Power of environment: One of the blessings of my study break was the Executive Leadership course I took at Harvard Business School. It was certainly the highlight as I was surrounded by smart people, brilliant professors and a beautiful campus next to the Charles River. The experience at HBS underscored for me the importance of environment. Not only in the sense of your location, but also in terms of your emotional and mental surroundings. Every once in a while it's important to step outside your normal confines and get into beautiful, inspiring, unusual settings. The change alone will do you good, but if it's educationally beneficial it's exponentially powerful.
2. Activity is refreshing. I was a little worried that I wasn't scheduling enough rest in break- I only had 3 days of what might be called vacation- but I found that motion itself isn't the problem. Often what wears us down is the daily grind and getting outside your daily routine to do something different is refreshing itself. On my break I served in volunteer projects, painted, gardened, and various other stuff. It was all good.
3. Study Breaks are great for you team. Leaders, when you leave, it's a blessing to your team. It allows them to spread their wings and have a little room to breath. I was happy to see that my team thrived while I was on my break. That was part of the point after all, to allow room for growth in those that are expanding their leadership. I am blessed to be a part of a great leadership team here at the Rescue Mission. It's not an accident, I have worked hard to find the best possible group and it's taken lots of time and hard decisions. When I am around the natural default is to ask me. This means that other leaders don't get the opportunity to make as many "high quality" decisions as they need for their development.
4. I love what I do. I was blessed to take a study break, but I am REALLY glad to be back at the Rescue Mission. Thanks to the Board of the Rescue Mission for believing in me and allowing me this chance to grow.
Questions: Have you ever taken a study break? If so, what did you learn? What did you do during your summer vacation to refresh and reset?
DC
Read all of David Curry's blogs at
http://blog.rescue-mission.org or visit the Rescue Mission at
http://www.rescue-mission.org
Posted by Rescue Mission Team on Wed, Jun 06, 2012
Thomas Edison kept a to-do list that was impressive and extensive. Essentially a list of inventions and potential solutions, he wrote down the things he hoped to accomplish and get done before he died.
Leonardo Da Vinci likewise kept a notebook full of scribblings and jots of genius. He was creating on paper, writing down ideas that occurred to him, and teasing out ideas on the page.
There is power in writing, in having a place to write down your thoughts, feelings, ideas, inspirations and to-do's. While I appreciate good technology, the discipline of writing, and the benefit fo free-flow mental brainstorming is sometimes best done writing on paper.
When asked recently where I keep my to-do tasks, I shared that I like to keep a simple moleskin notebook to jot down things I need to do, people I need to call, and the write down ideas that occur to me. It's a great reference for me to go back and look over when I'm needing inspiration, keeping myself on track, or needing ideas for my writing or speaking.
Do you keep a to-do list? If so, where do you keep it and how does your system work? If upon reflection it doesn't work, how could you improve upon what you are currently doing?
David Curry
Read all of David Curry's blogs at
http://blog.rescue-mission.org or visit the Rescue Mission at
http://www.rescue-mission.org
Posted by Rescue Mission Team on Mon, Jun 04, 2012
"Let other people live small lives, not you." Jim Rohn
Most of us learn by watching others. Without knowing how to do something, we resort to mimicking how someone else is seen to have done it. Often this is helpful, but there are occasions when it becomes detrimental. What is most of the people you observe are living below their highest potential? What is those you mimic are on the wrong track and headed no where? What if the way they live, the habits you are shadowing, are going to lead them to an unhealthy and difficult season in their life?
Who you choose to learn from matters. Others can choose to live in crisis, stress, sickness, and anger. You choose to go another way. People may choose not to dream big, but instead decide to try to simply survive. You decide to go for it, to shoot for your biggest dreams.
There is a tyranny of expectations, a pressure to live up to what the group is doing. If the group is headed nowhere, cut loose from the pack and head for the mountaintop.
What keeps you tied to others expectations?
David Curry
Read all of David Curry's blogs at
http://blog.rescue-mission.org or visit the Rescue Mission at
http://www.rescue-mission.org
Posted by Rescue Mission Team on Wed, May 23, 2012
"Don't wish it was easier, wish you were better." Jim Rohn
When life hits you hard, it's tempting to look around to see if there is someone or something to blame for the challenges you face. It's your parents fault, the economy is struggling, it all started with 9/11, or blame it on your teachers. Finding targets for blame is easy enough, but accepting responsibility for your actions, and for your response to real wrongs that have been done to you, is an inside job.
Better to concentrate on being ready, on being great and generous of spirit, than to look for reasons why you can't succeed and can't be happy.
It takes a lot of emotional strength to deal with your own issues rather than search for convenient places for blame, but in the end you will end up authentic and genuinely strong.
What circumstances in your life are you pushing onto others, when you could and should be accepting responsibility?
David Curry
Read all of David Curry's blogs at
http://blog.rescue-mission.org or visit the Rescue Mission at
http://www.rescue-mission.org