Coach Mapes

Prophetic People with Opinions

Opinions keep us from hearing or seeing what God wants for us to receive if our opinions do not mesh with God’s ideas. Of course most will say, I’m mature I can handle it. Sorry, if you believe that, you’re deceived. I’ve seen mature prophetic people where I know their opinions and they are blocked from effectively hearing from God in those areas of their opinions. Why is that? Thanks for asking.
The reticular activating system (RAS) in the brain is a lower level part of the brain (primitive part) that performs a function we needed a few thousand years ago when we tended our animals and tried to keep away the lions, tigers, bears, wolves, etc. What the RAS does is look for the things we have told it that we need to see or hear like grass or branches moving unnaturally, twigs braking, anything hiding something that wants to do us or our animals harm.
Don’t know what the RAS is? After you buy a new car you suddenly see all kinds of cars just like the one you bought where before you didn’t notice them. That is because you have told the RAS that the new car is important and it sees all of them to reinforce your opinion that you’ve made a right decision; after all, look at all the people that agree with me. I have heard that function in the RAS called the “prover” because it scans everything you see and hear and it gives you positive feedback about what you have told it is important for you to notice. Ergo, your opinions are continually reinforced because the “prover” only sees and hears things that are reinforcing the opinion; after all you said it was important. It ignores the data that says your opinion is garbage because it is the prover, not the disprover. God says to renew your mind. Part of renewing your mind is getting rid of your opinions and coming into alignment with what God thinks about any subject.

Focus on the opportunity

Peter Drucker was an educator and management philosophy guru that arguably was the greatest contributor to new thinking about business management in the 20th century. One principle he espoused that captured my mind and changed my thinking as a leader was this: “Put your maximum resources on your maximum opportunities.” The book he wrote that contains this gem is maybe thirty years old and is yet to be fully understood and appreciated by many managers everywhere. I believe it is true and it is obvious by observation that many leaders use the principle in life, not just business. Take baseball for instance where the most powerful and dangerous hitter is usually the “clean-up” or fourth in the lineup because if he comes up to bat in the first inning it means he will have somebody on base to hit in. In football the quarterback is usually the best combination of athleticism and intelligence on the team so he can touch the ball on almost every play in an attempt to score on every play. The same in basketball put the ball in the hands of the best athlete and scorer as much as possible, creating plays to open them up for clear shots.

For an individual it means to focus on developing your strengths and only spend minimal time overcoming weaknesses. Someone really good in art should not spend their time trying to become a math wizard if they do not have the aptitude for math. In organizations some problems are opportunities waiting for a solution, but most time they are the result of things just needing some attention. The failure comes when organizations put their best people on the problems when they should instead be developing the next “big thing.”

As individuals it means we should spend time thinking about what we like, what we have a passion for, what we have ability in to spend our time becoming better at those things. It also means we think strategically to figure out how to cover our weaknesses in ways that don’t detract from pursuing our future opportunities.

Start by writing down the things you’re good at and love doing, then think about how you could do more of that and become better at it, writing it down too. Then write down the things you have to do but you’re not good at or not really interested in doing. Write down who could help you with that or do it for you. See how liberating these simple actions are and let me know about it.

Listen to yourself

A simple premise is that God created us in His image.  He said it and I’m reminding you and me that it is true.  That means His characteristics are resident in us to some degree.  One of those characteristics is that when He spoke the energy was created and it happened; and when He speaks now it happens just like He speaks it.  Some call this phenomenon the Law of Attraction.   I call it a characteristic of God that we possess.  We create what we speak and get what we create.  Woops, dosen’t always seem to work does it?  Here is why:  Becaue God knows he’s God, he believes (knows) that what He speaks will happen, and it does.  We, on the other hand, mostly don’t believe we have this capability so we don’t  believe it will happen, and it doesn’t.  God tried to help us by instructing us to believe; and if we do that we can accomplish anything.  Here is an exercise for you to do for a week to begin to see how you can make this principle work for you:

Seemingly the Universe responds to what is said but “don’t” isn’t recognized as a valid word. Carry a small pad in your pocket and write down every time you say I don’t ….. as in “I don’t want you to run into the street.”  Then substitute a positive expression for the “don’t …..” negative expression, as in “I want you to be safely away from the speeding cars.” Do you see the difference? Do you feel the difference? This will allow you to focus on what you want rather than what you don’t want and what you believe will be more consistent in a positive direction.  Try this and let me know what happens.

Being a Leader when it’s Inconvenient

There is nothing quite like wanting a few minutes or hours for just yourself when all of a sudden a situation arises that calls out for your attention.  All selfishness aside and trying as hard as I can to ignore the “opportunity to serve” just won’t let the situation slip slide away.  This usually manifests in my life by my sweetheart asking me to meet with somebody and I don’t want to because I’ve got another idea about me serving me.  The more persistent she is the more likely she’s right about what I’m supposed to do.  It never fails.  When I do what my Sweetie thinks I’m supposed to do for someone else the results are usually remarkable.  The person gets blessed.  I get blessed; and the end result is I forget what the selfish thing I wanted to do for me was anyway.  The simple fact is that gifts are released when we do what we’re supposed to do, help others get to their destiny.  I’ve had things come out of my mouth I really didn’t know I knew until heard them myself; it seems some understandings and comprehensions are only released by love and compassion in the face of somebody else’s need.

Of course there are the times when I’m immediately responsive sans Sweetie’s input and the results are real good and I’d like everyone to think that’s all the time, but as I explained earlier that’s not the case.  Being real is another way to release the flow of results.  If I can be weak (as I’ve confessed) and still get results, then being real combined with love and compassion must be some pretty important factors to helping people along their way.

Solving the problem and creating a new problem

This life and organizational issue rears its ugly head every year, or month, or week in my forty year experiece as an executive and father. When problems are not confronted squarely, in reality, there is usually a solution to the supposed problem that ultimately becomes the new problem because the real problem never got addressed.

One long term example is with raising children.  Toddlers want their own way and when they throw a fit and get their way, the opportunity to learn that they are not the center of the universe is lost for at least that episode.  Given enough of those opportunities that are lost the child grows up to become an adult that never learned the important lesson.  So the parent avoids the short term pain of disciplining their child in exchange for transferring the pain to the child years later due to self centered behavior that will cause significant problems in relationships.  Those childish adults are unable to become a friend to anyone because they are so self centered that they focus on only their own needs and are not concerned about helping meet other’s needs.  They won’t be there for others but they will expect or demand that others are there for them.  They are the takers and both you and I have spent time with them and felt the relief of getting away from them.  This example is simplified but you see the point, there is a cause and effect.  Deal with the real issue so that it gets handled to a positive outcome, which results in a long term gain; or don’t, and have the greater pain later.  Truth sets the captives free.

elements of leadership- part 1-Casting Vision

One of the qualities that effective leaders process is the ability to communicate their vision for the organization.  In order for subordinates to understand how they fit into the organization and find meaning for what they do from day to day they need to understand the vision.  When the subordinates understand the vision they will make decisions and take actions that will further the cause for accomplishing the vision.  Without understanding the leader’s vision the actions the subordinates take will support the subordinates’ vision for the organization, and that vision may not be in accord with the leader’s vision; every member walks out their own vision of where the organization is going and the actions of how to get there.  This leads to a cacophony of voices without a clear focus and clear direction.  Even when the subordinates have excellent interpersonal relations and are in apparent unity there will be a lack of focus and directed energy because there won’t be a common vision.  It is up to the leadership to establish the vision so that unity will come as the collective parts have the same vision and consequently the same goals.  (This does not negate the need for employees to have the skill levels that will permit them to create processes and procedures that will cause actions to facilitate attainment of common goals that flow from the vision.)

Expectations

I watched the Missouri-Oklahoma football game on Dec 1st. Other than the obvious high level of play from both teams, the thing that struck me most was the sideline shots of both teams, coaches and players. The body language images were of one team confident they were going to win and the other was a team showing frustration that things weren’t going as desired or expected, setbacks were very large in their minds. Missouri may have believed they were the better team but Oklahoma had fewer doubts they were the better team and they played that way.

Everything we do is influenced if not controlled by our beliefs. If we believe we can do something we also need to be prepared for the eventual setback that tests our belief. It is how we handle the tests that ultimately determines our long term success.–Greg