Getting there

On the final leg home after almost seven weeks on the road. Cannot tell you how good the thought of sleeping in my own bed sounds right now. I have an amazing job and I get to do the most interesting work in the world, but the "traveling" part of traveling is waxing very old. Oh I still really enjoy being with new people in new places and experiencing new food and sights and smells and views, but the getting there is usually tough and sometimes very exhausting.

There is a lesson to be learned here as well because traveling is a great metaphor for leadership and development. The getting there is always challenging and fraught with difficulties and things you just would really rather not have to go through. But the destination is almost always worth it. So how do you in your life mitigate or manage the unpleasantness or difficulties or challenges facing you as you move toward your next destination?

Frustrating speakers

There are so many intangibles to effective communication. Even with good coaching I find most public speakers, especially in the church, amazingly frustrating. The number one mistake they make is no cohesiveness from idea to idea. Oh the transition exists in their minds for sure, or they would not have said what they said, but they fail to bring the hearer along with them and connect the dots so to speak, in a way that their points or point is compelling.  More and more it seems that preachers (especially) and speakers that I hear, draw seemingly random points of "proof" or what I refer to as proof texting within the church, to make their argument. What they do in actuality is leave us listeners sitting there with our minds wandering toward our to-do lists or verging off into dazed daydreaming.

They fail to sharpen their communication skills as a tool of choice. They attempt to use blunt force trauma or the charisma of personality to win our minds and that simply is an impossible venture. To win the mind, and eventually the heart, we communicators need weapons-grade skills and honing of the craft of excellent communication. Isn't the message that you are striving to communicate worthy of that effort and refinement? At the very least, respect the content of the message and me as the audience enough to not waste my time.

I love Berlin!

I love Berlin! It is one of my favorite cities in the world, hands down. I would move here in a heartbeat would my sweet wife agree. Alas, that won't happen in this lifetime. Fortunately for me I get to come here often and work and I completely enjoy each one of these visits.  The ease of getting around the city, the clean air, the excellent food and the structuredness of it all makes for a wonderful experience. 

Of course all of those pluses would be for naught were there not excellent work to be accomplished here as well. In fact one of my clients here was brainstorming ways to work more in Berlin! A conversation I throughly enjoyed. Unfortunately I can't be here more than I currently am and that is that. But the people and work and connections I get to enjoy and engage in are as refreshing as the air coming in overland from the North Sea