Don't Feed the Birds (Guest Post) by @PaulWAndrew

This week I want to introduce you to one of my good friends, Paul Andrew. He is a Leadership Coach, Pastor and Speaker. He currently resides in NYC and has the coolest stinkin' Australian accent ever. Here's a guest post from his website: http://www.TheLeadershipCoach.com.

 Enjoy...

#AddingVALUE

 @MatthewKeller

 

 

Don’t Feed The Birds

      As a kid I remember being pestered by aggressive seagulls at the beach. I thought if I threw them a few hot chips they’d be appeased and go away. How wrong I was. Suddenly there were more, and bolder still, with endless appetites!

The Mayor of London recently reduced soaring pigeon numbers simply by banning people from feeding them. To most they had become a nuisance and an eyesore, yet even in Trafalgar Square this strategy has reduced their numbers from many thousands to a few hundred.

“Don’t feed the birds” is just as effective as a leadership habit.

I’ve noticed that too often as leaders we give attention, and even unintentional reward, to the very things we don’t want more of. Then we’re surprised when it seems like we only have more of it to deal with.

Perhaps you get wind of some gossip amongst people in your team. So you sit them down, hear them out, follow up a few of the rumours, hoping that if they feel heard they won’t gossip again in future. You just fed the birds. What they actually learned was that they can get both your attention and your action with gossip.

Or maybe you operate like an organization I once worked with that believed in the importance of budgets but sometimes rewarded bad behaviour. Those who overspent their budgets were certainly scolded, but then the new year’s budgets were based on last year’s performance as a benchmark of what they needed. So one year in particular I had my budget cut since I had underspent the previous year, while another team who blew their budget was rewarded with an increase the following year since “they obviously needed it”. Birds will come back, even if do you yell at them before feeding them.

If you want to put out a fire, starve it of air.

• I wonder which fires you might be giving air to in your team?
• I wonder what irritations you’re experiencing only more of because you feed them?
• What values, what language, what culture, what behaviour or issues do you need to stop fueling?

Feed what you do want, starve what you don’t.

——————–

Paul Andrew is Founder of The Leadership Coach™

He is a Keynote Speaker and Management Consultant based in New York

info@theleadershipcoach.com | +1 917 913 4598 | LinkedIn | Website | Blog | Twitter

Be Sociable, Share!

3 Ways We use our Church Facebook Page

Last week, I started a conversation about the 4 Ways I think about my Social Media Presence and particularly my personal twitter account. This week, I want to unpack the 3 Ways we think about our Church's Online Presence.

A couple of general thoughts:

First, we don't have a Twitter Account for NextLevelChurch.com. In an attempt to not just market to people, but actually have a dialogue with them, we don't have one. We want our personal interactions to be to actually NLC staffers, etc. (For a list of NLC Staff go here.)

Second, We don't do everything on our church Facebook page. It's not the end all be all for our church. NextLevelChurch.com is that for us. However, our church Facebook page is one of the most important virtual presence's we have, quite simply because

People are Living their Social Lives Online. 

So what are the 3 Ways we think about our Church's Facebook Page? Here you go...

1. We Celebrate. 

     There is no greater place to post pictures, share wins and celebrate for our church than on our Facebook page. So often, we, the staff, get to hear the stories but not everyone in our church does, and we certainly don't have time in our weekend services to share them all. So, Facebook is the perfect place to do that.

2. We Promote.

     There's nothing wrong with promoting what's happening and coming up at Next Level Church on our Facebook page. What a great (and free, btw) place to remind people and let them know what's going on and how and why they will want to be apart of it.

3.  We Invite them into the Conversation.

     The third and final thing we do is perhaps the most powerful thing... We invite them to tell us their stories! For us, a win is a name and a story, and by using our Facebook page, we can see and hear both! Social media is meant to be a dialogue, not a monologue. That's why it's better than TV or radio. We want to hear the stories of life-change that are happening across our NLC family.

Hope that's helpful,

#AddingValue

@MatthewKeller

What I Talk about on Social Media (And Why!)

One of the biggest things people say to me concerning Social Media is, "I don't know what I'd talk about..." or "I don't have anything interesting to say..." On the contrary, I believe that every human being has something interesting to say and there is a tribe of people who want or need to hear it.

Over the past couple of years, I've come to realize a valuable perspective about the whole "Social Media Presence" thing. Here's the big revelation that has changed the way I view my social media presence.

Who I am Online is Simply an Extension of Who I am.

Period.

I think of my social media presence on Twitter & Facebook as nothing more than an extension of who I already am. Social media is personal. It's meant to be the virtual mirror of who you are in real life. Nothing more. Nothing less.

(Parenthetically, that's why Next Level Church doesn't have a twitter account. Because in my opinion, twitter is supposed to be personal... like really... a person. Our church has a Facebook page and we use that to do 3 things. I'll share those next week.)

But when it comes to my personal Twitter and Facebook accounts...

My One Huge Filter is:

"If you and I spent a day together, what would we talk about?"

If you spent a day with me, there would be 4 things we'd talk about throughout the day. Therefore, I tweet about the same 4 things I live and breathe and talk about in my everyday life. It's that simple. My goal is for my Online Presence to look like 25% - 25% - 25% - 25% in these 4 categories. I don't always get this perfect, but as a rule, this is the aim.

My 4 things:

1. Personal.
     If we spent the day together, I bet we would spend about 25% of our time talking about family, wife, kids, house, baseball, vacations, fishing, etc. You would ask me about my personal world, and I would ask you about yours. I let my social media presence reflect that.

2. Promotional.
     If we spent a day together, I bet we would spend about 25% of our time asking each other about "What's happening big in your world?" Or said another way, "What's coming up that you're excited about?" It's not bad to promote on social media as long as that's not all you do. If all you do is promote, then you're just an interruption marketer and people will tune you out and unfollow you. Let promotion be about 25% of what you talk about.

3. Spiritual.
     If you and I spent a day together, I bet we would spend about 25% of our time talking about what God is doing in our lives. We would share verses, and then talk about what they mean to us personally right now. I wouldn't just quote a verse and not tell you what it means to me personally. That would be weird. The same is true online. More people will be challenged to read the verse you're tweeting if you share what it means to you.

4. Leadership.
     Finally, if you and I were going to spend the day together, I know that we would spend 25% of our time talking about Leadership, Life Principles and Helpful Quotes that are inspiring us right now. Therefore, let 25% of what you tweet be about Quotes or Links to articles that have been helpful to you. Think Value Adding. The more value you add to those who want to hear from you, the more valuable your online presence will become.

Our Social Media presence should simply look like our everyday life. Thinking in terms of these 4 categories will help you be more balanced online.

? How do you think about your Online Presence?

#AddingValue

@MatthewKeller

The Underdog Journey Begins!

Let me first thank the hundreds of you who have congratulated me on the opportunity to write for Thomas Nelson on Facebook, Twitter, by text, in person or on this site. We are honored that you're behind us in this adventure!

A few thoughts so far...
 
1. I feel like I have a Head Start. 
     One of the questions many of you are asking is, "Where do you start?" or another variation, "How do you start?" And the answer is, "I already have." The Underdogs theme and message have been burning in me for over 5 years now. In fact, one of the messages I love to speak when we travel to churches in our tribe is on "David, the Underdog." (Look for it in the book, btw!)
   
     I'm excited because I feel like the content is flowing out of me at a good pace right now. One of the biggest disciplines I have to keep in the front of my mind is, "Don't Write and Edit at the same time." In other words, you can't filter. You just have to get it out of your head and on to paper. For me that looks like sitting down at the computer and letting the content flow. I don't correct spelling or grammar. I just tell myself, "You will have 100 chances to edit that last sentence. Just write!" So far so good.
  
2. That whole "wake up real early and write thing..." yeah it's real. 
     I have often heard other writers say that when they're in a writing season they will wake up especially early and write. Their mind is clear, their thoughts are focused and the distractions of the day aren't awake yet.
     Let me just say, I get that now! Last week, for example, I woke up at 4am and wrote for 2 hours, then got on a flight to NYC and edited the chapter I wrote earlier that morning. It works! And I love every second of it!
     When I get in the flow, I can write about 5,000 words at a time. Unedited of course. But definitely out of my head and onto paper. (or screen) Some writers try to take a 500 words a day pace and just chunk away at it. I think if I were writing Leadership or Self-Help (which I love btw) that would work for me. But with the concepts in the Underdogs book, I'm flowing pretty well with just sitting and banging out an entire chapter.
 
3. I feel like this book could become a movement. 
     The more of the content I get out of my head and onto paper, the more I believe the Underdogs book could become a movement to inspire a generation to reach their destiny.
     One quick story... I was in NYC recently and pitched the book idea to 2 leaders of an international ministry that works with children all over the world (the true underdogs, btw) and after I shared the general concept of the book and a few of the specifics of the chapters, both men were visibly moved.

     I want desperately for God to use this book to inspire so many people to put their underdog excuses aside and go after their dreams! Never underestimate the power of the written word to impact a person's heart. "Let it be so with this book, Lord!"

Thanks for following the journey,

As always, you can keep up with this project by click the"Get free Updates and Resources" button at the top right or by liking our Underdogs Book page on Facebook by click here.

#AddingValue

@MatthewKeller

The Big Announcement

So the day has finally arrived!!!

On May 12th, 2012, exactly 10 years to the day after starting Next Level Church, I am happy to announce that...
 

I have signed a 2 Book Contract with Thomas Nelson Publishers to begin my writing career.

Since I was 18 years old I have felt a calling to write. Over the past 18+ years, that calling has been dormant, as I've felt like I've been in a season of preparation. Learning, growing, developing and gaining the necessary experience to stand confident in what I have to say.

Thomas Nelson, the world's largest Christian Publisher, has been the dream publisher for me for a long time. My leadership hero, John Maxwell, used Thomas Nelson to publish several of his best-selling books. So for the last 10 years, if you would have asked me what the dream was, I would have told you, "To write for Thomas Nelson." This is truly a dream come true!

My first book will be "The God of the Underdogs." (title could change)

This will be a general Christian audience book and the big idea is built on the fact that when you study the pages of Scripture you discover that everyone God used in a big way had to overcome an "Underdog Excuse" in order to become all God wanted them to become. God of the Underdogs will help readers identify and eliminate the "Underdog Excuses" that hold them back from achieving their dreams and becoming everything God wants them to become!

The scheduled release of the Underdogs book is slated for Fall of 2013.

At this point, the 2nd book is yet untitled, which will give my publisher and I an opportunity to think through exactly where my voice can be most effectively positioned to make the greatest impact in our culture.

Please be in prayer for me in the coming months, because now the real work of writing the book begins!

My prayer is that the Underdogs book will not just be a book, but will become a movement to inspire so many in this generation to see themselves differently then they ever have before.

It is my intention to keep you updated on how the book is progressing through the entire process here at MattKellerOnline.com and on Twitter and Facebook as well. The easiest way to follow the journey from concept to print is by joining our e-mail list. Simply click the button to the right and follow the 3 easy steps.

One final request, if you could go to the Underdogs Book Facebook Page and "Like" it, that would be amazing!

Thanks for celebrating with us today,


Matt and Sarah Keller