Oh God - I’m Dying!

 

Issue No. 452 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting (Nov. 16, 2020) highlights a leader’s very transparent personal journey through pain and suffering. It’s sobering, but soothing. And this reminder: click here to download free resources from the 20 management buckets (core competencies) and click here for my 2016 review of Serve Strong: Biblical Encouragement to Sustain God’s Servants, also by Terry Powell. He writes that Merrill C. Tenney once told his class, “The devil never opposes insignificant work.”   Tire Tracks to Transparency Hey! Quit your whining, complaining, and yammering. You’re not on a 40-year wilderness trek with Moses—and you’re not Mark Smith. OK, let me soften that a tad. Perhaps you are experiencing pain—emotional, physical, relational, and more—but, good news, the authors of Oh God, I’m Dying have encouragement for you. Terry Powell and Mark Smith believe you can learn “how God redeems pain for our good and His glory.” If you’re a leader—and you’re learning that leadership is challenging, you’re not alone. The authors note, “For a Christian leader—whether the venue is a church, parachurch organization or a school—the job description often comes wrapped in a burden.” But there’s help! This book is a page-turner and could be a game-changer. I read it slowly over multiple mornings of quiet and reflection, but the back cover says you can read it in just 144 minutes. I don’t recommend a speed-reading marathon. This is a deep dive. Here’s why: WHAM! “Oh God, I’m dying!” was Mark Smith’s helpless cry to God. Life looked good at age 30, then WHAM—a 1996 horrific car accident changed his life forever. After 45 minutes in his mangled Ford Taurus, rescuers used the “jaws of life” to extract this young leader. His body and his future looked bleak and painful. Doctors predicted months and months in the hospital. A car swerved into his car and “the head-on collision sounded like a small bomb detonating,” and “the impact knocked Mark’s car a total of 80 feet off the road” and into an Indiana cornfield. (The other driver also survived.) Regaining consciousness, Mark “wasn’t sure he had a future on earth, but Mark felt the overwhelming presence of the One who controlled his future.” Yet, this young college administrator, pastor, husband, and father (blessed with a one-year-old son), wondered if his walk with God and the sermon on grace and weakness he had just preached hours before (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)—would be sufficient for the long days and nights ahead. POP QUIZ! I asked myself—and you may want to ask yourself—could you pass this test? Would your answer echo the Apostle Paul’s courageous response? “It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.” (The Message) Whew. Page after page, I cautiously wondered. Did this book interrupt my comfortable routine to prepare me for something coming? Do I want to endure pain to learn strength? Not really…but I continued reading. Maybe you should read this too. Ten reasons: #1. MAXWELL ENDORSES. John C. Maxwell’s endorsement: “This book teaches you how to learn from and how to persevere in tough times.” #2. MEMORABLE STORY. Amazingly, co-author Terry Powell (click here for my review of Powell’s book, Serve Strong) convinced Mark Smith to tell his story. Everyone has a story—but in just 169 pages (plus notes and resources), you’ll never forget this story—and the leadership lessons. #3. MORPHING PAIN.  Even today (24 years later), “What starts in the afternoon as a throbbing ache morphs into a burning sensation within a couple of hours. By eight p.m., he labels it a ‘roaring pain,’ as if an accelerant had been injected into the fire already glowing in his neck, left arm and hip. By 10:00 p.m., the ferocity of the pain generates tears.” #4. MARK’S DAY JOB. You’re not gonna believe this! Dr. Mark Smith’s day job is president of Columbia International University in South Carolina. What’s a tougher job than leading an institution of higher education? Leading a university while coping with debilitating pain—every day.    #5. MIDNIGHT BALM. The long nights in those early days of unbearable pain pointed Mark Smith to the Scriptures he had previously memorized. You’ll delight in the powerful words of God generously sprinkled across the pages. And get this—dozens of Bible verses are highlighted with unique graphics above and below the Scripture—black tire tracks! “The text most precious to Mark during his recovery was Psalm 34, especially verses 1-7.” #6. MEDICINE FOR THE SOUL. The authors quote Marsha Hays, “Music is medicine for the soul.” In the brilliant last half of the book, the authors highlight 10 “Faith Lessons.” Lesson 5, “Using Music to Soothe the Soul” notes that when Mark’s spirit sagged, “God’s Spirit used hymns to massage his mind and restore his focus on the gospel.” When I read this short chapter—I couldn’t resist: “Alexa, play ‘My Faith Has Found a Resting Place.’”  #7. MORE LESSONS. The 10 short faith lessons for helping “God’s people deal with pain and suffering” are both soothing and sobering. (Feature one-per-week at your weekly staff meeting.)    • Faith Lesson 1: Clinging to God’s Word    • Faith Lesson 2: Pleading With God    • Faith Lesson 3: Embracing Brokenness    • Faith Lesson 9: Comforting Persons Who Hurt    • Faith Lesson 10: Redeeming Pain #8. MATURITY CHECK-UP. “Releasing Resentment,” the fourth faith lesson, quotes St. Augustine: “Resentment is like drinking poison and hoping the other person dies.” Powell and Smith list eight very-very-convicting questions on releasing resentment, including this poke-in-the-ribs: “Have I stopped telling others what this person did to me?” (See Ephesians 4:29.) #9. MONEY MIRACLES. I hesitate to mention Chapter 9, “Nowhere to Look but Up!” because my nonprofit CEO and fundraising colleagues will immediately read this chapter first—but please don’t. Terry Powell chronicles God’s blessing on the fundraising initiatives of Mark Smith over his career at three universities. Talk about miracle stories! Wow! But, if you skip Mark’s journey from a mangled Ford Taurus to the leadership of a major Christian university (Chapters 1 to 8)—you’ll miss the big idea of this book. They quote D.A. Carson: “One of the things held out to grieving or suffering believers is the prospect of being more fruitful than they could have ever imagined.” #10. MINISTRY GUTS. This story—this book—in the wrong hands with the wrong words could have been an egotistical tribute to a self-absorbed leader. It’s not. It took guts for Terry Powell to ask Mark Smith to share his story. And it took guts and transparency for Mark Smith to let us in on God’s grace in his life. The two of them—beautifully—contrast human frailties and weakness with God’s grace and power. This is a very special book and I urge you to read this wisdom and share it with others. To order from Amazon, click on the title for Oh God, I’m Dying! How God Redeems Pain for Our Good and for His Glory, by Terry Powell and Mark Smith. Note: the paperback ships on Nov. 24. Click here for the Kindle Edition (available now). YOUR WEEKLY STAFF MEETING QUESTIONS: 1) The authors quote Charles H. Spurgeon: “Within the Scripture there is a balm for every wound, a salve for every sore.” Mark Smith found solace in Psalm 34. What Scripture refocuses your mind from your self to your Savior? 2) The authors write, “The library shelves of Christian colleges and seminaries sag with the weight of pastoral and theological tomes on the issues pertaining to suffering and faith.” But gratefully, the authors list 16 additional books on the topic, plus organizations that help people address pain and suffering in God-honoring ways. What resource have you found helpful to understand pain and God’s grace?    Attn: Fundraisers! Never, ever, ever…send the same donor appeal to donors and non-donors.  Insights from Mastering the Management Buckets Workbook  Speaking of fundraising (see above) and the Donor Bucket, I recall attending a direct mail fundraising workshop years ago. The Big Name Consultant recommended that U.S. nonprofit leaders schedule their year-end fundraising appeals to arrive—get this—on the day after Thanksgiving. Not sure if that’s still good wisdom or not. (I’ll be waiting by my mailbox on Nov. 27 for your letter!) But here’s some reliable take-it-to-the-bank wisdom (no pun intended): Never, ever, ever—send the same donor appeal to donors and non-donors. If I had $10 for every donor letter that THANKED me for my previous giving (when I’ve never/ever given to that organization), well…you know the rest.  Instead (at least) try simplified segmenting:    • Letter A is written to current donors.    • Letter B is written to prospects who have never/ever given. The goal: cross the line into the giver’s circle. (Then, customize the receipt/thank you letter to acknowledge the first-time gift. Get creative!) It’s pretty simple—but my mailbox reports that no one’s attended my Simplified Segmenting Workshop. When you’re ready for the advanced workshop, segment your Letter A group into four segments, per R. Mark Dillon’s counsel in Giving & Getting in the Kingdom: A Field Guide. He divides current givers into four groups:    • The Gifted Giver (2-5% of givers)     • The Thoughtful Giver (15-25% of givers)     • The Casual Giver (35-50% of givers)     • The Reluctant Giver (perhaps 33% of givers)  And—this is encouraging—the Gifted Giver will show up at the dedication of a new building and ask, “What’s next?” Dillon says “the gifted giver seldom needs to be asked.” To order from Amazon, click on the title for Giving & Getting in the Kingdom: A Field Guide, by R. Mark Dillon.                       JASON PEARSON: UNEXPECTED CREATIVE. Do your fund development materials and videos need a refresh? Are you segmenting your donors and your customers effectively? Check in with Jason Pearson at Pearpod Media (branding, digital, print, and video).  MORE RESOURCES: • BLOG: Pails in Comparison • SUBSCRIBE: Your Weekly Staff Meeting eNews • JOHN'S BOOK REVIEWS: on Amazon  • WEBSITE:  Management Buckets • BLOG: Governance of Christ-Centered Organizations  NOTICE! Effective Oct. 1, 2025, all 657 eNews issues, previously archived on Typepad.com are slowly (!) being moved to a new website here. New book reviews will also be archived at John Pearson’s Buckets Blog. Or, click here for John’s recent book reviews on Amazon. UNDER-PERFORMING BOARD MEMBER? EXIT TIME!  John says there are at least seven reasons why a board must remove an under-performing board member. Read more at the ECFA blog.

The Vision Driven Leader

 

Issue No. 446 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting (Aug. 20, 2020) highlights Michael Hyatt’s 2020 book on vision—and why it dramatically changed my thinking. And this reminder: click here to download free resources from the 20 management buckets (core competencies) and if you missed it, here’s my May review of Non Obvious Megatrends: How to See What Others Miss and Predict the Future.   Radio Station WII-FM: What’s In It For Me? Yup. It’s still August in the Year of Covid (will this ever end?)…so here’s another “summer shorts” issue. SUMMER SHORTS NO. 3:  The Vision Driven Leader: 10 Questions to Focus Your Efforts, Energize Your Team, and Scale Your Business, by Michael Hyatt  Here are six short-and-sweet reasons why you (or someone on your board or team) should read this book. #1. Michael Hyatt dramatically (dramatically!) changed my thinking about vision. I’ve facilitated dozens and dozens of strategic planning processes over the years. Mission. Vision. BHAG. Core Values. S.W.O.T. Yada, yada, yada. Oh, my—I missed the really big idea: the foundational importance of vision. #2. The “Vision Grid” on page 87. I’m a sucker for the Boston Consulting Group’s quadrant. The author’s vision quadrant positions Vision against Communication. That’s brilliant. With an abstract vision and implicit communication—you get FOGGY. But with a concise vision and explicit communication—you land on CLEAR. Other not-so-good options are CONFUSING and INTUITIVE. Hyatt nails the problems in Quadrant 2 (abstract, explicit): “…she speaks in definitive terms as she describes what to everyone else sounds like nebulous ideas.” I’ve seen this often—but never had this memorable label for this big misstep. #3. The perfect term: “fake work!” Hyatt writes, “Why are you writing that report, meeting with those people, working on that project, or setting that deadline? If it’s not to help you realize your vision, you might be wasting your time.” If there’s an unfortunate disconnect between your vision and your daily work—call it what it is: low-value “fake work.” #4. Radio Station WII-FM. This is funny, but true. Chapter 7 is must-read: “Can You Sell It?” Hyatt writes, “You’ve probably heard that everyone is tuned in to the radio station WII-FM: What’s In It For Me? If I’m going to take this journey with you, they’re thinking, what does that mean for me? What’s my upside? They want to know why this new vision will be good for them and why they should care." #5. Four characteristics of a vision that inspires. Another must-read chapter. (Actually all 10 chapters/questions are must-read.) The four:    1) The vision focuses on what isn’t, not what is.    2) The vision is exponential, not incremental.    3) The vision is risky, not stupid.    4) The vision is focused on what, not how. #6. “The Vision Arc.” Michael Hyatt’s graph of the vision arc includes seven phases of the typical organizational trajectory through time (similar to Jim Collins’ five stages). If you don’t interrupt the trajectory, look where it leads you: Startup, Rising, Transitioning, Mature, Legacy, Zombie, Dead! I could go on, and on, and on—but this is a “summer shorts” review. But…just one more. What if your boss (or board) is the Keeper of the Status Quo? Hyatt lists five critical steps for selling your boss on a new vision. And this wisdom when selling to influential stakeholders: “You may not always be able to get agreement, but you can get alignment.” After you read The Vision Driven Leader, follow-up with his 2018 book, Your Best Year Ever: A 5-Step Plan for Achieving Your Most Important Goals.  To order from Amazon, click on the title for The Vision Driven Leader: 10 Questions to Focus Your Efforts, Energize Your Team, and Scale Your Business, by Michael Hyatt. Are you a listener? Listen to the book on Libro.fm (4 hours, 48 minutes), narrated by Michael Hyatt.   YOUR WEEKLY STAFF MEETING QUESTIONS: 1) Michael Hyatt writes, “Vision isn’t prophecy. It’s a tool not a timeline of inevitable happenings.” Did this book change your thinking about vision? 2) Hyatt: “A practical vision is specific enough to suggest strategy, but not so specific it commits you to one particular strategy.” Are we stuck on a sacred cow-type strategy?   6 Pitfalls of Vision-Deficit Leaders Insights from Mastering the Management Buckets Workbook  The core competency in the Results Bucket affirms, “We also abandon dead horses and sacred cows.” Wow…it’s very tough to discard old strategies, but The Vision Driver Leader will help you. Hyatt asks, “What Difference Does Vision Make?” and details six pitfalls of vision-deficit leaders:    1) Unpreparedness for the future    2) Missed opportunities    3) Scattered priorities    4) Strategic missteps (“The future hasn’t happened yet. It’s imaginary.”)    5) Wasted money, time, and talent    6) Premature exits Hyatt’s Venn diagram on page 45 pictures Vision, Mission, and Strategy in their own circles—interconnecting at the middle sweet spot: RESULTS. That’s perfect—and Peter Drucker, I’m sure, would add his “Amen!” The Vision Driver Leader is so, so practical (three steps for this, five steps for that, and more). If your vision and mission wordsmithing is all theory and thesaurus, take time to screen this poke-in-the-ribs five-minute video, Mission Statement, from "Weird Al" Yankovic. Click here. Click here to view Mission Statement from "Weird Al" Yankovic.   For more resources in the Results Bucket, check out this webpage.                    JASON PEARSON: UNEXPECTED CREATIVE. Is your creative team doing “fake work” or work that aligns with your vision and mission? Need help? Contact Jason Pearson at Pearpod Media (branding, digital, print, and video).  MORE LESSONS: Effectiveness, Excellence, Elephants! Click here to order More Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom, by Dan Busby and John Pearson. Click here to follow the new blog with 40 guest bloggers.  NOTICE! Effective Oct. 1, 2025, all 657 eNews issues, previously archived on Typepad.com are slowly (!) being moved to a new website here. New book reviews will also be archived at John Pearson’s Buckets Blog. Or, click here for John’s recent book reviews on Amazon. Index to 14 Boardroom Questions Check out the 14 links to the 14 blogs on "The 14 Questions Every Board Member Needs to Ask." Start with Question 2: "Are We Addressing the Risks That Could Send Our Organization Over the Cliff?" MORE RESOURCES: • BLOG: Pails in Comparison • SUBSCRIBE: Your Weekly Staff Meeting eNews • JOHN'S BOOK REVIEWS: on Amazon  • WEBSITE:  Management Buckets • BLOG: Governance of Christ-Centered Organizations

The Little Guide to Your Well-Read Life

 

Issue No. 445 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting (Aug. 10, 2020) recommends (get this!) a book on how to read a book! The author asks: Are you a Footprint Leaver or a Preservationist?  And this reminder: click here to download free resources from the 20 management buckets (core competencies). “Give Yourself the Gift of Empty Shelves” This is funny! Next month I’ll begin the 15th year of publishing Your Weekly Staff Meeting. The first issue was August 28, 2006, and I recommended Jim Collins’ easy-to-read 35-page booklet, Good to Great and the Social Sectors.  So after reviewing more than 450 books (some issues have highlighted multiple books), I took time to read a book about how to read a book! LOL! And it’s August in the Year of Covid, so here’s another “summer shorts” issue. Summer Shorts No. 2:  The Little Guide to Your Well-Read Life: How to Get More Books in Your Life and More Life from Your Books, by Steve Leveen   “Do not set out to live a well-read life but rather your well-read life. No one can be well-read using someone else’s reading list.”  Wham! Immediately, author and entrepreneur Steve Leveen lets you off the hook—no guilt. Just a boatload of ideas on navigating your own well-read life. The book features dozens of PowerPoint-worthy quotations, including this from Atwood H. Townsend:  “Never force yourself to read a book that you do not enjoy. There are so many good books in the world that it is foolish to waste time on one that does not give you pleasure.” To uncover the books that will change your life (the big idea of the book), the author suggests you have two libraries: #1. The Library of Candidates (based on your List of Candidates) #2. The Living Library (your library of well-read friends) Leveen did massive research and one-on-one interviews with readers and book clubs before writing this book. He notes that John Armato, a PR executive, “cherishes his growing Library of Candidates. When people ask him if he’s actually read all those books, he asks if they’ve actually eaten all the food in their kitchen. ‘It is good to put up a supply of books; it increases the odds that you’ll have what you want when you’re hungry for it,’ he says.” Leveen adds: “Give yourself the gift of empty shelves.  Like an open road,  they hold the promise of your future examined life.” The chapter, “Seizing More from Your Reading,” gave me several new ideas—and affirmed several of my best practices. “The advice-givers all agree that you should not start by reading the first sentence of a book and then plow your way through to the end.” His practical suggestions (start at 35,000 feet and conduct three tours of the book) include this: “Then take a third tour, and read a few introductory and concluding paragraphs from each chapter. That is where most writers sum up their major points.”  When should you give up on a book? “A few years ago I gave up on Crime and Punishment. I found it not enough crime and too much punishment.” Generally, Leveen votes for the 50-page rule: “…if you don’t like it after fifty pages, close the book and move on.” Where do you find the meat of a book? Usually in the middle, but don’t forget my rule-of-thumb for striking gold on page 25 also. In Leveen’s book on page 25, you’ll find his generous recommendations of other books on how to read a book, including a classic, Good Reading: A Helpful Guide for Serious Readers. I ordered The Little Guide to Your Well-Read Life for the five scholars/grandchildren in my life. (Three are ready to begin their senior year in high school—whatever that might look like at Covid High.) Students and serious readers will appreciate Leveen’s “proven techniques for remembering” content. Example: In the 1940s, Ohio State University professor Francis Robinson conducted the psychological research that created the system, SQ3R: Survey, Question, Read, Recite, and Review.  One granddaughter keeps a list of the books she’s read. So far in 2020, she’s knocked off 130 books! She affirms Leveen’s suggestion: “Another way to help your long-term retention is by keeping a reader’s journal or annotated Bookography.” He also notes that “Some of the most satisfying reading of all is re-reading. The Bible is the most re-read book of all in the West.”  Every year, my friend and mentor, George Duff, re-reads Peter Drucker’s The Effective Executive. Click here to read Jim Collins’ foreword to the 50th anniversary edition, “Ten Lessons I Learned from Peter Drucker.” If you love books—and love the lifelong nourishment that good books deliver—you’ll feast on The Little Guide to Your Well-Read Life (121 delicious pages), including a tempting bibliography of 86 books. (I borrowed a few titles for my List of Candidates and my Library of Candidates.) Footprint Leaver or Preservationist? Don’t miss the pros and cons of Footprint Leavers (those who write in books—I’m in the marginalia camp) and the opposing group, Preservationists (no writing allowed). Leveen received more than 2,000 responses to his blog on this Big Argument, including “A book unmarked is a book unloved.” Read his follow-up 2009 blog post, “Why You Should Write in Your Books Now.” Also, learn why speed reading isn’t that important (the difference between reading speed versus thinking speed). He quotes Mortimer Adler, coauthor of How to Read a Book: “Whereas a bookplate indicates financial ownership…writing in a book indicates intellectual ownership.” Leveen is encouraging. “If you have led an active reading life, your reading power at age eighty will tower over your reading power at age thirty.” And this: “If you are not setting some books aside unfinished,  you are not sampling enough books.” To order from Amazon, click on the title for The Little Guide to Your Well-Read Life: How to Get More Books in Your Life and More Life from Your Books, by Steve Leveen.   YOUR WEEKLY STAFF MEETING QUESTIONS: 1) Do you write notes in your books? David McCullough noted that John Adams “wrote no fewer than 12,000 words inside the covers of Mary Wollstonecraft’s French Revolution (mostly disagreeing with the author).”  2) Peter Drucker would ask: Are you a reader or a listener? Leveen devotes 15 pages to the joy of audiobooks, “Reading with Your Ears.” Bestselling author Jerry Jenkins, a fan of audiobooks, told Leveen that he was such a fan of Frank Muller’s narration expertise that Jenkins asked Muller to record some of his Left Behind book series. Listen to Desecration (Book #9) on Libro.fm (9 hours, 38 minutes). A Blogger and an Aussie Visit Powell’s! Insights from Mastering the Management Buckets Workbook  The core competency in the Book Bucket affirms, “We believe leaders are readers! We don’t just talk about books—we actually read them!”  In Issue No. 5 (Sept. 30, 2006), I wrote about “The Perpetual Power of a Perfect Gift.” After making a contribution to a national ministry in the 1980s, I received a book that I still treasure: A Diary of Private Prayer, by John Baillie. I continue to read selections in this book every week. I now treasure another book! Several years ago, my colleague and friend, Gary Williams, and I had a free evening together in Vancouver, Wash., following a training event hosted by Murdock Trust. Gary, the very effective National Director of Christian Management Australia, was visiting the U.S. His research on Portland (just across the Columbia River) had prioritized a visit to Powell's City of Books, reputed to be the largest independent new and used bookstore in the world. So we journeyed to Portland (for his first Uber journey!) and trekked the 1.6 acres of retail floor space. Powell’s has nine color-coded rooms and over 3,500 different sections. What fun! When we exited the bookstore, Gary presented me with a gift. You guessed it—a book. But it was a very special book. And LOL! I finally read this gem during Covid-19! Confession: I shoulda/coulda read it sooner, but I didn’t. So finally, Gary, thank you! The Little Guide to Your Well-Read Life is a remarkable book! For more resources in the Book Bucket, check out this webpage.                    JASON PEARSON: UNEXPECTED CREATIVE. Read any good books lately on branding and persuasion? Pearpod Media has the top titles.  Contact Jason Pearson at Pearpod Media (branding, digital, print, and video).  MORE LESSONS: Effectiveness, Excellence, Elephants! Click here to order More Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom, by Dan Busby and John Pearson. Click here to follow the new blog with 40 guest bloggers.  NOTICE! Effective Oct. 1, 2025, all 657 eNews issues, previously archived on Typepad.com are slowly (!) being moved to a new website here. New book reviews will also be archived at John Pearson’s Buckets Blog. Or, click here for John’s recent book reviews on Amazon. Index to 14 Boardroom Questions Check out the 14 links to the 14 blogs on "The 14 Questions Every Board Member Needs to Ask." Start with Question 2: "Are We Addressing the Risks That Could Send Our Organization Over the Cliff?" MORE RESOURCES: • BLOG: Pails in Comparison • SUBSCRIBE: Your Weekly Staff Meeting eNews • JOHN'S BOOK REVIEWS: on Amazon  • WEBSITE:  Management Buckets • BLOG: Governance of Christ-Centered Organizations

How Will You Measure Your Life?

 

Issue No. 443 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting (July 18, 2020) recommends a 2012 bestseller with three profound questions. (Sorry I’m eight years late on this!) And this reminder: click here to download free resources from the 20 management buckets (core competencies) and click on the title to read my recent review of Leighton Ford’s book, A Life of Listening: Discerning God's Voice and Discovering Our Own.   Clayton Christensen’s 3 Big Questions While locked down here in the Pearson Bunker, we’ve been talking about writing another book. No title yet, but here’s the big idea—If I’d Only Read This Book EARLIER in My Career, I Could Have Avoided This BIG Leadership Mistake! [2026 update: the book!) But should I write about my Top-10, Top-50, or Top-100 big leadership mistakes? (Yikes. I have an abundance of examples.) Much too late, I’ve often read a book that would have given me greater clarity—and sooner. Today’s book would certainly be on the list. Had I read this book in 2013, I would have given much better counsel to younger (and some older) leaders over the last eight years. I would have given less advice and simply said, “Just read this book!” LOL! On Jan. 15, 2013, Chasz Parker, a faithful leader and reader, emailed me with this book recommendation: HOW WILL YOU MEASURE YOUR LIFE? by Clayton M. Christensen,  James Allworth, and Karen Dillon Good News. I immediately ordered the book back in 2013 (as Chasz instructed!). Bad News. I set this gem aside and didn’t read it until this year during lockdown. Yikes. I wasted eight years! (Sorry, Chasz!) Good News. I still have the two-page email from Chasz Parker—and, yes, he was right. This New York Times bestseller is amazing. I can’t stop talking about it. And gratefully, Chasz’s 2013 email included his review! Note: On Jan. 24, 2020, an obituary in The Wall Street Journal reported that Clayton Christensen had died the day before. He had leukemia. They noted that Christensen was “a Harvard Business School professor and management guru…an authority on what he called disruptive technologies who became more widely known for offering his life as a case study.”  So here’s a summary of How Will You Measure Your Life? from Parker and Pearson. In the book and in his MBA classes, Christensen asked three big questions: “How can I be sure that... 1. I will be successful and happy in my career? 2. My relationships with my spouse, my children, and my extended family and close friends becomes an enduring source of happiness? 3. I live a life of integrity—and stay out of jail?” On the last day of class each year, Prof. Christensen discussed these three questions with his Harvard Business School students. Word got around and he was then invited to give the talk to the entire study body at the 2010 graduation ceremonies. Next, Karen Dillon, then editor of Harvard Business Review, asked him to write the article, “How Will You Measure Your Life?” for HBR. (Click here to read.) The book was released in 2012 (and yes, I finally read it in 2020!). Chasz notes that when Christensen, also a HBS grad, attended his own class reunions—it concerned him that some classmates were experiencing personal and/or work traumas. Some stopped attending reunions out of embarrassment.  I appreciate bullet point book reviews and Chasz didn’t disappoint in his 2013 email to me. He wrote: • We often find our life’s direction by following an “emergent” path. We make our plans and start out in what we believe is the way to go, but to be successful (like most businesses) we deviate from the plan to the opportunity. Christensen’s career aim was to be the editor of The Wall Street Journal! But he ended up as a prof at Harvard Business School. (And perhaps he had greater influence there. See two more books below.) • Integrity is holding the line on key commitments. Many people who cross the line naively think they will only cross it once, and will step over and come back “just this time.” But then having crossed that line (which was once a monumental decision), further line-crossing seems insignificant—and each subsequent “small” infraction eventually erodes a person’s integrity—compounding into major losses (family, career, etc.).  • Read why Christensen says, “100 Percent of the Time Is Easier Than 98 Percent of the Time.” • Must-read: Christensen’s insights on why “outsourcing” may undermine your family’s values (and your organization’s values)—and why you must keep certain competencies in-house, even if difficult. • You must pursue your life purpose by determining what it is you are going to reflect in your character (whose image will be seen in you?), then commit to what it will take for this to happen, and create a means to track how you are doing in becoming more like your desired image. Chasz suggested that this would be a great CEO book study—especially for young leaders. Interestingly, Christensen himself didn’t sense that his last-day-of-class talks to MBA students were getting much traction—until he announced he had been diagnosed with the same cancer that had taken his father. Then students engaged—and this book is the result. Christensen quotes C.S. Lewis: “The safest road to Hell is the gradual one— the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.” In addition to the powerful life lessons (poke-in-rib quotes on mistake-mistaking), every leader and manager will find delightful sidebars and rabbit trails on growing people and businesses in complex environments.  Example: Noting “the problem with principal-agent, or incentives, theory…” (why some managers still think money motivates), Christensen discusses Frederick Herzberg’s work on the psychology of motivation—another topic I wish I had known about years ago. Read “One More Time: How Do You Motivate Employees?” in the January 2003 issue of HBR. (In the book, Christensen also gives a nice compliment to nonprofit managers.) Click here to view Clay Christensen on YouTube at a TEDx Boston presentation in 2012: View Clay Christensen: “How Will You Measure Your Life?” Picture this on your business card! Clayton Christensen was twice “Ranked #1 in the Thinkers50,” the global ranking of business leaders. He was inducted into the Thinkers50 Hall of Fame in 2019. You’ll appreciate his wisdom throughout the book. He writes, “There are no quick fixes for the fundamental problems of life. But I can offer you tools that I’ll call theories in this book, which will help you make good choices, appropriate to the circumstances of your life.” Christensen writes that instead of telling Intel’s Andy Grove what to think during a consultation, “I taught him how to think. He then reached a bold decision about what to do, on his own.” The co-authors add richness to this remarkable book. In the Acknowledgments section (who reads that?) I got teary-eyed reading the warmth expressed between the three authors (pages 207-221). James Allworth writes to Christensen, “Short of my parents, you have done more to change the way I think about the world than anyone.” After meeting Christensen and learning about his three questions, co-author Karen Dillon recalls, “I stood in the parking lot of HBS a few hours later and knew I didn’t like my answers to those questions. Since then, I have changed almost everything about my life with the goal of refocusing around my family.” Trust us—you will not stop talking about this book and it will cost you! I just ordered another copy for a younger leader today. To order from Amazon, click on the title for How Will You Measure Your Life? by Clayton M. Christensen, James Allworth, and Karen Dillon. Are you a listener? Listen to the book on Libro.fm (5 hours, 34 minutes).     YOUR WEEKLY STAFF MEETING QUESTIONS: 1) When coaching and mentoring others (including family members), Christensen notes “…there is no one-size-fits-all approach that anyone can offer you. The hot water that softens a carrot will harden an egg.” What carefully selected books are you recommending this month to younger leaders (and other lifelong learners)? 2) Let’s be blunt here: How will you measure your life—and stay out of jail? Clayton Christensen on “Hiring a Milkshake to Do the Job” Insights from Mastering the Management Buckets Workbook  The core competency in the Customer Bucket affirms, “We know our primary and supporting customers. We segment our customers to more effectively meet their unique needs. We listen to our customers. We are zealots for researching and understanding our markets.” Clayton Christensen’s work on “What job did you hire that product to do?” disrupted the way organizations think about their customers. Enjoy these resources: [  ] 7-MINUTE VIDEO: Clayton Christensen’s work on disruptive innovation opened doors to a wide array of businesses and organizations, including McDonald’s. Invest seven minutes and view this fascinating YouTube video, “Hiring a Milkshake to Do the Job.” (Nov. 2019)   View on YouTube: “Hiring a Milkshake to Do the Job” [  ] BOOK: The Innovator's Dilemma: The Revolutionary Book That Will Change the Way You Do Business, by Clayton M. Christensen (2002). (Order from Amazon.)  “It is in disruptive innovations, where we know least about the market, that there are such strong first-mover advantages. This is the innovator’s dilemma.” [  ] BOOK: Competing Against Luck: The Story of Innovation and Customer Choice, by Clayton M. Christensen, Karen Dillon, Taddy Hall, and David S. Duncan (2016). (Order from Amazon.) The introduction, “Why You Should Hire This Book,” notes the importance of asking the right question: “What job did you hire that product to do?” (View the milkshake video.) And how about this on co-author David Duncan? “The clients he’s worked with tell me they’ve completely changed the way they think about their business and transformed their culture to be truly focused on customer jobs. (One client even named a conference room after him!)”   [  ] CLAYTON CHRISTENSEN (1952-2020) WEBSITE. In 2011, in a poll of thousands of executives, consultants and business school professors, Christensen was named as the most influential business thinker in the world. Click here to visit his website. For more resources and books, visit the Customer Bucket.                     JASON PEARSON: UNEXPECTED CREATIVE. When you ask, “What job did you hire that product to do?”—your marketing and communication plans must also align with your answers. Need someone to coach you in how to think about this?  Contact Jason Pearson at Pearpod Media (branding, digital, print, and video).  MORE LESSONS: Effectiveness, Excellence, Elephants! Click here to order More Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom, by Dan Busby and John Pearson. Click here to follow the new blog with 40 guest bloggers. MORE RESOURCES: • BLOG: Pails in Comparison • SUBSCRIBE: Your Weekly Staff Meeting eNews • JOHN'S BOOK REVIEWS: on Amazon  • WEBSITE:  Management Buckets • BLOG: Governance of Christ-Centered Organizations Podcast: What the Board Needs from the CFO Listen to CFO David Beroth interview John for the July podcast of the Christian Nonprofit CFO. The topic: “7 Critical Financial Insights the Board Needs from the CFO.” Click here to listen.  NOTICE! Effective Oct. 1, 2025, all 657 eNews issues, previously archived on Typepad.com are slowly (!) being moved to a new website here. New book reviews will also be archived at John Pearson’s Buckets Blog. Or, click here for John’s recent book reviews on Amazon.