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Financier, Friend or Father — Part Two

Friend - JumpWe recently looked at the role that we play as a financier for the family.  And that role is important.  But consider part two of this three part series.

Friend – “Hey, who is your buddy?”

One of the other traps we fall into is the trap of trying to be a buddy or pal to our child rather than being their father.  And the reason we do is fairly obvious.  It is much easier to be a friend than it is to be a father.  And besides, who doesn’t want to be a pal or to have a pal?  The problem is Continue reading “Financier, Friend or Father — Part Two”

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Listening – A Secret to Leadership Growth

Talking into a Large EarOne of the top ways that a leader can grow is by listening.

Think of this as a follow up to my article that looked at whether leadership is a quiet or loud activity.

It is somewhat counter-intuitive. Leadership feels like it should be a speaking activity. But it advances well when it exercises a listening posture. That reality can be hard to accept. It feels like it ought to be the other way around. But then again, leading by “feelings” is rarely a good idea. A leadership position often makes us think that we should be doing most of the talking. Not true. Leadership positions make us think Continue reading “Listening – A Secret to Leadership Growth”

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Financier, Friend or Father — Part One

Money TreeAs Dads, we have a lot of roles to play as part of our overall responsibility to the family.  This is especially true when it comes to the relationship that we have with our children.  In a brief three part series I plan to consider three particular roles that we play in our children’s lives.

Financier – “What am I made of?  Money?”

I think one of the things that is the hardest for us to understand early in the life of our family is understanding what level of importance to place on the role of money within the family.  And one of the traps that young fathers fall into is the trap of Continue reading “Financier, Friend or Father — Part One”

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Are you a Visionary?

Eyeglasses Proverbs 29_18Looking to the start of 2013 I find myself reflecting on a passage that you hear occasionally at this time of year.  Here is that often misquoted or misused scripture – “Where there is no vision, the people perish”.  It is found in the Old Testament in Proverbs 29:18.  It is used many times from the pulpit to exhort us to catch the vision that the pastor has seen and to press us onward to the destination seen in the vision.

But I submit to you that there is a BIG difference between being a visionary and being a leader.

A visionary is Continue reading “Are you a Visionary?”