Author Archives

Errol Carrim

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Slow Down . . . or Be Slowed Down

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Praising at BeachWe live in such a busy culture that slowing down to regain perspective is often seen as getting in the way of the goals we have set. Unfortunately, it often takes loss of perspective, a crisis and a forced break to enable us to see that slowing down was not a hindrance to the goal. Instead, we now see that slowing down should be something we do on a regular basis. We all can point to a friend, acquaintance, family member or even our own lives as examples of the casualty of living too fast without giving time to assess how we are living.

What are some of the consequences of the fast-paced living of our day?

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Desires—No Middle Ground

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4449585823_c8893f33e8_zI recall the years of struggling with sexual addiction and calling out to God to take away the sexual desires, and wondering why He didn’t. After all, I thought, this was my struggle and God is supposed to help me to overcome my struggles! I did not realize that I was asking God to make me less of a human than he created me to be.

I was asking God to remove or help me overcome something that is natural. To desire is to be human; it is how we were created.

As Henri Nouwen wrote: “Desire is often talked about as something we ought to overcome. Still, being is desiring: our bodies, our minds, our hearts, and our souls are full of desires. Some are unruly, turbulent, and very distracting; some make us think deep thoughts and see great visions; some teach us how to love; and some keep us searching for God.”

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Recycling Pain

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Recycle Pain 3In the city where I live, as in many cities in the United States, recycling is a routine way of handling the tons of trash produced daily.

The leader of our Celebrate Recovery often says, “God is in the recycling business; He recycles our pain.”

That statement is not new or original with this leader. It has been used in lessons for Celebrate Recovery and other recovery programs for years.

I can see parallels between the process I go through in order for the city to recycle my garbage and how God recycles our pain.

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Why Followers Sometimes Find it Difficult to Speak Honestly to Their Leaders

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Two biz peopleHave you ever had the experience as a leader where there was a misunderstanding between you and one of your followers, but you only learn of it from someone else? There you are, thinking everything is going great with those you lead and unaware that there is some talk going around about that is not necessarily true.

The reaction of most leaders would be, “Why didn’t that person come to me first?” And while that is the right thing to do, it is often not the reality for many leaders who only hear about a situation long after the fact.

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A Winning Communication Style, Part 2

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CouncilGood communication is essential for effective leadership. Whatever talents a leader may bring into the organization, if she is not a good communicator she will struggle to get the loyalty of followers and achieve goals for the organization.

Last week we looked at three communication styles that are not winning styles. This week I want to offer you what many in the communications business will tell you is the winning communication style not only for leaders but for whoever uses it.

The winning communication style is assertive communication.

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A Winning Communication Style

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12988936305_4c018c45ba_zA key to success for every leader is good communication. Many talented and gifted leaders fail to get others to follow them because of their bad communication style. The good news is, every leader can work on developing a winning communication style.

Before we talk about a winning communication style let’s briefly look a three communication styles which do not serve a leader well if any one of them is the leader’s preferred style. Keep in mind that the communication style you model for you followers is what will become the culture of the organization.

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Making the Conscious Mental Shift

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PrioritiesLast week in talking about overcoming exhaustion I suggested the first thing you must do to overcome your exhaustion is to make a conscious mental shift. Although I mentioned what making a conscious mental shift would look like, I really need to go a little deeper in explaining how one goes about making a conscious mental shift.

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Overcoming Exhaustion

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Exercise regularlyLast week we looked at some of the contributors of exhaustion. I suggested that you look over the list of contributors and see if you can identify any one of them as a regular part of your life. This week I want us to look at steps we can take to overcome the exhaustion in our lives as leaders.

  1. Make a conscious mental shift.

Before you make any lasting change you have to make a conscious mental shift. The mistake many people make is to initiate changes without making the necessary mental adjustment.

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Exhausted Leaders

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Tired ManOne of the biggest challenges most leaders face is exhaustion. It’s one thing to be exhausted at the end of a long, hard day, but then have the time and resources to re-energize. It’s quite another to begin and end every day exhausted. Unfortunately, the latter seems to be the norm for too many leaders.

What does it mean to be exhausted?

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Leaders and Those Who Lead

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Photo credit: TED Conference via Foter.com / CC BY-NCSimon Sinek in his book on leadership, Start with Why, wrote the following:

There are leaders and there are those who lead. Leaders hold a position of power or authority, but those who lead inspire us. Whether they’re individuals or organizations, we follow those who lead, not because we have to, but because we want to. We follow those who lead, not for them, but for ourselves.

I recall working for a leader who led. He was enjoyable to be around. I followed him not for him but for myself. I was inspired to work hard, take the initiative and be creative with my responsibilities.