Maurilio Amorim

Author: Maurilio Amorim

  • A Life with Purpose

    I never saw it coming. The voice on the other end of the phone said in a frail but determined way: “If God gives me four more weeks of life I will finish this book. I’ve been working on it every day.” My eyes swelled up with tears immediately. The man speaking those words, Billy Hornsby, has been battling an aggressive form of cancer that has now moved into his brain. He’s a good friend, a great leader and one the authors I represent. But he didn’t stop there. He paused and then spoke again, “God has been so good to me and I want to help people to discover the amazing life He can give them. I just need a little more time.” overwhelmed by Billy’s response I had to pull over and try to get myself back together.

    A Life With Purpose

    Just hours before I had a completely different conversation with someone who’s biggest ambition in life was to have more time off from work. Billy’s urgency to finish strong and to continue to fulfill his God-given purpose till the very end, spoke deeply to me. It has forced me to re-examine my choices, priorities, and aspirations. It has prompted me to look afresh at God’s will for my life.

    I have been abundantly blessed in every area of my life. It would be wrong and wasteful of me to wander through life without a greater purpose other than, as the old hymn says, “count my blessings naming them one by one.” Billy is not done. He needs four more weeks, and I know that if God grants him more than that he will find another project to do.

    So today I’m praying that God will help me refocus my life, and that I will be obedient in relentlessly pursuing it.

    What would you do if you knew you only had four weeks left to live?

  • Communicators: Embrace Social Media or Quit

    If you’re a communicator, you cannot afford not to be engaged in social media. I know this sounds like a mandate, and it is. Even if only a part of your job is to communicate the vision, mission and direction of the organization you lead, you, more than anyone else in your organization, should lead the social media charge.

    Communicators must embrace social media or quit

    I meet with leaders who refuse to embrace any social platforms. Their excuses are always the same:

    I don’t get it.

    I don’t have time.

    I’m a private person.

    I have nothing to say.

    Until recently I used to go down a list of why it didn’t take that much time and how to manage time. I patiently talked about how even a private person could have a dynamic online presence, and how even the most introvert of leaders has something to say to his or her organization as well as to the community at large. Those were compelling arguments and I was careful to explain them. Often I got through, but occasionally I would get the nod that said “thanks for trying, but it’s not going to happen.”

    Recently I have changed my approach. This week I found myself saying to a reluctant leader: “Well, just get over yourself. This is not just about you. This is about leading, and communicating well. It’s about having the greatest impact on the most people using the tools that are available to you. Your team and your organization could benefit so much from a successful online strategy. And what you’re telling me is that you don’t want to grow anymore. You’re done.” I’m not sure I would recommend this approach to everyone, but in this case, I got through.

    Your opinion of the social media dynamics is, well, irrelevant. That’s how the game is being played right now. It’s the cost of relevance, the language of culture–the new global culture. The longer leaders go without embracing their online communication strategy, the more difficult their entrance into it will be. Sooner or later they will join the conversation, or they’ll abdicate their position to someone else who’s willing to do it. If they’re smart, they’ll make it sooner.

    Am I being unreasonable?

  • Don’t Label Me

    Sarcasm and name-calling were survival skills growing up. If you’re going to make it in my family, you had to be quick, witty, and ruthless or you got “taken down” by a sibling or a parent. In my Brazilian household, you could not afford to be timid or slow. Name-calling for us became a sport during meals where the whole family often created nick-names for friends and even other family members. It was all meant in good fun. Today, I must confess, I have the propensity to do the same thing with people around me–most of whom I see places like the Y but have never formally met. Recently I have become convicted about my labeling. So what’s the problem with labeling people you don’t even know? Well, plenty.

    The Problem With Labels

    Here’s some of the people I see on any given day:

    Stinky

    Crazy Guy

    Angry Doc

    Skinny Girl

    Surgery Boy

    Leather Lady

    Cable Guy

    Drama Queen

    Outfit Girl

    Squeaky

    Naked Old Guy

    I could go on, but you get the point. The problem with labels is that while they might be mildly entertaining to me, they ultimately do something terrible: they dehumanize. Insidiously a label will begin to erase all of the complexity of someone’s rich story and paint them as one-dimensional, soulless, caricature. As a communicator, I should have known of the destructive power labels carry. Just consider how negative political ads impact our perception of a candidate.

    It’s easy to ignore caricatures. I have no problem walking by Squicky and not giving him the time of day. But, it’s much more difficult for me not to care about John, who’s been out of work for six months, and who would welcome a gracious word or nod.

    People matter to God. They are not labels. My prayer is that I will begin to see them as God sees them.

    What about you? How do you handle the nameless people in your life?

  • My Prayer for the American Church

    Someone asked me yesterday “so what do you think is the future of the church in America?” Boy, that’s a loaded question. A lot of people smarter than me have speculated on where the American church is headed. Some feel hopeful but many others have pointed towards the spiritual darkness of the European landscape as its future. While I’ll leave the speculation to pollsters, here’s my prayer for the Church in America:

    My Prayer for the American Church

    I pray that the church will continue to seek those outside the faith. I believe that nothing is closer to heart of God than rescuing those for whom He sent his Son to die on the cross.

    I pray that the church will live its faith out in authentic community where the broken as well as the whole can do life together.

    I pray that the church will continue to remind Christians that while we are change agents in this world, we are not to be comfortable in it. After all, the world was not meant to be our home.

    I pray that the church will find its voice in each new generation and speak hope and truth in clear and compelling ways.

    I pray that I will become what God has created me to be so that His Church can do all He has designed her to do.

    What is your prayer for the Church in America?

  • Say Yes to the Prompting

    Yesterday afternoon I was running errands and felt led to call a friend I hadn’t connected with in a few weeks and gave him a call. My message was short: “hey, I’m thinking of you. I hope you’re well.” Not long afterward I get a text message saying he was dealing with a family crisis, which he assumed I had heard about. I had not. I was just following the prompting to reach out to a friend and and say hi.”It must have been the Lord” he texted me later about my overture. My mind went immediate to the times that I had the same prompting but did nothing.

    I’m probably not alone in this. Throughout the day, we think about people whom we haven’t seen or heard in a while, or even those who are closest to us, and, most of the time, we just keep moving to our next task or appointment. After all we are very busy people with a lot of responsibilities and a long to-do list. But let me challenge you to listen to these promptings instead of ignoring them. Consider that God can use something as trivial as a few characters on a text message to encourage someone in the midst of their need.

    Not long ago a friend sent me an encouraging message at the end of a particularly difficult day.  It was enough to bring a smile to my face and get me in a different frame of mind. So today as you think of someone, don’t waste an opportunity to bless them. They might be needing to hear from a friend more than you ever realize.

    As you read this post, who has come to your mind?

  • Sometimes Only A Song Can Capture the Moment

    From time to time a song comes along and speaks to so many people. This one spoke to me. I have heard that prayer changes people. Well, maybe not in this case.

    Should I feel bad for enjoying this song?

  • To Iron or Not to Iron? The Rise of the Wrinkled Shirt

    Lately I have been wearing wrinkled shirts. On purpose. The iron hasn’t been near them. I call this the “crumpled look.” It has not been an easy transition for me, but I have found a strange freedom from the Land of Starch where I lived in for so many years. I remember going to the cleaners with my cotton shirts and asking for extra, extra starch on my button down shirts. The starch would build up after a few washes and eventually the shirts could stand up on their own. Once I even nick my neck with a particularly sharp collar. So today I’m wearing something that’s not only not starched, it actually has wires sewn into the shirt so I can bend and twist the fabric in case it doesn’t look crumpled enough. I must confess that it has taken me a while to get to this point. So what’s a guy to do? When is wrinkled ok? Is starch completely out? To iron or not to iron? That is the question!  Here’s a few simple rules for different types of shirts:

    Dress shirts you wear under a suit must be ironed and preferably starched. This classic look will never go away. It’s always appropriate.

    to iron or not to iron
    The dress shirt always looks nice with a bit of starch

    Transitional shirt. Ok, I made that name up. But that’s what I call something that’s not a dress shirt but not a very casual one. Think of stripes, solids or tops that don’t have a lot going on. These should most likely be pressed.

    The transitional usually needs pressing.

    Casual. Think plaids, snaps, western, flaps and embroidery. These are on the bubble. They can be ironed out or not. It depends on your personal journey towards the crumpled look. The more you wear the crumbled look the less you’ll iron your casual shirts.

    The casual shirt does not need to be ironed but It's ok to do it.

    Distressed. These are shirts made to be wrinkled and look their best that way.

    Distressed or crumpled shirts look best wrinkled.

    How do you feel about the wrinkled shirt look?

  • Your Marriage, Your Career

    I have been thinking about some of the business advice I have given lately to clients and friends. One in particular sounds out of place. It doesn’t fit neatly in the “business” category but in my experience it has more to do with business than most any other nugget of help I have both given or received from someone. Perhaps the greatest impact in my business career has been whom I chose to marry.

    Your best business move might be whom you marry

    I cannot tell you how fortunately I am to have married well–“Way out of your league” as a friend once reminded me. This personal decision has had a greater impact in my business career than any other single choice. Being married to Gwen has allowed me to pursue my dreams to a degree I would never had done alone, and much less if I had married a lesser person. Marrying well will:

    Provide encouragement to to pursue your dreams

    Give you the confidence to move forward

    Create a safe place you call home

    Bring balance in an ever-demanding world

    Love you for who you are, so you can be all you’re destined to be

    But the opposite is also true when we choose poorly and find ourselves in a relationship that

    deflates,

    demands,

    mistrusts,

    and doubts.

    Sadly, I’ve been around brilliant men and women who cannot pursue their God-given dreams because they live in the throws of relational chaos, trying to manage a difficult relationship while letting life’s opportunities slip away.

    I hope you’re reading this and thanking God for your spouse. Perhaps you’re single and considering your options. For some, this post comes too late. Maybe some can make a case of being able to succeed in business despite their difficult marriages, but I can only imagine the extra amount of energy it would take to make that work. And how much more could they accomplish if they had a safe, encouraging place to call home?

    How’s the most significant relationship in your life affect what you do?

  • You Are Now a Global Brand. Yes, You.

    I was in Sao Paulo, Brazil at the lobby of a hotel waiting with my client to meet our Brazilian hosts whom I did not know. One of the men looked up from his cell phone and startled me by saying, “Aren’t you Maurilio? I follow you on Twitter.” The same scenario happened a few weeks later in Singapore as I attended TWR’s Asia partners’ meeting. Since then I have heard from people in New Zealand, Europe, Africa and other parts of the world who read my posts. I have come to grips with the fact that I’m a global brand. While that might  sound pretentious and grandiose, I think it’s true of anyone who has an online presence. We all know the internet doesn’t stop at the end of town, ( I had one client who wanted to launch his website in Tennessee first, however), but I’m not sure most of us have thought of ourselves as a global brand. I know I haven’t.  But If that’s true, what are some of the implications?

    You Are a Global Brand. Yes, You

    You don’t speak just for yourself. Privacy or not, if you’re online you have chosen to open your thoughts and ideas to the rest of the world. , Your opinions, thoughts, rants, likes and dislikes are available for the planet to see. Your brand is a reflection of all of your online persona. Don’t ever assume that “people who know me know I’m joking.” Most people online will never meet you. You represent your personal brand as well as your employer, your faith and, yes, even your country, like it or not.

    Your words matter. Once you  realize you’re writing for the world, you’ll begin to think about how your vocabulary and writing style will come across to those in other English-speaking countries as well as those who might be reading your posts as a second or third language. Making your thoughts and ideas as clear as possible and free of unnecessary jargon becomes a priority. Slang might  be funny to your friends, but might completely bypass a global audience.  Remember, you’re not writing a Ke$ha song. (You might say I just broke my own rule by alluding to Ke$ha. Unfortunately,  for humanity, she’s known world wide)

    Your scope dictates your reach. If you want to reach beyond your hometown, find content that appeals to people everywhere. Even when a topic is personal, there’s always an universal element you can bring out. No matter how far geographically apart we are, certain topics and ideas bring “tribes” together from around the world. For example, runners in Singapore, Sao Paulo or Vienna share a common interest.

    What other implications does being a global brand have?