Creativity finds inspiration in the most unlikely of places. A few months ago, two young men decided to set the somewhat humorous news interview with Antoine Dodson, brother to a woman who had been assaulted in her apartment by a rapist, to music creating an instant Youtube sensation. Mr. Dodson has moved away from the projects with the proceeds he’s made from the “song.” He also performed live at the BET awards last month. The “bedroom intruder song” has now made its way into the Christmas repertoire of the Liberty University singers. Below is the evolution of the original newscast, the song and finally the Christmas version.
Author: Maurilio Amorim
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What Your Tech Accessory Says About You
Fashion accessories say a lot about a person. Your technology “clothing” says even more about the kind of person you are. Since everyone at The A Group got iPads as Christmas gifts this week, I’m featuring in today’s Fashion Friday edition iPad covers and how they are a reflection of their owners. Take a look at these:
You're important. You're serious. You're wealthy. 
You're an Artiste mon ami! 
You're a woman, an European man or a man wishing he were an European woman 
You're a rebel but a geeky one. Rock On. 
You're cutting edge with the original Apple cover. People wish they were you. 
You work for Microsoft. What? This is my letter box. 
You're a man's man. Bacon says it all. 
You own a Yacht 
You're a Playa. Love the bare touch feel and yet the full protection. 
I'm not even going there. I'm already in trouble for the last comment. What’s your iPad cover of choice? What does it say about your style?
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Finding Your Perfect Job Has More To do With You Than The Market
Lately I have spent time with several friends on their careers. The tough economy, life transition and leadership issues have forced some of my friends to reconsider their current employment. It’s not uncommon for what you thought to be your dream job turn into your living nightmare. Over the years I have heard plenty of times, “I was hired to do one thing and now my job is doing something completely different.” It happens–more so these days than ever before. While I empathize with their pain ( I have been there before) I usually tell them: Don’t run away from a bad situation. Instead run toward the future you want.
Every time we run from a job, we risk of ending up in a similar situation later down the road. Before you search for another job or decide to make a career move, take time and do some honest soul searching. Here’s where I would start:
know your strengths and weaknesses. Be honest with yourself. Don’t buy into your own PR. You’re not good at everything. None of us are. Unless you can understand what you do well and what you don’t, you’ll never put yourself in a place where you can succeed. If you’re not a numbers person, then admit it. Stay away from business administration and accounting. Your perfect job will never be something you are not good doing. Never.
Understand the environment you work best. Work environment makes a difference in performance. If you’re a collaborative person, than a job where you work alone or from home is not going to get the best out of you.
Create a list of your past “wins” and find a common thread. Look back and catalog the projects, jobs, or situations where you had positive results or feedback. What made them succeed? If you can find the winning pattern, it will help you identify the key elements that will help you succeed in your new position.
Design your ideal job/career in your mind. It’s easy to say “yes” to a lot of things when you don’t have a strong idea of what you really want. It’s easy to say “no” to a good opportunity when you’re waiting to say “yes” to your perfect job.
Connect the dots. In my experience, the perfect job you want is usually two or three steps, jobs, opportunities away from where you are. Learn to connect the dots and strategically pursue the next logical opportunity.
What other advice would you give someone who is ready to make a job or career move?
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What Social Media Will Never Do For You
I love social media. It has changed my professional as well as personal life. I have made new friends, found new clients, and re-connected with my Brazilian high school as well as my American college friends. It’s by far one of the most significant shifts in human interactivity I have ever experienced. Because of it the world has become small, very small. In most cases, I recommend and encourage my clients to be active in social media whether they are business leaders, ministry heads, authors, or performers. I have taught social media seminars for years to leaders all over the world. But even at its best, social media was never intended to replace face-to-face interactivity, and the sooner we understand that, the better off we are.
As I considered how far we have taken our online interactivity, here’s a few things it can never do for us:
A post on your Facebook wall will never be able to look deep into your eyes and see the pain you’re feeling.
A Skype call cannot hold your hand or hug you close.
A Twitter DM is not able to unpack the complexity of a tough day or a difficult loss.
A YouTube video cannot sit quietly next to you and enjoy just being together.
A Twitpic of your best meal ever will never be a memory shared, but an opportunity lost.
A blog post might share your heart with the world when what you really need is to share your soul with someone.
If it weren’t for my online presence, I would not have met some great friends. But as I looked into a friend’s eyes, held his hand, and prayed with him, I was reminded of how meaningful the human experience can be.
What other area(s) are we trying to use social media where it cannot deliver?
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How Generous Are You?
I remembering seeing an episode of the Celebrity Apprentice where Sharon Ousborne was thrilled she was able to secure a 15 thousand dollar gift from a wealthy donor. She was ‘shocked’ because according to her, she had never seen anyone give that much money away before. Well, I was shocked but for a different reason. First, her reaction told me a lot about Mrs. Ousborne generosity quotient or lack thereof and then it reminded me how many truly giving people I have met over the years. People who have given a lot more with a lot less money. So during this giving season, what does it mean to be generous?
Here’s a few thoughts about generosity:
It’s not an amount. a 15 thousand dollar gift might not be as generous as a 15 dollar one. Remember the story of the widow’s mite?
It’s not about money. Sometimes your most generous gift is one of time and friendship. I’m at a stage in life that I really don’t need more stuff. But I can always use the company and counsel of a good friend.
It’s a choice. Much like any human virtue, a generous heart is cultivated and not born. Left to human nature, we all would be greedy and selfish.
It’s a responsibility. I believe that the Bible means business when it says that to whom much is given, much is required. I was reminded of that passage of Scripture by a friend who has given much of what he had away and has such a gracious heart.
It’s a blessing. I have never, ever regretted being generous. Every time I give, I always receive more than the value of the gift back, and not from a “giving so I can receive, name-it-and-claim-it theology,” perspective. I’m blessed in ways I could never orchestrate or predict.
Did I miss anything? What else would you add?
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Sometimes You Need a Fresh Perspective to See the Obvious
As a consultant, too often, I feel I’m telling my clients the obvious. After all, it doesn’t take me long to figure out what they should do next. I forget how immersed I am in my professional career and how much it has become second nature to me. In my years of consulting I have learned that there are three key components to helping a person or organization: expertise, experience and perspective.
I tell my clients that they are not paying for my time, but for my expertise. If you’re going to be helpful you have to understand your professional arena well, and expertise that’s paired with experience is a powerful combination. Expertise tells you that A + B = C , but experience knows that if you don’t start with B first and then add A, your C will not be good. Experience gives context to expertise and produces real-life applications.
While most people agree with expertise and experience being cornerstones of good counsel, some forget how important perspective is. Perspective is what helps you see the forest and not just the trees, and it’s perspective that helps you see the big obvious problem, while your client only sees the broken pieces caused by the real issue. Perspective brings fresh eyes to a tired situation and helps people see the elusive obvious.
I was reminded of that last week when getting a hair cut. I told the new hair stylist, “I have this callick and I can’t get my hair to lay down. What product do you recommend?” He looked at it for a minute and said, “have you ever combed it the opposite direction?” That was the most obvious of all questions. And the answer was “no. I’ve never even considered it.”
When was the last time someone brought fresh perspective in your life or business? What happened?
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Before You Go To Church Readjust Your Expectations
We love to complicate simple things. The simple bottled water has turned into a multi-billion dollar industry that features flavor infused, protein added and whatever we can find to add in water and sell it. Human nature seem always to want more, better and bigger. And while this desire to improve on what we have, reach for new heights and possibilities keeps us growing, it also can rob us from the very essence of the simple and foundational purpose. That’s ever so true on how we have complicated church.
This Sunday morning as I’m preparing to go to church, I’m aware of how much we have complicated church as well. I’ve caught myself anticipating the music, the new set, the featured video or even getting my favorite parking spot near the side door more than looking forward to worshiping with my church family or hearing from God. I’ve managed to turn the simple notion of coming together as a church family into a series of “extra features” that have taken main stage.
So this morning I’m readjusting my expectations. I’m refocusing my attention away from the cultural add ons into a simple encounter with God and His people. I want to encourage you to do the same. Whether you’re sitting in a simple chapel or in a large auditorium with state-of-the-art production, look for the simple and yet life-changing connection with the Creator Himself. All the extra stuff, after all, don’t really matter.
Do these “extra features” preoccupy you as much as they do me?
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Growing Love in Your Kids at Christmas
Guest post by Dr. Tim Elmore
Love. We probably talk about this concept more today than ever before, but actually practice it less than ever. At least in the way God intended us to do so. We find love in movies, romance novels, in Hallmark cards, on YouTube, and on bumper stickers. At Christmas time, especially, love is promoted by stores to push sales, and by cinemas to sell tickets. We all love the idea of love!
But how do we practice it on the people we are closest to — like — in our home? Sometimes, the hardest people to love are not the strangers we meet out shopping, but our own family members.
Try this simple idea.
Sit down at dinner one night and talk about “love languages.” You may be familiar with the concept. Author, Dr. Gary Chapman, introduced it to us in his 1992 book: The Five Love Languages. After many years of counseling, Dr. Chapman noticed a pattern: Everyone he had ever counseled had a “love language;” a primary way of expressing and interpreting love. He also discovered that for whatever reason, people are usually drawn to those who speak a different love language than their own. The 5 love languages are:
1. Words of Affirmation (Speaking words of encouragement, favor and belief)
2. Quality Time (Spending focused time just sharing with another person)
3. Physical Touch (Holding hands, offering a hug or a squeeze to express affection)
4. Deeds of Service (Finding ways to serve someone by doing something for them)
5. Tangible Gifts (Providing some tangible gift that the other person appreciates)
Allow each family member to discuss which of these is their favorite. Then, have each family member write down their name and what their top love language is. Then, divide them up secretly. Each person should have the name of someone else in the family. The assignment is this: Each person must find a way to “speak” that love language to the person they drew. The following week, talk about what happened.
Then discuss: How could this be a regular practice in our family, and not just at the holidays but year round?
“If someone says ‘I love God’ but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see?” (I John 4:20)
Join us tomorrow at Eric Bryant’s blog as we discuss ways to develop faith in your kids (and maybe yourself!) during the holidays.
Tim Elmore
You can follow Tim Elmore’s personal blog at http://blog.growingleaders.com, and learn more about developing the next generation in his latest book: Generation iY: Our Last Chance to Save Their Future.
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Should I Wear a Hat?
So what’s the deal with men’s hats? Who should wear them and what style? Hats have been a staple of men’s fashion since Adam decided to wear a nice crown made of bay leaves, so the rumor goes. Some hats are more utilitarian, like Beanies, keep our heads warm during the cold months, even though they have become a fashion statement from gyms to red carpet events. Others, like the Fedora, set men apart in a crowd. But no matter what kind of hat you decide to wear, it will make a fashion statement.
While the modern-day hat is not quite as elaborate as its ancestor.
Here’s a helpful news segment from CBN’s Early Show featuring the Editor of GQ magazine:
No matter what hat you wear, keep these few rules in mind:
- Make sure the hat fits your head. Go to a hat store, or one that sells hats, and make sure you’re wearing something that fits well, specially something that’s not too small for your head.
- Wear light-colored hats during the Spring and Summer and dark during Fall and Winter.
- If you feel “weird” or not comfortable wearing a Fedora, than don’t do it. If you’re uncomfortable with a hat or any other accessory, people will be uncomfortable with you as well.
Do you wear a hat? What’s your favorite style?
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Mannequin Evangelism: A Faith Discussion When You Least Expect
Yesterday was an interesting day. I spent most of it carrying a mannequin around downtown Nashville in sub freezing temperatures. I carried “Pat,” our androgynous articulated dummy, through busy streets for a video shoot. For this piece, we placed Pat strategically around crowds, street corners and traffic and filmed “life” happening around a stiff, gray representation of a man (even though Pat is technically a woman dummy dressed like a man, but I digress). While I knew people might find the whole scene curious, I didn’t expect it to open the doors for a faith conversation.
Periodically throughout the day someone would approach me and asked what we were doing. “Do you ever feel like life is passing you by and you’re paralyzed or stuck? People come and go but you’re not moving?” Most just shook their heads in agreement. “This mannequin represents us when we feel stuck and in need of a new beginning.” As people understood the concept, their eyes would light up as if our foam dummy just came to life and became the actor playing their story in a drama.
Parker served us lunch and since Pat stood beside the table, he was compelled to ask me what was going on. I gave him my speech. “I can relate to that,” he said. “Just a few months ago, my life was stuck in a place I didn’t like. Now I’m traveling through America and then through Europe trying to find my way, my path.”
In that instance, I knew I had an opportunity to share a bit of my faith journey with Parker. “What about your faith search? Are you searching for God as well?” Parker was very open to the conversation, “I’m not religious,” he said and began to describe his past as being raised Christian, but that was no longer what he believed. For the next few minutes I tried to connect him back with a God who loves him and wants to be in a relationship with him. I asked him to be open and honest and ask God to help him find truth and find his way. It was a great conversation, and I pray that God uses my words to impact Parker way beyond our time together.
Pat taught me something today: if you are an approachable person, people will engage you and give you a chance to impact their lives. (I didn’t know before today, but if you carry a mannequin around that means you’re approachable–or at least peculiar in a non-threatening way). Truthfully, I probably could have had the same spiritual discussion with most every person who spoke to me during the shoot.
When was the last time you engaged a total stranger in a faith conversation? Would you do it if I lend you Pat?
