Friday, August 13, 2010

More Star Wars Fans

Fans in Costume

Mark Hamill line up

They have room for only 2,000 fans to hear Luke Skywalker from Return of the Jedi! All these people are in line for a wrist band that will serve as the admission ticket. Some of them have been in line since early this morning for the 2:30 show.

The One Man Star Wars Show

Charlie Ross from Canada does a fabulous one man star wars show with sound effects and all. This is the line up to get into the theatre.
Celebration V - tomorrow The Daily Show's Jon Stewart will interview George Lucas. To get into Celebration Theatre, fans are expected to line up all night. Not me!

Monday, August 09, 2010

Ethiopia - the land of the Lion of Judah and the Ethiopian eunoch

Certainly the most participatory Folklorama pavilion. 3D surround dancing and freshly roasted and brewed coffee from the land of its origin. Mayor Sam Katz participated in one the dances.
Ethiopian food is THE BEST.
This is the first time the oldest civilisation in the world participated in Folklorama.
The small town of Lalibela in Ethiopia is home to one of the world's most astounding sacred sites: eleven rock-hewn churches, each carved entirely out of a single block of granite with its roof at ground level.

Sunday, August 08, 2010

Ukrainian LVIV Pavilion

Alayna's Last Week after 6? years of effort. Bittersweet. All good things must come to an end.

The End of An Era at LVIV

Alayna is doing her last week of performances at Folklorama. If you have not seen her perform, now is the time. There are 3 (6:45 8:15 9:45) performances each night at the Ukrainian Cultural Centre (corner of McGregor and Pritchard)until Saturday.
Later this month Alayna is planing to move to Toronto for her next year of University.

Tonight the show opened with the Dance of the Violins by the Yunisk ensemble. That was followed by a ''famous" soloist and other dances.
The fiddle group Northstar performed several numbers.

The Life of Joseph: Identity Disclosure

Pastor Delbert Enns www.Eastview.org
Welcome
We are at a turning point in the story of Joseph.
We went on a road trip stood on the stairs of the Lincoln Memorial where Dr Martin Luther King delivered his "I have a dream" speech. That speech changed America. It was a pivotal point in the life of America.

Joseph was the 1st born of Joseph's favorite wife and he was sold by his jealous brothers. Joseph could have considered himself a victim. Today we have a culture of victimhood.
Joseph refused to be a victim. He had a dream in the midst of scars. He had the ability to see beyond his circumstances and scars. Gen 45:1 - God sent me to keep you alive. God made me governor of Egypt - not you.

Challenge:
When we are confronted with injustice, our true colors come out. We need a vision 50-20 - God is making things good in spite of evil.
God has the power to transform human evil to divine good.

Joseph means remover or increaser. He was now 42 years old. He removed the pain of rejection. The family was restored. The removal of hostility.
The Norwood family lived a godly Christian life. Their youngest daughter Joy (4)was killed in a hit and run. Could they continue to love God? ''The Heart of Texas". When they found that a family friend inadvertently did it, they forgave. Mr. Norwood prayed for his friend.

The sculptor needs the hammer and chisel. And polishing tools.

We all have scars. How can God use your scars to help others? To console others.
The greatest story of forgiveness is the Jesus story. Father forgive them. Jesus knew that freedom comes for those who believe in him.
Turn my scars and pain into something beautiful.
Phil 2:15 shine like lights without complaining.

Saturday, August 07, 2010

Mexico: Folklorama 2010

The sights and sounds of Mexico are truly mesmerizing. The colors and variety of costumes and dancers are amazing! More color and professional action than any other Pavilion! Too bad this is the last performance of the year. If you missed this, you'll have to wait till next year!

Chilean Pavilion

We went there for the Pisco Sour and enjoyed a very good show. The singing group formed in 1967 in Santiago Chile.
The headliner performances came from Polynesian Easter Island, one of the most mysterious places on earth. How were those ancient peoples able to transport and erect those impressive statues there?
The layer cake was exceptional.
Next week there is a Chile Lindo pavilion.

Friday, August 06, 2010

Hungaria Pavilion Folklorama 2010

The Hungarian greeting "lsten Hozta" means God brought you here.
Karpat Hungarian Folkdancers entertains audiences all over North America. Karpat@mts.net
26 Hungarian scientists have become Nobel prize laureates. Budapest University is the oldest technological university in the world.
Excellant food, music, and dance.
Transylvania is part of traditional Hungary. 2/3 of Hungary was given to neighbouring countries after WW1.

Kyiv Ukraine Pavillion

Absolutely First Class in every way. From costumed greeters along the waiting line, to fabulous cultural displays, terrific food, world class music and dancing - what is not to love about this Venue! Certainly a must see! What a way to celebrate Easter in August! More than 200 trained and costumed volunteers help to make this a spectacular event.

Jack Welsh Leadership Summit interview

Leaders need to Energize. Energy is not enough. Spinning wheels does not work.

A leader needs to draw out the wisdom of all the smart people. If 2 or 3 buy into your ideas stay at it till everyone is in.

Authenticity. Candor. Speaking truth. Get feelings on the table. Cut bureaucracy.

Differentiation. Top 20%, 70% Vital people, and 10% are losers.
Pay must be based on value contribution. Sports teams differentiate. Is winning good? You compete for a share of the pie. Candor must be driven in. Conversation should let me know where I stand. Most people spend all their time fixing the bottom 10. Fire them.
The top 20% are A's
They energize. They have a gene that says "I love to see people grow". They celebrate their people. They hire great people. They don't have envy.
B's the vital 70%. Hard working but not as gifted as the A's. The challenge is to nurture the top of the B's to become A's. Use a red pen during the appraisal.
C's are a pain in the arms. Negative. Acidic and disruptive. Antagonize. Boss haters you may have to tolerate them but shape them up because they are smart. Candor is OK. Back Corner Whisperer is someone you need to get rid of. Stop the after the meeting meetings.
The top 20 you pay them all you can. Who are you to evaluate people into 20-70-10? Is there a better way? Tell me if there is.
Could you have grown GE without 6 figure salaries? No.
How does a church compensate their top leaders? Those people made that choice. Outcomes come from choices. Non-profit does not mean non-Performance.

Biggest failure? We act too slowly. We don't want to break the glass because there might be potential fallout. But Fallout happens anyway.
Gridlock happens.

Succession planning. You did it well. How do you pass the baton?
What's the process? Started 8 years before retirement. One of the long shots won in the end. You never know how someone will perform at the next level.

Celebrations. Leaders must celebrate small victories. Every budget has some slush.

Personal. Health scare. Spent 104 days in the hospital because of staff infection. Asked Pastor Bill to "Toss one north for me." (pray)

Did that open up your heart? Open to the next leg of my Journey. I'm going to church all by myself.

Never, ever, ever, give up on somebody. What can happen when God gets a hold of your loved ones. Listen to God's whisper.

Daniel Pink: How to motivate people

Stick or carrot? Eliminate commissions? That's radical. Basic salary and then give profit share at year end.
Often we make wrong assumptions. Humans are semi-sophisticated robots? Not true. Humans are blobs? Passive and inert. Not true.
Our nature is to be active and engaged. Find me a 2 or 4 year old who is inert. There are some things that can make some people inert over time.
What works? What creates enduring motivation? Autonomy Mastery Purpose AMP
1. Autonomy- Management. Not a river tree or mountain. It's technology from the 1850s what are we doing? Mgmt is designed to get Compliance. But we want engagement. Who is your best boss?
Someone who gives you Autonomy over Time, Team, Task, Technique -that leads to engagement.
An Australian SW company has FedEx days where people can invent stuff for 20% of their time
Gmail was a 20% free time project.
How do you make this work?
Create Scaffolding. Help them with a FedEx day. 20% time with training wheels stabilizers. Start with 10% time for cool stuff
AMP
2. Mastery. Someone somewhere is playing a bassoon. Why? Because it's fun. What motivates people to work? The days when people make progress. It is free. Flow is the delicious part of our time when we lose track of time and get positive feedback. It is hard to get them at work. Performance review is bad theatre.
Take your performance review into your own hands. Set your goals at the beginning of the month. Review.
3. Purpose. We are seeing the limits of the profit motive. It is not the kind of thing that makes people race to work. People need to be motivated by Something larger than yourself. Do people use We or They in their conversations? "We" organizations will grow.
Can I change my organization? No. Can I change what I do tomorrow? Everything starts with Conversation. That's what changes the world.

W.L. Gore Global Leadership Summit

2.5B$ @ year sales
CEO Terry
Create the right foundation and values. The Gores learned from DuPont creating personal relationships so people don't feel like numbers.
What's different? Peer based organization to make everyone a success. People are vested to feel part of the whole. On demand hierarchy. Decision making shifts depending or who is best qualified to make a decision based on knowledge.
Ladder vs. Lattice organization everyone connects with everyone else. We don't tell people what to do or where. Leaders have to direct through influence. The energy has to shift to the people.
How do you prevent the herding cats problem> Jake the long term foundation I. Belief in to individual 2. Small teams. 3. All in the same boat. Our success is collective. 4. Long term View - not only profit- are we helping the Community.
How does my idea get funded? Convince others. What is your passion? Peer review process allows ideas to bubble up. The teams decide where they can make the greatest impact. Everyone likes to be viewed as making the greatest impact and gets paid on peer review. People can drive their Passion.
More coaches than bosses. Everyone has a personal sponsor. To help that person grow. To be successful is so important. The sponsor really helps every one. That has been extremely effective.
Maximum 250 people per plant. 18 plants in 25 miles. Small plants allow team work. Collaboration
It is scaleable with a Core set of Values. Beliefs are transferable. Hiring is critical. Spend a lot of time with behavioral interview. Does the person's values fit into your organization?
What is the waterline principle? No manuals.
Waterline the ship analysis. don't drill holes below the water line.
Leadership defined by followership. You are only a leader if you have followers. Because you have unique skills. Spend more time explaining yourself reaching out bringing the culture to life.
What does the CFO do? Stay out of the way. Encourage change while staying true to our Values. Over 50% the associates say they are leaders.

Thursday, August 05, 2010

Global Leadership Summit: Dr Peter Zhau Xiao

He did a study of Market Economies with churches vs. without churches.

This is the first time a Chinese Christian has had the opportunity to stand on a world stage like this.
You must lead people in the RIGHT direction.

In the last 500 years the Protestant revolution has been a most significant change.
Now China has come back. Over the last 5000 years China has been the largest economy 90% of the time.
Now China has dramatic economic growth. By the end of this year China will become the 2nd largest economy in the world. Not necessarily taking a leadership position. China has moral and environmental problems. There is no China dream. No moral leadership. There is an American dream. It includes Christian values. That generates respect. China needs to embrace Christian Values.
Thank you for all the Christian missionaries that have helped China over the years. By 1949 there were 1,000,000 Christians. God does not cease working. Mao thought he cleaned China of Christians. There are now 18-130,000,000 Christians in China. Soon China will be the largest Christian nation in the world.
There are only 2 transformations - one with the cross, one without.
America has built a city on a hill, shining the light in Asia. S Korea, Taiwan, Singapore have become Christian missionary sending countries.
China absorbs all cultures. China will integrate Christian culture.
China is chasing the market civilization. Soon they will build on the Christian faith with harmonious love society. Christian entrepreneurs keep one set of books.
China is being transformed by the cross. A Chinese "Mayflower" has set sail. China is becoming a new city on the hill as a light to be a blessing to the whole world.

A leadership that will bless the world.

You are invited to bless this process. We fear change. That's normal. Don't fear China. Help them become mature. God has given us the opportunity to influence China today and bless the future world.

Leadership Summit: Adam Hamilton

When Leaders Fall.
In a survey of 1000s of pastors 30% admitted to sexual impropriety. There is no one size fits all to prevent this. We believe in redemption. How do we deal with this?
4 options:
1. Say nothing
2. Be Evasive
3. Denounce and distance
4. Transparency Grace Openness Integrity and Compassion Trust Consequences. Church exists for broken people. Pray for them. Deal with how we all fail.
Are you going to be a Pharisee? Can you cast a stone?
That's the kind of church people want to be part of. Policies. If it smells like a date it is. Don't do it.

Do the Sex talk twice a year.
We are wired for reproduction. Companionship. We also have the sin drive, and that leads to self destruction. Prone to wander.
Picture sin in the most disgusting terms. The dog roots in the cat's litter box. It's easy to start flirting with exciting co-workers. The moment of the maybe- you play with it in your mind. That's where the slide starts.
Don't let the devil ride, cause he is going to want to drive. Say no.
There are seasons of love in life. That's life.
5 sin resisting rules:
1. Remember who you are - a child of the king.
2. Recognize the consequences - will I feel better later?
3. Stop drop and pray. God please help me.
4. Reveal your struggle to a trusted friend
5. Remove yourself from the situation. Better to enter the kingdom of heaven than stay where you are.
Don't shoot the wounded. Welcome the sinner coming home. God is the God of the 2nd chance. Offer yourself to God. I rededicate myself to you.

Leadership Summit 2010 Football Coach Tony Dungy

Family and mentoring associates is more important than drive. Passion is important, but good family life is more important. Tom Landry was always under control and was a good mentor from afar.
Mentor someone today.
That sounds intimidating. Find out how you con help someone.
Quotes from the Mentor Leader book:
How you do your job has always been more important than what you do.
You don't win on emotion - you win on execution.
Character is tested, revealed, & further developed by the decisions we make in the most challenging times. We have to know what is right and we have to choose to do it.

Who is Christ to you? He came to die for me!

Global Leadership Summit: Jim Collins

Good is the enemy of Great
Why do some Companies move from Good to Great?
To be a Great Nation we must have great social systems.

But How Do The Mighty Fall? If it happens to others it can happen to us. Anyone can fall.
Sometimes an organization can be sick on the inside, but look strong on the outside.

5 stages of decline. Largely self inflicted.

1. Outrageous arrogance to neglect our calling. Just because we have good intentions does not mean we cannot make bad decisions.

Darwin Smith paper company CEO. No social skills. Made the company grow.

The Xerox CEO was magnetic. Inspiring. Never sought the role. An accidental CEO.

Southwest Airlines. Not a normal CEO. He was a weird one. When the going gets weird the weird become CEO. Why do they win? Commitment. Level 5 leader vs. Level 4

Humility makes the difference. That's the data. Do whatever it takes no matter the pain.


2. Overreaching -undisciplined pursuit of more. Packards law - too few good people. Are the seats filled with good people? Get the right people on the bus then figure out where to drive.


3. Culture of denial of risk and peril. Are your teams on the way up or on the way down. Where are you?

Admiral Stockdale "In Love And War". He never got depressed because he never wavered convinced that he would get out. The optimists did not survive. Never confuse faith and facts.


4. Grasping for salvation. Denied peril and they fell. Looking for a silver bullet. It is never a single event. Disciplined people taking disciplined action. Turn upon turn it is a leadership wheel. 5% better each year.


5. Capitulation. It is over. Out of choices and options.

18 visionary companies from 1989 are still going strong as independent companies. Why? They had a reason to endure. They knew why they existed. Driven by purpose beyond money.

4 people in Japan had a vision for quality and raising the living standards.

If we lose our values we lose everything. Consistency and change. Preserve the core and stimulate progress. Have a dream. Big hairy audacious goals.

10 To Dos

1. Do diagnostics www.JimCollins.COM

2. Count your blessings in a spreadsheet and make it at least 100.

3. Ask the right questions. Be interested.

4. How many of our key seats have good people in them?

5.

6. In your next meeting create a list of of all the brutal facts.

7. How many people have a to do list? A STOP Do List is much more important.

8. Define results and milestones. Clicks on the flywheel

9. Double your reach to young people.

10. Have Big hairy audatious goals.


Peter Drucker wrote most of his books after age 85

So never capitulate. Never give in. You will have setbacks. Build a great business. Create your own future. Form alliances. Never give up on your Core Values.