Archive for February, 2008
Posted by mattshultz on February 24, 2008
The most difficult task in the life of any emerging leader is how to manage his or her time effectively. The demands placed on those who have ultimate responsibility for the success of the organization often take precedence over family, health and other important areas of life. The best leaders understand how to compartmentalize all of these areas so that no one facet of their life goes unattended. The problem in today’s world is that we are so pressed for time that we over schedule and over stress ourselves so much that the product we generate is far below what we are capable of. We have been convinced that success is less about the quality of the time that we have available to us and more about filling every available second with perfunctory tasks that may not even be essential. This in my view represents one the true failures of this country especially as compared to our friends in Europe. They make sure to take time out to enjoy life and really live a MARGIN filled life.
In his book Margin, Richard Swenson says that living a life full of margin is the opposite of living an overloaded life. The problem with this is that many people according to Swenson do not know when they cross from margin to overload. Swenson goes on to make the point that we would all function better if we had a “flashing 100% meter” that warned us when we were getting to close to overload. Instead we lives at 120% of our capacity and then we “wonder why the burden feels so heavy”. The key to living a life of margin is to preschedule yourself in such a way that you live a life at 80% of your capacity. This allows us to be able to react when life throws problems so that we can adapt to them and work through the situation with energy left in the tank.
The formula that is outlined in the book to calculate Margin is Power-Load. Power is made up of factors such as energy, skills, time, training, emotional & physical strength, faith, finances and social supports. Load is our work, problems, obligations & commitments, expectations (internal & external), debt, deadlines, and interpersonal conflicts. When our load is greater than our power we go into a negative margin and that is when we begin to feel overloaded. The opposite is also true in that when we increase our power and decrease our load we have a life full of margin. This formula is pretty simple and it is easy to see that to live a life of margin we must increase our power or decrease or load or both. This concept of negative margin is just another way of quantifying or defining what burnout is.
One key to finding more time in your life is learning to be able to tell people NO. This may be painful at times but it is a key skill in taking back your life from the over scheduled mess that many of us fight with everyday. This is especially true for parents who want to provide their kids with activities galore. This often leads to family stress and causes a number of problems in many families today. A better strategy might be to focus on a few activities that allow for the child to be proficient at a couple of things rather than master nothing. Getting a handle on the family and work schedule will be the fastest way to get to a margin filled life!
Finding a way to manage life’s responsibilities in light of this if key to any leader’s ultimate success especially in the increasingly unhealthy situation presented to us in America today. Living a life of Margin and more importantly LEADING a life of margin will foster good will and higher productivity among employees. This will also build a more unified and cohesive organization whose principles are truly founded on values that really matter the most.
Posted in Bartow County, Christianity, Education, Leadership | 2 Comments »
Posted by mattshultz on February 22, 2008
In her recent article to The Daily Tribune a local democratic activist Ms. Beryl Fangue-Wallen goes on a diatribe about how the war in Iraq has been a waste of money and that we should have never been there in the first place. She goes on to site the issues that our veterans (I’m a former Marine myself) are dealing with like PTSD and the loss of limbs. What does Ms. Fangue-Wallen’s picture of victory look like? Is it complete surrender and the country of Iraq reseeding into violence and anarchy? Would this make the world a better place?
Had FDR had this mentality in WWII there is no telling what this country would be like now. Why is it that the Democrats of this country cannot come to terms with the fact that after 9/11 the primary mission of President Bush was to keep this country safe from further attack. The fact that this country has not been struck by terrorists again is inescapable and our global war on terrorism is the primary reason why. Ms. Fangue-Wallen would have us turn over our sovereignty to the United Nations and have us ask for permission to defend ourselves.
No one wants to see our men and women be injured in battle but I thank God that there are still patriots in this country who wear the uniform of America in its defense. How much money did we spend on WWI, WWII & the Cold War? Was that worth it? It is time that these pacifist bleeding heart democrats who would love to see us defeated in Iraq finally get the message that this war against Islamic Fascism transcends party and cuts to the very core of America’s security.
The sad irony of it all is that if President Bush had acted like the democrats have suggested and not sought to protect this country then there is a high probability that we would have been attacked again. These same people would be complaining for not acting in this nation’s defense. Ms. Fangue-Wallen like their speechifying upstart candidate Obama offers rehashed rhetoric with little substance.
Obama will bring change to Washington and it will come at the cost of your liberty, freedom and the strength of the Constitution. The democrats have been pushing a Socialist agenda for years and they have finally found Marx in a young Senator from Chicago. A vote for the democrats in this election is a vote against America and the eroding of what our founding fathers sought to build in this Republic.
Real change comes through the hard work of individual Americans in their private capacity not through handouts and government bureaucracy.
At the end of the day wouldn’t you rather be an Elephant than an ASS!
Posted in Bartow County, Leadership, Politics, Republican | 7 Comments »
Posted by mattshultz on February 20, 2008
In our regular meeting last night we purchased land for a replacement Cloverleaf Elementary School. The school has been slated for replacement as part of our 5-10 year facility plan. This represents another proactive step on the part of the board to keep up with the growth that our county is seeing. It will be a few years before the school will be built but we know where it is going to be and that is a huge first step in moving towards completion of this project. Read more about the meeting below:
http://www.daily-tribune.com/NF/omf/daily_tribune/news_story.html?rkey=0046602+cr=
Posted in Bartow County, Education, Leadership, Politics | 3 Comments »
Posted by mattshultz on February 20, 2008
Posted in Leadership, Politics | Leave a Comment »
Posted by mattshultz on February 15, 2008
February 15, 2008
Governor Huckabee,
I want to first tell you how inspired I have been to watch your campaign unfold. I have been a donor, blogger and supporter since July of 2007. I have been very proud to be associated with you and the message of hope and conservatism that you have brought to this campaign. I think that you have energized the party in a way that we have not seen in along time and you deserve a tremendous amount of credit for that.
Having said all of that I believe that it is time to seriously consider the value in continuing to move forward with your campaign. I am a veteran of the Marine Corps and I believe that the paramount issue that our country is facing right now in the war on Islamic extremism. We have an opportunity right now to unite behind Senator McCain and make sure that the Democrats do not win this election and place the security of this nation at risk.
I am asking that you step aside and work hard to use the good will and energy that you have garnered throughout this election for the good of this country.My request of you does not come without a challenge as you determine what your next step should be. Speaker Gingrich has and continues to warn that we must move for REAL CHANGE in this country if we have any chance of beating the Democrats in the fall.
I am asking you to take up this mantle and be the bridge between real change and Senator McCain. Gov. Huckabee you more than any other candidate have been out fighting for new ideas in the form of the Fair Tax in particular. You have the unique opportunity to be the voice of change in a way that unites this party and gives us the opportunity to be truly successful in the fall elections.
I know that this is not the task that you believed you were called to but I believe this role may actually be more important than becoming the nominee itself. The Republican Party has lost its grip and appeal with average Americans and you can be the man that helps this party to find its way back to Reagan conservatism.
Sometimes real servant leadership means having to deviate from the course we set for ourselves in order to serve the interests of the many. I applaud you for your leadership and ask you to end your campaign and begin your divine mission to repair and rebuild the compass of this once great party!
A friend and supporter,
Matt Shultz
Posted in Bartow County, Christianity, Leadership, Politics | 53 Comments »
Posted by mattshultz on February 9, 2008
James Dobson, one of the nation’s most prominent evangelical Christian leaders, backed Mike Huckabee’s presidential bid Thursday night, giving the former Arkansas governor a long-sought endorsement as the Republican field narrowed to a two-man race.
Read more about the endorsement HERE!
Posted in Bartow County, Christianity, Education, Leadership, Politics | Leave a Comment »
