Shangai, China
Another hot set of days in Shangai, but lots to see. The World Expo is on in Shangai at the moment, but it was just too hot to walk around an exposition and with only one day, we made an executive decision to just enjoy the city. Being adventurous (Carole calls it nuts) we decided to use the underground and go down to the “Bund”. This is on a major river and is lined with wonderful neo-classical architecture built fo
r the financial district. On the other side of the river is the famous Pearl tower. So working out how to buy two single tickets we boarded the #11 line, went four stations, changed to the #2 line and got off at the bottom of the Pearl Tower. (all this for 60 cents each!). We spent some time looking at the Pearl Tower and then wondered through one of the largest malls we have ever seen. 9 floors and each floor the size on one Santa Anita. The Bund is a clean sightseeing walk along the river. We eventually found a ferry to take us to the other side (Sounds like Mark 4) for 30c each. Lots of people and very crowded. But a good day of sightseeing. Packing now for the long trip home. Fun tip is that we will arrive in the USA 6 hour before we leave here J Some pictures to follow.
Hangzou, China
Wednesday saw us leaving Beijing. Interesting taxi trip as we got about 9km from airport and all traffic ground to a halt. Drivers got out the cars, cigarettes were lit up, even a card game started a few lanes over. No big concern (except for me and the taxi meter ticking over). About 15 minutes later all cars started and we were off again. The Capital airport must be the biggest airport terminal I have ever been in, and certainly the most impressive. Flight delayed by an hour and then a 2 hour flight to Hangzou. Picked up, whisked to the hotel, changed into a suit and then down to a “tea house” on the West lake for a memorable dinner with the Presidet and his senior staff. Lotus seeds, 7 different types of teas (really hot water with different leaf forms in them), duck tongues (very chewy) were the treats of the day. Note the “cucumber” juice in the glasses on the table.
Zu Bridge – West Lake Treated very well by our hosts, 2nd Hospital of Zeijhang University
Treated to an amazing performance using the lake
As a stage. Too hard to describe. Look at the promo on www.dailymotion.com/…/x2l5s9_kitaro-s-impressions-of-the-west-la_music
September 14th – Beijing City
Well we learned a lot about traffic and masses of humanity today. There are 20 million people in the city of Beijing and 4 million private cars. Most of them were in front of us most of the day! We used a tour company and were glad we did. The first stop was Tiananmen square. The first obvious attraction on this 144 hectare square is the large masoluem on the center for Chairman Mao. You have to be a Chinese citizen to visit his coffin. It is made of crystal, and is cold stored most of the day. The viewing is from 8-1pm and the line is long….. Great buildings on left and right of Beijing Museum and Great people’s hall/ North side is portrait and entrance to Forbidden city (forbidden to the commoner as it housed emperor and 1000 concubines. Very hot at 40C (about 100F).
Chairman Mao’s Hall (note line to get it)
North side of square. Chairman Mao’s photo in center.
Dragon boat at Summer Palace. Longest corridor in the world at 870m. Every 10m there is a unique hand painted scene. Marble barge for the “Dragon Lady”.
Temple of the harvest. No nails – all dovetail joints.
The fun one for the day.
Beijing 2010 – Post 1
Sept 13 – Beijing, China
Off to an early start on a one day tour of the Ming Tombs and the Great Wall. Absolutely fascinating stuff with facts like the great wall was built in 221 B.C. and is 8600 km (5700 miles) long. Very warm with temps in high 30′s.
Outside the Ming Tomb (about 45km from Beijing)
I like this guy – bit of a resemblance!
On the great wall with the rest of the world!!
The “Bird’s nest” – opening stadium for the Beijing Games (Aqua Cube on right)
My “funny” for the day – China Town in Beijing, China!!
End
What does success look like?
I am reading an interesting book, “Quiet Strength” by the coach Tony Dungy. For practical tips on how to lead as a Christian in a non-Christian world his insights are fascinating. This morning there was a particularly interesting thought on success.
The competing views of success in or world often creates an interesting tension. Society tends to define success in terms of accomplishments and awards, material possessions, and profit margins. In the football business, winning is the only thing that matters. God’s word however, presents a different definition of success-one centered on a relationship with Jesus Christ and a love for God that allows us to love and serve others. God gives each one of us unique gifts, abilities, and passions. How well we use these qualities to have an impact on the world around us determines how “successful” we really are. (p. 143)
So when you look at your scorecard today – how successful are you?
A Church within a Church – generational worship
My first church ministry position was at a church in South Africa seeking to launch an evening service targeting young people (today this would be considered “Generation X.”) At that time the popular view was that the elusive 18- to 30-year-olds wanted their own worship experience—a “church within a church.” But many years later most of these experimental Gen X services are gone. They’ve either been shut down, absorbed into the larger church, or they’ve spun out to become independent congregations. This weekCollin Hansen reports on the lessons we’ve learned from the rise, decline, and renewal of “Gen-X” ministries. Enjoy.
“What do you stand for? What do you believe in? What are discontent about? What makes you jump for joy? What keeps you awake at night?” From this self-awareness, he argues, rises the capability to live life with intention, forward-moving, as if carefully and mindfully crafting a legacy.
One of my new learning’s this past year has been the growing understanding of the difference between a leader and leadership. I suppose intuitively I had some sense of the difference, but I noticed how often I actually used the terms as synonyms. This has obvious implications when coaching a leader as your really have to differentiate between whether you are developing the person (the leader) or their interaction with their followers (leadership). One source that I have just discovered is the following journal. In this issue there is a paper by Barry Posner (Leadership Challenge, Kouze &Posner fame). The heading to this blog is a quote from this article. You might find this interesting in your own learning. Does anyone out there have a different perspective of leaders and leadership that they would like to share? – JCR
Journal of Leadership Education
June 8th, 2009
We are excited to announce the publication of the special issue of the Journal of Leadership Education (JOLE) highlighting current issues and challenges in the field of leadership education.
You can access the full issue from the link in the middle of the editor’s introduction:
http://www.fhsu.edu/jole/issues/current.html
or the full PDF at the following:
http://www.fhsu.edu/jole/issues/JOLE_8_1.pdf
The issue highlights challenges in theoretical foundations of leadership education, evaluation and assessment, curriculum and pedagogy, and faculty development.
The issue also includes three invited papers addressing what we felt were some of the most current and relevant issues in the field: the distinction between leadership skill development and leadership personal development (Barry Posner), the challenge of identifying and aligning educational activities to this development (Susan Komives and her colleagues), and efforts to put a consistent framework on leadership education activities and programs (the Guidelines for Leadership Education Programs reported by Stephen Ritch and Thomas Mengel).
We hope this special issue will serve as a catalyst for future research and practice, and enable leadership educators to better meet the needs of their students and the organizations and communities they seek to lead.
Sincerely,
Why Generation X Has the Leaders We Need Now
This is an interesting post from Tammy Erikson of HBS.
William Strauss and Neil Howe, coauthors of Generations, posit that each generation makes a unique bequest to those that follow and generally seeks to correct the excesses of the previous generation. They argue that the Boomer excess is ideology and that the Generation X reaction to that excess involves an emphasis on pragmatism and effectiveness.
As many of you know, I’ve spent much of the last year talking with members of Generation X — those of you born roughly in the 1960s and ’70s. The book I’ve written based on those conversations (What’s Next, Gen X? Keeping Up, Moving Ahead, and Getting the Career You Want — safely in the hands of the publisher and due out in December) includes many of your voices — including quotes from your responses to posts on this site. Through this research, I developed a deep admiration for the generational traits evident among most X’ers, particularly in the context of our current challenges.
Future leaders in all spheres will have to contend with a world with finite limits, no easy answers, and the sobering realization that we are facing significant, seemingly intractable problems on multiple fronts. Perhaps the biggest change from the past: leaders will have to listen and respond to diverse points of view. There will be no dominant voice.
In this context, I’m convinced that Gen X’ers will be the leaders we need. The experiences that shaped those of you who were teens in the late ’70s and ’80s, as I’ve outlined in past posts, translate into valuable contemporary traits and perspectives.
- Your accelerated contact with the real world, for many through a “latch-key” childhood, has made you resourceful and hardworking. You meet your commitments and take employability seriously.
- Your distrust of institutions grew as you witnessed the lay-offs of the ’80s and has prompted you to value self-reliance. You have developed strong survival skills and the ability to handle whatever comes your way with resilience. X’ers instinctively maintain a well-nurtured portfolio of options and networks.
- A sense of alienation from your immediate surroundings as teens, coupled with rapidly expanding technology, has allowed you to look outward in ways no generation before could or did. You operate comfortably in a global and digital world. Many of you are avid adopters of the collaborative technology that promises to re-shape how we work and live.
- Your awareness of global issues was shaped in your youth, and you are richly multicultural. You bring a more unconscious acceptance of diversity than any preceding generation. Your formative years followed the civil rights advances of the 1960s. High divorce rates during your youth meant you are the first generation to grow up with women in independent authority roles. You welcome the contributions of diverse individuals.
- Your preference for “alternative” and early experience in making your own way left you inclined to innovate. You tend to look for a different way forward. Your strongest arena of financial success as a generation has been your entrepreneurial achievements.
- Your skepticism and ability to isolate practical truths have resulted in rich humor and incisive perspective. You help us all redefine issues and question reality.
- Your childhood made you fiercely dedicated to being good parents, prompting you to raise important questions about the way we all balance work with commitments beyond the corporation.
- Your pragmatism has given you practical and value-oriented sensibilities that, I believe, will help you serve as effective stewards of both today’s organizations and tomorrow’s world.
The most difficult elements of your past may well be those that provide you with the strongest capabilities for today.
You have traded the idealism of my generation for realism, tempered by value-oriented sensibilities. At mid-life, you are well-prepared to serve as pragmatic managers, applying toughness and resolution to defend society while safeguarding the interests of the young. You will force nations to produce more than they consume and fix the infrastructure.
In today’s challenging world, your humor may be your most-valued asset. Czech leader Václav Havel said, “There are no exact guidelines. There are probably no guidelines at all. The only thing I can recommend at this stage is a sense of humor, an ability to see things in their ridiculous and absurd dimensions, to laugh at others and at ourselves, a sense of irony regarding everything that calls out for parody in this world.” You help us step back . . . and remind us to laugh.
You will have the opportunity to change the corporate template, and create organizations that are more conducive to your values. As leaders, you will be able to reshape the organizations you lead to make them better places for future generations and yourselves, make them more humane, and break the cultural norms of corporate life — long hours, a focus on full-time work, heterogeneous perspectives, and language of combat. You will bring your desire to create better alternatives, including how to balance work with commitments beyond the corporation and finding meaning in work. Most importantly, your preference for “alternative” and your inclination to innovate will allow you to look for a different way forward.
So for you thought leaders – do you agree with these thoughts on our leaders of tomorrow?
It is how you lead, not how much it counts..
One of my favorite magazines is Leader to Leader. Praying today about wisdom in leadership, I found this useful framework – enjoy!
1. Be authentic – Get out of the image management business. Let people know you know your limitations.Invite others to partner with you. Honestly communicate how much you need your followers.
2. Connect with others dreams – Uncover the latest dreams and ambitions of your key talent. Tell them that you are MORE COMMITTED THAN EVER to helping them get to where they want to be. Be creative in aligning their tasks of today with their dreams of tomorrow.
3. See in other the abilities they don’t see in themselves – Quit the craziness around you long enough to notice the talent around you. Let them know!
4. Speak and live with credibility -It does not mean much to say “lets keep looking for the opportunity ahead” while living in fear of losing your job and punishing people for taking risks.
5. Create a culture of inspiration – Become a teacher committed t excellence and Character development imparting the character of Christ. Be proactive. Dont make all decisions by looking only at the bottom line.
Adapted from Whitehead, J. & Campbell,A. (2009). Beyond lean and mean mode. Leader to Leader (53). P. 59.
doulint
