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This is the second in a series of blog posts celebrating the 30th anniversary of Star Wars. These movies are some of my favorites but also have some great quotes. Master them and strong in the force you will be.

Today we are looking at some leadership principles from Obi-Wan Kenobi. This strong Jedi warrior wasn’t much of a fan of shaving or fashion but he did have some great stuff to say.

• “Who’s more foolish: the fool, or the fool who follows him?” - This is a great quote. It’s one thing to do foolish things and make a fool of yourself but what do we say about those who follow these fools? Proverbs 13:20 says “Whoever walks with the wise will become wise; whoever walks with fools will suffer harm.”
• “In my experience, there’s no such thing as luck.” - There is too much riding on what we do to rely on luck. When lives are on the line and people’s souls hang in the balance we would be fools to simply hope that we’re doing the right thing. Be prudent and plan to do what you do the best you can and let God bring the increase.
• “Use the force, Luke.” - In other words, don’t try to do it all on your own. That will only bring failure. We are only successful when we let God’s spirit flow through us in all that we do. We plant and water but God brings the increase (1 Cor. 3:6-10). We prepare the horse for battle but the outcome belongs to God (Prov. 21:31).
• “That’s no moon. It’s a space station.” - Not much here in the way of leadership principles but this is one of my favorite star wars quotes. It’s one of those “Oh crap!” moments! By the way, if you’re ever walking in the moonlight with a girl and she comments on how beautiful the moon is, you won’t get a lot of mileage by responding with this quote. They fail to appreciate the humor for some reason.

Ok, I want to know how many true Star Wars fans are out there. Vote in my poll in the column to the right. May the force be with you.

This is a great post by Kent Shaffer at ChurchRelevance.com. Check out the blog post “Learn Like A Painter.”

As you may know, I’m a big Star Wars fan (and by Star Wars fan I mean the original�Star Wars, not the new stuff).�In honor of the Star Wars 30th Anniversary I thought I would share some leadership advice over the next couple of days from the movies. Today’s leadership�principles come from�that short little green guy we all know and love - Master Yoda.

• “Do or do not… there is no try.� - I mean, really, is there any better leadership advice than this? It applies to everyone in nearly every situation. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve used this in a team meeting. It’s probably one of my favorite leadership principles.
• “Beware of the dark side.” - Good advice. Watch out for the bad guys who are out to get you! Sounds like something I read once in 1 Peter 5:8
• “Early must I rise. Leave now you must.” - Another great principle we can all apply in our daily lives. If we want to get stuff done practice the habit of rising early. If that means you need to use the force to kick your friends out of the house so you can get some rest than so be it!
• “Size matters not. Judge me by my size, do you?” - Whether we are looking at our church, our youth group, our job or our physicalstature, size just doesn’t matter. With God living inside of us there is nothing we can’t accomplish! (Zechariah 4:6)
• “Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.� - This is one of my favorite Yoda quotes. It pretty much describes the importance of love, trust and unity in a leadership team and what happens if you don’t have it.
• “Named your fear must be before banish it you can.” - In other words, before you can conquer the thing that is weighing you down you first have to know what it is that you are fighting. Sometimes we dress our fears up with different names but if we really searched our hearts we would find ugly fears like fear of rejection or fear of failure. Name your fears before you banish them.
• “When 900 years old you reach, look as good you will not” - Umm, this doesn’t really have to do with anything but I love saying it anyway! It’s a great comeback if someone asks how old you are.

Ok, let me start off by saying that I’m not a huge fan of Microsoft. Their products and operating systems are overly complicated and overpriced. But regardless of how I feel about their products I know that they have some remarkably creative, out-of-the-box people working for them.

In 2001 Steve Bathiche & Andy Wilson (part of Microsoft Hardware & Research) began brainstorming concepts for an interactive table that married technology with everyday life. The result was Microsoft Surface.

I’m not saying this is the future of computing or even that it’s practical…but it sure is COOL! It’s like a real life version of those cool computers from Minority Report.

Check out the site at www.microsoft.com/surface.

You’ve got to read this story on my brother’s blog about my 3-year-old Emily. It’s pretty cute. Emily sure is a handfull but you would never guess it from this picture, would you?

I just finished working all afternoon on putting in my new deck (a much bigger project than anticipated). Lisa and I finished laying the kids down and sat in the back yard in our swing. We ended up staying out there talking until almost 11:00. The stars began to come out one by one and the moon rose brightly in the sky. It was one of those special times where you know that you’re right where God wants you. As we came in there was already dew on the ground around us but the time just flew by.

It’s amazing how you can let the simple joys of life fly right past you. If you don’t watch for them you may not even know you missed them.

By the way, if you haven’t already, watch the Moments Commercial I wrote about on Friday.

What are some moments that have defined you? Leave a comment and share them with me.

I love this commercial! This is a great example of the fourth Lexus principle to share in their customers’ passion to make the most of every moment. It’s simply done but very well written. Leave me a comment and let me know what you think of it.

The fourth principle from Lexus talks about why they do what they do.

• We celebrate our customers’ personal goals and achievements, and share in their passion for making the most of every moment.

For a Lexus dealer, it’s more than just trying to sell someone a car. They should recognize that when a potential customer walks through the door they are walking in with a story. There have been a number of simple or profound moments that have brought them to that dealership. They may have just gotten a raise, promotion or new job. They may have met a sales goal or are celebrating the anniversary of something momentous in their lives. Maybe it was the impulse of just stopping in and imagining themselves in a new luxury car. A good salesperson realizes that there is a story worth listening to and moments worth celebrating.

My friend Tom is a great example of this principle at work. Every time I meet him at Starbucks he runs into former (or future) customers that he strikes up a conversation with. It’s easy to see that more took place than the purchase of a vehicle. Tom was able to connect with them on a personal level and celebrate their achievements. By helping them make the most of every moment he created more than a customer. He made a friend.

In our ministries it’s important to remember that every person who walks through the doors of our church walks in with a story. There were moments both good and bad that came together to bring them there. They are more than a potential “customer.” They have a story to tell, if we’ll listen. By connecting with them we can celebrate the beauty of their life and share the experience of a lifetime with them. We can point them to the one who can truly help them make the most of every moment and change the rest of their lives.

Remember, we have much more than a “product” to tell people about. We have an experience to share.

Check out my latest poll to the right. It addresses the really deep question we all think about…if we could have any super-power, what would it be??

Vote and let me know what you think.

I’d like to focus in this post on the third Lexus principle from the Lexus Dealer Branding book my friend Tom loaned me.

We are profoundly respectful of our customers’ time and total experience.

The first thing that comes to mind when� I think of how this relates to ministry is the length and content of our weekend experiences. I have been to far too many churches who take the term “captive audience” literally! I’ve heard Pastors ramble on and on in complete disregard of the time of the people who are listening.

The first excuse Pastors will offer for the length of their messages is, “I’m just flowing in the Spirit.” With all due respect, there is something flowing but in most cases it’s not the Spirit! Remember, when Jesus finished speaking the people often begged him to stay. They were captivated by what he had to say.

A lesson we can learn from Lexus is to respect the time of the people who come to our weekend experiences by spending the time necessary to consolidate what we are trying to communicate. More is not always better. Sometimes it’s just MORE!

Take what you are trying to communicate and reduce it to the 2 or 3 most significant points and then sum up what you want people to remember in 1 takeaway sentence. If we don’t value the time of the people who walk through our doors then they will invest that time elsewhere.� The greatest message in the world deserves the best preparation and delivery we can give it.

For more information on how to creatively prepare and deliver a message that people will remember, check out Communicating For A Change by Andy Stanley and The Creative Leader by Ed Young.

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