By: gfesadmin on May 24, 2013
Last week I returned home from China. The purpose of the visit was to review a potential Retirement Community management contract project in the heart of Tianjin and to continue to negotiate a Joint Venture contract merging two organizations together to do business in China. The Chinese Organization brings to the JV, the connections and…
By: gfesadmin on May 24, 2013
This week in our Doctor of Ministry cohort we were tasked with reading the book The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures by Dan Roam and put the thesis of the book into action. Roam’s central point is that when we draw out our ideas and problems we can see,…
By: gfesadmin on May 24, 2013
One of the forefront discussions in North America is the revitalization of public education. This multi-layered dialogue is often an involved matter debated in congress, social media, community forums, classrooms and by former and current educational professionals. The reality is that most urban schools in the public education system are broken; they seem to…
By: gfesadmin on May 23, 2013
“A Peace of Napkin” Dan Roam’s book “The Back of the Napkin” contains fantastic ideas about ways to change our thinking and solve problems. Specificaly, he addresses the way our mind visualizes and the simplicity of using pictures. His concepts include how we “Look, See, Imagine and Show, the who/what/how much/where/when/how/why of things, as well…
By: gfesadmin on May 23, 2013
One of the challenges faced as the indigenous Church grows in India and the number of small house churches increases is their relationship with the community. In many cases, conflicts arise between the church and the community because of wrong perceptions on the part of the church as well as the community. As a result…
By: gfesadmin on May 23, 2013
The problem that I wanted to identify and clarify is the difference in function between a “come” ministry and a “go” ministry. So, using the look, see, imagine, show process I began to draw. (I am one of the “’I can’t draw, but…’ people, otherwise known as the Yellow Pen people (or highlighters) because they’re often…
By: gfesadmin on May 23, 2013
Back of the Napkin Exercise I am reading Back of the Napkin by Dan Roam. He encourages organizations to solve problems through simple drawings. The problem that I am attempting to solve is to increase the effectiveness of the worship experience on Sunday. We presently have two separate teams with little crossover. They both have…
By: gfesadmin on May 23, 2013
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By: gfesadmin on May 23, 2013
Over the past seven years I have directed a Spiritual Formation ministry directed at local and regional youth workers, named Project Renovation. The vision of the Project is simple, we are committed to “renewing souls and resourcing leaders”. However, sometimes in our passion to care for and develop the souls of these young leaders, we…
By: gfesadmin on May 23, 2013
This week’s assignment was to produce a drawing on a napkin using the ideas and skills set forth in Back of the Napkin by Dan Roam. I was intrigued by the idea and once I got into the book I was excited to try out his process for visualizing problems and ideas. I created…
By: gfesadmin on May 18, 2013
One of my favorite TV shows growing up was Star Trek. I loved it when captain Kirk would open up the show by narrating the mission of the Enterprise, “Space the final frontier… to boldly go where no man has gone before, these are the voyages of space ship Enterprise.” Today, I feel like I…
By: gfesadmin on May 17, 2013
Of the nine StandOut roles, my top two roles are influencer and creator. As an influencer, my mind tends to fast-forward to the final outcome of a situation. The assessment was on target in stating that I am committed to moving a person or a team to action. I often try to internally figure out…
By: gfesadmin on May 17, 2013
My Standout Assessment Report based on the book by Marcus Buckingham revealed that my first strength is as a “Stimulator” and my second is as a “Provider.” The greatest value I bring to the team is: “You make the exciting safe.” As I read through the results of the assessment I couldn’t stop from laughing…
By: gfesadmin on May 16, 2013
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By: gfesadmin on May 16, 2013
As a leader it is important to know your strengths and weaknesses. This allows you to develop your strengths and also seek jobs and tasks that play to what you are good at and are naturally inclined to enjoy. This week I worked through Marcus Buckingham’s Standout: The Groundbreaking New Strengths Assessment, and took…
By: gfesadmin on May 16, 2013
My strengths finder test indicated that I am a creator/pioneer. That was my guess even as I was reading the book Stand Out by Marcus Buckingham. The results show that I am constantly inventing and initiating. I thrive on challenges that break the confines of how most people generally think and enjoy looking beyond normal…
By: gfesadmin on May 16, 2013
I recently took the “Standout” strengths assessment test. My strongest strength is that of a “connector.” I love people and I think that we’re capable of much more together than when we act alone. This strength can be particularly important in a globalized world. As our world has become smaller we can purchase products…
By: gfesadmin on May 16, 2013
While sitting in my office yesterday, preparing for a meeting in which I will be running on Thursday, two key concepts came to mind. One, how can I be a catalyst for positive well organized change. And two, how can I connect others in a significant way that will further growth in leaders inside as…
By: gfesadmin on May 15, 2013
The StandOut strengths assessment is one among many ways to assess one’s strengths. This one specifically focuses on leadership. These kinds of assessments have always been a struggle for me. One on my strengths is not quick decision making. However it was insightful. The results for me is that out of the 9 roles ,…
By: gfesadmin on May 15, 2013
The StandOut assessment returned the following results for David A Toth: Equalizer / Connector. I agree with the assessment, it does seem like me; both functions reflect my lifestyle modus operandi. I appreciated the assessment process. It was clear and easy to accomplish. I particularly liked the 35 second response time which causes one to…
