I received an email today from a store that I shopped at just a couple of weeks ago.  For the record, I never logged in and told them what I purchased.  This email was sent unsolicited 2 weeks after the purchase.  Here’s the email:

Picture 1

I’ve got two thoughts from this:

1. Nothing is private. Not that we can hide anything from God anyway (see Psalm 139:7-13 for further proof of that), but anytime you use your credit card, that information can be tracked.  Any time you post a picture on Facebook, it’s there permanently.  Any blog post I write is public information, and is representative of me.  I can continue to feel weird about this, or I can wisely use social media and blogging to my advantage.  I choose the latter.

So, be careful what you place online.  It is “tracked” by those you lead and by those you are doing life with.  It is a representative of you, whether you like it or not, and will continue to represent you in the future.  It’s public and permanent.  Make sure that, when you post something online, you ask yourself the question, “Will I be proud of this in 5 years?”

2. Polling those you lead is important. At some level, I feel valued by this organization (represented in the email above).  I feel like I have a voice with them.  They give me the freedom, in my response, to say that I hated what I bought…or that I loved it.  I strangely feel empowered, and that my voice counts for something.  If I say that I hated it, they really may rethink putting that item on the shelf again (or I could be fooling myself, but for argument’s sake, please let me feel important right now).

If you’re a leader, make yourself vulnerable.  Ask, “Is this working?” and be ready and willing to change things if they’re not functioning like they should (i.e., accomplishing the “end” goal).  Asking for opinions shows that you care what others think, but if you open the door, be ready to walk through it.  Making changes based on feedback shows that you value others’ thoughts and the effectiveness of the organization as a whole.  Asking for feedback and making no changes is a slap to the face of those who shared their thoughts.

As a Christian, and a leader, both of these points resonate with me.  I need to be careful with the way that I live my life, and ready and willing to change our system (see my post about that here) when it’s not making disciples of Christ.

How do they resonate with you?