Laura’s (my wife) Grandpa has lots of “Grandpa-isms.” You know…things that only Grandpa would say.

Things that he has said tens of thousands of times. Things that he has said so many times that, when he begins to say them everybody around him can finish his sentence.

Things like, in speaking of children picking up toys,

If he sees it, he’s got to touch it, if he touches it, he’s got to tote it. To tote something means to take it with you.

Or

When I grew up in Memphis, I would eat anything. I was never finicky. If you’re finicky you will starve to death!

Or

Children…they’re the most precious thing you’ve got.

If he saw a piece of paper on the floor, he would repeatedly point to the paper, then to the trash, saying,

Paper…trash…paper…trash…(repeat 10 times).

When somebody would fall down, he’d say,

You gotta hold on with those prehensile hands.

All male under 5 are greeted with

Hey hardrock!

Finally

There are 4 P’s that I do for my family: provide, procreate, protect…and make memories.”

I know…there are only three P’s…that’s ok, we just don’t point that out to him. If you hear these once, you hear them 10,000 times…and I’m not kidding. When he starts with just one part of one of these phrases, the rest of the family can finish them for him. He says them exactly the same way every single time.

Part of his repeating things like this is just his personality. The family sometimes jokes about this, but in a loving way. They love him, and respect the way that he has led his family and loved his wife. And there’s a great lesson we can learn from this.

Find your own “isms”

You know that people have truly caught the vision of your ministry or organization when they can repeat it to others. It’s so important to have these defining sayings, goals, and values. These values need to be repeated until you’re tired of hearing them.

Are there any “isms” define you and your ministry? What idea is repeated so often that your area of leadership becomes it? What characteristic, or action, or vision, needs to be repeated until people can finish your sentences when you begin to talk?

How can you instill in others the values that you are aiming for? What opportunities do you have to repeat your core values, even to the point where people begin to roll their eyes because they know exactly where you’re headed?

If you don’t yet have anything that is so engrained into you and those you influence that it has become your DNA, what would you like for your “isms” to be?

Here’s a video of Grandpa I put together. Everything he says here would also be included in his “Grandpa-isms,” and our family can attest to that.