Finding Your "Strengths" and "Spiritual Gifts" One part of Discovering your S.H.A.P.E. Eastbrook Church

I will be facilitating or teaching a class on S.H.A.P.E at Eastbrook Church in July. 

Using Your SHAPE to Change the World!

July 12,19,26   Eastbrook Church 9:30 Fellowship Hall

The Lord created each of us individually with different Spiritual Gifts, Passions, Abilities, Strengths and a unique Personality with different Experiences. This class will help people put the pieces of the puzzle together, so we each can be most effective in our families, church, community and the world.  When we serve according to our SHAPE, we leave a legacy that gives glory to the LORD so when we stand before Him one day, we will hear, "Well done, my good and faithful servant." 

We will also be discussing "Strengths"  

For Boomers and Beyond!

Some of us…are in Half Time or 3^rd or 4^th quarter of our lives!

Great!

Just like a football game…a lot can happen in the last quarter and even in the last minute of the game!

This can be the most exciting time of our lives!

God has the script written!

Join us on Sunday July 12^th with other Boomers for the first session…If this time of life is alittle puzzling to you, we can all be an encouragement as we work together to put all the pieces of the puzzle together.

You do NOT have to be a "Boomer" to attend. 
The earlier you discover some of these principles and put them to use in your life...the more effective you will be in your ministry, career and family! 

If you would like to learn alittle more about "Strengths" before the class, you can go to "popular posts" on right hand side of this blog. This blog was started in preparation for a similar workshop I facilitated at the 2014 Annual Red Cross Disaster Conference Oct. 2014.  That is why you will not see any reference to anything relating to God or spiritual things before that date! 

This BLOG is Searchable by Keywords. See Search feature on right hand side. 

Can also "follow" me on Twitter 

Alittle more on "Strengths:


There are 34 or more "strengths" as defined by Strengthsfinder 2.0

My top 5 Strengths are: 
Connectedness or Connecting
Belief
Achievement
Responsibility
Relator

No one "strength" is better than any other. 
This is important! 

Whatever your "Strengths" are, you can use them in any volunteer position and do a better job! 




If you are volunteering in any non profit or considering it, ideally you should want to know your strengths and abilities. We are think we already know them, but do we?

You might also want to read a good book on what makes a non profit great.  Good to Great in the Social Sector by Tim Collins. 

Tim wrote this book after he wrote Good to Great.
He  looks at companies to see how they went from being good to great. 

The major key in their success was having the right people and those people in the right positions using their "Strengths". No one "Strength" is any better than any other.


Another good book that you can probably get from your library is: Now Discover Your Strengths by Marcus Buckingham and Donald Clifton.  This is more for managers & supervisors showing them how they can help their employees be more efficient in their work. A very good book!

There are several assessments that will show you what you "strengths" or "talents" are.

A good assessment is Strengthfinders.2.0  http://strengths.gallup.com/110440/About-StrengthsFinder-20.aspx       You can purchase at Amazon for about $15

It has a code in the back of the book that you use when you go online to take the 177 question assessment. After taking the assessment you get an immediate printout of your top 5 strength and a commentary on how to further develop those "talents" into strengths.
Taking either of these "Strengths" Assessments is not a prereq. for the class.


The results of knowing your "Strengths" is that you can use them in your job, career, volunteering and in your marriage.  

An interesting exercise if you are married, is to have your spouse also take the "free" Strengths assessment and compare them. Shows how you how to better understand and relate to your spouse.

The Strengthsfinder 2.0 Assessment gives a beautiful 16 page printout showing how to further develope your "Talents" and how and where you can most effectively use them. More on this in class!

Now if you are ready to tackle your Abilities, a good book that is probably out of print is Discovering Your Natural Talents by John Brady and Jay Carty.
John Bardley has a company called    Idak Group
They have an online Abilities Assessment. Cost $27. Very good.

If you wish to go further, you can find out your S.H.A.PE. 

S is your Spiritual Gifts.
H is your Heart or Passion
A is your Abilities
P is your Personality
E is your Experiences.

There are several websites that offer an online survey.
They are approaching this from a Christian worldview. The Spiritual Gifts part. 

The Importance of Planning

Pray, Plan and Prioritize...then delegate.
But don't get hung up on planning...the LORD can intervene at any moment and you can change direction! Keep your ears open!


A good plan for beginning each day:  Pray, Plan and Prioritize. Then Delegate...if you have someone to delegate to!

A few notes on "Planning" from the book of Proverbs:

"For a man's ways are in full view of the LORD, and he examines all his paths." Proverbs 5:21

"Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed." Proverbs 16:3

"In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps." Proverbs 16:9

"Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD'S purpose that prevails." Proverbs 19:21

"The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty." Proverbs 21:5

"Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth." Proverbs 27:1

We have to remember that these are observations...reality, not promises from the Bible. Our actions have consequences.


So, be sure to pray before making plans...and continue to pray!
________
My other BLOG_____________
___________________


Finished a good book recently: WHO  by Geoff Smart and Randy Street.

"The most important decisions that businesspeople make are not what decisions but who decisions." -Jim Collins, Author of Good To Great.

That also goes for non profit organizations!
 Good book: Good to Great in the Social Sector. by Jim Collins

WHO
WHAT
HOW

It's relatively easy to figure out What to do and also How to do something.

Maybe a more important decision is WHY we do what we do.
What are our motives? Have we sought the LORD on what we plan to do?

Then the rest becomes easy.

A good book for figuring that out is " Start With Why by Simon Sinek.

If you don't know WHY, You can't know HOW.

"All great leaders have clarity of WHY; an undying belief in a purpose or cause bigger than themselves. It's not Bill Gates's passion for computers that inspires us, it's his undying optimism that even the most complicated problems can be solved. He believes we can find ways to remove obstacles to ensure that everyone can live and worked to their greatest potential. It is his optimism to which we are drawn." P. 134

“If the leader of the organization can’t clearly articulate WHY the organization exists in terms beyond its products or services, then how does he expect the employees to know WHY to come to work?”
― Simon Sinek, Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone To Take Action

Let me know your thoughts!
Have a great day!

A Question of WHY?

Been a busy month.

A good plan for beginning each day:  Pray, Plan and Prioritize. Then Delegate...if you have someone to delegate to!

Finished a good book recently: WHO  by Geoff Smart and Randy Street.

"The most important decisions that businesspeople make are not what decisions but who decisions." -Jim Collins, Author of Good To Great.

That also goes for non profit organizations!
 Good book: Good to Great in the Social Sector. by Jim Collins

WHO
WHAT
HOW

It's relatively easy to figure out What to do and also How to do something.

Maybe a more important decision is WHY we do what we do.
Then the rest becomes easy.

A good book for figuring that out is " Start With Why by Simon Sinek.

If you don't know WHY, You can't know HOW.

"All great leaders have clarity of WHY; an undying belief in a purpose or cause bigger than themselves. It's not Bill Gates's passion for computers that inspires us, it's his undying optimism that even the most complicated problems can be solved. He believes we can find ways to remove obstacles to ensure that everyone can live and worked to their greatest potential. It is his optimism to which we are drawn." P. 134

“If the leader of the organization can’t clearly articulate WHY the organization exists in terms beyond its products or services, then how does he expect the employees to know WHY to come to work?”
― Simon Sinek, Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone To Take Action

Where my strength comes from!

A few of  my "Tweets" this mornng!

"I Can Only Imagine! http://youtu.be/bfWwtsWC44g 0 
   You are my Hiding Place. 

"How Great is our God"! http://youtu.be/0ZFN8TBfgNU 

#milwaukee#ilovemilwaukee

YouTube

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God Almighty

More on my other BLOG!

http://northshorefinishingwellgroup.blogspot.com/2015/02/richs-thought-of-day-some-of-my.html

Opportunity to develop your strengths is more important than your role, title or your pay!

"Across the board, having the opportunity to develop our strengths is more important to our success than our role, our title, or even our pay."  Strengths Finder 2.0   Tom Rath

 Seems like one of our goals should be to be aware of the opportunities around us and even actively search for them!

Making the most of every opportunity!

.

Seizing opportunities is directly tied to the spiritual gift of discernment. When we see what looks like an opportunity, we have to discern whether we are seeing a true opening or just our own wishful-thinking or a random idea. 

Just because an opportunity arises does not mean that we should take it. An opportunity is just a set of circumstances that makes it possible to do something. We still have the hard work of determining whether it is something WE SHOULD DO!

Opportunities are doorways that God opens. It is divine leading, even though we may not be able to predict what lies beyond. 

God also directs us with closed doors!  Don't be discouraged!

Ability to see with the eyes of God, think with the mind of Christ, and walk in the power of the Holy Spirit! 

A good prayer!


A tool to help us discover our talents which can then be developed into "Strengths"

http://strengths.gallup.com/110440/About-StrengthsFinder-20.aspx

How your Church can use "Linkedin" as a tool for creating community.

 First your church needs to have a passion and desire to see the importance and understand what community is!

 Community 101 by Gilbert Bizezikian

"If you had to answer, in a single word, what God's dream for human beings is, what would you say?  Community?

God's dream for the creatures made in his image is that they begin to realize the beautiful words of the psalmist: "How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity" (Psalm. 133:1 NRV

 Then, start a Linkedin GROUP! 

Linkedin is a great "tool" that can help connect people.
That is the first step. Although not everyone is on Linkedin, it is very easy to create a short and basic profile. And it is FREE!  Linkedin is NOT like Facebook. As Author Wayne Breitbarth says, "Linkedin is Facebook on steroids"

Wayne is the author of The Power Formula for Linkedin Success. Also a member of our church. Thanks Wayne for teaching me 99% of what I know about Linkedin!

Benefits of having a private church linkedin group:

1. Easy to see all the profiles quickly of everyone in the group. 2. Easy for "new" people to connect with others. Assimilate    quickly!

3. Can pray for each other better as you know them better!

4. Can be of help to people finding new jobs. Jobs at individual's place of employment can be posted! Person looking and applying for that job has a "friend" at the company. As we know, it's all about "relationships"!

5. Easy to start a discussion or ask a question of the group.

6. Group is searchable: Can find people with similar interests. Now you can call them and meet for coffee, etc

All this helps create "community"

Someone from the church can easily start a "GROUP".
Not a job for the pastor to do! Find someone with an interest and passion for this!

It helps if the staff is on board with this new endeavor!
Without promotion with the pulpit...the group will not flourish.

Someone from the church can easily start a "GROUP".
That's what I did shortly after joining Linkedin.
It's called Eastbrook Community. It is a closed group, meaning only people who have a relationship with Eastbrook are let in. WHY? My vision for starting the group was to help connect unemployed people from Eastbrook with employed people. Members can post available jobs on the site and unemployed people then know someone in the company.
That's part of the secret of getting a job.

Here is our PROFILE: 

Private group. To request membership, click Join and your request will be reviewed by the group manager.

As our pastors and church office give us names of new members, they will be invited to join our group! If you found this group on your own...and feel you should be in the group...
send me an email!

What a great "tool" to use to get acquainted with fellow Eastbrookers!

We all have a place in our church. We should be radically welcoming as a church. A place for new people to experience community and get "connected" Our Groups 277 + members are only a small part of Eastbrook but we can take a lead in welcoming new people.
This is just a bunch of people whose lives have crossed in this place to come together with a view toward advancing the cause of Christ through God-honoring work.
If you have a desire to be a resource for our unemployed, either by posting job openings from your place of employment on this site or desire to pray for our people, please join our group.

This is a place for Eastbrook people to connect with the purpose of enabling careers, ministries, and new business opportunities. The depth of experience available in Eastbrook's people is remarkable. This group could enable Eastbrookers to reach out in new ministries, to start new businesses, to grow in their careers.
Wouldn't it be exciting if, as the economy languishes, Eastbrook people came together to start new things.
Mission statement and goals may change, so come back again. Your input desired!

_________________________________

 While on staff at Eastbrook I had a weekly prayer group for unemployed people. Anyone could attend, not only Eastbrookers. Besides praying for each other, we learned about using Linkedin as a "tool" for finding a job. It worked. People did find jobs!

Anyone who faithfully attended even if they were not a member of Eastbrook, I let in the group.

Also, a great benefit is that all 300 plus people can easily see each other's profiles!  
What is the benefit of that?

Well, we can easily get to know people better! 
New people from our church can see the other 300 members of the group. 

Can call them, invite them out for coffee or lunch...

The members of the group are searchable!

Wayne Breitbarth even found a golfing partner using linkedin. Great way for finding new friends!
Possibilities are endless!

If you are going for an interview and know the interviewers name...find them on Linkedin and you will know all about them. You can be sure that they have already looked at your profile. 

So, the bottom line is: Start a group on Linkedin! Your vision or mission statement may be different. 

Would love to hear how you are doing!

Blessings

Bloom Where You are Planted!

My latest TWITTER POSTS 

Have a great day!

My Daily BLOG 

 

Richard

 The Power Formula For Linkedin Success

New Goal for the year

Be rooted, grounded and grow and so rise to the top of your field...and bloom where you are planted...using the abilities, gifts and strengths the Lord has given you.