Advance then Retreat

The Advance

Had a great time away with the cessionlcore team on Friday night. Deep community and a watershed moment for this team's development. Working through Lencioni's 5 Dysfunctions of a Team and had a significant time of sharing on individual strength and weakenesses. We were then joined on Saturday morning by a number of sub ministry leaders and some talent for the future. What was most interesting to me was the resonance of the Hybel's DVD we used with much of what I observed. The Hybel's DVD was one of his addresses from the last summit: on Testing Leaders. It was almost comic to watch this DVD and then see people immediately afterward passing and failing some of Hybel's tests! It only goes to show that its very hard to fake leadership. So one of the things I took from the weekend was a clearer sense of who is capable of making the step up, who clearly is not and some for whom the jury is still out...

The Retreat

I'm writing this blog at 3am in the morning having just watched the NZ Rugby team bumble their way (live) to a defeat against South Africa. It was a close game, close enough that the team that made the least mistakes was always going to win. That was not us. I find it infuriating to watch sport in those circumstances. People doing stupid things that they would not normally do. Add to that some odd tactics at times and some plainly bizarre referee calls at crucial moments and you've got 2 hours of early morning frustration. Now I have to go back to sleep b4 the alarm sounds at 6am. We cannot win this series - the last game between Australia and South Africa will decide it. That sucks. I would hazard deep reflections on sport and its hold on me, but I can't be bothered...

Jonesblack