Drucker Mondays

Week 38: Pursuing Significance After Success

Week 38 of 52. Welcome to Drucker Mondays, a 52-week journey through the new book, A Year with Peter Drucker: 52 Weeks of Coaching for Leadership Effectiveness, by Joseph A. Maciariello. Each Monday, we'll feature a Drucker fan and his or her favorite snippet from the week's topic. (Subscribe on this page.) Don Schoendorfer is our guest writer today. 

Week 38: Pursuing Significance After Success

THE BIG IDEA FROM THE BOOK: Are you focusing more on doing the things that give you achievement and satisfaction and growth or more on the things that have impact outside of yourself? 

DON SCHOENDORFER'S FAVORITE DRUCKER INSIGHT from Week 38, pages 307-311: 
• ““The decision is going to come up.”  

DON SCHOENDORFER'S COLOR COMMENTARY: 
For me, the decision I had to make was whether I had achieved enough in my career. 

My plan was to become extraordinarily rich, not for the wealth itself, but I felt once there, I could use the wealth to do “good things” without having to ask others. Being the introverted engineer, I was not about asking others for their support. 

Twenty-three years went by, and I succeeded in sharpening my career skills, inventing and developing new medical products for companies that employed me. In that respect, I was indeed “successful.” But after those 23 years, I realized extraordinary wealth was not in my future. 

It was then that God showed up. 

His words changed my perspectives and then, my plans. Relative to the rest of the world, I was extraordinarily rich. By just having an education and living in America, I was extraordinarily rich. 

With God’s help, the decision “came up.” I will trust in Him to chart the course. My job became overcoming my introverted self. I found a discontinuity in society that Drucker mentions—that 100 million of our brothers and sisters crawl on the ground; and that a simple, inexpensive, durable and functional wheelchair will bring them a better life. 

One of my most favorite quotes comes from Pastor Kenton Beshore of Mariners Church. “God loves you too much to let you win the lottery.” 

THIS WEEK'S QUOTES & COMMENTARY BY DON SCHOENDORFER:

   

Don Schoendorfer, the founder of Free Wheelchair Mission, is a testament to what is possible with a background in biomedical engineering and a calling for change. Don has a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from MIT and holds more than 60 U.S. Patents in the field of medical technology. 

While vacationing in Morocco, Don and his wife witnessed the plight of a woman with disabilities, struggling to drag herself across a dirt road. Ignored by the surrounding crowd and barely evading traffic, the woman’s hardship was a scene that Don and Laurie would never forget upon their return to life in southern California. 

Following that transformative experience, Don turned his God-given talents to solving the problem of immobility in developing nations. His hands-on, inventive approach guided him in designing a low-cost, high-durability and functional wheelchair. Visit Free Wheelchair Mission for more information. 

 

TO-DO TODAY: 
• Your response? Both Drucker and Don remind you that “the decision is going to come up.” 
• If you have not yet read Bob Buford’s bestselling book, Halftime: Changing Your Game Plan from Success to Significance, read this review and order it today.

 

NEXT MONDAY: 
On Oct. 5, 2015, watch for David Schmidt's color commentary on Week 40’s topic, “Individuals May Need a Process to Help Them Move From Success to Significance,” one of six chapters on “Developing Oneself from Success to Significance.” (Editor’s Note: We intentionally flipped Week 38 and 39.)

Week 39: Work in an Area of Your Unique Contribution

Week 39 of 52. Welcome to Drucker Mondays, a 52-week journey through the new book, A Year with Peter Drucker: 52 Weeks of Coaching for Leadership Effectiveness, by Joseph A. Maciariello. Each Monday, we'll feature a Drucker fan and his or her favorite snippet from the week's topic. (Subscribe on this page.) Suzy West is our guest writer today. 

Week 39: Work in an Area of Your Unique Contribution

THE BIG IDEA FROM THE BOOK: Our unique contributions will be found at the point where our strengths and our values meet, although it may take a while before we identify our area of uniqueness and make it a reality.

SUZY WEST'S FAVORITE DRUCKER INSIGHTS from Week 39, pages 312-317: 
• “Life is no ‘brief candle’ to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for a moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.” (G. Bernard Shaw)
• “Success and significance offer many of the same benefits but one brings a better night’s sleep and a true level of contentment.” (Bob Buford)
• “What one does well—even very well and successfully—may not be worth devoting one’s life to (or even a substantial portion thereof).” (Peter Drucker)

SUZY WEST'S COLOR COMMENTARY: 
I went through a change in attitude towards my work in my mid-40s. I had spent my working life using the training I had obtained to be a paralegal. But the time came when I chose to search out an opportunity to use my strengths, and especially my values, working where the results would be for Kingdom significance.

There can be many reasons to hesitate in making a move like this—uncertainty, financial security, and the idea that there will be plenty of time “later.” But as stated in this week’s topic, “The clock is running! What do you want to be remembered for?”

Today is the day to take that first step.

THIS WEEK'S QUOTES & COMMENTARY BY SUZY WEST:

Suzy West is vice president of operations and finance at Christian Leadership Alliance. She received her black belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu in July, a week before her 60th birthday!

  

TO-DO TODAY: 
1. Make a list of your strengths and talents as they relate to your vocation.
2. Consider how and where those same strengths and talents could be used for Kingdom significance. (Take the StrengthsFinder assessment from Gallup.)
3. Set a goal to spend some quality time—soon!—to consider how God would have you use your unique gifts and talents in the second half of your journey.

 

NEXT MONDAY: 
On Sept. 28, 2015, watch for Don Schoendorfer’s color commentary on Week 38’s topic, “Pursuing Significance After Success,” one of six chapters on “Developing Oneself from Success to Significance.” (Editor’s Note: We intentionally flipped Week 38 and 39.)

Week 37: Application of Peter Drucker’s Methodology of Social Ecology

Week 37 of 52. Welcome to Drucker Mondays, a 52-week journey through the new book, A Year with Peter Drucker: 52 Weeks of Coaching for Leadership Effectiveness, by Joseph A. Maciariello. Each Monday, we'll feature a Drucker fan and his or her favorite snippet from the week's topic. (Subscribe on this page.) Dale Torry is our guest writer today. 

Week 37: Application of Peter Drucker's Methodology of Social Ecology

THE BIG IDEA FROM THE BOOK: “Social Ecology” seeks to identify the significant game changers in our society, organize the information into understandable formats and then disseminate this information into the world to multiply the change and impact.  Those who identify the game changers or the proverbial “bend in road” are rare, but extremely vital to society in fostering positive change. Look around today and identify those who are impacting our culture, societies and business for the positive. 

DALE TORRY'S FAVORITE DRUCKER INSIGHTS from Week 37, pages 294-303: 
• Joseph Maciariello writes, “I once asked Drucker how he identified this emerging trend. His answer revealed his methodology: ‘Because the knowledge society is creating a new and different constituency… all I had to do was to take a look.’”
• In a world of news bites we often don’t stop to take a look. Drucker’s simple approach is profound and accurate—all we have to do today is stop and take a look around us.
• “The starting point has to be what customers consider valuable.”
• Placing importance on disseminating the knowledge gained through innovation will often attract innovators to you and increase the impact and speed of innovation.

DALE TORRY'S COLOR COMMENTARY: 
Up to this point I have managed to not use the words “Willow Creek Association” (mentioned frequently in Week 37), but not because I don’t appreciate WCA. In fact, I love WCA and I have benefitted greatly from the Global Leadership Summit and have seen many other developing leaders walk away changed as leaders by the Summit. 

I have avoided mentioning WCA because the core of Drucker’s message on Social Ecology is that the world needs game changers who can identify the needed change and deliver it to the masses in a consumable way. WCA, specifically Bill Hybels, is a model example of a Social Ecologist. 

The great question for the next decade is how fast will these movements occur as technology changes the speed in which the innovation can be diffused? To elaborate, our knowledge as a world is increasing exponentially each day. This is made possible by the use of technology and the ease in which we as a world can transmit and share information. I believe the next generation of Social Ecologists will see connection between micro trends and movements which link up to larger macro movements. The Ecologists will harness proven and emerging technology to disseminate the information. 

I’d like to share a story of a Social Ecologist I know. Arthur Karuletwa survived the horrific Rwandan genocide and vowed to play a part in the fragile country’s recovery. His work in traceability, which is the ability to trace the coffee bean from the farmer and his coffee bush to the roaster and eventually a cup of coffee, has transformed lives in Rwanda. 

Drinking coffee with Arthur at a Seattle Starbucks in the summer of 2014, I was moved by what I heard. Arthur had come to realize that by placing a face on the raw coffee bean, farmers were no longer marginalized, they were now producers in a global economy. Arthur realized many farmers didn’t have modern conveniences of the Western world, but many had smart phones and Arthur has harnessed technology to trace this global commodity back to individuals. Starbucks saw the potential and empowered Arthur to complete this project. 

Arthur is an innovator who is piloting a proven social/technological innovation which has the ability to impact far more than coffee growers. The equation might be expressed like this “micro trend of smaller coffee farmers + macro trend of coffee consumption + proven technology = Social Ecologist changing a country.” 

Can this be translated into the recovery of Syria, Libya, and those who are impacted by the atrocities of ISIS? For a quick snippet on Arthur Karuletwa, click on this link for a more in-depth look at his work, or Google his name for other insightful articles on Arthur’s early work. 

THIS WEEK'S QUOTES & COMMENTARY BY DALE TORRY:

Dale Torry, Organizational Growth and Leadership Consultant, notes: “My life mission is to empower leaders and organizations to realize their full potential and maximize their impact in the world.” Do you have a life mission statement?  If not, start working on it today… life will be a lot clearer. Contact Dale at [email protected]

  

TO-DO TODAY: 
1) What is impacting me today in my work and world which is different than five years ago?
2) Has that which is impacting me been organized? If so, is it effective? If not, can I organize it?

 

NEXT MONDAY: 
On Sept. 21, 2015, watch for the color commentary on Week 38’s topic, “Pursuing Significance After Success,” the first of six weeks on “Developing Oneself from Success to Significance.”

Starbucks mug photo credit: Ti Santi / Shutterstock.com

Week 36: Diffusion of Innovation — Public Schools

Week 36 of 52. Welcome to Drucker Mondays, a 52-week journey through the new book, A Year with Peter Drucker: 52 Weeks of Coaching for Leadership Effectiveness, by Joseph A. Maciariello. Each Monday, we'll feature a Drucker fan and his or her favorite snippet from the week's topic. (Subscribe on this page.) Rick Bee is our guest writer today. 

Week 36: Diffusion of Innovation - Public Schools

THE BIG IDEA FROM THE BOOK: For much of education today, technology is being used to teach skills and enrich the educational experience through additional resources not previously available.  What may be missing from some classroom strategies is the use of technology to allow more time to identify the strengths and deficiencies of students, and the use of that time for each student to develop their own strengths and shore up disabling weakness.

RICK BEE'S FAVORITE DRUCKER INSIGHTS from Week 36, pages 286-293: 
• Tom Luce, attorney and founder of Just for Kids on why he did it: “So I began this concept of Just for Kids, an effort that, to me, raises the essence of the problem; too often no one is focused on the needs of the kids. People are focused more on the needs of the education establishment…”
• Drucker on the problem of large schools: “I believe that in elementary schools with more than three or four hundred pupils, the principal doesn’t know the kids anymore, she doesn’t know the parents anymore, and she doesn’t know the teachers anymore.”
• Drucker on the lessons learned from previous technological revolutions: “…embracing the new technology of learning and teaching is a prerequisite for national and cultural success and equally for economic competitiveness.”
• Drucker on educational transformation: “Technology…will not be the most important feature of the transformation in education. Most important will be re-thinking the role and function of schooling—its focus and purpose, its values.”

RICK BEE'S COLOR COMMENTARY: 
I come from a long line of educators. Both my parents were in education, I have siblings who taught at the high school level, I teach at the college level and my daughter now teaches in the public school system. 

This week’s insights from Drucker, Luce and Bob Buford (Leadership Network) reflect on how the best practices in education begin with the relationship of the teacher and student, not the technology.

Don’t get me wrong. As Drucker identifies, embracing technology is not only important, it is critical to national and cultural success. And, technology is certainly changing how educators educate, students learn and how knowledge is passed along from one person or generation to the next.

Today, within seconds, anyone can use technology to see how long a honey bee lives, find out if brown bears live in the foothills of Southern California, and discover where we might find the cheapest gas. We have amazing knowledge and technology available—in our pockets!

The key, as these writers have so eloquently stated, is the important concept of using this wonderful tool to accomplish the ultimate goal of education in preparing students with the knowledge and tools necessary to succeed and thrive. And to do that the teacher must know the student.

As alumni director for Biola University I am so pleased to see so many of our wonderful School of Education graduates receive the “Teacher of the Year” award designations. And time after time in the report of why they were chosen, I hear “because they love their students!”

While technology continues to change….some things never do!

THIS WEEK'S QUOTES & COMMENTARY BY RICK BEE:

Rick Bee is the senior director of alumni and parents at Biola University and has served for more than 35 years in Christian higher education and attended to the needs of the 65,000 alumni of the university. Rick holds a Ph.D. in Education and teaches college students on the topic of “Faith and Money” and has recently co-authored his second book, A Good and Faithful Steward. Rick and his wife, Julie, live in Yorba Linda, Calif.

  

TO-DO TODAY: 
So what can we do to encourage the educational process and the appropriate use of technology in our schools?  We need to support our students, understand their needs, provide the resources necessary to stay competitive, encourage the teachers and administrators of our schools to know our students, and use these technologies to help students learn and expand their skills and knowledge. These are no small tasks but critical to the success of the next generation of world and culture leaders.  

 

NEXT MONDAY: 
On Sept. 14, 2015, Dale Torry will share his color commentary on Week 37’s topic, “Application of Peter Drucker's Methodology of Social Ecology,” the fifth of five weeks on “Lessons From the Social Sector on the Power of Purpose.”