Jason Upton - Video 6

Everyone Communicates, Few Connect

http://www.scribd.com/doc/28231498/Everyone-Communicates-Few-Connect-by-John-C-Maxwell


Check out the Link Above for a great excerpt out of John Maxwell's book about connecting. To give you a taste, here are a few of the thing that meant something to me out of the book.

What I mean when I say “connect”? Connecting is the ability
to identify with people and relate to them in a way that increases your
influence with them.If you want to become more productive and influential, learn to
become a better leader because everything
rises and falls on leadership. And the best
leaders are always excellent connectors.

People whom I saw connect with others had better relation-
ships, experienced less conflict, and got more things done than
those who didn’t connect. Have you ever heard of someone who is
said to live a “charmed life”? Usually those are people who have
learned how to connect.


Jennifer Williams, who had just moved into a new neighbor-
hood, said that she went out of her way to meet new neighbors, talk
to them, discover their occupations, and learn the names of their
children and pets. As she did, people began to come together.
“Wow,” one neighbor told her, “until you moved in, we rarely talked,
didn’t know each other, and would never sit out in the evenings and
socialize. Here you’ve been for less than two months, and you know
everyone!” Jennifer says it’s because “people want to be made to feel
connected and a part of something.”9 I agree, but I also recognize
that she is a connector!

The ultimate throttle on growth
for any great company is not markets, or
technology, or competition, or products. It is the one thing above all others—the ability to get and keep enough of the right
people.”The ability to connect with others begins
with understanding
the value of people.

I believe that almost everything we become and all that we
accomplish in life are the result of our interaction with others.

CONNECTINGPRINCIPLE: Connecting increases your
influence in every situation.
KEYCONCEPT: The smaller the group, the more impor-
tant it is to connect.

Am I Willing to Receive Instruction?

So many times, when receiving instruction, correction, I find something inside me rising up to want to defend my place.
"Well, I did my best." "My motives were to help." "Why can't they see I am trying?" Etc... Especially in relationships...To the conscientious person, sometimes correction can be hard to receive, because these kinds of people have already taken extra precautions to not make a mistake. When they hear their performance did not meet the mark, it can be crushing. BUT this is pride. I am learning to receive correction more willingly. Here is what I found this morning to encourage me. I will share it with you.

Psalm 94:12
Blessed is the man whom You instruct, O Lord. And teach out of Your law, That you may give him rest from the days of adversity.

When I realized "Why" God instructs me, it made me happy. He instructs me to keep me from having a train wreck "that you may give him rest from the days of adversity." And for people who have my best interests in mind, this is "WHY" they instruct me as well. After all, it would be easier for them to say nothing at all.

So Today, I want to see instruction the right way. Not as a personal attack, but as an opportunity to be protected.

Proverbs says, "A fool has no delight in understanding, but in expressing his own heart." (Pr. 18:2).

If I delight to understand and grow, I will shut my mouth and receive correction..But if I choose to act foolish, I will open my mouth to defend and "express my own heart".

Lord, help me to be humble enough to receive your Life GIving Instruction.