Orrin,
There is such a sense of urgency in this country it's scary. Once again, it boils down to truth. I believe it was Harry Truman who said, " A country that forget's it's history is doomed to repeat it". John F. Kennedy also said, "you can't know where you're going until you know where you've been". That's exactly what's happening in this great country of ours. The godly principles that this country was founded on are being erased from the public minds, slowly, but surely. It's like a "parasite" in our culture today. You spoke on a CD titled: "Let's Talk About Destiny" I must tell you, the first time I listened to that, it scared me to death. I was the "ostrich with it's head in the sand" for many years. I can't even begin to tell you the impact that one particular CD had on me and the sense of purpose it has instilled in me. I highly recommend this to everyone. Greed and individualism has taken it's toll in our society. We need the TEAM media in every person's hand. As you have said over and over again, it's not about getting people to believe everything you say, it's about getting people to start thinking again and getting educated with the proper information so you at least can come back with a legitmate reason as to why you disagree! We are "SOLDIERS OF TRUTH" on the TEAM. I respect you, Orrin , so much because you're "character" is non-negotiable. I'm following your example and I willl stop at nothing to be the same example for others! God Bless You and God Bless America! ............ Gary S.

Orrin,

I love your 2 quotes! Very thought provoking! Hey I hope the book signing went well in Michigan! This weekend I had an interesting experience that I thought might fit into the title of your lesson especially around responsibilities. It was an experience that I will never forget and something I couldn't wait to share with everyone! It reminded me about my responsibility, as a growing leader, to always be a lifter for other people.

For me, as I described in a few posts back, I have a responisibility to develop my God given potential and practice my personal "daily dozen" everyday. Why? I believe that my gifts and abilities are God's gift to me and what I do with those gifts is my gift back to God! One of the practices I try to do daily is add value to people I have never met before. Whether it is opening up doors for others, saying hi, or striking up a conversation to learn about them I just want to add value to others. In other words I just follow the Golden Rule that is taught to all of us in the Bible: "Do unto others as you want them to do unto you."

Of all places, my experience happened at a Walmart with a 70 year old lady who was a cashier:) I was checking out in line and just struck up a conversation with this cashier and she worked their because her husband passed away and she needed to earn an income since her retirment was not very good. Anyways to make a long story short one of the items I purchased was 2 packages of Extra chewing gum. When she was done tallying up what I owed her she said "I charged you for 3 packages of gum instead of 2." Then she bursted into tears! I said " What is wrong? Is there anything I can help you with?" She said "about 5 minutes ago I did the same thing to someone else and he told me I was so ingnorant that I shouldn't even work at Walmart. I am sorry if I made you upset." I told her "maam I have shopped at many Walmarts during my lifetime, but I have never met someone as kind as you. You are a person of worth! I have watched you serve the previous 2 customers and I wish every store I went into had someone like you working the register!" I was in awe that a $1.99 mistake made this experience happen! She said "the only person that ever said that to me was my husband, but since he died no one has paid me a compliment like that before." Can you you believe that someone made this woman feel so low for a $1.99 package of gum?!!!!! Anyways I went and got another package of gum off the shelf since I paid for it and then came back to show this wonderful cashier that it was OK. She held my bags and gave them back to me before I walked out the door. Then she said something to me that I will never forget. She gave me a hug and said "I know God has great things in store for you. Thank you for valuing me as a person and not seeing me as "just a cashier." Like I said earlier this was at a Walmart! I went out to my car and just sat stunned because I couldn't believe that experience just happened. It was something I will never forget and know now how important it is to carry out the responsibility of treating everyone with love and respect.

That is why the stakes of leadership are so high! You see when opportunity comes, as we all know, it is too late to prepare. I am very thankful because of my continued leadership learning through TEAM and other leadership organizations I was prepared to add value to someone that just got de-valued by someone else. This experience teaches me that no matter who we ever talk to or run into, God brings us to that moment for a specific reason, but it is our responsibility to be lifters to all people not just a select few! However in order to be a lifter in other people's lives we have got to check our EGO at the door! Back off and stop taking yourself too seriously, because you can't help anyone if you are only concerned with helping yourself! I must say though if I would have seen that man treat the cashier the way he did I might of been asking for forgiveness:)

There are so many people that everyday are de-valued or de-edified by Egotistical and our jobs as leaders is to see others not as they are, but see them as they could become. It is our responsibility to see the good in other people and tell them how those great qualities will serve others well.

Thanks Orrin!

Best,
Matt

That is awesome Matt!!
Just think of the changes we will make when events like you described in this post become normal. When random acts of kindness become deliberate,
purpose driven, mainstream ways of treating people. I for one am so proud of what you did. I will now double my efforts to do the same. Today I will add value to someone I don't even know. Your posts are great, btw. I hope to be able to lay things out as well as you do one of these days.
Have a great day and thanks for sharing this story!!
Ian from Texas

Thanks Ian. That means alot coming from you! I have been reading your posts as well and I am very impressed with how much you have grown as a leader! I have and will continue to learn great things from you! Thanks for growing!

Best,
Matt

Matt,
You are living a servant leadership life. Thanks for sharing your examples of humility and love. You gave me more spark to be a better leader. Jeff