Karl Edwards presents Working Matters

Author: Karl Edwards

  • Loving Monday: What Matters? Your Choice

    loving_mondayThere’s a lot on your plate.

    There usually is.

    Of all that is clambering for your attention, what matters today?

    What matters in general, sure, but more pertinently, what matters enough to get you to put everything else down?

    It comes down to choices. It’s nice to identify many things as important. It’s nice to have deep convictions, core values, and clear priorities.

    But when all is said and done (or, said and said again, more commonly), a choice needs to be made.

    The choice to apply my efforts to something in particular and to do it now.

    Questions of convictions, values and priorities are only meaningful and helpful to the extent that they help us make choices.

    In fact, the question might better be asked the other way around: “What have you chosen to do today?” The answer to that question points to what your true convictions, values and priorities are.

    If today matters, (and I am assuming that it does), then we need to start making choices before the day slips through our fingers.

    What does your current choice tell you about what matters to you? If not consistent with your convictions, values and priorities, what adjustment might you make?

    Think about it maybe a little, but more importantly make your next choice. Today matters.

    On your side,

    – Karl Edwards

    Loving Monday is a weekly column designed to encourage us to step into our weeks with an intention to show up authentically, engage fully, and choose to make it a good week for ourselves. Explore past columns here.

  • Quote to Consider: A Hat Tip to Self-Respect

    quote-to-consider“Self-respect will keep a man from being abject when he is in the power of enemies, and will enable him to feel that he may be in the right when the world is against him.”

    Bertrand Russell

  • Thought Leaders Unpacked -> Clutch #9: Overconfidence Starts The Fall

    thought-leadersThe problem with overconfidence is that, as easy as it is to spot in others, it is almost impossible to see in ourselves.

    The problem with overconfidence is that our focus has shifted from the task at hand to ourselves and our reputations and abilities.

    This chapter begs the question, what then is healthy confidence?

    My starting definition would be a grounded comfort in who I am and what I am capable that results in being free from thinking about myself at all.

    My attention is freed up to focus on others, on what is going on around me, on what I am doing at the moment.

    Humility is a virtue that fits well here.

    Neither a too high nor a too low estimation of myself. In fact, I’m not devoting any attention to assessing myself at all.

    I already know myself, and I have made my peace with who I am and who I am not. I am okay with what I can do and what I cannot yet do.

    I am not comparing myself to others. I am not trying to impress. I am simply not thinking about myself.

    I am free to focus on meeting the demands of the moment. In clutch situations, that freedom to focus is crucial to being able to perform under pressure. In clutch situations, there is not time for distractions like thinking that you’re the right person to meet this moment.

    What about for you? How much of your efforts to succeed have to do with thinking about yourself being successful instead of doing the actual work you want to succeed at?

    What are your personal overconfidence or lack of confidence distractions? How might you help yourself shift your focus back to the task at hand?

    What was your main take-away from this chapter? We would all love to learn from what you are learning.

    Each week I post my reflections from one chapter of Clutch: Why Some People Excel Under Pressure and Others Don’t by Paul Sullivan. My reflections are my own and are intended to generate conversation, catalyze additional thinking and encourage mutual learning.
    If you are just joining the discussion now, welcome! Catch up on the entire series here.

  • Karl Shares Six Words… #21


    Who’s going to miss a ruler?


    Karl Edwards

  • Listen In -> Bridging the Work-Faith Divide #1: Becoming Whole Again

    So much of life is compartmentalized into purportedly unrelated spheres. Work, family, religion, politics, hobbies, entertainment, etc.

    Until now, a common divide many of us experience is the one between our work and our faiths.

    Bridging the Work-Faith DivideUntil now.

    Until now, we have assumed there is no overlap between the matters of the hands (work) and the matters of the heart (faith).

    We have also assumed that neither should there be any overlap. Because faith is personal, it should therefore remain private.

    Some persons of faith have tackled the question of whether we should take our faith to work with us. They have raised faith issues such as: evangelism, ethics, morality, and integrity.

    In other words, they have asked how to take the topics and vocabulary of the religious realm and apply them in the working realm.

    This week, Claudia and I begin a new series of discussions entitled, “Bridging the Work-Faith Divide,” but…

    BUT!

    Our premise is that the question is more useful if asked the other way around.

    How do we think about the issues of the workplace in the vocabulary of the workplace in a manner that is informed by our faiths? Workplace issues such as: achieving results, working with people, making difficult decisions, improving methods, conducting meetings, and collaborating across disciplines, to name a few.

    Bridging the Work-Faith Divide
    Week #1: Becoming Whole Again
    Week #2: All Work as a Legitimate Calling
    Week #3: Character Formation and Lifelong Learning
    Week #4: Collaboration, Empowerment and Accountability
    Week #5: Becoming a Person of Influence and Impact

    Just now joining the conversation? Catch up on the entire series here.
    Interested in how we can resource your church or organization? Get more information here.

    Listen in.

  • Quote to Consider: Remembering to Plug Back In

    quote-to-consider“All wise people say the same thing; that you are deserving of love, and that it’s all here now, everything you need. When you pray, you are not starting the conversation from scratch, just remembering to plug back into a conversation that’s always in progress.”

    Anne Lamott

  • Karl Shares Six Words… #20


    Lost promotion hiding behind his ideas.


    Karl Edwards

  • Three Accounting Travesties

    Three accounting travesties: no means of quantifying trust, initiative or learning.

    No wonder our investments in building each are so paltry.

  • Loving Monday: From Occasional to Ordinary

    loving_mondayGet up right now and walk over to a co-worker and thank them for being a part of the team.

    Don’t pause. Don’t hesitate. Don’t over-think this one. Simply go let someone know that you appreciate them and then come back and finish reading this post.

    How was it? Did they look at you with bewildered astonishment? Did they smile and return an awkward thank-you?

    I‘d love to see a movement where expressions of appreciation at work went from being occasional to being ordinary.

    There doesn’t need to be a reason to express appreciation. In fact, the element of surprise is one of the best parts.

    What if work became the sort of place where one could expect to be appreciated and valued? Hearing things like, “Thank you” and “I’m glad you’re here” would be ordinary experiences instead of isolated rarities.

    What would it be like?

    Would would it be like to know that whatever your mood, whatever your mistake, whatever the complications of the day, there would be an atmosphere (more…)

  • Quote to Consider: Now That’s Self-Awareness

    quote-to-consider“He claimed his modest share of the general foolishness of the human race.”

    Irving Howe