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Wednesday, June 1, 2016

Dear Hannah: Spiritual Leadership


 



Dear Hannah,

We grow by caring for people and things.

Reading J. Oswald Sanders’ book Spiritual Leadership has helped me grow as a husband, father, and man.

Wisdom Earned Through Lessons Learned …

1.     Spritual Leadership Defined. Spiritual leadership is the process of serving, influencing, teaching, and learning from others – with God’s principles as the standard.

2.     Success & Failure. God uses each success and failure to humble, teach and strengthen us.

3.     Leadership Qualities (Chapter 8).

I use several mnemonic devices to help remember these principles. Here is the first …

"Leaders 'WISHeDD' (Wisdom, Integrity, Sincerity, Humility, Discipline / Decision Making) for Courage and Vision."

4.     More Leadership Qualities (Chapter 9).

"Leaders do not ‘WHIF’ (Writing, Humor, Inspiration, Friendship) at the PLATE (Patience, Listening, Anger, Tact, Execution)."

5.     Anger Is A Leadership Quality? Anger (an intense emotional response) has been a prevalent (and counterproductive) part of my life. I now accept it as a leadership quality.

See, prayer (intimate conversations with God) is an essential leadership quality. Prayer can be hindered by sin.

If we are so angry that we cannot pray, then we are too angry – and on the threshold of sin.

God tells us to be angry, but to not sin in our anger (Eph 4:26).

A wise man knows his limitations. Recognized anger is a limitation that can help us stay on a healthy leadership path.

6.     Time Management (Chapter 12).

“Every moment matters
You had better realize
Then you can quickly respond
To opportunities you recognize.”

·         Power is work done efficiently - that is, with wise and skillful use of RICE (Resources, Interests, Communication, and Expertise).
·         God grants power to His efficient problem solvers.

7.     Leaders are Readers (Chapter 13).

·         Mature reading challenges us with new (and old, unanswered) questions (rather than confirming that we already knew the answer).
·         Reading biographies provides wisdom and inspiration from someone's life and ministry.
·         Bacon's rule - read to weigh and consider.

8.     Improving Leadership (Chapter 14).

"Improve, Inspire, ‘GRASPP’ (and inspect) what you expect ..."

·         Group Morale (maintaining teamwork & camaraderie)
·         Relationships (unity and cohesiveness)
·         Administration (improving the ministry)
·         Spiritual Tone (spiritual health and maturity)
·         Problem Solving (corrective action)
·         Planning (establishing courses of action).

9.     Counting Leadership Costs (Chapter 15).

"SeLF-CROP (Self-Sacrifice, Loneliness, Fatigue, Criticism, Rejection, cost to Others, Pressure) leadership costs by counting them."

10.  Leadership Responsibilities (Chapter 16).

"A leader DIGS (Applied Discipline, Initiation, Guidance, Service) their responsibilities."

11.  Leadership Tests (Chapter 17).

"Don't be Jealous - leaders earn their FICA (Failure, Impossible Situations, Compromise, Ambition) score through testing!"

12.  The Art of Delegation (Chapter 18).

Getting work done through others is the highest form of leadership.

13.  Replacing Leaders (Chapter 19).

·         All leaders are replaceable.
·         All leaders have strengths and weaknesses that begat opportunities and threats (SWOT).
·         A leader's departure provides both threats (fear, regression) and opportunities (courage, advancement).
·         Leadership success requires opportunities to fail!

14.  Reproducing Leaders (Chapter 20).

·         All leaders grow by caring for things and people.
·         Spiritual Maturity > Age
·         Purposeful leaders want to serve. Ambitious leaders want to be served.

15.  Leadership Perils (Chapter 21).

"Jealous feelings ‘PPIIPEEDD’ (Pride, Popularity, Infallibility, Indispensability, Prophet or leader, Egotism, Elation and Depression, and Disqualification) through a leader's heart invite peril."

a.     JEALOUSY seeks to deny or destroy the work of others (page 155).
b.    Christ, rather than the leader, should be the object of a ministry’s POPULARITY (page 156).
c.     Nobody is perfect. The leader must maintain a teachable spirit (INDISPENSABILITY).
d.    INFALLIBILITY is a blinding illusion.
e.     It is more important to be a PROPHET of God than a leader of men (page 159). The prophet replies upon God’s wisdom and power.
f.     EGOTISM is a self-centered orientation (page 154). Leaders should not become too confident or "self-made" (page 156).
g.    Excess in joy (ELATION) or sorrow (DEPRESSION) is unhealthy for the spiritual leader (page 157).
h.     Self-control is the key to preventing DISQUALIFICATION in ministry (page 160).


Love,

Daddy





Copyright © 2016 Derrick  Brown. All Rights Reserved.

Saturday, April 23, 2016

Dear Hannah: Sign 'O' The Times (Prince Rogers Nelson (June 7, 1958 - April 21, 2016))


 

Dear Hannah,

I love music.

It soothes, thrills, inspires self-expression and innovation, and brings people together.

He was a gifted musical prodigy.

His father (who was a musician) introduced him to music at an early age.

Prince wrote his first song at age 7.

He recorded his first album at age 19.

Prince produced, arranged, composed and played all 27 instruments used on that first album (entitled "For You").

He also wrote and performed all the songs on the album - except for one that he co-wrote.

Prince mentored and inspired others sharing his gift with the world.

His gift connected him to people like me.

We never met, but he inspired and left me with many great memories.
 
I remember ...
  1. The guitar solos from "I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man" and "Computer Blue".
  2. The horns from "Girls & Boys", "Mountains", "The Glamorous Life", and "It's Gonna Be A Beautiful Night".
  3. The falsetto lead vocals from "Adore".
  4. The groove lines from "Lady Cab Driver", "When Doves Cry", "Pop Life", "Raspberry Beret", "Kiss", "Sign O The Times", & "If I Was Your Girlfriend".
I remember his advocacy for musicians' copyright ownership (continuing Teena Marie's good work).

I remember his support, generosity and friendships (Katt Williams, Tamron Hall, Van Jones, Tyler Perry, James Brown, Sheila E., Marva Collins, Tavis Smiley, Yes We Code).

I remember him being a short, small dude who was funny, shy and quiet - but never silent. 

I thank Prince for teaching me to live out loud.


Love,

Daddy





Copyright © 2016 Derrick  Brown. All Rights Reserved.

Wednesday, March 23, 2016

KnowledgeBase Launches eBay Store!

 
  1. NEW (OR RETURNING) CUSTOMERS & DONORS: Click here to register your service request / donation.
  2. Click Below To Pay For Services Rendered (or Scheduled Appointments):

Duration




We help people to help people.

This store finances our "Reach - Then Teach" Leadership Cohort's projects.

These are a few of our favorite things (available here!):

  1. Athletic (Adidas, Nike) and Business Apparel (Hugo Boss, Ralph Lauren)
  2. Books (including Bibles, Manuals; and Engineering, Latin, Math & Science (STEM) Textbook Teacher Editions)
  3. Calculators (HP 48 Series Scientific & Graphing Calculators)
  4. Golf Equipment (Clubs, Instruction Books, Accessories)
  5. Musical Instruments
  6. Software (Microsoft Frontpage, Office, Project, Publisher, Visual Basic)

Visit us - we value your business and feedback!


Sincerely,

Derrick Brown
Email: derrick.s.brown at att.net
Phone: 678-467-1256
Blog: http://reachthenteach.com
Facebook: Reach - Then Teach
Twitter: @dbrowndbrown



About KnowledgeBase's "Reach - Then Teach" Leadership Cohort

KnowledgeBase’s "Reach - Then Teach" Leadership Cohort is a diverse group of 12 professionals who build relationships, increase capacity, and generate solutions by executing mentoring, conflict resolution, and problem solving projects.

We help people to help people.

Recent Projects

1.   Produced a one-hour documentary of our daughter Hannah’s third year.
2.   Produced and debuted ...

a.   changED - 14 "standup storytelling" songs that use mentoring, mediation, and problem solving to inspire LEarning, solutions, and change - change that starts within.

b.   CONVERSE - a difficult (moderated) conversation that takes place between two rational humans with differing perspectives. The underlying principle is that civil discourse - especially between dissenters - promotes growth.

c.    The NOW YOU KNOW History Quiz Bowl - a one-hour "Jeopardy"-styled gameshow with episodes that share the stories of 26 ordinary people who accomplished extraordinary feats.

d.   BAG OF LIFE - a small-group relationship building activity that uses randomly drawn cards containing fill-in-the-blank sentences, questions, and words that encourage transparent self-expression.

e.   HABIT – a small-group relationship building curriculum that uses BAG OF LIFE to disciple groups of men.

f.   Talk To Me - a one-hour "Taboo"-styled gameshow that teaches the language of character, math, and other subjects.

3.   Published Writing Your First Business Plan - a seven-assignment writing project that helps aspiring entrepreneurs understand their vision, and the missions that will manifest it.
4.   Used eBay to develop a catalog of proprietary search algorithms to identify, purchase, and resell items on eBay, Amazon, and TeachersPayTeachers.
5.   Helped a local community group map community resources like homeowner associations, “VIPs”, schools, and churches to win school board elections.
6.   Redesigned a public school’s information technology (IT) support infrastructure to save them time and money.
7.   Helped a Georgia online school account for 2000+ laptops purchased through federal grants that were distributed statewide to its faculty, staff, and students.
8.   Helped a local math teacher pass the GACE Math Certification Exam (022, 023) on his first attempt.
 

KnowledgeBase Principal Consultant Derrick Brown (a publisher, filmmaker, executive coach & registered mediator with engineering degrees from Clemson and Georgia Tech) leads the cohort.

“Our previous 2 cohorts have teamed high school & college students with experienced professionals in creative, unconventional ways,” said Brown.

“For example, each member is a mentor and mentee – depending on our project. When we helped a local school keep iPhones off the school’s network, our younger members led that effort.”

“The older members led when we supported a homeowner association’s outreach effort by mapping its surrounding communities online.”

“Members are pleasantly surprised to learn that they are paid for their solutions. My mission is to coach each cohort to victory in ways that help our project partners reach their goals.”

“I love to engage innovators who like to solve problems and help people. I am the product of mentoring relationships, peacemaking, and problem solving. I am simply teaching what I have been taught, while continuing to learn from my students.”

In addition to the external projects, Brown also teaches and trains members by conducting workshops on diverse topics like creative problem solving, data analysis & visualization, conflict resolution, game design, and filmmaking.

“These workshops develop and sharpen our mental, physical, and strategic tools. This teaching, coupled with nurturing and guidance, produces personal growth and great fruit. The fruit is then used to feed and replant.”


About Derrick Brown (Principal Consultant)
  


I am Keisha's husband, and Hannah's father.

My *other* passion is empowering people via methods that balance skill & will, analysis & synthesis, ideas & execution, and activity & achievement.

I am the product of my mentoring relationships, peacemaking (and peacekeeping), and problem-solving ability.

I am a publisher, filmmaker, executive coach & registered mediator with engineering degrees from Clemson and Georgia Tech.

My education began when I finished school.

After school, I enrolled in a lifelong curriculum that includes the following classes ...


  • ministry (serving people)
  • entrepreneurship (developing solutions that serve people)
  • stewardship (taking care of relationships, possessions, talents, body, mind, and time) 
  • literacy (reading & writing skills)
  • numeracy (math skills)
  • language (communication skills)
  • self-expression (sharing "who you are")
  • self-identity (knowing "who you are")
  • analysis & synthesis (solving problems & sharing solutions)

KnowledgeBase is a ministry that has evolved from wisdom earned through lessons learned.

I want to share this wisdom to build teams of "triple threat" fellows - mentors, mediators, and problem solvers.

We will collaborate in simple, powerful ways that allow us to help people.

I now know that power is work done efficiently (with wise and skillful use of resources, interests, communication, and expertise).


Copyright © 2016 Derrick  Brown. All Rights Reserved.

Friday, December 4, 2015

The BIG Picture: What Makes Clemson Special?






Published at clemsonpaws.com (12/4/2015) ...

Great summary, Kraken. Your insights are making me a better football fan.

A few thoughts …

1. I am looking for big efforts from our North Carolina natives on Saturday (Hopper, Crowder, Thompson, V. Smith, Watkins, Fields).

2. Despite the recent injury, fatigue, and the internal / external “we’re #1” factors, this season (my 38th as a Tiger fan) is special.

Football analytics help us learn what might happen based on previous events. 

Faith, trust, knowledge, and will help us envision what might happen through our belief and inspiration.

Harnessing both provides power beyond measure.

3. Clemson has amassed physical talent that performs on par with today’s recognized powerhouses. Clemson’s real advantage, though, is belief and inspiration.

Deshaun Watson is a transcendent talent. However, I am most amazed and impressed by his calm confidence. It inspires me to believe he will make plays.

Dabo has become a media darling because of great sound bites (and not-so-great dance moves), but what sets him apart as a coach is his transparent enthusiasm, and his down-to-earth approach, and his positive perspective.

He knows that no matter what happens Saturday, Sunday will arrive right on time.

Y’all enjoy this Saturday and this season!


About Derrick Brown
 


I am Keisha's husband, and Hannah's father.

My *other* passion is empowering people via methods that balance skill & will, analysis & synthesis, ideas & execution, and activity & achievement.

I help people who help people.


Copyright © 2015 Derrick  Brown. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2025 Derrick Brown and KnowledgeBase, Inc. All Rights Reserved.