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The Longview by Roger Parrott was a surprise for me.   I heard Dr. Parrott speak at a conference and I liked how he contrasted sailing with powerboats as a metaphor for leadership.  So I bought the book.  What I found was a solid, well written book on leadership which touched on several areas I have rarely come across, and yet I personally believe to be crucial.  Dr. Parrott is the President of Bellhaven College, in Jackson Mississippi, yet what he shares about leadership is as much about the local church as it is about leading a college.  Pastor's will get great value out of this book and definitely need to read the chapters:  "Vulnerability May Get You in, but Humility Keeps You there"  and "Shepherding a Vision Without Scaring Away the Flock."  The 250 pages of material is divided into 13 chapters.  The book is easy to read and organized in a way that is interesting and applicable.  While not a comprehensive book on leadership, it covers the basics while discussing some interesting and often overlooked aspects of leadership.   Some significant quotes are included below.  If you are looking for a good book to use in developing your staff or lay leaders, this one would make a good study.  If you are looking for a good book on leadership to develop yourself - I highly recommend it.

"While a show of vulnerability brings with it immediate gratification for a leader seeking support, it also attracts critics in the same way blood in the water attacks sharks ready to attack. One of my looming concerns for leadership in today's environment is the difficulty of remaining at one ministry for a significant length of time. One of the reasons for this is leaders' increasing tendency to resort to these short-sighted quests for camaraderie among those they seek to lead. Leaders who wish to go the distance must learn to reject the empty promise or ‘transparency’ before their critics make it out to be a disqualifying fault." p. 67

"To develop a culture of renewal, you must become comfortable living with the ambiguous balance of growth and pruning in your working relationships." p. 96

Leaders who neglect effective evaluation and measured accountability may avoid short-term hassles and awkward conversations, but they are undermining the long-term future of their organization, their employees, and their own leadership" p. 101

"Good leaders must envision, probe, and then explore new opportunities. But it is equally important they always return to inspire, lead, and equip others who can follow them and fully utilize the leader's advances." p. 171

"We can deploy plans, strategies, and best practices, but at the end of the day we require a determined godly focus to make it far into the future with those we lead." p. 237

I had the opportunity this morning to preach at an evangelical church in Van Wert, Ohio.  It was a great experience and the people were very warm and stayed focused throughout the sermon.  My sermon was "Salt May be Bad for Your Health" drawn from Matthew 5:13.  The focus was on evangelism, specifically Jesus' charge to the church to BE salt.  This is not the first time I have preached this message.  In fact, if my records are correct, this is the third time I have preached the message, although as is typical, I "tweaked" it quite a bit from the last time it was preached.  

As I was praying in preparation to preach the focus on evangelism would not leave me and I am convinced that not only was this message the right one for the day, but that this theme is the right one for this season.  I preach again on August 22 in Huntington at the Nazarene church - I'm anxious to see where God is leading in the days ahead as I prepare for that service.

I say all that to say this:  Leadership, especially spiritual leadership, also means listening and being open to the leadings of the Holy Spirit.  While this comes easier for some than for others (not so much for me), anyone can learn. 

I upload some notes I took with the logipen with no problems, simply connect to the computer with the included USB cable and select "Upload Notes" from the Logi Manage program.  I have to say how pleased I am with the easy transition from the device to the LogiManage program.  Even without checking the directions too much, it is pretty easy to navigate.  However, when trying to open in MS Word, the LogiManage states that no handwriting was detected and further research on the website shows that getting this to work in Windows 7 is complicated.  On the plus side, the company provides on the same installation disk as the LogiManage, a handwriting recognition package named: MyScript.  This did a pretty reasonable job in translating my handwriting (which is not too good) into text with some typical problems with 'o' and '0' and 'i' and 'j'.  I like that the capture actually clearly captures all my notes, drawings, etc. as I am a visual thinker and have left literally hundreds of profound thoughts and drawings on napkins across the country.  No more, this device and pen should be able to capture pretty much anything I create and faithfully bring it back to my computer.  So far I haven't found any easier way to move stuff to MS OneNote, which I think would be a real plus for this company.  What I have had to do is not too complicated (simple cut and paste) but it is an additional step which could be avoided.

So far, I am well pleased with how this test is going.

I just opened the box of LogiPen's LogiNotes Digital Pen Input Device.  I will be testing the device to see how it integrates into an office environment, primarily focusing on integration with Microsoft's One Note.  I'm also concerned about how the device would work in a college setting for students.  Inside the box:

• Pen
• USB cord
• LogiPen capture unit (1 1/2 x 3 3/8 x 3/8 inches) with a clip on back to secure to pages (called Base Unit in the Directions)
• flat package including pen  and stylus refills, 2 batteries and an "extractor" for replacing the pen/stylus
• directions
• CD-ROM of Software for LogiManage

 The Base Unit has to charge for up to 12 hours before the first use - so that won't happen until tomorrow.

Installing the batteries (SR41) was simple and the directions were straightforward.

The directions said to push the pen insert in gently until it is lodged securely - it actually felt more like passing over a bump, but it did insert OK.  The ink quality is only average - but that is to be expected since the focus is not on the writing but the capture.

More tomorrow.