Media Light! It’s happening now!!!

How would you like to spend ten weeks seeking God and learning to produce video while living with young leaders from many nations all in an exotic location?  At Media Light we  believe in hands-on,  immersion learning.  For ten weeks you will live in community at our base in Chiang Rai, Thailand in the famous golden triangle just miles from Laos and Myanmar.  Thailand is an dynamic, creative nation and a top tourist destination due to its incredible waterfalls, beaches and mountains.  But Thailand is also an unreached nation (only 1% Christian), a perfect creative environment in which to sharpen your spiritual health and to develop deeper competence as a Christian communicator in a digital age.

Media Light Opens its doors in Chiang Rai, Thailand Jan 5-March 21. These ten weeks could change your life.  There are only 25 slots in any school and 12 are already taken so if you intend to join this batch it’s time to get rolling!  Click here for full details but in click quickly.  OCT 15 IS THE DEADLINE FOR ADMISSIONS.  Hope to see you there!

PS: We also have  Internships available for Lee University Students starting in May 2010.

The Two Most Powerful Words – Part 3

In our last post, I wrote down a couple of symptoms of someone who doesn’t use the word “no” enough. I hope you took the time to take an honest assessment of your current situation, because the power of “no” is largely misused. Use it right and you can bring focus and control to your life. How do you use it right? Here are three ways:

Prioritize: Focus and progress begin with priority. You’ve got to know what matters most to you when given a choice between two or more ways to spend your resources. I asked you to create a list when we were talking about the word “yes”. Go through that list and prioritize your goals and your gifts. Which ones matter the most to you? Now carve out some time for those “number ones” on your calendar and don’t let anything get in the way of your plan.
Eliminate “Maybe”: A lot of us live our lives in the Bermuda Triangle of “Maybe”. Dreams get lost in “Maybe”. Relationships atrophy in “Maybe”. You don’t go to “Maybe” on vacation. You go to “Maybe” to disappear in confusion, insignificance, and apathy. If someone asks you if you can take on another project, don’t say “alright”, “I’ll see what I can do”, or “I guess so”. If you don’t think you’ll be able to do it well, just tell them “no”. Phrase it nicer, of course, but don’t hurt them by committing to something and then not following through. If your child is in the school play, don’t say “I’m gonna try”. Tell them “no”, if you are not going to be there. If you are dating and you know your relationship is not healthy, don’t keep telling yourself “maybe he’ll change” or “I’ll sleep with her, but I won’t have sex with her.” Say “no”. Once you begin to eliminate “maybe” and use the words “yes” and “no”, you’ll notice the sense of power and focus that you regain in your life.

Become a Person of One Mind: A lot of our stress in life comes from being in one place physically, but being in another place mentally. You are a finite being, you can only truly exist in one place at one time. This tip is about multitasking. I know, I know, you’re different. You can type an email, watch American Idol, and have a conversation with your friend about what’s going on in their life right now. Of course you can. The issue isn’t whether you can pull it off, the issue is whether you can be proud of the effort that you put into any of those things. Did that person you were talking to really get the best of your attention? Turn off the TV. Put down the cellphone. Shut the laptop. That’s not quality time. Try it. Do one thing at a time. You’ll find that focused time and attention will actually increase your results and your efficiency. Just choose one thing and attack it. Then move on to the next. As you do, fully immerse yourself in what you are doing and enjoy it.

The words “yes” and “no” have the power to create a life that matters; a life that is rich with memories, deep relationships, and fulfilling work. We just have to learn to use them rightly. “Yes” can open up possibilities when you are stuck in a rut. “No” can help you focus your resources and make progress in a consistent direction. The two most powerful words in existence are in your vocabulary and completely at your disposal. What are you going to do with them?

Missed your connection?

 This story is all too familiar: Pastor takes church; pastor fails to motivate congregation; pastor gets frustrated; congregation becomes ambivalent; pastor moves on; the story repeats until one day a new pastor takes over and then WOW! something wonderful happens.  The congregation gets excited, the church seems to come alive, grows and one good thing after another happens.

There is, perhaps, a very spiritual explanation for all these mini-failures.  The previous pastors were not called, maybe they weren’t listening to God, maybe they were called but not too that church. Of course there may be at least a little truth to these broad brush strokes, but as with all generalizations, getting to “reality” requires peeling back the layers and digging a little deeper.

In previous blogs we  have examined the dual components of vision:

• paint a picture of a new future
• leave some room for followers to add their part to the masterpiece

What we are talking about here are the pure mechanics of leadership. Casting of Vision being one of the 4 foundations to true leadership, however it is important to understand that the Character/Credibility combination  is so closely connected to the power of Vision Casting that they cannot be separated. 

There is an old adage that when you first take over an organization you should be careful not to make any changes in the early going.  When you do decide to act, any changes made should be incremental. The generally accepted wisdom is that “people resist change,” but that is only partly true.  Allow me to explain the adage and offer small  insight into why so many “called” people fail to make an impact after assuming the leadership role.  

 Most called people are energized by what they believe God has given them as a mission.  They arrive at their first pastoral assignment (or other organizational assignment) full of excitement and enthusiasm. The natural next step is to begin to frame the new group according to the leader’s vision, right?  Insisting on this approach will ultimately be seen as foisting that vision upon the established group, and will create natural resistance.  English novelist, Arnold Bennett commented, “Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts.” Even if the established group believes the vision may be the correct one; awareness of the difficulty of change produces natural cautiousness.  Often, this subtle, or sometimes overt, resistance to a new vision is viewed by the fledgling leader, as resistance to God’s Himself.

What then is the answer to this dilemma?  First, remember that even a new vision is not without context.  The context is provided by the established group, and therefore the new leader must make a connection with that group for vision casting to be effective.   The only way to establish that connection is to tap into the deeply held beliefs of the established group.  Richard Daft, noted organizational researcher, points out that the beliefs of an organization will be reflected everywhere in their language, artifacts and rituals of the established culture.  While there are a broader set of beliefs that all Christians might hold, the social, cultural and intellectual beliefs are very group specific. Those beliefs are also deeply influenced by the combination of corporate history and current events

This means that the leader must learn more about the group, what they care about?; what community do they live in?; what cultural and social structures that have shaped their beliefs?    It is almost impossible for a new leader to cast effective vision for a group without that information.  The leader may hit upon it by accident, but is more likely to miss, offend and appear to be disconnected. Knowing the group is like knowing your travel itinerary. Imagine for second the futility of attempting to influence a plane that has already taken off.  You may have a ticket to Denver, but if you are in the New York terminal and the plane has left, your ticket (vision) doesn’t mean much.  You might be able to get on another plane, but that connection is lost.

When we say someone “connects” with us, we are literally saying, “they know me, they understand what makes me tick.”   If the new leader understands this, he/she finds a way to connect their personal calling with the deeply held beliefs of the group,  and is able to cast an effective vision for the future.  That vision is molded by the leader and given life and energy by the followers.  Leaders create followers, and they do so by connecting with them at a deep, almost subconscious level.  They understand their lives, what is important to them and how the new vision might play out in the role they play within the organization.

A great example of this happened in the corporate world about nine years ago.  Two executive scandals rocked CMS Energy, one of the largest energy companies in the world.  One was a round-trip trading scandal where energy futures were being bought and sold between two companies with the sole goal of inflating sales and transaction numbers.  Another, was blatant misstatements in the company’s prospectus that were overlooked by the cozy relationship with the auditing firm.  When the scandals broke almost simultaneously the resulting aftermath sent stock prices plummeting, and employee 401k’s lost half their value overnight.  The executives responsible were released with golden parachutes numbering in the millions, and the employees took the brunt of the damage.  These employees were not disloyal, but the  situation seemed to reward unethical behavior and caused serious distrust of executive staff.  The new interim CEO had a daunting task. He had been appointed by the board to take the reins of a company with disengaged employees, low stock values and wary investors.  Essentially, this was a company poised for disaster.

After taking the time to understand the situation, he held a series of town-hall style employee meetings.  There he announced the creation of ethics based policy changes.  He cast a vision for a new direction of the company based on honesty and integrity: with the market, with employees and with customers.  Employees responded to this effort with  agreement and intense effort, and the company began a turnaround which resulted in a restoration of most of its former value.  He managed to create a vision that was not based on profit or growth, because he believed by following the right path both of those things would result.  It was the deep distrust of the executive staff he addressed, and was building a vision of the future that was based on integrity. By doing so he reached out to the general populace and made the right connection.

Media Light Internship

What are you doing this summer?

You could be in Chiang Rai, Thailand:

• Riding elephants
• Hiking the Himalayan foothills
• Encountering tribal cultures
• Serving persecuted Burmese Christians and refugees
• Engaging orphans rescued from sex trafficking
• Immersed in meaningful team projects geared to take your skills to the next level and build your resume

And you could be getting credit for it too! Your hands-on service and relationships in Thai culture will meet your cross-cultural requirements and gain you 20 service learning hours. That’s not all! Your experience at Media Light can get you over 150 internship hours, no matter your field of study. Even if you don’t go to Lee University, your college may honor our internship program. Just follow it up with your department.

Will the Internship Program Count Towards My Major?

At Media Light, we’ve engineered an internship program with you in mind. We tailor your work on the ground to your course. If you are a telecom major, you’ll be involved in projects like documentaries and short films. If you’re an ISP or Pastoral studies major, you’ll be working with orphanages and indigenous Christian groups. If you are a Soc/Anthro major, you’ll have the opportunity to immerse yourself in tribal culture as a directed study option. The possibilities are limitless out here. Send in your application early, so that we can begin crafting the perfect experience for you.

How Long Does the Internship Run?

Take one month of your summer and make a lifetime of memories. One month? Yup. You’ll be back in time to even knock out a summer session’s worth of classes. The internship runs from May 17-June 14

How Much Will it Cost?

You’re a college student, you’re not made of money! We feel you. We also know that your biggest expense is gonna be your plane tickets over to Thailand. So, with you in mind, we’ve set the price of the trip at the low figure of $600. That’s right. It’s the same amount that you’d pay for one month’s food and rent here in the US, except you’re gonna be in Thailand, knocking out three types of requirements and having a blast while doing it. For $600, we’ll take care of your food, housing, and activities over there. All you’ve got to worry about now are those plane tickets. Which is a good reason to get on it early.

I’m in! Where Do I Start?

Where to start? We’ve got that covered. Here’s a checklist to help you out. (Click highlighted words for links)

1. Apply for Media Light Internship
2. Apply for individually arranged cross cultural trip to meet cross-cultural requirements (scholarships)
3. Take required courses a semester in advance (Anth 200)
4. Apply for individually arranged internship
5. Service learning paperwork
6. Apply for independent study(optional)
7. Acquire passport (4-6 months in advance)
8. Purchase Tickets
9. Raise $600 for Media Light housing, food, & program
10. Kiss your momma and tell her you’ll be back in a month!

Thanks for taking a look at Media Light. We look forward to seeing you when your feet hit the ground in Thailand.

Download the Media Light student internship application form…. BY CLICKING HERE!