I came across a piece of paper yesterday while I was trying to find something.  It was an old banquet talk I gave in Friendswood, Texas about 9 years ago.  As I looked it over I thought – “Hey, this relates to people in our families, people we work with, and people we lead.”  You can see for yourself if you think it relates.

People want to be LED, people want to be FOUGHT FOR, and people want to be FOUND.  As you lead, remember that you can live these out for people around you on a daily basis.

• People want to be LED.   Marni loves it when I charge out ahead of the family and say, “This is where we are going!”  Our staff loves it when we have a retreat and most of the larger details are covered – someone has already thought through them and they can enjoy.

Recently we had our anniversary.  Not “tooting” my horn here, just sharing how much it meant to Marni that I had thought through our anniversary weekend.  Reservations, where we were going, and what we were doing.  This is what it means to LEAD.  We can do this for our kids, for our employees.  One of our staff recently took one of his volunteer leaders car and had it filled and cleaned!  You think she will be around for another year?  Way to go Ryan!

• People want to be FOUGHT for.  I love of our staff down here in the Southcoast Region of Young Life.  These people are fighting for kids.  These people have been known to go to court hearings, take kids to doctors appointments, help raise the funds for kids to go to camp, and get kids jobs.  The kind of kids that our folks are fighting for are generally kids who are in some way marginalized.  So how do they feel being fought for?  Valued!

Last week one kid had a court hearing.  Our Area Director went to the hearing, and then after, took all the family to breakfast.  This was a huge message sent to the kid – you are important.

• People want to be FOUND.  I remember one Sunday when I worked at a church I saw an woman that I had not seen for a while.  I went up to her and said, “It’s great to see you!”  Her response took me aback actually, as she shared back to me, “I was going to stop going to this church.  I was gone for 6 weeks and today was my first day back.  I have been walking around here for an hour and no one noticed I was back – just as I was getting ready to leave here in a huff, you came up and noticed me.  Thank you!”

One time Marni opened our front door and a woman was there returning a dish.  Marni said to the woman, “I love your haircut!”  The woman welled-up with tears and said, “I never see you and you noticed right off the bat.  I got my haircut two days ago and my husband still hasn’t said a word.”  She broke down sobbing.  People want to be FOUND.

Today know that you will run across family members, neighbors, co-workers, etc.  All of them have the same DNA.  I wish it were not true, but it is.  We are all so simply made:  We all want to be LED, we all want to be FOUGHT FOR, and we all want to be FOUND.  Why?  Because in us is a desire to feel significant.

3 things you can do TODAY:

• Make a reservation or appointment with someone for next week.  It could be anything – a lunch, a date, a coffee talk.  Think ahead!
• Who needs to be fought for in your life?  Maybe someone needs a letter of endorsement, or someone needs you to believe for the next step in his or her growth.
• People around your life can easily get lost in the noise and chaos of our world.  Who needs to be “found” today?  Who can you remember from your past to say hello, thank, or re-connect with?

Have a great Thursday!

Eric