Weekly Thought – April 14, 2015

Fred highly regarded education. Unable to attend college, he spent a lifetime studying. Often when he spoke at colleges he laughed about having to wear a “choir robe” because he had no doctoral hood. He exemplified a true student who encouraged others in the pursuit of wisdom.

The BWFLI schedule is developing well. Please continue to pray for us as we begin the planning.

Education Matters

President John F. Kennedy, addressing an assemblage of Nobel laureates at the White House, and said, “I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent and human knowledge assembled for a White House dinner since Thomas Jefferson dined alone.”

Education is not solitary. One of the reasons we get together is to pool our knowledge and experience. The purpose isn’t competition, but coordination. Each of us in the room knows something that the others do not. The stimulating challenge is the sharing until you realize what you did not know.

Our political environment demonstrates the necessity of true education. In a cynical moment Robert Louis Stevenson said, “Politics is the only profession for which no preparation is thought necessary.” In today’s complex world this opinion is proven false.

Aristotle believed that proper governance depended on the education of the youth. But what they learn is critical. Through formal education, each generation can build on the knowledge of the prior. I believe this is only true if we accept the principles that the knowledge produced. If we deny the principles, then we are starting to reinvent the wheel. And the preparation needed for leadership is lacking. (more…)

Weekly Thought -September 2, 2014

Fred considered his ability to think one of his gifts. His abundant notes scribbled on everything from matchbooks to church offering envelopes supported this belief. Recently a spiral notebook was uncovered containing outlines for Sunday School lessons at Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas, a school board, and other speaking venues. One section outlined four months of thoughts. For each day a one line subject is assigned. His goal was to devote thinking time each time to an independent concept. The breadth of these musings is amazing. For example, Jazz versus classical music, family values, or marks of mentoring. There is no text – just the notation.

Thank you for praying as we strive to share the fruit of his thinking with others. We appreciate your prayers, your emails, and your financial support.

Redefine Achievement

A noted organizational development expert recommends to his clients they segment their lives into business units. He tells them to see themselves as CEO with each area a corporate division. In this model, they have direct reports for the physical, financial, spiritual, relational, career, and intellectual division of their company. Quarterly reports are required. It is great if all divisions are profitable, but when they aren’t, strategic plans are developed to ensure a healthy bottom line. For example, when a report is submitted showing a 10 pound “overage,” the physical division is running in the red. A plan for weight loss is immediately put in place. The other divisions with positive results get the “attaboys.”

When the career division is deficient, we often think the game is over. But another way to look at this is to look for accomplishment in the other areas. I call this reattaching our egos. During rough, dark times our egos take a beating. It is critical to control our egos during these seasons.     (more…)

Weekly Thought – July 15, 2014

Fred believed we have much to learn from our enemies.  He also believed we are known by not only the friends, but also our enemies.  He also believed in external and internal opposition.  “Sometimes we are our own worst enemy.”

Please pray for BWFLI as we establish the campus schedule for the next two years.  We look forward to seeing where the Lord takes the teams of leading men and women.

Overcoming, not Overwhelming

Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan tells the story of Christian and his trek to the Celestial City.  Along the way are the City of Delight and the Valley of Despair.  He starts on his way, determined to persevere, but the enemies actively pursue him.  Successful perseverance comes by overcoming the enemies cleverly disguised, and customized to fit each traveler and each situation.

Many of our obstacles may be external, but the most serious are generally internal.  When I was a director of the S.H Kress Company, I visited the stores and asked the manager about his problems.  If he described them as externally driven, I doubted his managerial capabilities.  If he discussed the internal problems, I knew we had a manager with potential for progress.  This manager defined situations he could do something about.  Certainly, there were external threats, but most were out of his control.

Each step of the perseverance process comes back to building good mental disciplines.  Fighting the enemies of endurance requires good habits.  Start with a reflex, and then train it into a habit.  Habits are our friends.     (more…)

Weekly Thought – July 1, 2014

Fred loved watermelon!  After he went on dialysis he reduced his fluid intake dramatically.  But summertime watermelons were his nemesis.  A dear friend, Ed Yates, figured out how to make watermelon pie which delighted Fred.  Ed once said, “Put enough whipped cream on anything and it tastes great.”  Each July 4th Fred remembered his days of chicken and watermelon eating contests.

On this holiday week, we celebrate the freedom to practice our faith.  At the Breakfast With Fred Leadership Institute, we gratefully acknowledge the privilege to connect with Christian colleges and universities.

Never Panic

Since childhood I have been interested in automobile racing.  I am fascinated by the driver’s ability to hit the wall and yet steer his car through the traffic into the infield.  He doesn’t quit unless he is unconscious.  He fights to minimize the loss and avoid deadly pileups.  Panic means giving in to the circumstances and giving up all control.  The racer’s rule: keep as much control as possible.

We handle the urge to panic differently.  1) Some are hysterical; explode like a Roman candle, going all to pieces with their hands in the air, mouths wide open, and eyes tightly shut. 2) Others deny loss and assume the ostrich position.  The downside of this stance: those who put their heads in the sand leave an awful lot of backside exposed.  And, people love to kick it. 3) Fatalists placidly surrender to the circumstances, like my friend who convinced himself plane crashes come in threes.  When one occurred, he waited for the next two before flying again.  He created a fatalistic formula that controlled his life.

May I give you a word or two on fatalism?  Sadly, there are those who believe you can’t get comfortable with good things because bad quickly and certainly follows.  They see life as a set of scales which balance between triumph and tragedy.  The illogical extension of this thinking is the warped view that God is poised in vindictive mode, poised for the scales to tip to the “gotcha” side.    (more…)

Weekly Thought – June 24, 2014

Fred and Mary Alice were married 67 years.  Their life together began on June 25, 1937.  They rented a room from an older woman and lived there saving money and setting their course.  They never lived beyond their means, always choosing to save half their income.  Their family has grown to 3 adult children, 2 dear in-laws, 6 grandchildren, and 13 great grandchildren.  We remember this marriage with gratitude.

Would you like to be part of a discussion group centered around Leading with Integrity?  It would be a 4-5 week commitment using either teleconference or skype formats.  If so, please contact us via the Breakfast With Fred group on Facebook, the Breakfast With Fred Leadership Institute page on Facebook or emailing brenda@breakfastwithfred.com

The Benefit of Failure

Every multi-millionaire I know has suffered failure.  Mike Todd, the movie mogul, was once asked if he had ever been poor.  “No, but I have been broke two or three times.”  Broke was a temporary financial condition; poor was a mental condition.  Most of America’s poverty cannot be solved by throwing money at it.  We are distressed by poverty of the spirit, not just the pocketbook.

Financial reversals often impact self-image, and the desire to accomplish.  In reflecting on my upbringing, the thought struck me – we didn’t know we were as poor as we were.  Our family focused on the art of living, not the standard of living.    (more…)

Weekly Thought – June 10, 2014

Fred once said he likes to think of his one-liners and visual descriptions as handles on ideas. Without a handle it is impossible to pass a hot pot from one place to another. He appreciated other thinkers who enabled others get their arms around helpful concepts. Peter Drucker influenced him greatly.

Thank you for supporting the legacy of Fred Smith, Sr. Your encouragement consistently brightens our hearts.

Time to Repot?

Peter Drucker’s power phrase, “repotting,” aptly describes the action of uprooting and continuing growth in another environment. It brilliantly captures the process of changing careers in the middle of life.

I am not a gardener, but Mary Alice loves to plan flowers. I noticed her moving a perfectly good plant from a perfectly good pot to a larger one. Ever curious, I asked her why she would spend the time and money to do that. “It has outgrown the old pot and needs more room for the roots to expand.” That is precisely what my friend Peter is saying.

When things are going great, we hesitate to change. But when things come to a standstill, it may be the best alternative. Your roots may need more room to grow.

Before repotting, take a personal inventory. Think about your gifts, talents, and satisfactions. Peter talks about young people who make the mistake of being driven by their craving for a luxury car, or a status lifestyle. They graduate, choosing whichever direction gives them the most money, the fastest. Taking this direction strictly for material gain will ultimately end in dissatisfaction. The lifestyle grabs and owns them. They hang on for dear life, heading down the wrong road at breakneck speed.     (more…)

Weekly Thought – June 3, 2014

Fred responded to questions about goal setting with the comment: “Direction is more critical than goals.  They are the mileposts, but not the destination.”  He often asked people, “Are you satisfied with the direction you are going?”

The Breakfast With Fred Leadership Institute will be hosting conversations with millennials to uncover what they want and need from us.  Over these last 10 campus visits in six years we have heard repeatedly, “We need to be with you all.”  If you want to engage in these conversations, please let us know.  Leave us a message on our Facebook page, email us at brenda@breakfastwithfred.com, or tweet.

Direction Matters

Perseverance in the wrong direction is as foolish as dedicated incompetence.  It reminds me of the two men traveling down the road.  One said, “Aren’t we going in the wrong direction?” “Yes, but we are making such good time, I hate to turn around,” was the response.

Troubled paths require the right direction.  Life issues like a lot job, broken relationship, child with problems, a disease that forever changes the way we face the future all prove we need a strong mind, and a clear direction.  They are essentials, not luxuries.  But we need to accept direction may be one step at a time, not a bold stride.  Forward movement in the proper direction is the goal.

When circumstances necessitate reevaluation, it is key to re-set goals in light of “current reality.”  This is one of the crucial principles of my life.  I always told our children to keep current on their facts.  A map company uses the phrase, “Don’t drive today with yesterday’s map.”  Current thinking protects us from “might have been” living.  Fantasy and regret are stumbling block for perseverance.  We endure and hold strong in the “what is.”      (more…)

Weekly Thought – April 29, 2014

Fred never tired of learning.  He stayed open to seeing life.  Even in his older age, he constantly asked questions, pursued wisdom, and explored the corners of his universe.

These Weekly Thoughts are part of our legacy which is the BWF Project, Inc.  We began as a way to “relevantly communicate the lifework of Fred Smith, Sr.”  The Breakfast With Fred Leadership Institute is an extension of that mission by focusing on those coming behind.  We thank you for your consistent support.

Wonderment

Early one morning I listened to Carlos Fuentes, the South American novelist.  He described the heart of a novel as “amazement.” I stay open to this concept all the time – I call it wonderment.  It means looking openly at those things which cause within me a sense of awe and worship.  Someone has said that the true mark of genius is not creating awe in others, but in being awed.

Most of us have a tendency to be cynical, closed-minded, disinterested, even bored.  Concentrating on our knowledge rather than our ignorance, we lose our sense of awe.  I like to think of “making friends with my ignorance.”  What I do not know is my future playground.  I don’t need to compare what I know to others; I need to compare what little I do know to the vast amount I do not.  The more we learn, the more we realize we have to learn.

The more you look for wonder, the more you see.  It’s a discipline.  Too many people get jaded and say, “so what?”  That is not the Biblical spirit.  The Apostle Paul didn’t say, “so what?” – he said, “so THAT.”  Paul had a vision and a sense of wonder in what God was doing.   (more…)

Weekly Thought – February 11, 2014

Fred stressed redemption.  He talked of redeeming the time, experiences, and relationships.  He wrote in You and Your Network of the importance of enemies. This month the emails feature his thinking on the value of including them in the evaluation of a personal network.

Each week we receive emails confirming the encouragement of Fred’s words.  Thank you for your support.  And, we certainly appreciate your financial gifts which allow us to continue our work.

The Power to Take Hurt

Through enemies we learn to take hurt rather than give it, thereby redeeming the situation.  A young man in the congregation of Peninsula Bible Church (Palo Alto, CA) said, “If I meet a dude on the street and he starts calling me names, I am not going to try to understand him.  I am going to make him stop; I am going to grab him and push him into the gutter.”  Then he paused, “That is what I used to do, but I don’t do that anymore.”  He found the power through Christ to absorb injustice and discovered the truth that a soft answer turns away wrath.  This keeps the hostile situation from proliferating but also creates a question in the enemy’s mind: “What gives him the power to do that?”  This, then, becomes the witness to the spiritual power for it is not natural to take hurt when you are capable of returning it.

The Catholic monk, Thomas A Kempis put it this way: “It is good that we at times endure opposition and that we are evilly and untruly judged when our actions and intentions are good.  Often such experiences promote humility and protect us from vainglory.  For then we seek God’s witness in our heart.”     (more…)

Weekly Thought – November 12, 2013

Fred and Mary Alice showed their three children the country, teaching them the value of travel.  However, Fred was influenced by his love of efficiency and looked at family road trip from the “How fast can I get from A to B?” perspective.  They whizzed past national monuments, teepee tourist courts, and must see stops.  Later he realized the children chose to enjoy the journey, not play beat the clock with their own family trips.

Planning is underway for the Breakfast With Fred Leadership Institute at Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, FL. on February 20, 21, 2014.  Please join in prayer with us.  Thank you for your continuing encouragement.

Choose A Pleasant Road

Too often, after selecting our destination, and making our plans, we fail to look at all the possible ways of getting there.  Recently, on the West Coast, I decided to turn off the interstate and follow an exciting scenic route.  Generally we miss the byways and endure the highways to “save time.”

Is time always that important?

Sometimes we become so goal-oriented we forget to consider the ways of getting there.  The road should be interesting.  We spend much more time on the trip than at the destination.  Why shouldn’t it bring satisfaction?  Remember, this isn’t always the fastest route.  Learn the joy of the journey and amplify the value and benefit of the goal.     (more…)