Issachar Time Video: Are You Ready?

This week’s Issachar time produced the following video on Social Networking’s impact on organizations. Enjoy, and have a great weekend.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsLTqUjZm8Q

A leader’s job is to think.

What do you do with all the links, attachments, articles and book recommendations you receive from colleagues on a weekly, if not daily, basis? Stopping to read them as they arrive totally disrupts my workflow. But deleting them because I’m overwhelmed may cause me to miss some really good insights. New habit: During the week I simply file all this good stuff into an @Reading folder in Outlook or Evernote. Here’s some theology that is shaping a new practice for me: I believe that God may be speaking through my friends when they send me great links or ideas. I simply need some focused time to quickly sift through it all and see what trends emerge.

On Friday mornings I have begun booking what I call “Issachar Time” into my schedule. It’s a half-day devoted to reading, learning, thinking, dreaming and making connections. The goal is not to produce, but to make some sense of life’s river that is constantly flowing around me. This protected space allows two of my top five strengths (context and learning) to kick into overdrive. The term Issachar Time comes from the story of Israel’s King David and his mighty men that helped him form and lead an amazingly fruitful kingdom. “Of Issachar,” we are told, “men who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do…. (1 Chronicles 12:32). Ultimately I pray this practice leads to deeper understanding and the wisdom to know what to do.

How do you set aside time to learn from others?