Today’s Topics: What Brings You Hope? | Shoe Covers Sale | 10G Transceivers | Four Signs of a Leader of Hope | News to Start Your Day
Happy Monday!
December 7th is National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day…a day that will live in infamy.
Isn’t it funny how certain things you see or hear or smell or taste can instantly take you back to another time or make you feel a certain way? I’ve often wondered what it is about Christmas lights that make me so happy. I like to put up our tree where I can see it while relaxing in the living room at night. Usually it is the only light in the room. And sitting there at night, watching a movie I’ve seen many times or in the quiet stillness with the twinkle of the lights reflected in a window, it feels … cozy, warm, homey, hopeful.
I think that’s the thing that hits me hardest at Christmas: hope. Trees without leaves that you’d probably call ugly or barren suddenly transform into something beautiful when you put lights on them – a hopeful reminder of new life to come. The ending one year and looking forward to the next – the hope of a fresh start. Seeing family and friends and exchanging thoughtful gifts and hearty meals – hope found in love, laughter and relationship. And for many, a reminder of the hope found in Christ – the hope of redemption and a new life. To me that is the ultimate hope and one of the reasons I enjoy the Christmas season so much.
What are the things in your life that bring you hope?
Christin
Product Spotlights & Updates from Rebecca:
Happy Monday! I wanted to let you know that we are running a special right now on Shoe Covers! Our shoe covers are Blue Polypropylene and are Non-Skid and are Anti-Static! They are perfect for any job and they are priced right!! We have them in Packs of 10 or Boxes of 300! These have been a hot seller so grab them now! In stock and ready to ship!
Reminder: Get free shipping on your PPE orders by using coupon code PPESHIP at checkout!
Today’s product spotlight features a 10G transceiver that we love! The SFP-10G-LR transceiver module was designed for long-range transmission. It supports 10 Gbps data transfer rates over a distance of 10 kilometers (that’s 6.2 miles!) using singlemode fiber. This hot-swappable SFP+ transceiver is a fantastic option for satisfying connectivity needs in large data centers, enterprise wiring closets, large campuses, and more!
We offer 3 versions of this module:
Cisco Original – Factory Sealed
Cisco Original – Refurbished
CK Branded (Cisco Compatible) – Factory Sealed
Four Signs of a Leader of Hope – John Maxwell, Author & Speaker
As I look around at our world today, there’s a certain feeling that comes over me, one that I don’t experience often, and I can’t help but bring it to you as we talk about the need for leaders who build bridges.
That feeling is “leadership sadness.” Given the struggles that our world is going through right now, it saddens me to see men and women in leadership positions and roles who choose to lead by pushing people apart rather than by bringing them together. I see too many leaders leaning into the things that separate us, stoking fear over hope, or leaders who simply shrink back from the moment and allow the darkness to swallow them instead of lighting candle to fight it.
This is a time of darkness. But there is reason for incredible hope.
We need leaders who believe that they can change the world around us, leaders who learn and live good values in order to lift the people around them. We need leaders who will step to the forefront of the moment and say, with passion and enthusiasm, “If you knew what I know…” and then proceed to offer words and actions that inspire and ignite hope.
So how can you and I be that kind of leader? How can we step into this moment and be a difference maker instead of a division maker?
Here are four signs of a leader of hope:
They Dig for Gold While Others Dig for Dirt
This is an easy one to tackle, especially during a presidential election year. We’re often surrounded by attack ads and smear campaigns that seek to bring out the worst about a potential elected leader, and illustrate how things will only get darker if they’re elected. It’s a race to the bottom where no one wins. Divisive leaders aren’t afraid to tear things down and allow fear to run freely.
On the contrary, leaders of hope go looking for what’s good in others and in the situation around them. They believe the best of people and believe the best of our future. Leaders of hope inspire others to seek out what’s true, noble, good, praiseworthy, and inspiring. They paint a picture of a more brilliant tomorrow that everyone can see themselves in.
They Live Out Good Values While Others Live Out Emotions
This may come across a little harsh, as emotions are something everyone must wrestle. But while we all feel various emotions, divisive leaders put emotion at the center of their leadership, creating instability and uncertainty that only amplifies the chaos around them. When leaders lead from a place of emotion, they are at the mercy of those emotions changing—for better or worse—and so are the people they lead.
Leaders of hope, however, lead from a place of good values, and good values never change. They are good across time and circumstance, and provide a stable foundation for discussion, planning, and decision making. Because values are as true tomorrow as they are today, they provide a consistency for those who follow, and create a sense of confidence amid chaos.
They Build Bridges While Others Burn Them
This may sound hyperbolic, but divisive leaders aren’t the least bit afraid of sacrificing relationships for their agenda. They will gladly burn down a bridge to one audience if it means creating a connection with a newer, more attractive audience that can help them now. As a result, they create an atmosphere of disloyalty and mistrust which only increases the sense of uncertainty and chaos that their followers must battle.
This is not how leaders of hope operate. Leaders of hope continually build bridges to new people without burning any bridges from their past. They understand that relationships are the key to achieving great things, and nurturing those relationships is part of the work that good leaders do. Leaders of hope will find new and creative ways to reach not only audiences who agree with their message, but audiences who aspire to their vision.
They Tell the Truth While Others Manipulate It
If you’ve heard the term “fake news” once, you’ve heard it a thousand times, and with good reason: people are struggling to know who to trust when it comes to finding out the truth about what’s going on in the world. Divisive leaders take advantage of this situation by manipulating truth to their advantage—leveraging half-truths, or only telling certain sides of a story that make them look good. Sometimes, they hide their mistruths behind the falsehoods of others; they point out the lies that others tell in order to hide their own. It further disintegrates the trust of those who follow and deepens the darkness.
Leaders of hope stand on the truth. They bring facts and reality into the clear light of day and present it to their people for consideration, reflection and discussion. They don’t gloss over uncomfortable truths or attempt to hide past mistakes. Instead they lead the way by addressing issues openly and honestly with an eye towards doing right instead of being right. As a result, they model a hopeful way forward for their followers and restore belief in the truth and its power to affect positive change.
We need leaders of hope. We need men and women who aren’t optimistic about the future—passively longing for a better to eventually reveal itself—we need men and women who are hopeful about the future and actively seeking ways to bring it to pass. We need leaders who will rise above the darkness and light the way to a better tomorrow.
Does that sound like you? Do you want it to sound like you? Then the four actions outlined in today’s blog will put you on the right track. I encourage you to follow it.
Because we need you.
(Link to the original blog post.)
Today’s News to Start Your Day:
- As of this morning, there are 19,268,512 active cases worldwide, with 1,543,833 deaths. In the US, there are 6,014,900 active cases, with 288,962 deaths
- Britain, which is set to become the first country to roll out the coronavirus vaccine made by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech, has begun distributing the first doses to hospitals, government officials said Sunday.
- Australian airports may soon be getting a new tool to detect the coronavirus in international travelers: dogs. The canines and their powerful olfactory systems have shown some success at detecting the virus at airports in Finland and other parts of the globe, SBS News reported, and Australia may soon be following suit.
- With the seven-day averages of new daily U.S. Covid-19 cases nearing 200,000 and deaths over 2,000, the CDC issued a strong call to action for people to wear masks, stay at home when possible and social distance to help slow the spread of the virus. There are also record U.S. hospitalizations, now more than 100,000 for five straight days as of Sunday.
- NFL quarterback Tom Brady’s sports performance and nutrition company received a Paycheck Protection Program loan of $960,855 from the federal government, according to data released by the U.S. Small Business Administration.
- Budget furniture giant IKEA said it has taken the emotional decision to end a seven-decade tradition and discontinue its catalog, one of the world’s biggest annual publications, as shoppers move online.
- Amazon customers who own Echo and Ring devices will automatically be opted-in to the new “Sidewalk” feature, which the company says will make the devices work better by sharing some of the users’ Internet connections. Amazon Sidewalk will take a small slice of a user’s WiFi bandwidth so that devices, even those owned by someone else, can work over a longer distance, the company said in an email to affected customers.