"The most important thing is to keep the most important thing the most important thing." --Donald P. Coduto
Yesterday we visited the rescue from which we adopted our last two dogs to check out their monthly Meet and Greet of dogs available for adoption.
We're not interested in adopting.
I...we...just love the place and the people and, of course, the dogs.
And, more than the place, people and dogs, I love being in the midst of the community that these people have created.
So, we stopped by and soaked it all in and I left relaxed and encouraged and, well, just happy...
...an amazing achievement because Evie's surgery is less than a week away.
And, I was thinking.
I was impressed and inspired by the obvious reality that all of the people who are a part of the organization, from the Executive Director to the newest volunteer, in practice, based on what they do...on the fruit they produce...
...participate in one mission.
It's amazing. I don't know that I've ever encountered so large a group of people so completely united in purpose than these people.
It's an absolute joy to behold. And, I will keep going back to experience the small s spirit they exude because these people encourage me simply because they exist.
So, as I say, yesterday I left thinking...
...about the seamless unity of mission that connects these people.
It occurred to me that nowhere on the campus have I ever seen a plaque or a banner or a sign saying,
MISSION STATEMENT: Our mission is to...
So, I went on the website.
Nothing.
I could find no mention of a mission statement or of the mission the organization pursues.
They may very well have a mission statement but, if they do, it's a very well kept secret.
What they all exhibit is a clear commitment to a mission. You could say that, in a real world sense, they are ONe Mission.
In the words of Don Coduto, they all, together, know that the most important thing is to keep the most important thing the most important thing.
They not only know it, they do it.
Further, they all seem to understand what the most important thing is. And, together, they walk it.
The amazing thing to me, because I live in a church culture where, as a community, we talk big but don't walk the talk...
...is that the dog rescue doesn't talk mission at all.
Yet, their people walk it.
They invert the Characteristic of our brand known as, To Talk is to Walk-ism.
They don't actually walk their talk because, from the view of someone who's as close to the group as I am, they don't talk it at all.
They're doers of their word without, as far as I can tell, having an actual word.
The guy who runs the place has become a decently close acquaintance of mine. And, because I have beliefs about leadership that are as strong...and controversial...as they are, I'm going to pick his brain.
One thing I can say about him that is representive of how he, uh, leads, is that...
...based on his appearance and the way he dresses and behaves...
...the first few times I saw him around the place...
...and didn't know that I was chatting with the Executive Director,...
...I concluded that I was talking a very gregarious man who was a minimum wage employee who had a job cleaning out the kennels.
And, how like Jesus! Who on occasion blended into the crowd.
But, dude!
He gets people to keep the most important thing the most important thing.
Imagine followers of Jesus exuding our most important thing without ever needing to talk it.
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