Leadership

10 Things You NEVER say to a Designer

Over the course of my career, I’ve worked with many Graphic Designers, Developers, Programmers, and Graphic Artists, and creative people in general. There’s a world of difference in how creative individuals work, and the way the rest of us work.

The best teams have found ways to merge the two.

Graphic design is hard work. What makes it especially hard, as far as I’m concerned, is that I can’t do it! To me, there’s a special reverence I have for those individuals who have a skill set that I could never have.

Here are 10 statements to avoid when talking with a Designer:

1. It’s ok, this job won’t take you very long. It’s pretty straight forward.

2. It just needs some “umph”, you know, the “wow” factor.

3. What’s that font that looks like crayons? Can we use that?

4. Here’s an image that I took on my phone, you shouldn’t have a problem blowing it up and putting it on the banner.

5. Make it pop.

6. This needs some text.

7. Just do whatever you want and then we’ll figure it out later.

8. Yes, the event is tomorrow, but this is fast, right?

9. Can you fill in the white space with some text?

10. Did you publish that on Word?

What would you never say to a designer?

What are SMART Goals and how to set them

By Pedro Leave a Comment

pedrocarrion.com-smart-goal-setting

I’ve always struggled with setting goals. I think that most of my life, subconsciously, I’ve been afraid to fail and therefore, have erred on inaction. Part of taking no action means that you don’t really set goals or hold yourself accountable. There are numerous sayings that talk about aiming higher than you really want, so you can still achieve great things. Or aim and nothing and you’ll hit it every time. I think that’s true.

However, in the last 10 years or so I’ve learned that you must hold yourself to a higher standard and if you want to succeed in something, you have to take a chance, work hard, and aim high. Part of that process is setting goals for yourself and learning to stick with them.

Believe it or not, SMART goals have been around for decades. Not the idea of SMART goals, just the development of them.

I first learned about them in a Business Administration class at Florida International University. Since then, I’ve put them into practice for myself. The concept of SMART goals originated with General Electric and is widely studied in business schools. So when it was brought up in that business class, it wasn’t new to anyone except for the few of us who were social science majors. I began putting SMART goals in to practice and then when I started working at Operation Christmas Child, I was pleased to learn that SMART goal setting is a constant practice.

Goal setting is an extremely valuable practice. Too often, people either don’t set any goals or set too many! I tend to set too many for myself and then end up abandoning most of them. In the last year though, I’ve been better about setting only a handful of goals for myself.

Before we get into the specifics of SMART goals, let’s look at DUMB goals.

DUMB Goals

Most people end up setting bad goals or DUMB goals. Here are some examples:

Lose weight
Start a new business
Work harder

These are all good things to achieve, these are honorable goals, but they’re dumb goals. Why are they dumb goals?

They’re vague, they’re not specific, and they’re not measurable.

Can you achieve goals like that? Maybe, maybe not. Does losing weight mean one pound or 10?

Goals like that tend to not work.

Dumb goals don’t work because they’re easy to make, easy to forget, and have no steps to help you achieve them, if you even know what you need to achieve.

GE developed the concept of SMART goal setting in the 1940s and by the time the 1960s came around, they had perfected it. By 1961, all GE employees wrote out their objectives for the following year and gave it to their manager.

The letter required the employee to indicate what the goals and time frame were for the next year, how the goals would be met, and what standards were to be expected. The manager would accept this letter, usually with some editing, and it became known as the work contract.

Next up – SMART Goals

SMART goals are:

Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic
Time Based

The SMART goal system works so well because once you go through the thought process of creating a SMART goal, it’s much more clear how it will happen. You’re forced to think critically about the process of achieving these goals.

You know what the next steps are and when you need to do them. Dumb goal setting allows you to skip the steps of critical thinking.

It’s harder to set a SMART goal than a bad one. That’s purposeful. It takes longer to think through all the details to plan things out. It’s also ok to be agile and pivot midway through a plan. That’s actually a Project Management framework called… AGILE.

Setting a SMART Goal for losing weight

Using one of the most common goals, weight loss, as an example, let’s look at the SMART goal system in action.

Let’s think about setting a DUMB goal for this:

Lose weight

It’s easy to see that you can completely ignore that goal and never set out to do anything necessary to accomplish it. Some people can can lose weight without even trying, but not most of us!

Let’s turn it into a SMART Goal

Specific – Lose 10 pounds by March 1.

Measurable – That’s approximately 1.25 pounds a week.

Attainable – I can do cardio 3 times a week and lift weights 3 times a week, I can also lower my calories. Write out all the steps necessary to attain this goal.

Realistic – I can set aside time 5-6 times a week to make time for training. I can get up early in the mornings before work to train. I can trade in my work lunches for salad in order to cut calories. I can also cut out soda and sweets.

Time Based – I have 8 weeks to make this happen, I need to see these results by March 1. That means cutting calories by 10%, cardio 3 times a week, and weightlifting 3 times a week.

SMART Goals For The Win

What if things change or you see that by Week 3, you’re not hitting the 1.25 pounds per week mark? That’s why we’re flexible. Plans are here to serve you, you’re not here to serve your plan. If you need to change your plan, or your goal, then you have the flexibility to do that.

Adaptability is the greatest skill to have.

If you injure yourself while training and your doctor sidelines you for a couple weeks, you may have to push back or lower your goal, that’s not losing, that’s adapting.

On the flip side, if you find yourself losing 2 pounds per week, there’s nothing wrong with upping your goal! Be agile!

Don’t be afraid to adapt as needed.

SMART Goal Action Items

Think about a few short term goals that you’d like to accomplish in the next month.
Use the SMART Goal framework to set one of these goals for yourself.
Start working toward this goal. Document your steps toward your goal.
Build slack into the schedule and be realistic about how long tasks really take.
Work towards achieving your goal starting week.
Document your success and use that forward motion to push you toward bigger goals.

A few things you should know about Operation Christmas Child

By Pedro Leave a Comment

It’s that time of the year again. This is the time when people start buying school supplies, shoes, clothes, toys, and begin looking for that one Wow item for each one of their shoeboxes. Operation Christmas Child volunteers are gearing up for National Collection Week this November 13-20, 2017! This is the one week per year where millions of shoeboxes will be collected from millions of individuals all across the United States and then processed and shipped off to more than 100 countries around the world.

Last year I wrote an article called Top 10 Reasons to Pack an Operation Christmas Child Shoebox! The year before that I wrote, 3 Reasons Pastor should encourage their Churches to Volunteer with Operation Christmas Child. If you didn’t already know, I’m on staff at Samaritan’s Purse, specifically on the Operation Christmas Child team. You might say that I’m biased, you’re right.

I didn’t end up at Samaritan’s Purse by accident, I specifically wanted to work here. So although I may be biased, it doesn’t mean that what I’m saying isn’t true.

My goal here is not to answer questions like, when is National Collection Week? What can I pack in my shoebox? How much is shipping? Or where’s the nearest drop off to me? You can find the answers to all of those questions at our website, https://www.samaritanspurse.org/what-we-do/operation-christmas-child/.

What I’m going to do is to talk about things at a little bit of a broader and more general level. I’m going to write some reasons why you should love Operation Christmas Child and why you should participate.

1. Operation Christmas Child is led by a volunteer in your community

Many times, when I hear someone complain about the Operation Christmas Child model, it’s really born out of a lack of understanding about how the organization works.

Although we distribute shoeboxes in over 100 countries around the world, we do not have staff in over 100 countries around the world.

This is how it really works. Highly dedicated volunteers in your local community in the United States are working all year long with churches, community organizations, Christian schools, and local media to promote Operation Christmas Child and get ready for National Collection Week.

Shoeboxes are packed by individuals, collected at churches, and then sent to warehouses we call Processing Centers where they’ll be prepped to ship internationally.

At over 100 countries around the world, local volunteers will receive these shoeboxes and then follow their predetermined plan of distribution by partnering with local pastors who have developed plans to use shoeboxes to engage their communities.

That means that local Pastors and Community leaders in the Philippines volunteer to work with churches in the Philippines to distribute shoeboxes in different communities throughout the Philippines.

The fact is that Operation Christmas Child is always led by a volunteer in his or her own community. It doesn’t matter if it’s Rochester or Rio.

2. Shoeboxes support local communities

The reality is that there is some small but vocal opposition to the impact Operation Christmas Child can have on a local community. Almost all of this opposition comes from a handful of upper middle class Americans who somehow, have a problem with children in need around the world receiving gifts.

It must be great to be in a situation where you’re wealthy enough to determine that others shouldn’t receive gifts.

Honestly, some of these individuals might mean well. They might have read a book like When Helping Hurts or Toxic Charity and now are looking for solutions to end the cycle of poverty. The problem is, Operation Christmas Child’s mission isn’t necessarily to end poverty. It’s to bring the Hope of Jesus Christ to children in need around the world.

Unfortunately, many people who read these books end up using these books as an excuse to sit back and do nothing. Sometimes these decisions are made based off of assumptions made in ignorance.

Each shoebox is used by a local Pastor or Community Leader to serve his or her community.

Do children in other countries actually need these things? Sometimes yes and sometimes no. There are children who need notebooks or shoes in order to attend school. There are others who don’t need a yoyo, but love receiving it anyway. Can a yoyo change a life? Absolutely, read Kojo’s story here.

Will it disrupt the local economy? No. The fact is that 50 or so shoeboxes going to 50 children who probably can’t afford much in a community of tens of thousands of people won’t negatively affect the local economy.

Is this an American program pushing American policies and ideals on others? No, each shoebox is a tool used by a local Pastor or Community Leader to serve his or her community. There are no Operation Christmas Child staff members living in Colombia trying to figure out how to distribute shoeboxes all year long. All that is done by an incredible team of Colombian leader volunteers who are called to bless their nation with the Gospel, and who want to do it in a practical way.

3. Samaritan’s Purse does it better

What is it that we do better? We bring the love of Jesus Christ to a hurting world in a real and practical way. We love to do things in excellence. Think about who your go-to charity is and then compare them to Samaritan’s Purse on Charity Navigator. We’ll likely have a higher star rating and a higher accountability rating. We’re able to respond to disasters in a lighting fast way. Not only does Samaritan’s Purse have the resources and expertise to respond, but we have the will. When our leadership says, “Go”, we go.

We bring the love of Jesus Christ to a hurting world in a real and practical way.

We want to represent Jesus

Samaritan’s Purse is not affiliated with a particular church, movement, political affiliation, or even a specific culture. Children who receive shoeboxes are freely invited to events where shoeboxes are handed out and are not screened by their faith or culture. We don’t promote a religion or a cause. We want to show God’s love in a tangible way and give others an opportunity to follow Jesus Christ. That’s it.

Below are all of the Samaritan’s Purse articles I’ve written over the years.

20 Tips on Recruiting Volunteers

By Pedro Leave a Comment

20 tips on recruiting volunteers

Have you ever been “recruited” for something? What was that thing? Was it a ministry? A job? The military?

In ministry, we use the term “recruiting” when referring to volunteers all the time. Honestly, I don’t like it very much. I think the word carries negative connotations for many people. I think recruiting can turn people away unless those people are already highly interested.

I’ll give you an example. I knew a church who used to hold recruiting meetings for missions trips. No one ever attended those. They switched it to info meetings and attendance skyrocketed. You see, most people don’t want to be recruited but a lot of people do want to know more information about what’s going on. That one simple change of a word had a dramatic change on their ministry.

Looking back on my own life, as I was thinking about attending graduate school, I attended a TON of info sessions for different universities before I settled on the University of Miami.

What exactly is recruiting?

As a Children’s Ministry Pastor, my primary responsibility was to serve my volunteers as they serve kids. Recruiting was a big part of that. At first, I viewed volunteers as a means to an end. Meaning that I needed volunteers to accomplish my mission. That was a HUGE mistake. That led me to tend to use volunteers without really caring for them.

Things changed, though. I began to view volunteers as individuals with unique gifts and skills who were called by God to serve in a specific way. My responsibility was to recruit and select those individuals who were called to serve in Children’s Ministry. It was at this time that I really began to see fruit in the ministry I was leading. Not only did we begin to develop leaders but those leaders began to develop leaders.

Recruiting Volunteers is never about begging

Begging for volunteers is never acceptable. Begging or guilting people into serving puts the individual in an awkward position and ultimately sets up your ministry for failure. Don’t get me wrong, I have no problem convincing someone to serve, but I will never beg someone to serve and I’ll never beg someone to stay. Honestly, I’m more likely to overestimate the work required for the job. I don’t ever want to put someone in a spot where they felt misled about what they’ve accepted.

Succeed in Recruiting Volunteers with these 20 tips

1. It’s all about vision

A big, compelling vision that’s well defined and engaging. I believe that’s what makes so many volunteers join us at Operation Christmas Child, a clear vision.

2. It’s not all about the need

Vision trumps need every single time. You may not think it’s fair, but that’s the way it is.

3. Make the ask

Have you made the ask? It’s not enough to talk about what your vision or needs are. If you haven’t actually asked someone to serve, then you’re likely missing out on a lot of people who think that you’re already good to go.

4. Fully define your structure

What would happen if you received an influx of applicants? Would you know where you need them or will you have to makeup spots? Know what your structure is and where the holes are. Just like a business can clearly identify what the vacancies are, your ministry should be the same. Where are the holes?

5. Don’t be a one man (or woman) show

Here’s an oxymoron. Some leaders are so high capacity that it seems like they have it all together. They’ll have to be a lot more intentional about recruiting other leaders. On the flip side, people view someone who’s doing great things but is obviously dropping the ball sometimes and want to support that person.

6. Stop typecasting people

Don’t be afraid to take a chance on someone and don’t typecast people. Regardless of how that individual has served in the past, God can certainly work in people and equip individuals for new roles.

7. Empower others

The fastest way to lose leaders is not empower them to make decisions. I’m not talking about decisions where you have the final say, that’s not really empowering. I’m talking about decisions where your volunteer has the authority to say yes or no to something. When volunteers realize that you hand out authority coupled with responsibility, you’ll hardly ever lose a leader and it’ll be easier to recruit leaders.

8. Create efficient systems

How do you take someone from interested in volunteering with you to fully onboarded and trained? That’s what systems are for and the larger you are (or want to be) the more efficient system you need.

9. Be clear about volunteer opportunities

When I was a Children’s Ministry Pastor I was notorious for closing down a classroom if we didn’t have a teacher for it. This was an obvious decision for me but it confounded parents and others. I also realized it was something that very few Pastors do.

Why did I do it? If there’s not teacher available, then there’s no trained individual to teach and take care of the kids, so it’s better for kids to stay with their parents. It also lets all those parents know that we have staffing shortages. Very often, parents themselves would want to become volunteers when they realized there are opportunities to serve.

It was also common for us to announce openings in services, within other ministries, and on social media.

10. Equip others to recruit other volunteers

Recruiting is not only your responsibility! It’s also the responsibility of all of your volunteers. Equip them to recruit!

11. Personally recruit

On the other hand, recruiting is not only the responsibility of others, it’s also yours. You need to personally recruit!

12. Don’t rely on mass invitations or social media only

It’s so easy nowadays to rely on social media campaigns, email campaigns, or announcements. Don’t rely on these. At the end of the day, the most effective recruiting is face to face. Nothing will ever replace that.

13. Start showing appreciation to your current volunteers

Stop saying “Thank you” and start showing appreciation to your volunteers. It’s far easier to keep the volunteers you have than to constantly replace them with new ones.

14. Train your volunteers better than ever

A trained volunteer is a happy volunteer. Not only will they do better in their roles, but they’ll tell others about how they’re valued and trained.

15. Learn to be flexible with people

Ministry is about people, once you start prioritizing processes over people, you’ll start to experience problems. If one of your leaders needs a month off, do it. People appreciate it and flexibility breeds goodwill and increases volunteer capital.

16. Don’t focus on your problems

It’s great to communicate vision and it’s good to communicate need, but that doesn’t mean that you should communicate all of your problems. I promise you, communicating your problems to potential volunteers won’t get them to start serving.

17. Start sharing stories

It’s not only about sharing vision, but it’s also about sharing how God is moving in your ministry. Share stories not only in person but all over your social media.

18. Stop going beyond your capacity

If you’re constantly redlining it then honestly, you don’t have the capacity to bring on someone else. You just won’t have the time to properly onboard and train them. Therefore, in this self fulfilling prophecy, you’ll keep redlining it.

Break the cycle by slowing down. That will give you the capacity to properly invest in others.

19. Stop making excuses

I’ve heard all kinds of excuses. People in the city don’t serve. People in this country don’t serve. Millennials don’t serve. We ask too much. I’ve heard it all and I’ve seen ministries that have countered every excuse possible. I’ve seen young professionals serve in New York city, Latinos serve in Latin America, and Millennials serve all across the country. There’s really no excuse to not have a dynamic volunteer ministry. If you’re not attracting and retaining volunteers the problem is you or your ministry.

20. Start praying

Jesus said that the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few, and to pray that the Lord sends more workers. So do that, start praying for more volunteers.

4 Lessons from 4 Years at Samaritan’s Purse International Relief

By Pedro Leave a Comment

4 Lessons from 4 Years at Samaritan's Purse

In July, I celebrated my four years of working at Samaritan’s Purse International Relief. Congratulations to me! In addition to that, a couple months ago I received a promotion. Congratulations to myself again! Before I get into what that means, let me say a few words about Samaritan’s Purse in general.

What’s Samaritan’s Purse International Relief?

In the Christian world, Samaritan’s Purse is often looked at as a legendary type of organization. Our leader, Franklin Graham, makes the news quite often. Whether it’s Facing the Darkness of Ebola in West Africa or being asked to comment on how a political decision affects people of faith in the United States, he’s outspoken and unashamed.

5 Steps to Equipping Volunteers

By Pedro Leave a Comment

The above image is of two Navy Seals. Navy Seals are elite American Special Operators who are not only volunteers, but who are recruited widely, selected from the many, and then equipped with the best. Leading volunteers isn’t only about recruiting the right individuals, leading volunteers is also about those equipping volunteers to succeed. There are a variety of ways to equip volunteers. Volumes could be written on the subject. However, I’m going to share with you 5 Steps to Equipping Volunteers. These steps are not in order of importance, they’re all important and all must be done in order to equip your volunteers well.

The Abolitionist, Jesus Following, Owner of Miami Tattoo Co – Amor

By Pedro Leave a Comment

Some people are perfectly content keeping their heads down in a cubicle their entire lives. Other people are like Amor. They go from corporate employee to owning Miami Tattoo Co and fighting human trafficking. Yes, you heard that right. Amor owns Miami Tattoo Co and fights human trafficking through DeliverFund.

I could not believe that Human Trafficking was occurring in our country. I was of the side that believed it only happened in other countries. I was immediately torn and from that day on I began to raise awareness about Human Trafficking in our country and in my city, Miami.

I recently had the opportunity to interview Amor about her life, Miami Tattoo Co, and her work as an Abolitionist.

Risky Leadership with Kat

By Pedro Leave a Comment

What would you do if you knew you could never fail? That’s one of those cheesy business motivation pictures that I noticed in someone’s office years ago, but it’s stuck with me. What would I do if I knew I could never fail? Does that mean that by not taking a risk on something, I’m allowing fear to dominate my life? I don’t know but I do know this, there are people that take big risks, and I respect them greatly for it.

Leadership is risky. Moving into the unknown or putting yourself on the line can have terrible consequences, or great ones.

I think the riskiest thing you can do is stay within your comfort zone – Kat

I recently corresponded with a friend of mine who is doing something pretty risky and pretty incredible! Her name is Kat Sotolongo and she’s a Videographer for Mercy Ships.

Here’s our Q&A….