Friday, April 29, 2011

Dale Shumaker bio ...my story from the back of the pack

by Dale Shumaker
www.spiritsavvy.net

4spirit@gmail.com


Raised on a dairy farm in the hill country of central Pennsylvania, I stuttered and was introverted. Going to school was a traumatizing, fearful experience. In first grade I was in the slow group. All through school I slowly moved up the pack. Getting into college by the skin of my teeth, having to take the remedial English program, I started at the back of the pack and again slowly moved up the ranks. Then I talked my way into graduate school, again at the back of the pack. Ironically, I completed my graduate program as the top student and was nominated to receive a national merit scholarship in my field.

This pattern seems to have followed me throughout my life. Wherever I was deficient I eventually turned it around to be advanced in that area. If you keep playing hard even when all seems bleak, things eventually turn and go your way. I believe in people, because I know anything is possible for those who keep fighting on in spite of adverse circumstances.

This has shaped my attitude in life in a significant way. Although sure of my abilities, I prefer to present myself in a humble way. As a stutterer, I understand embarrassment in groups. I never put someone in a bad light in front of others. With a degree in speech and theater, I have learned how to face fear and press through it.

My educational background includes psychology, broadcast communications, educational communication and educational administration. Several times I had to fight just to be accepted in a program… start dead last then end up at the front of the pack.

Coming into a company as a person of little notoriety, in five years I was voted by a group of 700 employees to represent them to the company leadership in employee wishes and desires. I believe in each individual’s right for pursuit of happiness. Whether in a corporate setting or the free market sector, each person should be availed their right to pursue life wishes as they desire. Consequently, I avoid judging and seek to understand and accept differences in people. I try to adjust to them as compared to having them adjust to me.

Over the decade of the 90's I’ve studied business development and personal dynamics in life. I was fortunate to have one of the leading practitioners in Spiritual living as a personal mentor—the late Dr. J. Robert Ashcroft. I enjoy entrepreneurism, pioneering new ideas, and bringing new ideas into being. I understand the real struggles of business and those involved in them. Within struggles we learn the secrets that propel us to greatness…the skills we need to lead and charge forth leading the pack.

In 2005 I launched the Spirit Savvy Business. Reading bestselling business books, creating summaries, adding Spiritual Principles, has created a distinctively dynamic system to build entrepreneur enterprise with a strong Spiritual punch. It's my belief this will completely revolutionize a society when given a chance to be integrated in the marketplace. A business with Bible studies, prayer meetings will become common. Many will use a business as a vehicle to build the Kingdom of God in the marketplace which will transform our society. It's a potent Spiritual force that will bring us to a time when the Kingdom of Heaven will be brought to earth, and function on earth the way it is in Heaven.

This vision was birthed decades ago and it was initiated after I went through a severe business failure in mid 2000's. My resources to start it included a library card and a Barnes and Noble coffee shop. The Spirit Savvy Biz blog began publishing biz book summaries each month; the Spirit-based Entrepreneur program was constructed to fire up the marketplace... Spiritual excellence with business excellence. Another in-the-making remarkable move coming from way back.
This time bringing renewal to America. And again is happening... wider and deeper than before. Forming as the most remarkable move from the back of the pack in my life.

More on this thrust happening in my contribution years at:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/daleshumaker

Life for me has been a repeating scenario of coming from the back of the pack, so I have an unwavering faith in people and their ability to handle what they face regardless of how challenging it may be. It is within all of us to exceed our past accomplishments and keep improving no matter how well we may be doing. We should always focus on getting better and beating our own best record… and view set backs as unique opportunities in disguise.

My value system upholds personal excellence, but not with arrogance;
being persistent but not overbearing;
striving to be the best but not by putting others down;
when successful give the credit to all involved;
be quick to forgive and overlook others faults
and focus more on what I need to be doing to fix a problem.
Criticizing accomplishes very little,
but encouraging, praising and complimenting people on their gifts get greater results.

"Be bold, be strong for the Lord your God is with you." (Joshua 1)

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Enchantment... enchanting in Spirit

by Dale Shumaker
4spirit@gmail.com


Enchantment
by Guy Kawasaki is the process of delighting people with you, your product, service, organization or idea.
It is not about getting people's money or getting them to do what you want. It is simply having people being filled with great delight. Enchantment's place is to make the world a better place and is needed when you seek idealistic results, make difficult decisions, overcome entrenched habits, defy a crowd or must proceed despite delayed or nonexistent feedback.

Enchantment is about changing the world and to do that, we need to follow these steps to enchantment.


Step one is achieving likability. Likability involves having a great smile, the way you dress, your handshake, and
your vocabulary. When you meet someone give a smile to make your crows feet show, dress in way that shows what you stand for, shake hands firmly with direct eye contact, use words that are simple, active, keeping it short. Accept others and allow yourself to get close with proximity and frequency(presence makes the heart grow fonder). Don't impose your values. Pursue and project your passions, find others who share your passions. Say yes to more people, see options and build rapport. A yes attitude increases likability.

The other half of likability is trustworthiness. To be trusted you must trust others. Be a mensch, which is a person honest, fair and transparent. Focus on goodwill and disclose your interests. Be reciprocal. Give with expecting nothing in return, pay forward, and for the reason just to help others. Gain knowledge and competence. Keep showing up regularly. It takes months to build trust. Be someone's hero. Demonstrate you can come through for someone faced with a challenge.

Do something great... lay the groundwork and preparation to make it successful. A great product is deep,
intelligent, complete, empowering, and elegant. Conduct a premortem. If the project failed what would have caused it to fail. Make it easy to do the right thing. Make it short, simple and swallowable. Use tricolons, metaphors, similes, keep it short, positive and show respect. Remove fences and provide default options. Establish goals, create checklists.

Now, after you have developed a great cause, create a great story others can be immersed in the cause.
People are drawn to your story when they hear you have great aspirations that forge a better way; when it's a David and Goliath story of the underdog taking on the big guy; when others see a profile in courage of overcoming an injustice or seemingly devastating defeat. A personal experience involving family that is meaningful. Immersing people in your cause includes enabling vicarious experience, getting close to the real situation, anchor your story to something they are familiar with, and show the difference this will make from past experience. Embrace those who are nobodies and are more likely to promote your cause. Then ask people for their support of your cause. Present the big idea, then ask them to make a small choice. Get your first follower. A good first follower will attract other followers.

Enchantment is a process, so reluctance will enter in. People are reluctant due to inertia... a thing not in motion will stay not in motion. Some won't reduce choices, are afraid to make mistakes, lack role models, or your cause may not interest them. Create a perception that it's a growing concern. Familiarity breeds commitment. Make it look scarce, but certain to be. Use one good example of how your cause is important versus non-emotional lists of statistics. Use images that are dramatic and you can't get out of your mind. Find a way to agree. Get on the beach first before taking the mainland. Use data to support your point of view and change people's minds. One who has done you a kindness will more than likely do it again. So don't feel people will resent you for asking for a favor when they did it once.

Make enchantment enduring. Internalize values by helping people to identify with your values and then internalizing by believing in them. Invoke reciprocity by giving with joy, giving early, give often and generously, give unexpectedly. Build a community that complements the cause by being involved in user groups, having blogs, using consultants and developers, resellers and conferences. Identify and recruit evangelists, give people things meaningful to do, publish, foster discourse, publicize the existence of the ecosystem. Build a diverse team including advocates, skeptics, visionaries, adult efficiency (get things done people), evangelists(spread the word), and rainmakers to close deals.

Kawasaki also recommends how to use push and pull technologies. "Push" includes presentations, email, Twitter, etc. New technologies are constantly being introduced. Some enduring principles for now and later are engage fast, engage many and engage often. Use multiple media, provide value, give credit. give people the benefit of the doubt, accept diversity, don't take any crap, limit promotion, disclose your conflicts. In presentations, customize introductions, sell your dream, think screenplay (not speech), dramatize, shorten, practice, warm up the audience, speak a lot. When using email keep these principles in mind, get a real email, get an introduction, personalize the subject line, keep it to six sentences, suck up(do your homework), minimize attachments, ask for something concrete. Engage people manually, promote your cause. make it personal.

Use pull technology to distribute large quantities of information. These include websites, blogs, Facebook,
LinkedIn, YouTube pages. Keep this on the forefront. Provide good content, refresh it often, skip the flash and let people right in, make it fast, sprinkle in graphics and pictures, craft an about page, help visitors navigate, introduce the team. optimize visits for various devices, provide multiple methods of access. When using Linked In make a great profile, get visible and reach out. Reach out by searching by name, search by company, find shared interests, check the reputation of people, scope out companies.

Kawasaki continues on to discuss enchanting employees and your boss, and how to resist enchantment (that's resisting
the unethical enchanter). Learn enchanting skills responsibly and in a manner that benefits all involved, if not the world. You can link to Guy Kawasaki's Facebook and blog at his website:
http://www.guykawasaki.com/

Jesus was very high on enchantment.
He was very likable... many followed him and crowds pressed to see him everywhere. He was trustworthy and many placed their whole trust in him and gave up everything they owned for him and He did great things. And promised we would do even greater things.

Jesus taught with real authority. And people saw a genuine character unlike others who were just motivated for political or self-ambition reasons. "When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, for he taught with real authority—quite unlike their teachers of religious law." (Matthew 7:28, 29)

And because of this authority, as they saw Him as the true Son of God, the Messiah, the One that God
was sending in flesh and blood to actually see the character of God in person. When they saw all of this first hand, they also saw someone they could trust. "Peter said, “We’ve left our homes to follow you.”“Yes,” Jesus replied, “and I assure you that everyone who has given up houses or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the Kingdom of God, will be repaid many times over in this life, and will have eternal life in the world to come.” (Luke 18:28-30)

"They flocked to see him and also to see Lazarus, the man Jesus had raised from the dead. Then the leading priests decided to kill Lazarus, too, for it was because of him that many of the people had deserted them and believed in Jesus." (John 12:9-11)


Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you.
But don’t rejoice because evil spirits obey you; rejoice because your names are registered in heaven.” Luke 10:19,20)

And Jesus did great things and healed, walked on water, raised people who died. Beyond this
He promised the greatest reward which was we would be raised from the dead like He was and we would live in a world of wonder and bliss. As He said that we should be most grateful because we would share in everything God owns.

Being in Him we would share in this great inheritance, equal partners with Him, in who He is and everything He did... All of His miracles!
Then Peter called to him, “Lord, if it’s really you, tell me to come to you, walking on the water. "yes, come,” Jesus said. So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus." (Matthew 14: 28, 29)

He was so enchanting that the masses loved Him although those in leadership at that time
despised him because he kept upstaging them. Doing things that proved He was the son of God and even more than that was the only person to predict coming back from the dead and then doing it. "Then Jesus began to tell them that the Son of Man must suffer many terrible things and be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but three days later he would rise from the dead.: (Mark 8:31)
And Jesus did. He was killed, raised from the dead, and now has gone to prepare a place for us.


“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me.There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. And you know the way to where I am going.” (John 14:1-4)

But even now, Jesus promised we would do even greater things than He did with His Spirit in us on earth.
“I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father." (John 14:12)

We will live always, from right now through forever, in a life that is beyond our imagination with joy and happiness we can't
even describe in our human terms. It's worth it to be enchanting in the Spirit of Jesus and live as He did.


(Contact info: Dale Shumaker, 4spirit@gmail.com, 417-224-3517)