Military (participants only)

Wednesday, October 5

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"Life is like a vending machine; you can get ALMOST anything you want...it just takes a little CHANGE."

~ Randy Frazier

Tadpoles, Turnrows and Turnips!

I love leadership development. The process of helping people discover their own leadership abilities is very rewarding for me. Recently as I was preparing for our Leadership Jones County retreat, I was going back over several years of notes and lessons I have learned from great speakers. Many of the presentations I cherish come from great mentors and friends. Over the years they have taught me so much more that just my own leadership abilities. They have taught me the true measure of a leader is though "servant leadership", making sure others are succeeding and leaving a legacy of successful peers.

One of my most cherished presentations comes from a good friend of mine from Arkansas. I can't think of his speeches without smiling. Randy is full of energy and full of life. His genuine sincerity comes across in all that he says and does. If you ever have the opportunity to talk to Randy Frazier or hear him speak, I urge you not to miss the opportunity. You will certainly come away from whatever he is talking about with a smile on your face and cheer in your heart.

Sometime in 2007 Randy introduced me to "The Tadpole Principle" or as he simply called it back then, Tadpoles, Turnrows and Turnips! The tadpole principle simply teaches that we are meant to change! Throughout our lives we have different stages of development. Each stage presents us with opportunities to change. Given the knowledge, lessons learned and the ability gained through each stage, we are given the power to change in positive ways!

Take for instance the simple tadpole. Now a tadpole would be quite content to simply swim around in a pond of scum all his life but that is not what tadpoles are meant to do. There is a bigger plan for them. Tadpoles are meant to go through many changes in their lives before they reach the potential they were destined for. Very much like us. I am sure if we could lay our lives out in a timeline, we could connect several dots that would get us to the point that we are today in our own journey. If we had the ability to continue our timeline out for many years ahead, we would also see many key obstacles we need to overcome in our future. The point is, because we are humans, we have a life cycle. Just like tadpoles, we have no choice but to change physically. Through that physical change there are many lessons to be learned.

Many times on our journey through becoming better leaders, better mentors, better friends, parents and people we find ourselves traveling down paths we may not want to go. Certainly we are planting seeds of wisdom for the future but it may not be the most conducive course to reach the desired outcome when it is time to harvest. That is where our opportunities to change come into play. For those readers who do not have a farming background, at the end or side of most fields of row crops there are unplanted stretches where a tractor can turn around to set back up for planting or harvesting. These are called Turnrows (Turn-roads). These metaphorical turnrows in our lives are opportunities we use to evaluate our course of action. They help determine if we need to turn around and keep planting or pick up our tools and move on. Unlike the physical change of the tadpole, these are our opportunities where we get to choose how we will change. These are our opportunities to change what is on the inside.

And turnips (Turn-Ups), well, that's pretty simple. We can choose to make an upward, positive change or not. I know from my experience, choosing to make a positive change has been much more rewarding than choosing the alternative. The point to all of this is simple. We have no real control over the fact that we are going to change on the OUTSIDE. Because we are human though, we do have the ability and the opportunity to change what's on the INSIDE. I hope your journey is a successful one. Whether you are struggling with being a tadpole, not sure what to do at a turnrow or continually enjoying turnips, I know the change will be rewarding! Here's to the journey! Let's continue to strive to make positive impacts in each other's lives and in the future of Jones County!

If you would like to learn more from Randy Frazier, please check out his website: http://morethanmotivation.com

~ Dale Carnegie

"Hope sees the invisible, feels the intangible and achieves the impossible." 

~ Anonymous

"Reputation is what other people know about you. Honor is what you know about yourself." 

~ Lois McMaster Bujold

"When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him."

~ Jonathan Swift

"Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship."

~ Buddha