A DAY WITH TIM SANDERS

Yesterday I had the unique opportunity of spending a day with Tim Sanders. For those of you not familiar with Tim, he is the Chief Solutions Officer and Leadership Coach at Yahoo! and the author of a pretty amazing book,” Love is the Killer App" (here's a link to a great summary of the book, http://www.fastcompany.com/online/55/love.html)

Tim was in Pittsburgh yesterday to film a 90 minute program for PBS (it will air here in Pittsburgh on April 21 - look for me, I am the guy in the red sweater) based upon his new book "The Likeability Factor." His thesis is not rocket science that's for sure: people who are well liked are more apt to get what they want out of life than those who are disliked. Duh!

Sanders described the four building blocks of likeability:

•Friendliness: your ability to communicate openness to others
•Relevance: your capacity to connect with others' interests, wants, and needs
•Empathy: your ability to recognize, acknowledge, and experience other people's feelings
•Realness: the integrity that stands behind your likeability and guarantees its authenticity

Just imagine for a moment what a community of faith might look like if we took these four foundational relationship skills seriously.

Not only did I glean some good stuff from Tim (and let me say upfront I don't agree with everything Tim presents; although he does come from a Christian faith perspective, there were a couple of moments when I wanted to stop the cameras and do a bit of biblical and theological work with him) - but the beauty of experience was connecting with others in the studio audience. There were about 40 of us from all walks of life (business, the non-profits sector, and even the church), some who traveled as far as Wisconsin and Alabama to be a part of the event - who are seriously interested in making a real difference in their world. The 93 year old man who generously gives of his time and love, marketplace leaders who are shaping and nurturing environments of love and grace in their organizations, people who are investing their lives in others for the sake of Jesus Christ, couples and individuals who simply want to bring some joy and goodness to a world that is hopelessly spiraling downward in a doom loop.

God gave us a special gift: a community that had a limited lifespan of about 8 hours, but it was a true gift indeed. And at various times throughout the day, Tim reminded us that what we were involved in has the potential to change the world. That's a pretty bold statement, but one that has a lot of truth in it. When men and women, boys and girls, who have a high likeability factor, leverage that for the sake of Christ, I believe this world can be turned right side up.