I have always been a fan of Twitter. As a reader, I love the brevity as a writer I love the forced clarity. 140 characters is not a lot of real-estate it forces you to think before you type. When you read someone’s Twitter feed what you get is a condensed form about what they are most passionate. Through videos, links and pithy quotes you get a good sense of what they love most.
With Jim Wideman, you get that loud and clear. You get that he is passionate about building the church, loving his family, helping folks grow. One of the things I love most about Jim is he isn’t someone who gets stuck. He learns from others as much as he helps others. I first meet Jim on Twitter a platform that was touted by the experts as a tool to be used by people far younger than he. Jim did as he does with most things jumped on to see what the fuss was. Turns out Twitter was made for Jim. If you hang out with Jim for any amount of time, you realize that he speaks mostly in Twitter. Most of what he says are profound thoughts that have been honed by time to produce an easy to remember truth that appears simple because it’s so short and memorable. That is far from simple because they represent a truth that is only gotten to by years of experience.
Being the innovator that Jim is he has turned many of his short thoughts into a new book called Tweetable Leadership. It’s a collection of profound thoughts on life and leadership in 140 characters or less. Some of the chapters of the book cover leading by example, growing as a leader, growing spiritually, what he wishes he knew when he was younger. This book is well worth your time to quote Jim “Experience is the best teacher, but it doesn’t have to be your experiences that you learn from.” Do yourself a favor grab a cup of coffee grab a copy of Tweetable Leadership and sit down for a couple hour conversation with a leader who has been in the trenches for 30 plus years.
Here are a few of my favorite tweets from his book
[Tweet “One of the signs of a kid-friendly church is step stools in the men’s room. @jimwideman”]
[Tweet “If you aren’t making mistakes, you aren’t trying anything new. @jimwideman”]
[Tweet “Ask yourself on a regular basis, “What in my life has become more about me and less about Jesus?” @jimwideman”]
[Tweet “Give volunteers time off. Even convicts get time off for good behaviour. @jimwidman.”]
[Tweet “I’m practicing one of the secrets of recruiting: I’m attending a service and talking to people before and afterward. @jimwideman”]
[Tweet “Every leader needs to know when to stop working. @jimwideman”]
[Tweet “The best principle to pass on to others is the importance of loving people. @jimwideman “]