 Daily, dedicate, equip and prepare yourself to thrive. - Larry VanBuskirk
Larry VanBuskirk recently compared the leadership calling to ‘serve and protect’ to an intrepid sheep-dog, working for the Shepard to protect and direct the flock.
Larry VanBuskirk greeted the enthusiastic crowd of business people with, “Welcome to sheep-dog school!” VanBuskirk continued, “If you want to be a sheep dog and walk the warrior’s path, you must make a conscious and moral decision every day to dedicate, equip and prepare yourself to thrive in that toxic moment when the wolf comes knocking at the door.”
“This business of being a sheep or a sheep dog isn’t a yes or no dichotomy. It’s a matter of degrees. It’s a continuum. On one end is the head-in-the-sand sheep and on the other hand is the ultimate warrior. Few people exist completely on one end of the spectrum or the other. Most of us live somewhere in between.
(Audio excerpt Learning from Larry VanBuskirk. Click here.)
“But since 9/11 almost everyone took a step up that continuum away from denial. The sheep took a few steps toward accepting and appreciating their warriors and the warriors started taking their jobs more seriously. If you’re part of the military or a public servant like a firefighter or police officer, one of those sheep dogs, I’m honored to be in your company. God bless you.
VanBuskirk On Being Thankful
“It’s okay to be a sheep just don’t kick the sheep dog. Indeed, the sheep dog may just run a little harder, try to protect a little better and be more fully prepared to pay the ultimate price of battle when the sheep go from ‘baaaahhhh’ to ‘thank you’.
“We don’t call for gifts or freedom beyond our lives. We just need a small pat on the head, a smile and a thank you to fill the emotional tank. When day retreats into night, a small prayer before the heavens may just be in order to say thanks for letting you continue to be a sheep and be grateful for the thousands and the millions of American sheep dogs who give you the freedom to express even bad ideas. (Cheering)
VanBuskirk Taking A Stand
We’re going to affect the world around us. We’ve got a comfortable, fat, complaisant life. We have that comfort because of the sheep dogs who have stood out, who have guarded our country, who have made us who we are, protected us so we do have the ideas and speech, the ability to assemble, the ability to learn together and develop a formidable team of sheep dogs. But we’ve got to take a stand - to stand on the basic principles that made this country great.
“We’ve got to make a stand with our government. It has become a self-serving mechanism to continue its own power. We’ve got to take a stand in our schools. They didn’t take God out the schools; they took the teaching of principles and morals and ethics out of the schools. We’ve got to take a stand with the media. The media doesn’t talk about any victories only loses. The screaming minorities are treated as the majority. There is disrespect for family values, sex is cheap, violence is normal. Basic principles and morals that have built this country are scorned!
“Are you the best worker in your workplace? In your church do you know what you believe in your spirit? I’m not telling you what to believe but you have to have the courage to explore your spirit because - if not - you have nothing to sustain you when you walk through the valleys.
“I’ll tell you this. Any nation without sustaining spiritual principles does fall. And we’re going to change that. Come on sheep dogs! “
More About The Sheep-Dog
“It is hardly possible to overrate the marvelous intelligence of a well-taught Sheep-dog; for if the shepherd were deprived of the help of his Dog his office would be almost impracticable. It has been forcibly said by a competent authority that, if the work of the Dog were to be performed by men, their maintenance would more than swallow up the entire profits of the flock. They, indeed, could never direct the sheep so successfully as the Dog directs them; for the sheep understand the Dog better than they comprehend the shepherd. “
Source: Wood’s Natural History, 1862.
Team co-founder, Orrin Woodward says this about Larry and Marsie VanBuskirk “Larry and Marsie visited our 982 square foot house 14 years ago and taught Laurie and me the importance of leadership development. I can still remember the three books they told us to read - Magic of Thinking Big, Psychology of Winning, and Seven Habits. Larry and Marsie changed our lives with that 2 hour visit. We will be forever grateful and thankful for their difference making act in a young couple's lives. The VanBuskirk's are two of the hardest workers and servers on the entire Team. They have applied leadership development to their personal lives and are building many other leaders.”
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