Steps to Overcome Tough Seasons Tyler is a husband, father, and technology professional, he called me as he sometimes does, upset and maybe even miserable, to describe his situation with a boss who might qualify as one of the world’s worst. Among other things, he demeans his employees in public. Despite working for a cutting-edge company with over 1000 employees, his pay is 30-40% below market. Knowing Tyler has always been known as a hard-working achiever, he asked me what he should do. Here’s what I said: Step One: Step back and seek counsel. James, Jesus’ brother, wrote: “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him (1:5, ESV).” Where does this spiritual conversation happen? In your soul, which is the seat of your emotions, intellect, and will, you’ll find where your emotions set off alarms, your

No matter who you are and what you do, you need to FILL UP. When a leader gets better, everyone benefits! You can’t get better if you’re not filling up with good stuff! Pay attention to what’s filling you! Water is good in many contexts but not in your car’s fuel tank! What are you allowing in your tank that doesn’t serve you? Many aspects of leadership are demanding… Draining. Therefore, it’s crucial to constantly fill yourself with good fuel, including good mentors, books, coaching, nutrition, exercise, rest, laughter, and friendships. However, be careful. When you are tired (what I call red-lining), you’ll be tempted to reach for what’s convenient: addictions, gossip, negative people, fear, junk food, stimulants, and shortcuts. To make a positive change Start by identifying one poor fuel choice and replacing it with a healthy one. Then, trust the process and understand that results may not be immediate. Remember

Leaders’ Calling: Radiating God’s Power to Bless Others Leaders have a calling to bless others through their life and work. They are not only problem solvers but also people developers and providers. Secondly, they are not gods but radiate the power and intention of God by aligning their motives, skills, and courage to bless others. The Power of Inspiration and the Impact of Skilled Leaders I’m amazed by the talent God disperses. From the advances of medicine to technology, skyscrapers, music, authors, athletes, and coaches, the list is unending. Such skills displayed at the highest levels inspire us, and relentless effort, regardless of the outcome, inspires us even more. Being inspired increases our breathing and heart rate, and it sharpens the mind. As a result, our body temperature jumps, and our inner person moves toward the things worthy of our existence. Finding Inspiration in Aligned Motives In particular, many leaders

Almost all organizational leaders recognize the importance of strategy. You have a vision but how are you going to achieve it? The answer you think is found in your strategy. It’s the HOW question. However, most often, the HOW question is more effective when you transform it into a WHO question. When you start with the HOW before the WHO, you enter the “doers” path. Though it is common to ask HOW; we should be asking WHO. If you invest yourself in the lower strategy of HOW, you will be consumed by the task. If you invest yourself in the higher strategy of WHO, you will start to scale and increase the capacity of your efforts. You will be creating exponential power. Here’s how it works: 1. Believe more is accomplished with and through others than on your own. 2. Know where you want to go (WHAT). 3. Recruit skilled and aligned individuals (WHO).

Deserved or not, it accomplishes nothing positive. Dale Carnegie wrote: “When dealing with people, let us remember we are not dealing with creatures of logic. We are dealing with creatures of emotion, creatures bristling with prejudices and motivated by pride and vanity.” Carnegie’s statement may not be very encouraging but it is a word to the wise. Building a Winning Culture and Feeling the Pressure Firstly, I had the privilege of coaching a uniquely gifted and unified team of competitive soccer players. During multiple seasons, we remained undefeated. As we rose through the ranks, the competition grew tougher and our victories were sometimes by the smallest margin. Consequently, the players felt the pressure, the parents felt the pressure, and I really felt the pressure. Nevertheless, losing was not our culture nor our experience. Parental Observation Leads to a Moment of Self-Reflection During pre-game warm-ups, a parent approached me. She was

Creating a process for achieving your outcome This can greatly increase your chances of success. Once you have a clear outcome in mind, you should begin to create your pathway. You need to obsess over it and break it down into bite-size steps and even smaller habits. Once you have done this, you should stick to it. By focusing on the process and taking action on it consistently, you’ll be much more likely to reach your desired outcome. Don’t quit just because you don’t see immediate results. Although this process sounds tedious and boring to many personalities, it is the way to victory. By remembering where the pathway leads, you can overcome your negative emotions. And where does the pathway lead? To your goal! With that in mind, you can embrace the grind with gratitude. Practice Like a Champion: Preparation is Part of the Game To elaborate further, becoming a

God is BIG ENOUGH to be SMALL ENOUGH to CARE about YOU. Dear leader, don’t delete this message thinking it is soft and does not apply to your real-life situation. Keep reading. The Relevance of God Firstly, the subject of God is relevant for business, education, government, and any sector. God provides meaning, insight, skill, and power. Moreover, we cannot even imagine how BIG God must be. I’m not even sure BIG is a proper term of measurement for Him. To elaborate, Scripture tells us God is Spirit. God Consciousness (GC) In fact, God is so big he has the ability to get real small and sit and chat with you. Therefore, you need more faith, we all do. Additionally, religious faith is not authentic faith unless it translates into our daily lives. Furthermore, some of the best business leaders I know around this country have what I call a God

To begin with, in order to create and obsess over the process, you need to have a clear picture of your desired outcome (WHAT). Additionally, you must be confident that your process leads to the outcome. It is important to keep in mind that a clear outcome is the starting point, as Stephen Covey reminded us. With this in mind, you can start with the end, which is the outcome, the goal, and the vision. Strategy serves the vision After establishing the outcome, you can proceed to create the mission, which is a broad statement of WHAT and HOW. Following this, the obsession continues with strategy, goals, and steps or habits. If your outcome is clear, you have the flexibility to make changes to the strategy. The reason for this is that the strategy serves the vision, rather than being the goal or the organization. If your strategy is not

Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves. ― Confucius I’ve done some stupid stuff. Looking back, most of my mistakes were rooted in hurry, insecurity, laziness, or anger. Have you noticed when stupid stuff happens, it’s like falling dominoes? The Hasty Decision Age 30, give or take. Upon arriving at the house, I drove my wife’s compact import and parked it in the middle of the driveway, rather than pulling it into the garage. My laziness and eagerness to get inside led to this hasty decision, as I planned to move it next to my big lifted truck later. As I arrived at the house, my wife’s compact import awaited. Despite the garage being available, I lazily parked in the driveway, intending to move it later beside my truck in the garage. The Blind Spot Morning came and I was late for work. I take pride

Your vision shapes your behaviors, and this is especially true if you see your past or future in a negative light. Additionally, if you look back and see the good from your past while having a positive picture of your future, your behaviors will begin to align you in that direction. Therefore, it is essential to have a positive vision and behaviors to live a fulfilling life. Furthermore, having a positive vision can help you develop positive behaviors that lead to a more fulfilling life. Your vision shapes your behaviors, and this is particularly evident if you have a negative outlook on your past or future. On the other hand, if you can focus on the positive aspects of your past and have a positive view of your future, your behaviors will naturally align with your vision. The Power of Future Vision in Psychology Viktor Frankl, a neurologist, psychiatrist, philosopher,

Courage is one of the seven elements of character and is brought to life in collaboration with faith and justice. Courage and Moral Authority To have more courage, it’s crucial to understand that it comes from moral authority. That’s why living an honest and just life is vital. In days gone by, such people were called “God-fearing.” In simple terms, a God-fearer is one who considers what God might think over what society might think. The Importance of God Conscience (GC) People with GC (God Conscience) believe that our lives matter. They recognize that how we live our days on this earth account for something. Moreover, they haven’t abandoned common sense for political correctness, and they haven’t waved the white flag because they are in the minority. Instead, they study and ponder, remembering that rightness is not always found in the majority. Standing Up for What is Right There’s something

-Leaders pray and influence others to do the same- I absolutely dreaded them. As a young boy, my dad would take me to the church for the weekly prayer meeting. I remember kneeling at a pew surrounded by a few men doing the same. We prayed together, multiple groups of men on their knees were spread around the room. They used words I often did not understand. They prayed forever it seemed. I remember thinking to myself on more than one occasion “God please stop them from praying such long prayers! I’m dying here!”  Most of the time, I was just trying to keep from falling asleep! It’s a little funny right? There was a chasm between these men and myself. These church leaders knew too well the ills of the world. I, on the other hand, was just a kid being raised in a good home. I was optimistic.

  Do you remember the days before answering machines, pagers, voice mail, email, and texting? No? Well, I guess that demonstrates one of the massive cultural divides between baby boomers still in the workforce and millennials who probably can’t imagine life without the tools of today’s technology. Today, there remains a divide in the expectations we have for one another and between organizations for timely responses or what we can call “responsiveness” as a common topic of professionalism. As long as the business world continues to believe in subjects like ethics, professionalism, politeness, and diplomacy, responsiveness will differentiate one person and one organization from another. Do any of the following experiences resonate with you? Phone calls not being returned Emails seemingly ignored Your phone is blowing up with texts You’re frustrated with your team members not responding to you in a timely manner You’re frustrated with the expectations others place

  You want to lead effectively. You cannot do so without becoming an outstanding communicator. Effective communication starts with self-awareness, grows by shaping the soul of your organization, and is embraced through creativity and repetition. Self-awareness. Some might say you just don’t communicate. If that’s the case, it may be because you are more introverted than extroverted. Introverted and intuitive thinkers sometimes are not aware of how little they actually communicate. It’s almost like you expect others to read your inner thoughts. You may be more extroverted than introverted. Your thoughts often live on the outside but lack focus. Sometimes people have difficulty knowing exactly what you think because you think about a lot of things – out loud. More focus and intentionality are needed. Please don’t be discouraged by these possible assessments; instead, become more self-aware! Soul. Your organization has a soul. A soul is a complete entity consisting

  Scene Analysis: Understanding the Three Scenarios It’s a Saturday afternoon postgame interview with the losing head coach of a college football team. The scene is almost always one of these three: Scene one. “It was a hard-fought and competitive game between two good football teams. Sometimes the ball bounces in your favor but like today, sometimes it doesn’t. We’ll keep our heads high and prepare for next week.” Scene two. “Don’t look at the players. Don’t even look at my coaching staff. Look at me. I own this loss. I did not prepare this team for today’s game. Hey, when it’s my fault; it’s my fault. It won’t happen again.” Scene three. “It was not a good day. The team was properly prepared. Although we had a solid game plan, we were not competitive because we simply did not execute. We demonstrated a lack of character and discipline today.