What Credit Principles Can Teach Leaders About Growing Their Business Years ago, young bankers were taught to evaluate every loan through the lens of the Five C’s of Credit: Character, Capacity, Capital, Collateral, and Conditions. These weren’t just technical boxes to check—they were an attempt to answer one fundamental question: Can we trust this person or organization to grow, perform, and fulfill their commitments? Interestingly, the same question applies not only to borrowers but also to leaders, teams, and businesses pursuing growth. The deeper I’ve gone into leadership, the more I’ve come to realize that the Five C’s don’t belong only

I’ve done some pretty dumb things in my life. How about you? If I’m honest, most of my greatest “what was I thinking?” moments all trace back to one thing: hurry. The time I backed into my wife’s car—in our own driveway. (Yes, we’re still married.) The time I drove off with important items still on top of my car… you could follow the trail like breadcrumbs. The time I made an expensive purchase I later regretted… because panic-buying is always wise. The many times I opened my mouth when silence would have been golden. Hurry makes otherwise sane adults act like contestants

Every leader will live out their purpose by aligning the three essentials of life. This is what working on your life looks like. Essential #1: Your Person. The first essential is you. Your person. This involves answering the key questions of life. How did I get here? Why am I here? Where will I go when I die? Ultimately, these questions seek the answer to purpose. How you answer the question of origin sets the path for the next two questions. For example, if you believe you were created, there must be a reason. If you evolved, that’s a dead

Inner conflict and Insecurity Insecurity is the root of conflict. Inner conflict and conflict between two or more persons. There are many feelings associated with insecurity. Some of the most common: are a sense of threat, fear, worry, anxiety, offense, frustration, and anger. All these words or phrases lead toward one very strong feeling: a sense of losing control.  Ironic. We fear losing something we never had. I don’t need any scientific research to convince me that insecurity takes years off of my life. Insecurity and all of her cousins are both a cause and an effect. They cause me

My father gifted me with a large bible. We placed it in a display box and opened it to Psalm One. It sits proudly on a shelf in my office. Psalm One is a classic biblical passage describing two completely different paths of life. It is a poetic narrative that contrasts between the man who chooses the path of God’s instructions versus the path of wicked men. I memorized it as a child and meditate on it even to this day. It’s not simply a “Thou Shalt Not” text. It is a life-giving narrative. Consider some of its phrases describing

I was reading the book of Proverbs this morning, as I often do. Typically, I read the chapter that corresponds with the day of the month. For instance, if today is the 15th, I read Proverbs 15. However, since it was February 12, I read the 12th chapter. The following phrases jumped out at me: Whoever ignores an insult is sensible… There is one who speaks rashly, like a piercing sword; but the tongue of the wise brings healing. These two phrases reminded me of a recent interview I had with Blake Coffee on The Today Counts Show. At one