Imagine spending nearly $340 million to assemble one of the most talented teams in professional baseball. You’ve got household names, future Hall of Famers, and some of the highest-paid athletes on the planet. You have the resources, the experience, and every reason to believe you’re going to win. Now imagine getting swept in four straight … Read more
“If you’re going through hell, keep going.” – Winston Churchill There’s a reason you rarely picture a shark sitting still. For many species of sharks, movement is directly connected to survival. They use something called ram ventilation. As the shark swims forward, water passes over its gills, allowing it to pull oxygen from the water. … Read more
“Leadership means you will be asked to give more than you receive. You’ll carry things nobody knows you’re carrying. ” There might not be a sentence that exposes someone’s leadership ceiling faster than this one: “You don’t pay me to do that.” I understand what people mean when they say it. There are job descriptions, … Read more
“Leadership is influence. Nothing more, nothing less.” – John Maxwell What does it actually mean to be a leader? I think we’ve complicated leadership over the years. Leadership isn’t a title. It isn’t being the loudest person in the room, having the biggest office, or having 100 people underneath your name on an organizational chart. … Read more
You don’t need to see the next ten miles. You just need enough light for the next step. I’ve thought about this a lot over the years. What if leadership came with a crystal ball? What if, before you ever took a leap of faith to launch a business, start a church or non-profit, took … Read more
John Maxwell said, “You cannot simultaneously be improving and proving.” I spent a lot of years trying to make sure everyone liked me. Looking back, I didn’t realize it at the time, but I had become a professional people pleaser. I wanted every client to be happy, every employee to agree with my decisions, every … Read more
Jesus said it this way: “For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.” (Luke 6:45) I’ve been thinking about something lately. A lot. One of the biggest lies we were ever taught as kids may have sounded harmless, but I think it’s done more damage than we realize. “Sticks and stones may break … Read more
“Discipline equals freedom.” – Jocko Willink When I first heard Jocko say that, it stuck with me. At first, they seem almost contradictory. How can discipline create freedom? But the more I’ve reflected on them, the more I’ve realized they’re true in every area of life. Discipline creates physical freedom. Financial freedom. Spiritual freedom. And … Read more
We often think leadership begins when we receive a promotion or a title, but the truth is leadership begins the moment someone starts following our example. Yesterday was Father’s Day, and as I sat down to write this week’s leadership blog, I couldn’t think of a more fitting topic. Not because every person reading this … Read more
Motion Is Not Momentum. One of the most dangerous places a leader can be is busy. One of the easiest ways to destroy a perfectly good engine is to ignore the warning signs. Most of us know this. Yet every day, people continue driving with a low oil light on the dashboard thinking, “I’ll get … Read more