Creeping

“Mission creep is the gradual or incremental expansion of an intervention, project or mission, beyond its original scope, focus or goals, a ratchet effect spawned by initial success.” 

- Wikipedia

---

When I was in the banking investments world, we talked about this phenomena all the time.  Because of the portion of banking I was involved in, we had various securities and banking examiners.  We also had internal and external auditors.  We had risk assessors.  We often said we were on “perma-audit”.  The next one seemed to start even before the last one was finishing.

Like vines overtaking a tree and eventually choking the life out of it.

It was especially frustrating because we worked hard to play by the book and really keep our noses clean.  For example, even after the market crash of 2007-2008, we never suffered a single loss in our investment portfolio.  We were incredulous and even a little angry when we had to pay additional FDIC assessments to bail out all the others who hadn’t been as prudent!

Maybe it was because they couldn’t find any of their “aha’s” in their normal course of auditing, but they always seemed to be expanding their scope and poking into things that didn’t seem to fall under their jurisdiction.  The term “mission creep” was first used in 1993 and has originally been targeted at military operations, but is used more generally and is almost always assumed to be negative.  

Wikipedia explains further:

“Mission creep is usually considered undesirable due to the dangerous irreversible path, each success breeding evermore ambitious interventions, stopping only when a final, oftentimes catastrophic failure was precipitated…”

Ironically, while I don’t keep up with the government, regulatory agency practices, or even what the military is up to, I experience “mission creep” all the time.  It is one of the vagaries of entrepreneurial success and has been the ruin of many.

Greg McKeown, author of Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, identifies something very similar and calls it the “success paradox”.  The progression goes something like this:

• Your discipline, focus, and intentionality at the outset of your entrepreneurial journey make you very successful.

• Your success opens up a large selection of options and opportunities.

• The original venture starts to plateau or even fail as you begin to allocate focus, time, and resources to the other things.

That, in a nutshell, is the success paradox.  It is a self-determined mission creep that is a result of good things.  But it is also the likely inevitability for almost anyone who allows the “undisciplined pursuit of more” (as Jim Collins called it) to overwhelm the “the disciplined pursuit of less, but better” that McKeown encourages.         

If this didn’t show up in every other conversation, we probably wouldn’t be having this conversation.  

It is subtle.  

It is subversive.  

It has been the path to destruction of so many small businesses.

Consider

• Did the success paradox born of mission creep sound all too familiar?

• Is your mission creeping?

• What are the new ideas and opportunities you are giving too much time to?

• What do you need to do as a result of reading this today?

Hundred

“The Rule of Seven is an old marketing adage. It says that a prospect needs to see or hear your marketing message at least seven times before they take action.”

---

I have a confession to make.  It is a little embarrassing.  There is a phrase I often use at the peak of my frustration.  Maybe it is one of your “go-to” expressions as well.

“I have already told you that a hundred times.”

It is always associated with my disappointment with things not happening as I expected.

Okay, so they say that people need to hear something three times before it resonates.  Marketing firms have long held that it takes seven times before a prospective client will take action.  (Maybe that is to make sure that you have a marketing spend seven times larger!)  But a recent study from Microsoft on retention of messages said that the magic number is somewhere between six and twenty iterations.

Regardless of whose axiom or research you believe, one hundred times is surely enough for someone to hear, understand, and respond.  Right?

One little problem.

When I recently found myself frustratingly saying, “I’ve already told you that one hundred times”, a wave of conviction came over me.  Had I really said that one hundred times?  Had I said it twenty?  Or seven?  Or six?  Or even three?

As I prayed for clarity, understanding, and the truth about the matter, it became painfully clear.

I may have thought that somewhere between a few dozen and a hundred times.

I have probably only said it a few.

But a few times should be enough, right?  I mean, I was saying it to people old enough to reason and understand things being told to them.  The research says it probably isn’t enough.  It is going to take more than once or twice or even a few.  And as noisy as things are with the thousands of other things they are hearing a day…

Here is the real problem.  My sentence didn’t fit the crime.  I gave them a hundred’s worth level of frustration for something that had only been expressed a few times.  Not only had I not taken the time to make sure they knew and understood my expectations, but I also inflicted a hundred-folds weight of anger on them.

Maybe this is you.  

Maybe you walk around in a constant state of frustration with kids or staff.

Maybe they are always wondering why you always seem so angry.  

Maybe they honestly don’t have any idea why.  

Maybe you just haven’t told them enough times for them to know.

All of this is really challenging for me.  I don’t like to say things more than once.  But if taking the time to say it a few more times means that I don’t have to live with my own frustration for the hundredth time, that is a trade I am willing to make.  

Consider

• Are you frustrated with the execution of your employees? Your kids?

• Do you feel like you’ve already told them to do things a hundred times that still aren’t happening?

• Do you think you have really told them a hundred times or maybe just a few?

• Would you be willing to trade a bunch of that frustration for a little more explanation and reiteration?

Stool

What separates privilege from entitlement is gratitude.

-Brené Brown

---

Our E-Myth coaching certification taught us that there were three conditions required in order for change to occur:

1. A person had to be in pain (meaning they don’t like their situation)

2. They need to be motivated to make changes

3. They have to be coachable

You might be saying “duh” to all that, but it is not as much of a given as you might think.  What we find is:

• Some people don’t like their situation, but aren’t really motivated to change things.

• Some are in pain and motivated to change, but not coachable.

• And some aren’t any of the three.

I mean, we all know people that are pretty miserable and don’t seem motivated to do something about it.  And it isn’t that we don’t all have problem areas that demand some attention.  We all have those.  But until we are in enough pain to be really motivated about it and desperate or humble enough to be open to let someone come alongside us in that, change will not happen.

Let me say that again; change will not happen.

We’ve gotten pretty ruthless about the administering of those three conditions.  We reference it all the time and there are leaders and institutions that have asked for our help that we have walked away from as a result.  We have learned that exerting our energy and time in the direction of someone not checking all three boxes is a waste of our time and their money.  

Yes, we have turned down business as a result.

I have become so convicted about this “three-legged stool” of conditions and I even apply it avocationally to individuals I meet with or couples where we invest our time.  We have willfully walked away from those who said they wanted help if the answer wasn’t yes to all three questions.

Doesn’t sound like a very Christian thing to do?

I think it is the pinnacle of stewardship to know where to offer your gifting, ability, and good heart in the place that will have the greatest Kingdom impact.  

We are coheirs of God’s Kingdom.

We are image bearers of the most high God.

We are glory bearers of some aspect of God’s glory.

Stewarding all that well requires some hard choices.

I have gotten really comfortable making those determinations.  The number of people who say they want to change their life and business and the number of them who are really committed to doing so are wildly different.  My time, energy, and lifespan are finite.  So is yours.  In these desperate and fragile times, it is necessary that we all get a lot more discerning.

Oh, and another thing I’ve learned recently:  I think there is a fourth leg to the stool that’s necessary if there is going to be a relationship where sustainable change occurs.  In order for interest, mutual satisfaction, and the momentum to sustain the relationship, there needs to be some sense of the person being grateful or thankful.  This is an essential transaction that needs to occur for both parties.

I am working hard to appreciate the people who invest in me in ways that have produced meaningful change.  It is fuel for the journey when others do that for me.

Real change is possibly and sustainable over time if the person is in pain, motivated to change, coachable, and thankful.

CONSIDER

• We are all in some sort of pain in some area of our life…there are things we don’t like. But are you really motivated to change things and be coachable?

• Do you think that might be why others don’t invest in you or why your situation isn’t changing?

• How are you investing your time, energy, and gifting? Are you planting that seed where it will find the greatest purchase?

• How good are you at expressing gratitude for those that have made a difference in your life?

Initiation

“Now that I have gone through my initiation, I am ready for anything, anywhere.”  

- Apostle Paul

---

Our tribe is relatively small compared to some others.  While our leaders represent thousands of employees, they are only several dozen strong.  Small allows for some great advantages.  We know all of them very well and they know each other similarly.

We celebrate their successes.

We rally aggressively in their times of trial.

Well, most of the time.  Our ability to help someone is conditional to several crucial things:

• them being honest and transparent about their situation

• them being vulnerable and humble

• them being open to suggestions and coaching

• them being incredibly courageous

One of our tribe members grew a great team, got clear on who they were and what they believed, crafted a transcendent vision, created a strong meeting and execution structure, and designed a future organizational structure that had them hiring the right folks and replacing some others.  They got really clear on their messaging and their business potential.  They had begun to diversify their business away from a single source that had represented the majority of their business for decades.

The owner was enjoying much greater margin.  He did everything we encouraged and so much more.  His team was running the business and requiring far less of his time.  He established margin days to work strategically on the business, wrote a book, and was investing his increased margin by coaching others down the same roadmap of business principles and was planning for greater ministry impact in his community and across the globe.

And then the bottom appeared to have fallen out.  The one big client announced they would be doing things differently and that their share of that pie might be significantly altered.

He did something so rare.  So uncommon.  So courageous. 

He raised his hand and asked for help.

A few weeks ago, we assembled some wise counsel around a conference room table.  World-class counsel.  Accountancy, business strategy, solution-solving ability, and real-world experience in a similar business.  We asked for financials and posited a battery of questions.  

It was a table set by the Father and out of his grandest intentions.

It was beautiful.

It was uncommon.

It was holy. 

We consecrated the entire proceeding.

Invited God to guide all that counsel, wisdom, and experience.

Asked for His divine interpretation and direction.

And we dove in.

The business owner said that he felt like he was wearing one of those hospital gowns where he was uncomfortably exposed in the back. 

We established clear action items and next steps.  The situation felt less dire and actually hopeful.  He told me that he felt encouraged, cared for, and deeply affirmed.  He said the table was set well for him to feel comfortable and very honest in the meeting.

We were experiencing His Kingdom come and His will be done.

Maybe more than anything, he knows that he is not alone.  He has God and a tribe around him.  He can overcome any obstacle no matter what comes.  He has gone through an initiation of sorts and he is now ready for anything, anywhere.

Consider

• What do you do when you encounter a great trial?

• Do you raise a hand and ask for help or would you even accept it if offered?

• When you turn to your left and your right, who do you find there?

• Are you emerging through your trials more confident for the next one?

Transaction

syc·o·phant  

(sĭk′ə-fənt, sī′kə-)

noun

A person who attempts to gain advantage by flattering influential people or behaving in a servile manner.

---

I couldn’t believe how well I was received in my new role.  With little or no experience and very little history with the brokers that were calling on me, they were already treating me as if I were a seasoned veteran and that we were old friends.  I even started to form deep relationships and interact with them the way I would good friends.  And then my boss told me something that rocked my world.

“Don’t ever forget:  It is not you, it is the money you manage.”

And he couldn’t have been more right.  In fact, while there were literally billions of reasons why they should be interested in me at the time, there wasn’t much left of most of the friendships when the money was gone.  My two decades of investment management and those thousands of hours on the phone with all those people yielded very little in the way of real relationships.  I have had contact with three of them since I left that world and only one still remains a good friend.

And you know what, that is not an indictment of any of them in the least.  In fact, I am really horrible at maintaining relationships long term.  My Enneagram 8 says that I am all about what I am all about and have extreme focus and drive toward what is right in front of me.  I also have very little in the tank for what is not.

We all have relationships purely driven by the work we do together.  Those are actually a necessary part of the way the business world works.  The brokers I dealt with were largely really great people.  They all had families to support and jobs to keep.  They aggressively pursued me and built relationships because their jobs depended on it.

But for most, it wasn’t me, it was the money I managed.

The tragedy would be in not realizing that fact.  All around us there are transactions going on…the sad part is that we don’t always understand the reality of what is being given and what is being taken.  This is a crucial mistake.

A famous CEO was told to prepare himself for his new role.  The second the title appeared on his business card, he would immediately be:

• funnier than everyone else and his jokes would always land

• the smartest guy in the room where his every idea was great

• the one whose every opinion seemed to be the best

• given less input from those he managed

The reality is that almost every company has sycophants in them.  I’ve sat in rooms with teams that didn’t agree with, like, or think the leader was very funny.  And I’ve watched them nod their heads in agreement, laugh, and act as if they really liked and enjoyed the leader.  And that is not an indictment of any of them in the least.  It is a necessary survival skill.  Darwinism at it’s best.

And you know who sets the table that way?  We do.  The only one capable of establishing that disorder or restoring order is us.  The more senior you are in your organization, the more at risk you are.  The error is not in the fact that it occurs, it is that we don’t recognize it for what it really is and adjust.

It is easy to point at the fallen pastor, the exposed politician, or the mistakes of arrogant athletes, but it is just as pervasive in the business world and it is all sourced to the same kind of root system.

Pride comes before the fall.

Sycophants come before the pride.

Consider

• Do you have yes-men and yes-women in your company?

• Do you know that you are not funnier, more clever, or smarter than everyone else?

• Do you know that their honesty is the path to sustainable success?

• Do you know that the foundation of every great organization is trust fueled by honesty?

Boondoggle

boon·dog·gle

/ˈbo͞onˌdäɡəl/

noun

noun: boondoggle; plural noun: boondoggles

1. work or activity that is wasteful or pointless but gives the appearance of having value.

---

Most people who attend conferences consider them continuing education, growth, and leadership development opportunities. Most business owners consider them to be something different: a paid vacation. I have even heard them referred to as “boondoggles.”

You want to know why? Because they are.

Business owners feel that way about them because it is typically the way they treat them. And because they do, they pretty much assume everyone else does the same. And they are typically right.

We asked leaders what they got out of conferences, executive roundtable experiences, and most of the other stuff they use to grow their businesses and as leaders. They told us that they got a lot of information and very little application or change for their businesses or lives. That is a tragedy. We not only reverse engineered our executive roundtable experience to make sure that the content was easy to apply, but we also amped up the accountability to make sure it gets done.

But there is still the problem of those conferences we and our teams attend. What to do with them?

When I talk to anyone who just attended a conference, I always ask them the same questions:

1. What did you get out the the conference?

2. What are you going to apply or implement in order to make your company more successful?

3. Who do you need to summarize that for and thank for paying the cost for you to attend the conference?

It is a privilege to attend that stuff. There is typically great information shared at them.

• Best practices.

• Industry insight.

• Time management.

• Leadership development.

• Etc.

But it is pretty much a waste of time and energy unless you do something with that. Part of your responsibility as a leader is to continue to grow and support the improving mastery of your employees.  

It’s also to help them mature and grow. It is one of the keys to employee satisfaction, engagement, and preventing turnover. And you and others are likely already attending this stuff, this is just a push to make sure you are getting everything out of it that you can.

To go to executive roundtable meetings, conferences, and other leadership development events and not apply what you’ve learned is like joining a gym to get in shape, but regularly attending only to take showers and enjoy the smoothie bar. You can do those things without all the expense related to a gym membership.

One of the more intentional leaders I know will take an extra day after a conference to review all their notes and determine what they will apply from the conference, including determining who will do what, when, and how.

Consider

• Do you or your team members attend conferences, executive roundtables, etc.?

• Who last attended one? What have they applied from their last trip?

• Do you regularly stop to memorialize what was gained from the experience, identified what will be applied, or thanked others for making it a possibility for you to attend?

Bullet

sil·ver bul·let

noun

1. a bullet made of silver, used in fiction as a supposedly magical method of killing werewolves.

2. a simple and seemingly magical solution to a complicated problem.

---

I am sure that you would rather hear more about the first definition and werewolves, but we are going to focus on the second one.  (But, If you like broad comedy and werewolves, stay tuned for Taika Waititi’s werewolf mockumentary, “We’re Wolves”.) 

Almost every leader we encounter is looking for a silver bullet.  Heck, I think I am sometimes holding out the false hope that they exist for me or my clients.  We all hope that we could somehow…

• get healthier without eating all that plant-based matter

• become stronger without all that exercise

• save more money without making hard choices

• strengthen our marriages without all that conversation

• etc.

And most of us wish there were some kind of healthy and successful organization wand we could wave and just fix everything.  We meet a lot of leaders who are holding out hope for that kind of magic, but it just doesn’t exist.  And whether it is our health, finances, relationships, or businesses, you can’t fix the problems overnight that you spend years or even decades creating.

A few years ago, we decided that it would be easier and more lucrative to just work with larger corporate clients.  They had bigger budgets and we could integrate deeper and see a bigger impact and quicker change.  The multiplier effect of working with leaders impacting hundreds and thousands felt right as well.  It was working well for them and us, but God had other plans.

We surveyed about 125 of these more intentional leaders.  They read books, attended conferences, and had a deep desire to mature their teams and businesses.  We talked to executive board members of every brand.  In summary, they loved the camaraderie and information they gained from all their efforts but had seen very little application or measurable change in their businesses as a result.

We coupled the survey with a lot of wise counsel and prayer.  We landed in a place we didn’t expect and frankly weren’t very excited about initially.  We were supposed to reverse engineer the process we were taking all our corporate clients through and make it available for smaller businesses and organizations in addition to the big ones we were working with.  

To create a very simple to execute journey with high accountability that any size organization could accomplish over a couple of years.  Camaraderie and information are a given at executive board gatherings and peer group meetings, but if we couldn’t solve the two challenges (application of the content and real measurable change), we weren’t interested in doing monthly meetings with smaller businesses.

Meetings and information where there is no meaningful change in the organizations involved, is a waste of their money and our time.

This September we are gathering business leaders at Hotel Emma as a step toward cultivating our next Executive Board to begin in January.  We’ll begin taking applications soon after that event.  If you have given up on hoping for a silver bullet and are interested in starting a journey toward real measurable change in your business, department, or division that you lead, we should talk.

Consider

• Have you been investing in your leadership (peer group meetings, conferences, books, and podcasts)?

• How is that working for you?

• Could you honestly say that you could point to real measurable change in your organization and a good ROI on your investment of time and resources?

• Are you ready to do something about it?

Redundancy

Redundancy is a form of dismissal from your job. It happens when employers need to reduce their workforce.

---

There’s something about the King’s proper English that makes everything sound nicer or more official.  They even have a different word for “firing” someone.  While “redundancy” traditionally means a reduction in force, it is typically used as a placeholder for every situation of someone being removed from their job.  I first became acquainted with this term while watching the original British version of The Office sitcom.

But “firing” is no laughing matter and is one of the requirements of running a business.  And unfortunately, it is something that most of us don’t do very well.  What we typically see is…

1. Quick to hire

2. Slow to coach or course redirect

3. Almost unable to fire.

None of us are comfortable with firing.  We can’t even bring ourselves to use the word.  We alternatively use terms like “reduction in force”, “laying off”, “business separation”, “let them go”, etc.  We work with very high integrity business leaders that typically have a very hard time coming to the conclusion that they need to fire someone.  They are often trying to make their faith real in their work.

We often find ourselves in the challenging position of actually encouraging them to make this decision.  We encourage…

1. Slow to hire

2. Quick to coach or course redirect

3. Quick to fire

We had an employee at the first contracting business we purchased that was one of the most delightful people I had ever met.  He was enthusiastic and a genuinely nice person.  Someone who made you want to invest.  We cared for and loved on him in a way he had never experienced in his professional life.  We invested in him with coaching, compensation, new benefits, and one of our partners even gave him a car when he needed one.

But we started to change expectations, established new processes, and accountability.  Something changed in him.  He wasn’t as comfortable with that type of environment or those kinds of expectations.  We started to add to the team and he got a little lost in terms of his position on the team.

After some coaching and challenging conversations, we made the difficult decision to fire him.

He was angry and disillusioned.  How could people that cared for him and invested in him so much, let him go?

He called last week…to thank us.  In fact, he was effusive in his thanks and acknowledgment of all that had been done for him while working for us.  He had done what very few people have the courage to do when trials come their way:

He soul searched.

He took account of things.

He took ownership.

…And started making big decisions in his life.

He lost 40 pounds.

He started a business that makes his heart come alive.

Maybe the fact that we invested so much and felt like we did everything we could to help him succeed had something to do with that.  Maybe because of how we treated him in his employment made him look internally in his firing.  We would like to think so and the feedback seemed to indicate the same.

We’re aggressively applying the best practices we teach our clients to our own businesses.  And we feel like God has established an audacious standard for us:

• Applicant’s lives should be positively changed whether we hire them or not.

• Employee’s lives should be positively changed whether they stay employed or get fired.

• Prospective customer’s lives should be positively changed whether they hire us or not.

Our hope is that at every interaction, including the more challenging ones, there would be real and measurable change in the lives of others. 

Consider

• Are you comfortable firing when it is required?

• Is it a moral conscience issue related to your faith or beliefs or to not having done what you could have to help them succeed?

• Do you need to change the way you interview, onboard, invest in, and fire?

• What is it costing you to not do these things well?

Delight

“The same glory you gave me, I gave them,

So they’ll be as unified and together as we are—

I in them and you in me.

Then they’ll be mature in this oneness,

And give the godless world evidence

That you’ve sent me and loved them

In the same way you’ve loved me.” 

- Jesus

“I am his favorite!”

- A paraphrase of the same verses by Morgan Snyder

---

In 1989, the best picture was Rain Man and the best album was George Michael’s “Faith”.  Gas was 97 cents a gallon, the price of a stamp was 25 cents, and Microsoft released a revolutionary suite of office products that contained a spreadsheet and a word processor.  And probably known to very few other people than her, Kathy went to work for the AutoZone store near the corner of Blanco and Basse.

Saturday morning, while replacing a battery in my wife’s car, we met Kathy.  I asked her several questions while she quietly and efficiently helped us attend to our problem.  But the answer that surprised me most was that she had worked for AutoZone at this same location for 30 years!  In fact, on this day, when she got to work, they gave her the 30-year pin she proudly attached to her name tag.

Kathy seemed rather nonplussed about this achievement.  I was not.  

In my banking days, each significant anniversary, beginning with the 5th, was accompanied by a new pin with an increasingly valuable stone in the center.  There was always a party, a note from the Chairman, and a lot of recognition from everyone.  Anniversaries are a pretty big deal for an employee and the opportunity to celebrate this kind of tenure is becoming increasingly rare.

She asked a co-worker, John, to help us install the battery.  He had his own story.  He was shaken out of his retirement by the realization that he was rushing home every day at 3 PM…to watch Ellen.  The reality of this disturbed him deeply.  So he got back to work, frequently rides his two Harley Davidson motorcycles in the Hill Country, and spends time with his kids and grandkids.

Oh, and he didn’t know anything about Kathy’s significant anniversary.

My wife and I couldn’t shake the thought of Kathy’s story and what seemed like an underwhelming acknowledgement.  When we showed up 30 minutes later with a bouquet of flowers and cupcakes to celebrate, she smiled as big as anyone I have ever seen and could barely get the words out through all her giggles.

I think she was experiencing our delight in her.

Our deepest and earliest understanding of God comes at an early age.  It is largely communicated through our parents first, but it is foundational for all of our other understanding of God.  It is knowing that we are unconditionally loved and delighted in.  Without the deep knowledge of that delight and love, it is virtually impossible to fully receive anything else our faith affords.

I know a man who does tremendous good and works tirelessly to make a difference in his city.  I also know that he can’t forgive himself for prior mistakes, doesn’t like himself very much, and rarely seems to live with any consistent joy or peace.  I think it is completely related to him not fully enjoying the love and delight of his Heavenly Father.

One of the greatest things we get to do as leaders of our families or companies is to offer that essential sense of delight in those we lead.  We can give others a taste of that deeper understanding of God’s love that will set the table for everything else available at the feast.

Consider

• Do you know the love and delight of your Heavenly Father?

• Do you think that understanding or lack of understanding was first communicated by your parents?

• Do you have any Kathy’s working for you?

• Who do you need to celebrate and delight in on your team or family?

Groaning

“We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.” 

- Paul to the church in Rome

---

Among our current clients there are:

• restructures

• leadership transitions

• pivoting of business models

• mergers

• diversifications

• generational transfers

• owner to team transitions

• franchising

• acquisitions

Everywhere we turn, the stakes are getting higher.  It doesn’t seem like many people are settled in their current state and are living with the expectation that some kind of significant change is just around the corner.  And in the uncertainty of how things will be different on the other side of all that expectancy, there is understandably a lot of groaning.

And when I am in conversation with individual leaders or leadership teams and they talk about the experience of this current season, only one expression comes to mind…

Pregnant.

While I have never experienced childbirth, I have felt the incredible expectancy that came along with the birth of all six of my children and both grandchildren.  Life is going to be different on the other side, but we don’t know for sure exactly how it will be different.  We were both nervous and excited.

Increasingly, we are living in the gap of this tension with our clients.  It can be a time of fear and jumping to the worst of conclusions.  It can also be a time of disillusionment.

Collectively -

We’ve managed billions of dollars and thousands of people.  

We’ve coached dozens of companies and hundreds of leaders.  

We’ve got a handful of coaching certifications.  

We’ve got a wealth of experience and lots of tools.

But we are learning to set all that aside. 

We are consecrating everything.  Holding all that stuff we typically bring to the table, captive.  We’re being slow to speak and quicker to listen.  And we are petitioning the wisdom and discernment of eternity for every situation and conversation in these very pregnant times.

Of course, Paul is talking about the expectancy of the highest order.  On the other side of the birth pangs, he is referring to the restoration of all things.  The coming again of the One who is going to set everything right.  Good and more good is on the way.  That is a great hope for all of us.

I love what we are seeing with all those clients:

They are leaning into the season.

They are humble and open.

They are surrounding themselves with wise counsel.

They are assessing the situations.

They are strategically planning ways through.

And the fear and uncertainty are being replaced by hope and expectancy.

“To be certain of God means that we are uncertain in all our ways, not knowing what tomorrow may bring. This is generally expressed with a sigh of sadness, but it should be an expression of breathless expectation. We are uncertain of the next step, but we are certain of God.”

— Oswald Chambers

The times are very pregnant indeed and we are not clear where everything will land, but we’ve never been more hopeful or more expectant about what is to come.  We are living in the tension of that glorious unknown.  We are breathlessly expectant.

Consider

• Does it feel like the stakes are getting higher in your life and leadership? Like the times are pregnant?

• Be honest: Is that producing a lot of fear or growing expectancy?

• How much are you relying on your own strength and understanding?

• What needs to change about how you are approaching these times?

Voice

“Calling is not what you do, but how you do what you do.” 

- Dan Allender

---

Hans Zimmer is possibly the greatest composer of our day.  If I played you a mashup of his greatest compositions, many would be instantly recognizable.  He is responsible for the scores and soundtracks for:

• Gladiator

• Inception

• Dunkirk

• Interstellar

• The Dark Knight

• Pirates of the Caribbean

• and dozens of others

In his Masterclass, he talks about the craft of scoring a film.  He has such genius in this area that his teaching not only illuminates and simplifies but demystifies the work as well.  And one of the crescendoing points of his teaching (in lesson 30 of his Masterclass) is that there is a unique hidden genius in all of us, but that the real glory is when each of us sings in that unique voice.

He says, “When my fingers land on the piano keys it is different than when anyone else does.”

He said that people are always chided to find their voice, but the real work comes in the application of that voice.  He said that he might have been born with some unique gifting, but the voice he uses to express it is the summary of the entire life he has lived:

“I don’t think I was born with it, but through my cultural influences, where I am from, what I listened to as a kid, just the way I learned an accent, I have a voice.  And whether I do the blues in “Thelma & Louise” or faux-Roman music in “Gladiator,” I am still doing it in my voice.”

One of the quotes people will hear several times at our LifePlan retreats is from Dan Allender:“Calling is not what you do, but how you do what you do.”

I think Hans Zimmer would agree.  There is a misconception that people only need to do something like a LifePlan when they are stuck, facing a job change, needing to make a job change, or in a transitioning season of life.  While it is beautifully clarifying and comforting in that season, it also gives very clear direction to the type of path that Zimmer and Allender are pointing towards.

While Zimmer may have gifting, training, and experience in playing a piano or composing, the real power in all that is when he offers it in his unique voice.  And for the purpose of trying to move people and help them experience something extraordinary in their film watching experience.  That is when his glory truly shines.

“Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.”

— Matthew

Because the greatest thing about each of us is not what we produce, achieve, or accumulate, but who we become.  And becoming what it is really glorious is simply discovering what is already true and just living into it.

Consider

• Do you know who you are?

• Are you familiar with your unique voice?

• How different do you think life and every situation would feel if you knew?

• What is costing those you love and lead to not be living that way?

Comparison

“Comparison is the thief of joy.” 

- Theodore Roosevelt

---

• I felt like I was the only kid with divorced parents.

• It seemed I was the only Baylor student who had a full-time job.

• When most of my DINK (dual income no kids) friends were taking extravagant vacations and moving into their first and then second homes, I was having my third child.

• Despite the fact that I managed billions for the banks I worked for, it seemed like the lenders who managed a fraction of what I did had bigger titles, made more money, and got way more attention.

And the list goes on and on.  I’ve spent most of my life comparing my life against others.  And it almost destroyed me.

Comparison is not only the thief of joy but it is also the destroyer of hope, momentum, and life.  And it is completely Godless.

A guy I know in Colorado talks a lot about the cancer of comparison.  In a long prayer he shares, he says:

“I ask for your forgiveness for every way I’ve agreed with the spirit of false comparison with other men and had jealousy and envy and want of their life. I confess that the only life worth living is my life in you. Father, forgive me for comparing part of my life with part of his life. I release him. I bless him. And I cut off every judgment, every value I have made, every way I’ve cursed inadvertently. I ask for your forgiveness, and I bring blessing in the place of cursing. I choose in the heavenlies with my will to cause good on behalf of those men.”

— Morgan Snyder

Turns out that comparison is way more insidious than I thought.  It is not only an affront to our God but an assault on others that we envy.  Comparison always leads to envy and envy, well, is far more toxic than you probably imagined.  Envy doesn’t just wish you had what others had, it wishes actual destruction or harm on others.

Deep beyond deep, comparison is not only a joy thief but an unspoken curse toward those we envy.

But I am learning to consider the joy available out of my trials.  To enjoy the perseverance and faith that comes from them.  To lean more into God’s restoration and healing.  To celebrate His provision in every category and consider it a blessing.

I am now ending most of my days having difficulty believing that I am living the life I get to live rather than comparing part of my life with part of others.  The world is replete with platforms that offer only the best snippets of the lives of most people represented there.  I no longer compare the most challenging parts of my life with the best of theirs.  In fact, I am learning to not compare my life at all.

And you know what, the result is that I am so basking in the blessing and privilege of my life that the thing I wrestle most with in terms of others is almost being embarrassed to share all that goodness and blessing I feel like I am experiencing.

My life has not materially changed.

Nor has the life of others that I used to compare mine to.

But my perspective and posture have.

It has made all the difference.

Consider

• Be honest. Whose life are you most likely to compare yours to?

• Do you feel like there is something more insidious going on in that comparison than you realized?

• What is it costing you?

• What is costing others you love and lead?

Experiencing

“Your problem is not the first fifteen minutes of the day. It’s the next twenty-three hours and forty-five minutes. You must arrange your days so that you are experiencing total contentment, joy, and confidence in your everyday life with God.” 

- Dallas Willard

---

When I arrived on the campus of Baylor University it was as if I were walking onto the surface of a new planet.  I didn’t really have much experience with faith, that level of academia, or even the relationships or the kind of families I encountered.

I remember sitting in an IHOP near campus on the morning I was supposed to check into my dorm.  I was there way too early (as was our family practice), sitting alone at a table with all my life’s possessions crammed into my Mazda a few feet away.  I watched the restaurant fill up, booth by booth, with huge families.  Two-parents, emotional and excited siblings, and even grandparents in some cases.  There was lots of joy and lots of tears.

Not only was I on a new planet, but I was also an alien.

Outwardly, I mocked the spectacle of all of it.  Seriously!  We were eighteen years of age and didn’t need anyone to drive us to college, help us unpack, and tuck us into our dorm rooms.  Right?

Inwardly, I was dying.  I was very jealous.  I wished I had that kind of relational grounding, that kind of tailwind propelling me into this next chapter of my life.

While I had left the destructive practices of my youth behind, I was still a product of a different world:

My hair was long.

My language was very salty.

My “Clash” and “Rush” was very different than their “Imperials".

My brain had been washed with life experiences that most of my fellow students had never known or probably knew existed.

They talked about finding a new church, finding a good bible study, listening to Amy Grant, setting appropriate boundaries with their girlfriends, and making sure they worked a good “quiet time into their routines.”  What the hell was that?

But to me, it was life…a lifeline really.  I could change my life by adopting all the disciplines and practices of the life I observed in them.  While I found a new life, a new faith, and a new way to live, I also interpreted the rituals of the faith…as the faith.  I spent the next couple of decades burying myself in a very legalistic expression of all the beauty, life, and freedom my new Christian faith said it offered.

It was crushing to me and pretty much anyone who encountered it, especially to my wife and kids.

But, I have been on a 17 year journey of restoration.  I have broken free of legalism to find a life and faith far deeper than I imagined was possible.  Christianity is not a governing philosophy, but an identity.  The Christian life is not a set of rituals, practices, tip, and techniques, but a pervasive Kingdom worldview that governs every hour of every day.

I am comforted to know that God is less concerned about our 15 minute quiet times, but more concerned about how we spend the other 23 hours and 45 minutes of our days.  That he cares less about our weekly attendance at religious services and more about the worship, sacrifice, relationships, and joy we operate with every other day.

I am finding life in Him and understanding how to live based on how He talked about His Kingdom.  It has been a rescue that is allowing me the confidence and energy to rescue many others.  It has changed my family, my leadership, and every conversation I have with every coaching client.

The life I thought I was buying into when I first believed in that college dorm, has been found.  I am arranging my life so that I am experiencing total contentment, joy, and confidence in my everyday life with God.  I am waking up to the glory and beauty all around me.

Consider

• Where do you find the abundant life promised to us?

• Do you find it in the practices and expressions of your faith or do you find it more elsewhere?

• Are you so focused on getting the 15 minutes a day and the weekly practice right that you are missing out on experiencing total contentment, joy, and confidence in your everyday life with God?

• What do you need to do next in order to recover that life?

Honor

hon·or

/ˈänər/

noun

1. high respect; great esteem.

2. adherence to what is right or to a conventional standard of conduct.

verb

1. regard with great respect.

2. fulfill (an obligation) or keep (an agreement).

---

Being part of a circle of 48 men that I deeply respected was a very humbling experience.  Spending 5 days with them as a part of a company of older men to deeply engage 72 younger men that were committing to a decade of excavating their lives and hearts for the sake of “becoming the kind of men that God can entrust his Kingdom” was other-worldly.  

Some of the younger men had traveled mere hours to participate, but others had come from thousands of miles away and represented several continents.  They were impressive, successful, and many had the potential to be world changers.  The world would tell them they had already arrived.  That they were already ready.  But these young men were committing to a path less traveled.

A decade of excavation and preparation.

Like the older men, they were a curated community from a long list of many more that would have liked to have attended.  They were an extraordinary and rare community of younger men.  Warriors and young kings on the precipice of their life, leadership, and opportunity to impact the world.

I am not sure what their preparation was like, but ours, as the older men, was extensive:

• A dozen or so hours of podcasts, reading, and training videos

• Training calls

• A complete review of the 4-day weekend’s conference materials

• Time spent with younger men in practice for our time there

• A full day of time together as facilitators before the younger men showed up in camp

• Decades of redeemed brokenness in our walking with God

Intentionality like I have never seen.  I can only imagine what the attendee’s prep was like.

I know that we all feasted on four days of content and experiences that I am still processing through a month later.  And the phone booked sized workbook we were given wasn’t really even for the weekend, but for the next 10 years!

Before the younger men arrived, we were all given a chance to introduce ourselves and offer what we were feeling about being there.  I was overwhelmed emotionally trying to explain what I was feeling in that moment (and I am never lost for words).

I told them that I get to sit around a lot of holy campfires.  Campfires where God is being referenced and invoked and the lives of many hang in the balance.  Some of those campfires are in the middle of office buildings with glass walls, mahogany tables, and chairs I would probably blush about if I knew the cost.

Some are literal with the smoke and flame providing just enough illumination to let truth flow freely.  But anytime two or more gather for His purposes and in His name, it is holy.

But this is the holiest campfire I know.

I also told them that I grieve the loss of an honor culture.  Where eldership and experience are honored and celebrated, but also where the truest and deepest potential in younger men/women are identified and cultivated.  Not the superficial externals captured in photos with clever captions or short curated video snippets of a person’s life, but where the unique aspects of the Divine’s glory in each of them is celebrated.

This is the best example of an honor culture I know.

I am fighting hard every day to restore an honor culture everywhere I walk.  In my family, in my community, and within the dozens of companies I get to speak into directly or through key leadership.

And it is beautiful when it emerges, but it is rare, holy, and needed now more than ever.

Consider

• Do you live in an honor culture?

• Do you work in an honor culture?

• As a leader, how will you cultivate this kind of culture in your home, work, or community?

• What is it costing you and others if you don’t?

Astonished

“Jesus listened to this reply, and was astonished, and said to the people following Him, ‘I solemnly tell you that in no Israelite have I found faith as great as this.’” 

- Matthew’s gospel account

---

A captain approached Jesus with a big problem.  His servant is paralyzed and suffering great pain.  Jesus says he will come and heal him, but the captain explains that he understands authority and that by merely commanding things, it is done.  So he suggests that Jesus merely say that he would be healed and he knows it will be so.

Jesus is astonished.

He says that this Israelite’s unwavering and simple faith makes him the singular most astonishing person he has come across among all the others.  

This guy may not have been the most regular attendee of the synagogue.  

He may not know his scriptures very well.  

He may not be seen as one of the most righteous among his people.  (In fact, because of the way power was translated in his day, it was probably assumed he wasn’t the most ethical guy by position.)

He simply carried the deepest and truest belief in the power of Jesus’ authority.  He was fully submitted in his simple conviction of what God, as a man, could do.  Beautiful.

This story reminds me of one of my best friends.  I have other friends that have a lot more experience as Christians.  They’ve attended more church services, they know their scriptures better, and they are likely more immersed in the writings of Christian teachers and the bible than he.  He is not the one that the casual observer would call a spiritual superstar.

But his faith regularly astonishes me.  More than pretty much anyone else.  He approaches God with a child-like wonder and depth of conviction that humbles me.  His faith is unwavering and frankly unnerving at times.  Always inspiring to me.  It isn’t always based in deep theology of biblical scholarship, but it is so deep and complete that it often leaves me breathless and in tears.

Recently a non-Christian was asking him for advice.  Their interaction up to this point had proven he was the kind of man even one with a different belief system would seek.  His wisdom, humility, and kindness are not things you come across every day.

The younger man was within 10 minutes of a very challenging meeting that was hugely determinant for him.  He wasn’t sure which way to go.  He asked my friend a simple question:

“If you were me, what would you do?”

My friend doesn’t wrestle with pretense or the over-analyzing of where this guy is spiritually.  He boldly tells him what he would do:

“If I were you, I would find a quiet place and pray to God for clarity and direction about what I should do."

No hedging of his bet.  No over-explaining of his beliefs versus those of the other man.  Clear, simple, and unapologetic.  The younger man explains that he doesn’t share my friend’s faith (which they both already knew) and that he believes in karma and the stars.

This is the point where most of us would go theological or theoretical and exclude them from the rescue of our heavenly father because of his beliefs.  Maybe, if we were really bold, we would say that we would pray for him anyway, ask him to let us know how it goes, and quickly get off the phone. That is precisely not what my friend does.  

He says,

“Then I would get in a quiet place and cry out to karma or the stars, because when you earnestly cry out, I believe my God will show up.”

Astonishing.

Set your theology aside.  Don’t grab your concordance.  Just let that sink in for a minute.  The audacity of that…the simple and profound faith of that…that belief in the goodness of God and his desire to rescue all of his children…maybe even the ones that are a bit confused or don’t know him by name.  A lump is forming in my throat again even as I type this.

As a younger and less mature man, I wanted to know more.  I wanted to immerse myself more in understanding.  I wanted to know my scriptures better and read more about our beliefs than anyone else.  I wanted to be the most knowledgable, the most informed about our faith.  Sadly, much of that was rooted in wanting to be esteemed among men.

Now, my destination is far more simple, but not easy.  I want to be the kind of man that astonishes God with my faith.  I want to carry an unwavering conviction and childlike wonder.  I want to be more like my friend.

Consider

• How much of your faith resides in your head instead of your heart?

• Do you have the kind of unflinching conviction that would respond to an unbeliever like that?

• Do you think your conviction and faith would astonish God or even astonish others like my friend?

• How different would your life look like if you did?

Counterfeit

“Federal agents don’t learn to spot counterfeit money by studying the counterfeits. They study genuine bills until they master the look of the real thing. Then when they see the bogus money they recognize it.”

---

A little over 10 years ago, I turned off the news.  There was a national election going on and in typical fashion, one side saw the alternative candidate as being full of darkness with no possible goodness capable in them.  The other side was in exactly the same boat.  The acrimony and shrill hatred of the election were wearing me out.  And worse than even that, it was leaving me incredibly discouraged.

The world was headed straight to hell in a handbasket and depending on who you were listening to, it was the other’s fault.

I was reminded of the decision of a very wise woman from an earlier season of my life with my wife.  As a mother of six and wife of a successful businessman, she often found herself in social situations with people that were focusing a lot more of their time on the economy and world events than she was.  It minimized her and made her feel ignorant about what appeared to really matter a lot to others.

She started spending time brushing up and keeping up with world events, the economy, etc.  The problem was that it was completely inconsistent with her purpose in life…to love and lead the children, broader family, and friends that God had placed in front of her.  And not only that, all that other information largely discouraged her and left her feeling hopeless.  

So she quit brushing up and keeping up.  She completely turned her focus to whom she had been entrusted to care for and only inputs that helped her accomplish that objective.  She turned it all off.

I was spending hours confirming my opinions, talking with only people that agreed with me, and reading only the things that supported my views.  I was increasingly incredulous that anyone believed differently, was fearful about things I had no control over, and felt hopeless about things I could not change.  It felt like a huge exercise in futility.

Worse than anything, it left me so depleted and discouraged that I had very little left to offer the people and things that God had placed right in front of me.  All that stuff “out there” and “over yonder” robbed me of my strength to tend to the stuff right here.

I was spending so much time focusing on what was wrong that I was losing sight of what was right and real. 

Not being distracted by the counterfeit has allowed unbelievable bandwidth to realize just how rich, abundant, and extraordinary God and life in His Kingdom can be.  I found uncommon inspiration and bandwidth.  I meet with hundreds of leaders a year now and this is close to being my 400th blog about leadership and business.  None of that ever happened before this switch.

Jesus, the perfect man.  The one who reminds us of Adam and cuts through all rules, doctrine, and religion to show us how to live freely, lightly, and rightly, models something very similar.  He seems largely disinterested in the empires leading his world, both political and religious.  He looks through and past all those things, past the counterfeit, to focus on what is true and right.

He continually draws things back to simplicity and focus.  To set aside the assertions, arguments, and complications of others.  To assert that what really matters are things as simple  as “loving God” and “loving others”.

Maybe your shoulders are broader than mine.  Maybe you can bear some or all the weight of the world and not let it take you off track.  Maybe you are strong enough to bear all that burden and not get discouraged and depleted in a way that keeps you from caring for the mission of your life right in front of you.  I can’t.

I have a large family, am an owner in businesses, and meet regularly with dozens of business leaders.  I don’t have time for the counterfeit.

Consider

• How much time do you spend on the counterfeit of this world?

• How much time are you spending immersing yourself in truth and what really matters?

• Is the one keeping from the other?

• Is there a typhoon, world war, or economic collapse headed our way that I should know about?  Please let me know.  I probably won’t know otherwise.

Machine

“Before you leave 

You must know you are beloved

And before you leave

Remember I was with you”

- Mumford & Sons

---

A good friend of mine purchased a time machine.  It cost less than you might think and almost nothing to run.  Every experience with it takes him back into his life and story, reminds him of things he’s forgotten, and helps him excavate essential treasure needed for the next step of his journey.  

I swear he’s five years younger and that is from just the first few weeks into climbing aboard.  There is a childlike quality about the way he describes the experience.  There has been a new category unlocked in him and I don’t think he will ever be the same as a result.

His time machine has two wheels, mine might require more.

There is an essential season required for the development of every man and woman.  It goes by many different names, but one of my favorite authors refers to it as the stage of being the beloved son or daughter.  It comes earliest in life and should teach us that we are delighted in and are safe.  It is meant to teach us that we have a good father who loves us, wants what is best for us, and that we have nothing to fear.

It is a season of wonder, joy, adventure, and endless surprises.

But guess what happens when you aren’t the beloved son or daughter?  There is an innocence lost.  The world doesn’t feel as safe.  We don’t expect and look for good, but expect the worse.  We don’t assume that authority figures have our best interest at heart and likely ascribe the same to God.  It makes us feel isolated and that we are left to do life on our own.

You know that feeling.

Good news is that the entire gospel narrative is about a loving father’s relentless pursuit of restoration to his children.  To take all those broken and incomplete places, all those misconceptions, and restore that relationship to fullness.  He even desires to remind us that we are beloved daughters and sons if that is something we somehow missed.

Recovering that treasure may be the most elusive one of all…and the most important.  It is seminal to the journey of becoming wholehearted and free.  It is a key step on the path to becoming fully alive.

There are different ways to reclaim this precious treasure.  One comes by spending a few grand on a time machine and letting it port you back to a younger and more unfettered time in your life.  At least for a moment.  The other is free, but will cost you everything.  It will require uncommon courage, the letting go of every misconception, and willingness to surrender every other treasure you possess that has anesthetized the lack of knowing that you are truly the beloved of God.

It is the pathway to becoming a more whole-hearted leader, parent, and spouse.  And once you truly know that you are the beloved son/daughter of God, your life will be irrevocably changed.  Instead of needing so much confirmation from others, you will become a source of affirmation of others (maybe even a fountain).  

For your kids.  

For your spouse.  

For your employees.  

For pretty much everyone.

Consider

1. Get to a really quiet place at a time of day where your mind is most open and clear.

2. Carve out at least an hour or so where you will not be disturbed or rushed.

3. Quiet your heart and mind and ask a simple question:  Father, what do you think of me?

4. Put pencil to paper, trusting a response will come, and see what happens.  (I’ve written until my hand has gotten tired.)

5. And then let me know what happens.

Scented

The General’s Cedar Pointe #2 Pencil:

Made by the Weissenborn family in Jersey City since 1889.  Considered by most to be the finest pencil in production.  Entirely unfinished - no paint, no lacquer - gives the pencil an entirely unique feel in the hand.  The raw wood practically clings to the hand and begs to be written with.  The cedar smell will likely remind you of old chests, hangars, or maybe even a hamster cage from your childhood.  The folks at General’s believe in quality, value, tradition, and the fun of creating.  So do we.

---

We were looking for a writing utensil for a leadership event we were offering at a historic boutique hotel.  No matter how much we were willing to spend, we couldn’t really find a pen that we thought was consistent with the event, location, and thoughtfulness of the experience.

We felt almost led to the General’s Cedar Pointe #2.  It was as if it were created specifically for us.

We set a lot of tables for leaders:  

A handful of leaders on an executive team.

A dozen leaders for a monthly leadership meeting.

And dozens at larger group events.

In front of every person, at every event, is a General’s #2.  Sometimes we remind the groups of the significant story of the simple pencil in front of them.  Sometimes the simplest things matter most.

We are asking them to process and write about transformative, holy, and impactful things.  We are asking them to document the stirring of the Divine as it relates to their life, leadership, and small “k” kingdoms that they manage.

We want even what they are writing with and what they are writing on to reflect that intended glory.

I now almost exclusively write with those same #2’s.  Gone are most of my beloved mechanical ones that made me feel like the lost draftsman or architect I sometimes thought I should have been. I now have a handful of various-length sharpened ones on me at all times and a small collection of sharpeners in my backpack, pockets, and Jeep.

It causes me to stop my progress, do something primal, and remember.  Each twist of the pencil in the tiny metal sharpener is like a deep breath away from the noise and chaos of everything else going on around me.  And despite my best efforts to collect all my shavings; coffee shops, meeting spaces, and conference rooms all over town still possess the evidence of my having been there with my General’s.

One of my favorite things at a leadership event is to look around the room and see people sniffing this tool of our trade.  I used to think that the pencils were scented with memories, but I now know it is scented with something far more holy than that.  

These pencils carry the scent of the Kingdom.

Every pencil we hand out is done with extreme intentionality.  It is companioned with course materials about Kingdom, transformation, new life, and transcendent purpose.  It typically sits on top of curated content, Moleskines, Field Notes, and carefully designed and specially cut note cards.

They are intended for glory and that is precisely what they are finding.

Consider

• What are you writing about?

• Is someone or something in your life causing you to slow down, mark the condition of your life, and reach for more?

• What is it costing you and others that you aren’t?

• Up for a writing exercise that just might change the course of your life?  Reach out and let us know.  We’ll put some “tools of our trade” in your hands.

Fearless

“And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” 

- Paul to the church in Corinth

---

This story is about a young girl with a very fragile heart.  A girl who loved to sing and perform in front of others.  The one that took all those roles in her church and school.  Upfront and unashamed.  It was part of her glory and her greatest joy.

Until one day when everything changed.  A school assembly with pretty much everyone present, including the cute boy she was currently carrying a crush for.  That young beautiful heart was at the microphone, full of joy and offering part of the glory of her life…when her voice cracked.  Amplified and on full display for all to hear, including the cute boy only a few paces behind her.  And she’s had the laughter of everyone, including him, echoing in her ears for the last two decades.

Ironically, she didn’t lose her love of music.  One of her side hustles became DJ’ing where she could offer the music she loved to others without tempting fate in a way that might reference her most embarrassing moment.

Until about 3 years ago.  At a LIfePlan retreat we hosted, she found uncommon hope and courage.  She committed to learning to play the guitar which was something she had always wanted to do.  Another unwitting casualty of the voice cracking incident so long ago.

And so she learned to play guitar and she started to sing.  Really only in front of family and only in the name of fun, but she started to sing.  And then the story got really interesting.

A mentor she was co-hosting a retreat with asked her to write a song for the women attending the retreat.  And then, she asked that she play it for her and all the other women at the retreat.  Gulp.  Double gulp.

And without knowing, she was asking her to stare her greatest fear, sourced from her greatest embarrassment, and say $%^*& you.  For our enemy’s greatest assault is against our glory.  We were placed here to offer one aspect of the Divine’s glory that no other creature can.  She had not only had her voice silenced but she also had some of the glory of the Divine she carries, shrouded.

This wasn’t simply facing your fear of heights kind of thing.  This was staring down the assault of a lifetime against your joy, your glory, a precious and unique treasure stolen.  So beautiful.  So courageous.

And so she sang.  And they all marveled.  And they reached for their phones to record and they asked how they could get a recording to listen to this glory over and over again.  Rescue.  Restoration.  Victory.  What could be more beautiful than this?

Well here is the rest of the story…

She recently had her two-year review with her employer and her birthday occurred on the same day.  The gift she received from them was two hours in a professional recording studio to play and record her song.  To memorialize her victory.  To reclaim, for all eternity, glory lost and found.

Rescue.

Restoration.

Victory.

So beautiful.

So courageous.

She is glorious and beautiful in every way and she is just getting started on letting everyone know.

Consider

• What great gift, joy, or pleasure was stolen from you?

• Have you so given up on believing it could be reclaimed that you have forgotten it?

• What would it feel like to reclaim what has been lost?

• How would it change your life and others if you did?

Decisions

“The Magic 8 Ball is a toy used for fortune-telling or seeking advice, developed in the 1950s and manufactured by Mattel. The user asks a question to the large plastic ball, then turns it over to reveal a written answer which appears on the surface of the toy.” 

- Wikipedia

---

A leader at one of our board tables was making an analogy.  The decision-making process for many entrepreneurs or leaders is akin to shaking the Magic 8 Ball for answers.  We all laughed…nervously.  That sounded ridiculous and felt all-too-familiar, all at the same time.

The entrepreneur archetype is typified by a high-risk quotient.  It is bold, audacious, and I would even say courageous to embark on an entrepreneurial journey.  It also comes with a lot of isolation, loneliness, and second-guessing of nearly every decision they have to make.

This leader was differentiating a significant decision she had just made with the way other leaders make decisions (or maybe even with the way she had made decisions in the past).  

• She had shown incredible vulnerability and operated with great courage.  

• She had done what most leaders are frankly unwilling to do.

• She had sought the wise counsel of others, acted on their advice, and in accountability, was letting her collection of counselors around the table know the results.

• It had gone easier, quicker, and more successfully than she could have hoped.

And in humility once again, was acknowledging that this was a new muscle she was learning to flex.  So honest.  So beautiful.  And she was now standing at the embarkation point on a journey toward patently better decision making and much greater success than she is already realizing.  I am so proud of her.

This time she didn’t shake the 8-ball for answers.  And our nervous laughter was confirmation that far too many of us still do that on far too many decisions.

Too many leaders approach business as a game of chance.  Victims of an unseen assailant that lurks around every corner waiting to pounce.  Subject to the whims of the marketplace and all those fickle consumers.  Incapable of planning, operating strategically, or having much control with the outcomes of their futures as business owners and leaders.

We believe that poking our fingers in the eye of that misguided vision of a business is part of our jobs.  To offer a methodical pathway toward business maturity.  To force humility and accountability.  To teach the conversational intimacy that allows a leader access to the very discernment and direction of the Divine.

For most of us, the idea that God still speaks, is concerned, interested, and available to us, comes as a revelation.  The path to organizational success is paved with vulnerability, honesty, accountability, wise counsel, and accessing the wisdom of the discernment of heaven.

We are engaging a growing, diverse, and inspiring group of leaders.  Our only requirements are that they are really interested in changing their leadership and organizations, that they are open to coaching, that they are humble…and they surrender their rabbit’s feet, dice, and Magic 8 Balls at the door.

Leadership is not a game of chance. 

You have way more control over your organizational future than you have been led to believe.  And if you choose, you can enjoy an abundance of wise counsel, discernment, and partnership on your journey.

Consider

• Did Magic 8 Ball decision-making feel all-too-familiar?

• Do you feel isolated, alone, and overwhelmed in your decision making and leadership?

• Do you really think you can find the humility and courage it takes to not go it alone?

• What is it costing you to continue to do life and leadership on your own?