There is always a lot of talk around the New Year's celebration about resolutions and things people are going to change in the year to come.  I find this a bit curious, however, in the absence of a scoreboard to reflect the performance for the year that is passing.  A habit that is becoming a…

The title of this post is one of my favorite movie lines.  Partly because it is funny, and partly because it is true. Raising three sons keeps me in constant mindfulness of the need to be tough.  As boys grow to men, there are myriad lessons to learn about life and how to handle it. …

Generosity is a little discussed concept these days, and I dare say it should be included in the pantheon of leadership principles.  In a world riddled with selfishness, "me-first" mentality, and "every-man-for-himself" behavior, it certainly is refreshing to run across people who have a generous spirit. Pastor Robert L. Dickie is one of the most…

Most everyone has heard the phrase, "Dream, Struggle, Victory."  And it seems that there is a lot of literature out there addressing the first and the last of those three terms.  But isn’t it interesting how little coverage is given to the struggle part? Obviously, if we undertake some great endeavor we are going to…

One of my favorite quotes comes from treasure hunter Mel Fisher, who would show up at the dock every day for seventeen years encouraging his employees by saying, "Today's the day!"  Fisher and his gang were on a mission to find the Atocha, a Spanish treasure galleon bound for Europe with a load of gold,…

Andy Stanley wrote, "It is not the acquisition of information that properly prepares a leader to lead; rather, it is the application of the right information.  People need to be trained around the core principles they need to know, not an endless amount of information that is nice for them to know." In today’s Information…

There are two important questions we should each ask ourselves on a regular basis: 1.  Ten years from now, what will I wish I had done today? 2.  If I knew I couldn’t fail, what would I be working on? Life is complicated.  No matter who you are, you will encounter problems and challenges.  There…

There is a famous saying that, "People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care."  Although we have discussed many things on this blog, such as the need for leaders to learn, to grow, to discipline themselves, to carry heavy burdens, and to serve others, it can never be forgotten…

Often, it seems, leaders are asked to carry an unfair load.  In fact, this is one of the hallmarks of leadership.  Leaders are the ones taking responsibility when everyone else waivers, leaders are the ones accepting the blame when it was actually the accumulative effect of others' involvement, leaders are the ones paying the price…

One of my favorite Pat Riley quotes is, "The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing."  Success is largely a result of the leader’s ability to focus, and to maintain that focus over time. There are so many GOOD things that we can do in our lives, and these opportunities plead…