September 21, 2015 Things are getting really, really bad. You knew that, already; anyone who is not comatose – and, can get their eyes off their smart phone/video game for a few minutes of perspective – would reach the same conclusion. But, no; it’s worse: That same headline could be posted over almost every category …
Category Archives: Weekly Post
Caution: you might be a poser…
September 14, 2015 There aren’t many leaders… but there are lots of posers. Vision. Strategy. Assignments. If you’ve been around me in the context of The Master’s Program, you’ve had that trilogy drilled into your thinking. If not, you are rightly curious. What’s up with that? I’ve declared those three elements as key indicators of …
Learn to Trust Your Gut
September 7, 2015 Welcome back…. or, shame on you! You’re either reading this on Tuesday – after making Labor Day a real holiday – or, you’re cheating yourself and your family by checking your e-mail while pretending to relax, on Monday! Either way, welcome back to the “new year,” which really begins the day-after-Labor-Day! As …
The letter I never received
August 31, 2015 Tomorrow is a game-change day. Give me a break… Cheri and I have six amazing grandchildren; they range from 17 to 5 in age. Jackson was first; I was 45 when he was born (my dad was 45 when I came along). I have season tickets – on the front row – …
Two words that say everything
August 24, 2015 Choose two words to describe Donald Trump. What would you say? Let’s make sure we’re talking about the same guy. White Pages (whitepages.com) says that they have 43 listings for “Donald Trump” – in 15 states – and 42 of them are not the person-in-question. There’s only one Donald Trump. Just two …
Are you at risk for a toxic event?
August 17, 2015 It was once called “The River of Lost Souls.” Named by Spanish explorers in the 1700s, what is now the Animas (Spanish: “souls”) River, in Southwest Colorado, flows south out of the San Juan Mountains – past Durango – into New Mexico, where it ultimately joins the San Juan River on its …
The things we love tell us who we are (Aquinas)
August 10, 2015 Take a minute; let’s talk about stuff. First, let’s make sure we’re talking about the same stuff. Stuff comes in three varieties. Stuff 1 (its synonym is “dunk”) is a verb; if you’re in the NBA, it’s one of your monetized assets. Outside sports, it can be literal (as in, “to pack …
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22 Years Ago Tonight
August 3, 2015 Some days are more memorable than others. It’s been 22 years – today – but the effects of August 3, 1993 are still powerful, for me. I was in my second year as senior pastor at a large church with larger challenges. I was in my Sabbath month break – in the …
America Needs a Coach
July 27, 2015 Don’t bother me right now. I’m getting ready for my meeting… Tomorrow morning, I’ll be with George Andrews. It’s my quarterly sit-down to get my tune-up. I’m accountable for what I’ve done the last few months, and I need some counsel about the road ahead. George is the Managing Director for Ronald …
What Makes a Leader
July 20, 2015 It’s where folks go with questions these days; ask Google “What makes a leader a leader?” The results come back quickly… with 910,000,000 listings (that’s 910 million). It seems like the question is prone to produce a contested answer. The query also generates more uncertainty. Are leaders made, or are they born? …
The Apprentice
July 13, 2015 “You’re Fired!” Certain lines move from generic to become trademarks for celebrities. What Donald Trump made famous in his regular installments of The Apprentice ricocheted back at him last week. NBC signed-off with The Donald over his inciteful observations about immigration during his speech, announcing his run for president. Trump knew that …
IGBTY
July 6, 2015 “I’ll get back to you.” When’s the last time you heard that Grand Finale? You were feeling pretty good, because you just made your case better than ever before. Whether at the end of a first date, or after an appointment to present the opportunity found in your professional niche to a …
Not Ashamed
June 29, 2015 “You should be ashamed of yourself!” In an earlier era, that was a common maternal reaction to an out-of-bounds kid. Parenting wasn’t as complicated as it is today. The approach to family oversight was a simple, two step process: 1) lay down the law; and, 2) enforce it. Enforcement would begin with …
Fathers
July 22, 2015 “Who’s your daddy?” Back in ’68, Zombies weren’t starring in prime-time television (The Walking Dead); instead, they were a British rock band with the hit, Time of the Season. Their lyric asked the question: “Who’s your daddy? Is he rich like me?” Their question has been abbreviated, and is still asked as …
A Generous Mindset
June 15, 2015 Wow: that guy is really generous. Just two weeks ago, Harvard University announced its largest gift ever: John Paulson – hedge fund billionaire – is giving $400 million to endow the engineering school that would bear his name. Paulson made big news in 2007/2008 by making $1 billion betting against investors who …
Commencement
June 8, 2015 It’s a really, really good month for pastors. That’s just my opinion, but I think I’m right. June delivers two retail opportunities; you see it in stores, incessantly. Dads and Grads have pushed May’s Mothers out of the cash register spotlight. Brides used to share the June billing, but with marriage on …
Road Warriors
June 1, 2015 Short night (270 minutes between the sheets; sounds better than 4.5 hours); early morning (4:00a alarm); beat the traffic from home to Los Angeles Int’l; remote garage, check-in, TSA precheck (yes!), then head for the bus to the remote commuter terminal… all before 6:00a. My internal autopilot was locked-and-loaded for the Admiral’s …
Memorial Day
May 25, 2015 The name was changed, but the focus was not. Decoration Day. Originally practiced beginning in 1868 – after the Civil War (or, to some, the War Between the States) – when an organization of veterans from the Union Army declared a particular day in May for people to visit and honor the …
Winding Up
May 18, 2015 “I couldn’t do that. Could you do that? Why can they do it? Who are those guys?” That’s what Butch Cassidy (Paul Newman) said to Sundance (Robert Redford) from the top of a cliff, as the posse that unrelenting – and, gaining on them – was tracking them through rocks (1969). It …
All of the Above
May 11, 2015 “God doesn’t need your ability; he needs your availability.” I put that in quotes, because I didn’t say it. And, I didn’t cite a source, because there is none to be found in the www universe. A sentence like that is ubiquitous – “present, appearing, or found everywhere” – and, therefore, not …
Sage Deductions
May 4, 2015 This is an unusual post, for me: normally, it’s baked fresh, every Monday. This week, I’m writing on the weekend. When you get this, I’ll be in a 90°+ desert environment, hitting balls for one day so that we can elevate leaders all year long (not too late to sponsor me; click …
Words to Please
April 27, 2015 How are you? That question will be posed billions of times today, in English. If asked of a person – via satellite phone – who is on the streets of Katmandu today, dealing with the devastation of a 7.8 earthquake, they would likely express gratitude for life, but their helpless need for …
Earth Day
April 20, 2015 Happy Earth Day. I don’t know what you have planned for Wednesday, but don’t drive there. Unless you have a Tesla, your bike is your best bet. Avoid all GMO foods – breakfast, lunch and dinner – and go without lights, air conditioning and all-things-comfortable. Forget about flying; paddle a canoe, maybe… …
Buffalo Springfield Ballad
April 13, 2015 Neil Young. Stephen Stills. Richie Furay. Jim Messina. Those aren’t just random names from the phone book; 49 years ago – this month – they were unknown musicians who came together under the name Buffalo Springfield, and had their debut performance at the Troubadour, in Hollywood. Together only two years before disbursing …
Real-deal Resurrection
April 6, 2015 There should have been a one-semester class – at the beginning of high school – called "Freshman Orientation for Life." They were concerned with getting us outta-there in the prescribed time period. Their horizon was four years; not thirty. What would we have heard? Things like: you’d better take your Spanish seriously, …
Betrayal
March 30, 2015 Betrayed. You can’t find a story worth telling – or, hearing – that isn’t seasoned by betrayal. Sleep comes quickly if your bedside book tells only happy tales of people whose sublime pursuits are never opposed by someone they once loved and trusted. Every captivating plot weaves a similar tapestry: someone with …
First of the Catch
March 23, 2015 Only 22 days ‘til the Ides of April. Are you ready? The big question, for many: file, or extension? The longer you live – and, the more complicated your financial affairs – the task of preparing for April 15th becomes more ponderous. No one is excused from the turmoil: whether you prepare …
10 years ago
March 16, 2015 Where were you… 10 years ago, today? Back then, I was filling two roles: about 60% of my time was devoted to serving and expanding The Master’s Program, across America. With the other 40%, I served as the Program Director for Franklin Graham’s evangelistic events around the world, under the auspices of …
Ngiyakwemukela
March 9, 2015 Orphan. The word strikes emotional chords. UNICEF says that there are 153 million orphans in the world; the designation applies to a child who has lost one or both parents. Only 10% have lost both parents; of those, only 5% are under five years old. In the country of South Africa, the …
Making History Together
March 2, 2015 The world changed on January 9, 2007. Steve Jobs used the platform at Macworld in San Francisco to make this pronouncement: “We’re going to make some history together today.” Before he finished, he unveiled the first iPhone. Deliveries began on June 29th. Today, 600 million iPhones – in eight different generations – …