Helping Leaders Flourish
I’ve become convinced that most people handle failure much better than they handle success. Failure can make a man, and success can ruin a man. I’ve seen it in the lives of the business leaders with whom I’ve worked. I’ve seen it in politicians. I’ve seen it in athletes, in […]
Some people see everything in black and white, right and wrong, good and evil. Others see an ocean of gray with nothing really ever firmly planted on one side or the other. I actually believe the better idea is something in the middle of both polar positions. To be honest, […]
God created us to work. We cannot just go through the motions of work—we must bring our heads and our hearts to work every day. I explore this idea in the excerpt below, from my book The Gospel Goes to Work. “The gospel is like a caged lion. It does not […]
Picture this: A man—we’ll call him Derek—comes home from work and sets his keys and phone on the counter, changes into shorts and a t-shirt, and walks outside to get the mail, as is his routine. Derek walks down the narrow concrete walkway through the yard, and as he approaches […]
I’m not a soldier. No, Colonel Jessup, I’ve never picked up a weapon and stood a post. I’ve never fought in a great battle, never landed in hostile territory, and have never really worn a military uniform of any kind. I am also not an especially gifted athlete. I crank out a few miles every […]
Mary and Joseph—who look so peaceful and serene in Christmas nativity sets—were living quietly in a rural community, planning an ordinary married life together, when an angelic messenger showed up with a life-changing message. It was shocking, disruptive, and scary. The changes that happen to us today seldom have such […]
Have you seen anyone using one of these lately? It’s been a couple of years, but I have, and I’ve got to tell you, it caught me off guard. I sat down for a quick phone charge in the ATL airport between flights, and a nice fellow from a few […]
Pastors aren’t immune to confusion. I recently ran into a young pastor from the West Coast who was giving me a church update. He was stuck in a fog and his church was in the emergency room. He’s been at the church about a decade, but in recent years, church […]
A recent conversation with a friend about business recruiting actually highlighted a couple of parenting insights. I was meeting with a CEO who was evaluating his internship program. In determining whom to hire out of this program, he looks for only three capabilities: Work ethic Problem solving ability Relational skills […]
Frameworks are good. They help steer our imagination and energy. They help us focus on the things that matter most. They create repositories of insights that can be recycled at a later time. It is common for me to find myself having a conversation with a bright-eyed millennial ready to […]