On the Journey

Part 3 of our “Organizations Doing Good” Series. You can also check out Part one and Part two.

1. Rwanda Clean Water- launched at Catalyst in 2005. To date has raised 1.75 million for clean water in Rwanda. 

2. Not For Sale- fighting slavery around the world. David Batstone is a good friend and doing great work. 

3. Trade As One- inspiring organization led by Nathan George that purposes to create sustainable business that will break cycles of poverty in different areas around the world- through the marketing/selling of Fair Trade items and goods. 

4. Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee- great friends of Catalyst. Their slogan is “Drink Coffee. Do Good.” They’ve served thousands of cups of Rwandan coffee to Catalyst attendees over the last couple of years.

5. Hoops of Hope- one of my favorite initiatives out there. Austin Gutwein has created a movement of free throw shooting gatherings around the country that are raising millions of dollars for children in Africa. Austin’s first book, Take Your Best Shot, will soon be releasing as well.

This is what I call a joyful giver….. thanks to Soul City Church blog for making me aware! 

Great post recently from Seth Godin  entitled “I Only Work Here.” Seth comments on how he’s had conversations with multiple people in the same company who have all used the phrase “well, I only work here,” when responding to issues that Seth has brought up to them regarding their company. One person even stated to Seth, “All I do is work here. They pay my salary, but I’m me, not them.” 

Reality is,” You Are Them,” whether you like it or not. As Seth writes, “If you are not proud of where you work, go work somewhere else. You don’t get the benefit of the brand when it’s hot without accepting the blame of the brand when it’s wrong.” What a great statement. 

This is a great reminder that we really can’t separate ourselves from the brand, organization, movement or initiative that we are working on, for or under. Accept that responsibility, and if things need to change, be willing to step up and do something about it. Or leave. 

Ok, this week’s version of the Wednesday Five. 

Top Five Songs being played on my ipod:

1. With Everything – Hillsong United

2. Glory to God Forever – Fee 

3. Man in the Mirror- Michael Jackson

4. It is Well – Todd Fields 

5. Magnificent – U2

This is a post to say thanks to my mentor of many years ago Bob Foster. And also to challenge you who are in your 20’s.

I was 22. I worked at Lost Valley Ranch just after college for a couple of years as a Wrangler (yes, I rode a horse several hours a day for a living!), I had the incredible opportunity to be mentored by Bob Foster, Sr. the founder of Lost Valley and a longtime businessman and “social entrepreneur” for his generation. His list of accomplishments and awards was a mile long. He served on a number of boards of very respected non-profits, established a footprint globally by speaking and writing, and was part of a circle of friends that included the “legends”- folks like Hendricks, Graham, Troutman, and others. 

Needless to say, Bob had accomplished much in his life and was a hero and mentor to many. 

We would meet together weekly – scripture memory, Bible study, and personal mentoring. One of the things that will always stand out to me from our time together was the phrase he constantly used- “your 20’s establish your 70’s.” Bob was 75 at the time. Basically, the man (or woman) of God you are in your 20’s will determine the kind of man (or woman) you will be in your 70’s. 

It starts with a foundation. Your legacy is not determined by what you DO as you get old, but is more determined by who you ARE when you are young.

Your 20’s are incredibly important to the man or woman of God you will be. The foundation you lay for your life in your 20’s is what will determine the impact you have over the next 50 years. It will determine the kind of husband, wife, father, mother, employee, employer, friend, confidant, and leader you will be. 

20 somethings- Create your legacy now. 

Thanks Bob for helping me understand the importance of my 20’s. I am a 30-something now, but still working on this.

LV Hanson from the Catalyst team is hanging out in the St. Louis area all week, meeting with pastors, leaders, young influencers, and Catalyst VIP’s as part of the Catalyst National Tour this summer. If you live in the St. Louis area or are in town visiting, send him a tweet DM or message at @catalystleader. You can also connect with him via facebook or by email at lv.hanson@catalystspace.com.

It’s official! The Catalyst Music Project has officially begun. Laying down the tracks over the next three days. Nathan Nockels and team in the house, including Jason Hoard, Pat Malone, and Jacob Arnold. More musicians singing over the next couple of days. The 12 songs going on the album are now official!

The recent edition of the Catalyst Podcast features an interview I did with Reggie McNeal. Reggie is a church leadership expert. He works with Leadership Network, speaks frequently, and is an author of several books. We talk about his new book Missional Renaissance, and also discuss the whole topic of “missional” and why we need to change our view of what it means.

You can listen here or download via itunes.

Part of a board meeting today with Gift Card Giver. This is a great organization that I highlighted a couple of weeks ago. 

Gift Card Giver provides a platform for anyone to leverage the unused money/credit on gift cards for good. Think of all the gift cards you have in your wallet, purse or on your dresser at home. Ones you’ll never use.

Well, you can send those cards in and the remaining credit on the cards will be used to help those in need. Whether the card is from Best Buy, Home Depot, Starbucks, Target, or Olive Garden, all cards are welcome. Once sent in, these cards are aggregated together and the money is leveraged for helping those in need.

Also, if you are a church leader, ask your congregation to throw their gift cards into the offering plate. Then, put em all together and send them in. 

The video below is a simple story showing the power of the idea behind Gift Card Giver. 

Over the next several weeks, we’ll be highlighting a number of organizations that we at Catalyst are partnering with through the Organizations Doing Good Series. Several of these organizations will be highlighted at Catalyst Atlanta in October, but for now wanted to provide a running list so you can check them out on your own. 

You can see Part 1 here. 

1. Deadly Viper- initiative started by Mike Foster and Jud Wilhite, two great friends who are helping leaders pursue radical grace and radical integrity, while also combating the character assassins that attack all of us. 

2. IJM- International Justice Mission. One of the leading organizations focused on rescuing children from sex trafficking around the world. Started by Gary Haugen, a Catalyst speaker in 2005. 

3. Invisible Children- advocacy group dedicated to rescuing child soldiers in Northern Uganda and other parts of Africa. 

4. One Days Wages- started by Eugene Cho, a pastor in the Seattle area. A global grassroots movement fighting poverty around the world by asking people to give up one day’s wages to help those in need. 

5. Word Made Flesh- helping and living with the poorest of the poor around the world. Amazing organization led by Chris and Phileena Heuertz.

I am not usually that impressed by “street bikers.” But this guy is unbelievable. 

Stick with the video- it starts out slow, but gets better and better. Amazing performance. 

A little Braves action here in the ATL mid week. Brought the whole team down! Great view of downtown Atlanta skyline.

Here you go, the July Edition of the Young Influencers List. You can also check out the archives of past editions here. And again, no particular order. 

1. Judah Smith- powerful communicator and pastor in Seattle at The City Church. 

2. Phileena Heuertz- leader with Word Made Flesh, an amazing organization serving the poorest of the poor around the world. And soon will be releasing her first book. 

3. Jon Passavant- one of the world’s leading models, and the founder of the Model Home Project. 

4. Tony Kim- executive pastor at Newsong Church in Orange County, CA. Creative visionary with a great blog. 

5. Jordan Foxworthy- She is the 17 year old founder of the Bite Back Campaign in partnership with Compassion. Raising money and awareness to fight malaria in Africa. Check out the video on CNN. 

6.  Garrett Gravesen- one of the founders of the Global Lead Program. Also started an initiative called HERO, aimed at helping children infected by HIV/Aids.

Today is the big release day for the song Glory to God Forever. You can buy it right now on itunes.

This song is part of the new album from FEE entitled Hope Rising, which will be releasing at Catalyst in October. I’ve heard the rough cut for the entire album, and believe me, you’ll want every single song on your ipod! It is off the charts. 

You can see Steve Fee below talking about Glory to God Forever. Again, take time today and buy the song. 

Great article in today’s USA Today highlighting the partnership between the Luis Palau Association and the city of Portland, and how they are working together to impact the city, but all the while with very clear intentions of advancing the Gospel.

For all of us who are Type A Leaders, jealousy is always a struggle. You may call it something else (competitive, goal-oriented, fast pace), but at the end of the day, we all struggle with being jealous or envious of others successes, especially when it is in the same industry, or same town, or same circle. In these cases, it feels like competition, and again for us Type A’s, when there is a competition, we ALWAYS want to win. 

The issue is how you deal with this. Jealousy is natural, but how you respond to it will prove your maturity as a leader. And as a follower of Christ, jealousy or envy is definitely not one of the fruits of the Spirit!

So, the best solution I’ve found to combating jealousy is Celebration. Celebrate your rivals. When you find yourself tempted to speak ill about a rival or you are secretly wrestling with envy/jealousy over someone else, flip that emotion on its head. Find ways to celebrate that person or organization. Speak positively about them. Encourage the leader. Look for the good in what they are doing and celebrate that. 

The question you should be asking is, “how can I help this person win?”

This should especially be the norm in the Church and faith-based community. We should be celebrating the pastor or leader across town, instead of finding ways to make them look bad or talking bad about them to others but making it look like we are bringing it up so as to “pray” for them. Give me a break.

You never know who is going to show up at the Catalyst offices. Recently, we were surprised by some of the folks from Chick-fil-A who brought by some chicken biscuits and gift cards for the Catalyst staff. 

Of course, as we always do, we had to capture this on video and create some memorable moments to share. Enjoy.

Creating an environment for “being creative” takes work. It takes energy and preparation. You don’t just show up and flip the creative switch on immediately.

There is a reason that certain groups and organizations are ultimately more creative than others- it’s because they are on purpose when it comes to creating the right kind of environment for creativity. They are intentional with creating the creative environment.

Here at Catalyst, we are very intentional about our creative process. It’s part of our DNA. See this post from last year about “turning ideas into reality.”

When it comes to creating the right kind of environment, we’ve established some “rules” (suggested behavior) for our “creative” meetings:

1. set the expectations for the meeting up front. be very clear, even if there are no rules.

2. there is no bad answer

3. “yes, and” and never “no or but”

4. respect everyone’s participation and their thoughts- no one can dominate the conversation

5. allow for movement- standing up, walking, sitting down, whatever works for people- especially those with shorter attention spans!

6. provide creative “extras”, such as toys, sports items, collectives, visual effects and other “enhancers”

7. Take mental breaks every 30-40 minutes, and physical breaks every 90 minutes

8. take VERY detailed notes. capture everything. gotta have a dedicated notetaker.

9. always allow for rabbit trails, but have a facilitator who keeps things moving.

10. Keep the fun meter above 50%. If it drops below that, stop and re-establish the fun factor. 

Hopefully these are helpful as you create in your own environments…..

LV Hanson recently sat down with my good friend Darren Whitehead, one of the teaching pastors at Willow Creek Community Church, for a quick video interview in his office. 

Check it out. 

LV is out on the road over the next several months visiting leaders from all across the country- hearing their stories and connecting with them in their environments.

“It is a terrible thing to look over your shoulder when you are trying to lead — and find no one there.”  - Franklin D. Roosevelt 

“It is amazing what you can accomplish if you don’t care who gets the credit.”  - Harry S. Truman

“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”  - Howard Thurman