On the Journey

The latest Catalyst Podcast features an interview with Jim Daly, President of Focus on the Family, and author of Finding Home. Ken Coleman sits down with Jim to discuss the Tebow Superbowl commercial, the future of Focus, and Jim’s personal story of adoption. Also included in this episode is an interview with Jeb Stuart, writer/director of the recently released film Blood Done Sign My Name, and classics such as Die Hard.

Listen to the episode or download from itunes.

A few funny videos for you to end the week!

The February Edition of the Young Influencers List. You can see the past months’ editions here.

1. Lance Briggs- founder of Uganda Bible Project.

2. Allyson Felix- Olympic sprinter and 2008 gold medalist in the 200 meters. First women to ever win 3 consecutive world championships in the 200.

3. Pete Wilson- pastor of Cross Point Church in Nashville, uber blogger, and author of Plan B which will release in May.

4. Billy Williams- Grassroots Movement Director for Nuru International.

5. Ty Clark- CEO and Designer of Veritas, an art fashion brand that includes a unique clothing line aiming to help humanity through art.

Here is my list of the top twelve events for leaders in the Church to attend in 2010:

1. Catalyst- yep, it’s first on my list. I’m biased, but I would put Catalyst #1 even if I didn’t have a business card by the same name. And this includes Catalyst East in October, Catalyst West in April, and Catalyst One Days throughout the year.

2. Q- April 28-30 in Chicago.

3. Drive- May 3-5 in Atlanta.

4. Chick-fil-A Leadercast- May 7 in Atlanta.

5. The Orange Conference- April 28-30 in Atlanta.

6. Hillsong Conference- July 5-9 in Sydney, Australia

7. ARC All Access Conference- April 27-29 in Baton Rouge.

8. Exponential- April 19-22 in Orlando.

9. Leadership Summit- August 5-6 in Chicago.

10. Unleash Conference- March 4 in Anderson, SC

11. National Leadership Forum- March 10-12 in Lakeland, FL

12. Right Now Conference- November 11-12 in Dallas, TX

This list doesn’t include any online events. Only in-person experiences.

What did I forget?

My good friend Carlos Whittaker of Ragamuffin Soul is busy these days. A new album, leading worship all over the country, creative consulting, and of course keeping us all informed, entertained, and inspired through his blog.

I found a few minutes to catch up with Carlos while he was recently in Nashville. Of course at a Starbucks!! I figured I would go ahead and include Part One and Part Two of our interview.

1. Leaders must have courage- the ability to risk and actually make a decision and do something. Quick to action.

2. Leaders must have conviction- a strong and compelling vision, and passion to pursue it.

3. Leaders must have a clear calling- understand how God has wired you.

4. Leaders must have authenticity- honest, humble and sincere. Willing to sacrifice. Willing to protect their teammates and take the fall.

5. Leaders must be willing to learn- leaders are readers. and have an insatiable desire to know more.

6. Leaders must be in touch with reality- ability to understand the context of our day. Plan for the future while leading in the present. Informed enough to make the tough decision.

I’m really excited about Catalyst West this year on April 21-23, 2010 in Orang County, CA. The speaker lineup is powerful- Andy Stanley, Erwin McManus, Louie Giglio, Mark Driscoll, Donald Miller, Dallas Willard, Charlene Li, Kay Warren, and many others.

Chris Tomlin, Vicky Beeching, Carlos Whittaker, Jonathan and Candi Shelton, and Aaron Keyes will be leading us musically.

Plus, Tripp Crosby, Tyler Stanton, and Jud Wilhite as our hosts once again.

If you haven’t registered your team yet, make sure you do TODAY. The best rates on tickets end today, so go ahead and get signed up.

Our theme is Unusual Tomorrow. As you’ll see from Tripp and Tyler below, we’ve been working on time travel, and we think we’ve had a big breakthrough……

Three of my favorite bands in the world.

Hillsong United, U2 and Coldplay. Very popular. Love their style. Love their music. Would love to see them all at the same concert. That would be epic.

Even though these 3 bands are very different and very unique, I think there are some commonalities among the three of them. So here’s my 5 things I think they have in common regarding their music:

1. singable- songs that are great for corporate worship, or for concert environments.

2. chantable- lines that are very memorable. and easily chanted among thousands.

3. rememberable- i can still remember lyrics from U2 songs in the 80’s. They create anthem songs.

4. danceable- yep, lots of their songs make you want to dance.

5. clappable- a common trait among lots of songs, but when you combine that with chantable, it makes for uber power arrangements.

I’ve been on a break for the last week. An unintended break. Quite possibly the worst case of the flu ever. At least for me.

It’s amazing how simple things become when you are stuck in bed just trying to wait on the medicine to take effect. Miserable, but simple. And the really bad daytime TV doesn’t help!

But I’m back! And just in time for celebrating Presidents Day. So more from me tomorrow.

The latest edition of the Catalyst podcast features interviews with Scott Belsky and Michael Hyatt. Scott is the founder and CEO of Behance, a company that delivers products and services to help organize the creative world. Scott also founded the 99% Conference, and is the author of the soon to release book Making Ideas Happen.

Michael Hyatt is the President and CEO of Thomas Nelson, and uber popular blogger, speaker, and social media expert.

Listen here or download from itunes.

Both Scott and Michael will be part of our Catalyst West event on April 21-23. Make plans to be there!

Two great teams are playing each other in the Superbowl on Sunday. Colts vs. Saints.

There are lots of qualities that make up a great team, but thought i would point out just five that seem to be evident in these two teams.

1. Humble yet confident leader- both coaches seem to exude these two traits.

2. Skilled linchpin- Most of the time this is the quarterback for a football team. Peyton Manning and Drew Brees are two of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. I would consider them linchpins for the Colts and Saints, as Seth Godin has written about in his new book. Every great team has to have at least one linchpin who is crucial to the success of the team.

3. Clear Vision and Clear Goal- in the NFL, every team has the Superbowl as their ultimate goal for the year. But only for a few is that goal a reality. Great teams have vision that inspires and goals that are attainable.

4. A cause greater than themselves- for the Saints, they truly are playing for the city of New Orleans.

5. Constantly getting better- great teams continue to improve. The Saints got better after their loss to Dallas that gave them their first defeat of the year. Same with the Colts. Great teams don’t allow for mediocrity to set in. They push themselves on a daily basis, and that accountability is held by the team, not necessarily just by the leader.

This is a great idea. Kudos to Coke for coming up with this. Thanks to Jeff Shinabarger for the heads up.

Today is signing day for College Football. I love this day. One of the most popular posts I’ve ever had here has been on College Football- the best team of the Decade. And more recent the Best College Coach of the Decade.

Thousands of high school seniors across the country are signing on the dotted line with the college of their choice.

Recruiting these athletes has become a year long job, and simultaneously an internet/media frenzy.

Oklahoma. Texas. Florida. USC. Alabama. Ohio State. and on and on. If I’m signing today, I have two hats on the table. Oklahoma and Alabama. You can guess who I go with.

If you were signing today, who would you pick?

I don’t talk about myself much on this blog, mainly because this community/conversation exists to bring value to YOU. The Reader. Not to me. The author. But, I thought I would give you a quick snapshot of me with some rapid fire questions. Ultimately, really no value at all! But fun nonetheless.

So here you go, ten questions with me:

1. First Car: 1980 Monte Carlo (green and gray upholstery interior)

2. Where did you grow up? Bristow, Oklahoma (home of the Purple Pirates! I’m not making this up). Just outside of Tulsa

3. All Time Favorite Movie: Lonesome Dove

4. Favorite Snack Indulgence: Chips and Salsa

5. All Time Favorite Quote: Tough one, but I love this: “Preach the Gospel at all times, and if necessary, use words.”  - St. Francis of Assisi

6. Ever been skydiving? No. Do you want to? No.

7. Dream Vacation: either golfing in Scotland and Ireland, or duck/dove/goose hunting in Argentina

8. If you could pick a different first name, what would it be? Lom. That way I would be Lom Lomenick.

9. What do you like best about working for Catalyst? The free t-shirts. Seriously, it’s the thousands of leaders around the US and the world that we have the amazing opportunity to impact, equip and inspire to be a Catalyst in their communities. That is an amazing honor. And we take it very seriously, and hold it with a great sense of stewardship.

10. What three people would you want to have dinner with tonight? Billy Graham, Bono, and Nelson Mandela.

bonus question: What three golfers make up your foursome on your trip to Scotland (dreaming here): Jack Nicklaus, Barack Obama, and Michael Jordan. And I would invite Charles Barkley just for the humor! Watch this if you don’t know what I’m talking about.

Thanks to our Catalyst intern Kelley Swann for coming up with some great questions!

For any leader, this is crucial. If we only learn from those who think like us, work on the same kinds of projects, believe the same we do, talk about the same issues we do, and run in the same circles, we’re short-changing our ability to have perspective.

And perspective is good. It doesn’t mean we adhere to everything we read, hear and learn from these voices. Not at all. But we need to be challenged and stretched and aware of what is happening around us. Be intentional about finding leaders, authors, and experts who are not running in your circle on a daily basis.

Here are a few folks I like to learn from that are outside of my normal circle:

Mashable- one of the most popular blogs in the world, founded by Pete Cashmore

Richard Branson- CEO of Virgin

Marissa Meyer- VP of User Experience for Google. She controls the homepage….

Chris Anderson- editor in chief of Wired Magazine and author of FREE and The Long Tail

Chris Anderson (2)- curator and director of TED, one of the most innovative conferences and communities in the world.

Charlie Rose- incredible interviewer and host of the Charlie Rose Show

Jay Z- entrepreneur, musician, and songwriter.

Jonathan Ive- SVP of Industrial Design for Apple. Enough said.

Tony Hawk- pro skateboarder, designer, and twitter phenom.

Who do you learn from outside your normal circle?