Recently at Catalyst West, we had the chance to hear from Eugene Peterson, longtime writer, pastor, leader and translator of the Message Bible. We also presented Eugene with the Catalyst Lifetime Achievement Award. Our good friend Rick McKinley, pastor of Imago Dei in Portland, OR, had the chance to interview Eugene.
[vimeo]http://www.vimeo.com/21067990[/vimeo]
Here you go, the Young Influencers List for March. You can see all the past editions here. 1. Dominic Balli- songwriter, pop/hip-hop/reggae musician and performer. Recently performed at Catalyst West.
2. Jarrod Shappell- helped start a church in San Francisco called IKON. Also involved with the Faith Amplifier Project.
3. Jason Petty- otherwise known as Propaganda, a talented rapper, writer and spoken word artist. Recently performed at Catalyst West.
4. Amanda Peck- founder of ReSurface Art, creating custom art on vintage surfboards, with a cause- portion of proceeds go to clean wells in partnership with World Vision.
5. Rebekah Weigel- c0-writer and producer, along with her husband Josh, of the recent blockbuster short film The Butterfly Circus.
6. Drew Holcomb- singer/songwriter/rocker out of Nashville. Currently on tour with his band "Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors".
Do you know of other young leaders who should be featured as part of the Young Influencers List? If so, leave a comment with name and organization.
Been on a short blogging break, as the last four days have been spent in Colorado hitting the ski slopes at Monarch. Will be back tomorrow with the next edition of the Young Influencers List, March edition. But for now, here are a few pics from 11,000 feet!
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Hire or Fire. Adding or Deleting. A fairly good indicator of what is happening in general within your organization. We ask this to each other all the time. Sometimes it's direct and specific, and sometimes it's more generic in nature.
"How's business?" "You all adding anyone to the team?" "You got any openings?" "Wow, I can't believe you had to let so and so go." "You guys are really expanding." "Times must be tough since ....."
These are actually not just specific questions for leaders, but more of a mindset.
An outlook. A point of view. A way in which we approach the year. A philosophy or principle of management and leadership that permeates throughout your team and your organization.
Are you growing and multiplying, or are you reeling and cutting and removing folks from the organization? Are you risking and pushing for more opportunities, or are you focused solely on cutting costs and scaling back? Do you see this year as a chance to expand, or as a chance to minimize?
Most of the time, if you are hiring, that means you are growing, which in turn means you are doing well and need more folks on the team to accomplish the mission. Right?
And if you are firing, that means you are cutting, which in turn means you are not doing well and need less team members because you are not hitting your numbers and need to slash costs in order to hit the budget. Right?
It's not that simple. But still a really good indicator.
Now, in regards to team members, think of your team right now in terms of three types of team members- those that are irreplaceable, those that are integral, and those that are expendable. Get rid of the expendable ones, absolutely value and honor the irreplaceable ones, and equip and grow those that are integral.
5 Simple Ways to Grow in your Leadership: 1. Read- leaders are readers. Pure and simple. I recommend business books, Christian living, historical biographies/autobiographies, and magazines. And of course the Bible as your #1 source.
2. Serve- jump in and help wherever needed. Ultimately, just keep Leading- more and more and more. The more you lead, the better leader you will be. And believe me, if you keep asking to take on leadership in your organization, you will continue to have more responsibility piled on you.
3. Watch- and learn from those around you. Who are more experienced, wiser, and have something to offer. Find a few leaders who you want to learn from, and seek them out. Ask them for advice.
4. Pray- the prayers of a righteous man accomplish much. Pray for wisdom, pray for favor, pray that your influence will be expanded. And pray for humility.
5. Connect- hang around other leaders. Go where other leaders are. Catalyst, Leadership Summit, Leadercast, etc. Local gatherings. Small roundtables. Large conferences. Lunches. Receptions. Whatever. Osmosis really does work when it comes to growing as a leader. And getting outside of your "norm" is essential to growth- many times just hearing how another leader is handling a situation will bring great clarity and perspective.
"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matthew 6:21 Where is your treasure? Is it in your house, your clothes, your possessions, your job?
What is your treasure? Is it fame? Is it power? Is it comfort? Is it belonging?
Or is it in the Kingdom of Heaven, and the things of eternity?
David Platt rocked it at Catalyst West, and challenged us to consider where we are storing up treasures. Either treasures on earth, or treasures in heaven.
Are we willing to trade in all of our possessions in order to receive the Kingdom of Heaven, as the man does in Matthew 13:44? Upon finding the treasure in the field, he goes and sells all that he has, in order to buy the field and own the treasure that is hidden in the field. A treasure so immeasurably amazing that it's worth sacrificing all in order to receive it.
Where are you investing? Where are you spending? Where are you sacrificing? It all gives an indication of where your heart is. For where your heart is, there also is your treasure.
Been out on the West Coast all week in Orange County at Mariners Church for Catalyst West. Been an amazing time, with 3500 leaders together ready to Take Courage. We were broadcasting all week from Catalyst Backstage. If you weren't able to tune in, you can still watch all the interviews and segments on our archive page. With all the speakers, guests, musicians, and more.
Also check out a few of the great pics from Catalyst West.
Take Courage to step into all that God has created you to be!
As leaders, one of our biggest struggles many times is our Ego. Those of us who are Type A Leaders really struggle with Ego. Being boastful about our own accomplishments. Arrogant. Untouchable. Always talking about ourselves and making sure everything revolves around us. No one sets out to be arrogant or to have a larger than life ego, but it just usually happens slowly over time, without us being aware.
And once everyone notices, many times its too late because we have so many things in place allowing our ego to flourish uncontrollably. The more influence you have, the more you are pulled away from reality and having those around you who will keep you humble.
Here is a simple solution: LET YOUR EGO LEAK.
EGO LEAK is a GOOD THING, when it's focused in the right direction.
Squelch your own ego by focusing ALL of your bragging, arrogance, pride and boasting on and around OTHERS. Talk constantly about your team, about your children, about your spouse, about your family, about your friends, and about your staff.
Brag on God, on Jesus, on the Church. On His goodness and grace.
Let your Ego leak freely on behalf of building others up.
If you are like most of us who consider ourselves to be leaders, your ego will leak out regardless, so you might as well put it to good use, bragging on those around you.
Prayer is an essential part of our walk with God. Our Christian faith. Becoming more like Jesus. I love prayer. Prayer can also be a funny thing that we each end up creating some pretty bizarre and unique idiosyncrasies around.
I wanted to highlight a few of those today on a Sunday, the Lord's day.
These happen in the context of corporate prayer- when you and others are praying out loud in a group setting. Which can create some pretty unordinary moments where we say and do things we wouldn't normally say.
This is meant to be funny. So please... no one has the right to be offended!! Good light-hearted thoughts here.
1. using the word "just" as a transition at all times. "lord we just want to ask... and just please be here... and just give us wisdom... and "just" be with us.... JUST Stop it!
2. uhhhh..... uhhhhh....uuhhhhh. Some people do this when they are nervous, or not sure what to say next. It becomes a pet peeve when it's used in a very pensive and serious way with a deep voice so it sounds very spiritual. Again, stop it.
3. naming all the names of God within 20 seconds. "Father God El Shadih Jehovah Jirah Holy One Maker of all Things.... I'm pretty sure God understands our prayers with a simple "Father" or "God" thankyou very much.
4. Calling out the sins of others in front of others as part of your way of praying for them. This one drives me crazy. It's the equivalent of gossip.
5. Continual asking of God to "be with us." Again, usually said when not sure what else to say. It's the go-to statement or ask. A second cousin is the statement "bless us Lord." Nothing inherently wrong with these statements, but a little lazy in my opinion.
BONUS: Revealing your entire knowledge of the entire Bible in prayer. Lots of pastors like to do this, or especially Seminary students, where they go through the entire Gospel story from Genesis to Revelation in one prayer.
What other prayer pet peeves are you aware of???
We are one week away from our Catalyst West event. March 2-4 at Mariners Church. Over 3000 leaders together. Love to see you there. Our theme for Catalyst West is "TAKE COURAGE." Encouraging leaders to boldly step into all God has created them to be. I can't wait.
Reality us, we all need courage. Especially leaders. Courage to overcome. Courage to break through barriers. Courage to face fears. Courage to conquer and control fears. Fears. Yep.
Many times what holds us back is fear. Being scared. Living scared. Leading scared.
Today, what are you scared of? What is holding you back from all that God has created you to be?
For me, my biggest fear is failure. Occasionally it creates some very unhealthy leadership landmines and roadblocks that I have to work through. And is paralyzing, because when a leader is afraid to fail, taking risks then gets moved to the side, and maintaining status quo is the focus. Reality is, for many type A leaders, we are scared to death of failing. Afraid of what our friends will say, what our families will say, and how it will impact our next career season. And afraid of potentially losing what we "feel" like we've helped build or create.
And many of us incorrectly assume that in failure, the leader should take all the blame and is responsible no matter what. Not true, but something that still evokes fear.
Fear and failure don't have to go together. Failure is not something to be scared of. We should respect failure, but not fear it.
Bonus: here are some things I'm been scared of throughout my life:
1. Storms- up until I was 13 0r 14, I was absolutely petrified of storms. I mean scared out of my mind. If there were clouds in the sky in the morning with a chance of storms, I would get physically sick I was so scared. And have to stay home from school. Literally petrified. And in Oklahoma, storms are for real. Tornadoes all the time.
2. Certain Dogs. This one still haunts me because of being bit by a pit bull when I was 5 or 6 years old. Still have the scar on my shin to prove it.
3. Bugs and Snakes. Not a fan at all of spiders or snakes. Actually, pretty much all small bugs shake me up a bit. Bees and wasps as well. I'm sweating just thinking about it.....
A big thanks to Ron Forseth and the Sermon Central team for helping put together this article I wrote: "52 Quotes for this Generation of Leaders."
Head on over to the Sermon Central site and check it out.
Hope it's helpful!!
Leaders are called to be courageous. And confident, yet humble. Being Confident is important. But change out the "e" for an "a" in confident, and this is also a huge need for leaders: A CONFIDANT.
Dictionary.com defines Confidant as "a close friend or associate to whom secrets are confided or with whom private matters and problems are discussed."
A few thoughts on having a confidant:
1. This is not someone on your team who reports to you or is a peer.
2. This is not your boss. And for non-profit and church leaders, this is not someone on your board.
3. This is probably not a family member, since family members seem to only see one side and not the whole picture.
4. Make sure it's someone with Honesty and integrity, who you are 100% sure won't talk to anyone else about what you are sharing. Loose lips sink ships.
5. It is someone you can rely on, share with, lean into for tough decisions, gripe about things, and receive counsel from.
6. There are lots of executive coaches out there. And I don't think it's necessarily a bad idea for your executive coach or life coach to potentially be a confidant. But ideally, your confidant is not someone you pay to help you.
7. A confidant doesn't make decisions for you, they ADVISE you. Don't allow your confidant to be your final decision maker.
8. Nothing to gain- make sure your confidant is not motivated one way or the other by the outcome of your decisions. For example, as a professional athlete, many look to their agents as their confidants- but ultimately that can be a bit risky, since the agents job is to get more money for the athlete, thus gaining more money themselves.
Heard a great sermon yesterday from Kevin Myers at 12 Stone Church. Talking about the principle of walking towards/away.
As leaders, this is a simple yet powerful illustration to constantly think through. We all are walking towards things in our lives- whether things that make us better, or things that distract us or bind us or pull us away.
It's possible that many things you and I are walking towards or leaning into right now are things we should be walking away from.
What do you need to walk away from right now?
And what do you need to start walking towards?
A few things to check out: - check out the new Catalyst Podcast featuring an interview with Scott Harrison of charity: water and Jamie Tworkowski of To Write Love on Her Arms. We also catch up with Danny Wuerffel, former Heisman Trophy winner and current leader of Desire Street Ministries.
- Catalyst West is only 10 days away! Still time to register.
- Two great new albums out this week. Hillsong United's new Aftermath CD, and Bethel Live's new Be Lifted High CD. Both great albums.
- My top five favorite Business blogs to read: Seth Godin, Mashable, Fast Company, Drudge, and TED.
- This video cracks me up. A great moment with Tripp Crosby, who was recently in Miami and got some interesting footage....
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVRS0t_AuUw[/youtube]
Here you go, the February edition of the Young Influencers List. You can see all the past lists here. 1. Clay Scroggins- high school director and frequent teaching pastor at North Point Community Church.
2. Bubba Watson- PGA Tour golfer and recent winner at the 2011 Farmers Insurance Open.
3. Jennifer Alt- philanthropy director for the Segel Group.
4. Ryan Sisson- Founding Partner, Moniker Group; and event experience creator.
5. Je'kob Washington- Rapper, singer and record producer.
6. Del Chittim- founder of Calibrate in Seattle.
7. Emily Vogeltanz- designer of the Do Something Now experience at the Passion Conferences.
1. Be responsible. If you say you are going to take care of it, then take care of it. 2. Be professional. Arrive on time. Actually be early. And be organized.
3. Be the best. Get better every day at what you do.
4. Be humble. Talk less. Listen more.
5. Be proactive. Not reactive. Respond and initiate before being told to or asked to by your boss or peers.
It's Valentines Day. A reminder to Love. Love one another...... Love your family. Love your friends. Love your country. Love your neighbor.
But the scriptures are clear. Jesus is clear. Love your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you.
Love those who are different. Love those who don't believe the same you do. Love those who don't look like you.
Today, let's let LOVE be our answer.
I can speak with amazing clarity and communicate all over the world, but without love, my words are like a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
I can give all my possessions to feed the poor, but without love, it profits me nothing.
Faith, Hope and Love. And the greatest of these is LOVE.
Love never fails.
I'm a big fan of the show Dirty Jobs. Mike Rowe is hilarious. I'm also a big fan of Patrick Lencioni, management expert, and best-selling author of The Three Signs of a Miserable Job. We've all had miserable jobs. Most of us have had dirty jobs. And hopefully we all have jobs that we love.
So was thinking back to some of the more miserable jobs I've had over the years. Here are a few of those:
1. Hay Hauling in middle school and high school during the summer in Oklahoma.
2. Building/maintaining fence in Oklahoma, Colorado, and all points in between. Especially barbed wire fence. And sidenote- I was struck by lightning while working on a barbed wire fence in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. It's what gives me my superpowers....
3. Sandblasting oil tanks, and then repainting. Again in Oklahoma in the summer. The problem with sandblasting on hard surfaces is that the sand actually kicks back off of the hard surface and onto your skin. Not good.
4. Stock boy at Reasor’s Grocery Store. It actually wasn’t that bad, but definitely despised having to close the store, which meant you had to mop the entire floor, by hand. No motorized mops- all by hand with an old fashioned mop and broom. Misery.
5. Poop scooper upper- while working at Lost Valley Ranch in Colorado. When you have 150 horses, 200 head of cattle, and a lot of alfalfa and grain, lots of poop gets formed. And the only way to clean it up in the corrals and in areas where guests walked was by rake and shovel. 5 years of poop scooping every day. Wow.
6. Grunt/gopher on home building sites- basically had to clean up trash, gather the unused wood, sweep, pick up more trash, and be a gopher.
What about you?
This is a guest post from good friend Tyler Stanton. Tyler is one of our emcees for Catalyst events, and tends to think he's pretty funny..... Enjoy! __________________________________________
I've had the privilege of working with Catalyst for the past few years now. I love the organization, but was really surprised by how Brad runs the place. It's very, um, unconventional. Honestly, I'm still not quite used to it. For instance.....
+ As a creative exercise, he makes us confess our darkest sins to the group using play-dough as a visual aid.
+ He requires his entire staff to address him as “Crème L” (his rap name).
+ Each staff meeting begins with Brad making the staff listen to Sonic Flood's I Want to Know You More on repeat for 45 minutes.
+ He charges us for every piece of candy we take out of his office, plus interest.
+ He hired one person who’s sole job responsibility is to research whatever hat Joel Houston is currently wearing and make sure he has four of them on hand.
+ He had a dentist’s chair installed in his office, complete with rinsing bowl. He refuses to work unless he is sitting in it.
+ He makes Tripp and I wear "What Would Jon Acuff Do?" bracelets during creative meetings and when we emcee events.
+ He permanently kicked Kevin Lee out of his cubicle so he'd have a place on-site at the Catalyst office to store his Wheat Thins and Diet Cokes. Kevin now has to work out of his car (which is parked in the building’s only handicapped space so he can get a wi-fi signal).
+ He only allows his staff to chew watermelon gum.
+ Part of my contract states that I must “guard the stall door if Brad needs to use the restroom, you know, in case the lock malfunctions”.
+ If Brad stops by your cubicle and starts doing The Robot and you don’t stop what you’re doing and tell him to “Go” and that it’s his birthday, you’re fired on the spot.
+ The only currency accepted within the four walls of Catalyst are Brad Bucks (1 Brad Buck = 350 ¥).
+ He writes solely in calligraphy.
+ You know that group game where everyone circles up and faces the back of the person in front of them, and then you all sit down at once and you end up sitting on the knees of the person behind you? That’s how he makes us sit in creative meetings.
Don’t get me wrong – I love you Brad. Catalyst wouldn’t be what it is without you. Well, maybe a tad less weird.
Has anyone else experienced this? Please share.
Tyler Stanton is part of a movement of people who don’t take themselves too seriously. His blog, tylerstanton.com , helps dozens of his fellow travelers in their own journey every single day. If all goes according to plan, his glorified pamphlet, Everyday Absurdities: Insights from the World’s Most Trivial Man, will be required reading in all nationally accredited universities by 2026. Also, If all goes according to plan, he will never own a dog.
A few organizations you should know about. Let me know in the comments section of other organization worth highlighting. 1. Ideation- run by good friend Charles Lee. An idea and execution consulting firm. Charles understand social cause, and the importance of getting things done.
2. Behance- a creative professionals preferred platform and network. Run by Scott Belsky, who will be speaking for us at our Dallas event.
3. Cobblestone Project- innovative non-profit organization that is connecting resources to areas of local need in Northwest Arkansas.
4. Krochet Kids- started by Kohl Crecelius. amazing hats and scarves made in Uganda. with a purpose.
5. Path- led by former Facebook executive Dave Morin. Social network site that limits your friends to no more than fifty.
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