Today is International Pillow Fight Day. Officially. Seriously. Not making this up. In honor, thought I would pull a clip out of the archives from Catalyst in 2006. When we broke the world record for the largest pillow fight......
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhLwXAXGfdM[/youtube]
Another edition of the Young Influencers List. I thought I would release the March edition on April 1, just because it seemed right..... But these 5 below are no joke. They're the real deal. Past editions you can find here.
March List:
1. Tyler Merrick- founder of Project 7.
2. Andrew Morgan- founder and visionary leader of Broken Voices.
3. Bryan Loritts- lead pastor of Fellowship Memphis.
4. Jo Saxton- she is a leadership coach, director with 3D Ministries, and has a great English accent!
5. Joy Williams- amazing singer/songwriter, part of the band The Civil Wars, and culture shaper.
Part One and Part Two of my UP CLOSE Conversation with Reggie Joiner, founder of the Orange Conference and CEO of the Rethink Group. Reggie is also the author of Think Orange and co-author of 7 Practices of Effective Ministry, and has been involved in Catalyst since the beginning as an emcee and speaker. In my humble opinion, Reggie is the leading voice and expert on helping churches and church leaders create holistic strategy for students from 3 - 23. He's one smart dude.
[vimeo]http://www.vimeo.com/10548349[/vimeo]
[vimeo]http://www.vimeo.com/10548840[/vimeo]
The latest Catalyst Podcast features an interview with Gayle Haggard. Ken Coleman had the chance to catch up with Gayle, a mother, speaker, teacher, wife of Ted Haggard, and author of the best-selling book Why I Stayed,
Gayle has recently been a guest on Oprah, Larry King Live, The View and several other prominent networks and shows. You can listen to the episode here or better yet download from itunes.
Follow them on Twitter (each name is linked to their twitter page). Learn from them. Call/email/visit them and ask their advice. 1. Jeff Henderson- campus pastor at Buckhead Church in Atlanta
2. Charles Jenkins- pastor at Fellowship Missionary Baptist in Chicago
3. Jenni Catron- executive pastor at Cross Point in Nashville
4. Darren Whitehead- teaching pastor at Willow Creek Community Church
5. Cynthia Ware- executive director, Center for Church Communication
6. JR Kerr- teaching pastor, Park Community Church in Chicago
7. Jay Hardwick- founding pastor, Awaken Church in Columbia, SC
8. Matt Carter- senior pastor, The Austin Stone Community Church
Recently, I found some notes I took from a gathering last summer I was honored to be a part of with Brian Houston and several pastors. Brian is the senior pastor of Hillsong Church in Sydney, Australia, and a GREAT leader. He shared some great insight and great leadership wisdom. Check out some of the great resources available from Brian here. I had saved these notes on my computer with intentions of sharing here on the blog, and so here you go. We'll start with a few points on creating a great team that Brian shared with us from his experience.
1. As a leader of an organization, the most important thing you do is select, equip and release leaders.
2. Live and lead so that your team is an overflow of your leadership. Don’t think too much, or too little, or too often, of yourself. Can people flourish on your team, or does your personality or stature get in the way? If someone can't flourish, why would they stay?
3. There’s no such thing as forever when it comes to your team. People won’t be with you forever, so make sure you create layers of generational leadership. Be intentional about it.
4. You won't necessarily always find the right people, but you can build them into the right part of your team.
5. Big difference between a strong leader and a controlling leader. Strong is not wrong, but controlling will limit who stays with you for the long term.
6. It takes time to build a great team, and takes time to build great leaders on your team. It's a marathon, not a sprint. Avoid shortcuts.
The latest Catalyst Podcast features an interview I recently did with Mark Driscoll, founding pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle. Mark will be with us in a month at Catalyst West. You can listen here or download from itunes.
Today is World Water Day. There are BILLIONS around the world TODAY with no access to safe clean drinking water, and that is not right. Let's do something about it. Starting in Haiti with the Unshaken Campaign. Created by my friends at charity: water. 1. Watch this video.
[vimeo]http://www.vimeo.com/10260175[/vimeo]
2. Spread the word about this through Twitter and Facebook.
3. Get involved. Over 1.3 million is needed to fully fund this project. My friends at Invisible Children have already kicked in $100,000 to get started, and Urban Outfitters has pledged $30,000. 10% has already been raised. You or your company/organization can be a part.
Haiti needs clean water for years to come. Help charity: water fund sustainable projects.
1. Write it down. Everything. Cause you'll forget most of what you discussed within 3 hours. 2. Never say no. The answer is "yes and".
3. Allow for rabbit trails. Great ideas many times come from distractions.
4. Change the environment on a consistent basis. Move where people are sitting, open curtains or windows, change the front of the room, etc.
5. Bring plenty of snacks. A sugar or caffeine rush can be just what the Dr. ordered.....
Had the chance to catch up with my good friend Charles Lee recently. Charles is an entrepreneur, the founder of Idea Camp, Just One, and Ideation Conference, and pastor at New Hope in Orange County. In the interview below, we talk about Ideation Conference, the future of social causes, collaboration, and why connections may be more important than content at conferences going forward. Speaking of Ideation Conference, it is happening on April 5-6 in Long Beach, CA. If you want to attend, use the Rate Code BLOGGER and receive $50 off your registration price. I highly recommend it.
[vimeo]http://www.vimeo.com/10313354[/vimeo]
I'm currently 32,000 feet above sea level cramped in a 737 plan (exit row though...). Time for some end of the week thoughts. - Current top 5 favorite shows: 24, Parenthood, Modern Family, The Office, and Flash Forward.
- if you are planning to attend Catalyst West on April 21-23, register now. There are only about 70 seats left.
- Great event coming up in Long Beach, CA on April 5-6. The Ideation Conference. Created by good friend Charles Lee. Check it out.
- Still seats available for Catalyst One Day in Chicago next week. Andy and Craig together for one day. Would love to see you there.
- In case you missed it, this post from Seth Godin was an instant classic. Take time to read it.
- Perry Noble's recent "Leadership is Tough Series" on his blog is great. Scroll down a couple of posts to find it. Excited to have him speaking at Catalyst in October in Atlanta!
- Craig Groeschel's new book The Christian Atheist comes out on Tuesday of next week. Highly recommend this book. You'll want to buy it for friends and staff. Seriously.
- Great article on the Fast Company website about the financial implications of March Madness.
I'm a fan of Sarah Cunningham. For many reasons. And I'm a fan of her latest book, Picking Dandelions. You should buy a copy. Men- this book is for you as well. I know- the title doesn't speak to us as much, but I'm not afraid to pick a dandelion or two when I'm outside....
Sarah has a fresh perspective on faith, a writing style that is personal and unique, and an uncanny way to make you laugh, smile, and cry all within a couple of pages.
Picking Dandelions is in many ways a memoir in which Sarah gives perspective on her childhood and how her faith has continued to take shape over the course of her life. It's a fresh approach, and one in which Sarah challenges the faith which so many of us grew up with.
She's also a high school teacher, which I really appreciate because I come from a long line of educators. One of the hardest jobs in the world. Sarah is part of the Burnside Writers Collective, and wrote her first book Dear Church a couple of years ago.
Part two of my interview with Scott Belsky. [vimeo]http://www.vimeo.com/10175731[/vimeo]
Scott Belsky is on a mission- a mission to help organize the creative world. It's a tall task. But a worthy one. Excited to have Scott speaking at Catalyst West in a little over a month. He's the founder of Behance and the 99 Percent Conference, and author of the brand new book Making Ideas Happen which releases in a few weeks.
As you can tell by this interview, Scott provides practical, helpful insight and advice to all leaders, not just creatives.
Part Two posted tomorrow.
[vimeo]http://www.vimeo.com/10175518[/vimeo]
It's March Madness, and Catalyst wants you involved! Be a part of the Catalyst March Madness Challenge. You can win an all expense paid trip to Catalyst in Atlanta in October, plus other great prizes.
Fill out your bracket here. It's free. Tell all your friends. Let the games begin!
And by the way, final four teams on my bracket: Kansas, Kentucky, Syracuse, and Villanova. No surprise there!
I played point guard on my high school basketball team. We were pretty good. Not great, but pretty good. But I learned some solid leadership lessons playing the point, and when I watch great point guards play basketball still today there are lessons that emerge. Here are a few that we can apply to our own leadership paradigms:
1. Making a great pass is as important as making a great shot. Helping someone else on your team succeed is in many ways more important than you being the star.
2. Know the team better than anyone else. Point guards have to be aware of the strengths of each member of the team and understand how best to motivate them and bring out their best.
3. Preparation, knowledge and awareness. As a point guard, you have to be a coach on the court. An extension of your head coach. Part of your responsibility is to call plays, read defenses and adapt.
4. Keep your offense in rhythm and on task. Point guards distribute the ball to the playmakers. You have to understand who's hot and make sure they get the ball, while keeping everyone still involved in the rhythm of the game. This is a tough skill to master.
5. If needed, take over the game and make a play. Great leaders and great point guards can do this on command. Spread the offense out and take the game winning shot. Put the team on your shoulders if needed.
My good friend/Catalyst emcee/creative team guru Tyler Stanton has a great series he is doing on his blog called 5 Questions You've Never Been Asked. Past interviewees include big shots like Carlos Whittaker, Tripp Crosby, and Bryan Allain. I'm honored to have been included. And you should subscribe/read Tyler's blog. It's good stuff.
Enjoy. I think......
[vimeo]http://www.vimeo.com/10127885[/vimeo]
Jeff Shinabarger and I were talking the other day about how to prioritize. For so many of us, we've got multiple projects, several direct reports, lots of plates spinning at once, and it's hard to figure out what is most important. Jeff said at the start of each week, and then specifically at the start of each day in the week, he takes 5 minutes to figure out what is the ONE big thing he needs to accomplish. Once that big project is accomplished, it doesn't mean that the day or week is done, but it means that there is a very clear sense of what is the focus of today.
Simple thought, Simple formula, but can be game changing for many of us who are all over the map when it comes to figuring out which stack on the desk to tackle next.
I love John Maxwell. He is a mentor, teacher, and friend. He recently took a bunch of folks to Israel. Seeing this makes me love John even more.....
[vimeo]http://www.vimeo.com/10046449[/vimeo]
Toyota is losing its brand. They are crumbling right before our eyes. The latest meltdown came just last night after a man driving a prius in California lost his brakes and could not turn off the engine going 90 + mph for several minutes on a CA freeway. Add this on to the last two months of recalls and testing and bad press. It's not good for Toyota. Brand equity is rapidly dissipating. Toyota has been #1 in brand loyalty among car customers for several years. Toyota owners love their cars. The American public used to hold the Toyota brand in the highest regards. But this is changing. Once a respected and admired brand, they've lost credibility, billions in market share, and continue to make wrong decisions in pr and response to this nightmare.
How quickly a brand can go bad. Literally overnight.
A couple of things I've noticed about this whole situation which might speak towards how we can avoid brand meltdown in our organizations:
1. it seems that Toyota has gotten lazy. That is pure speculation, but a good guess I believe.
2. Quality and excellence still matter. Loyalty can only get you so far. You still have to deliver a great product. That's what the Toyota brand has stood for in the past.
3. Authenticity wins. Putting Toyota executives on TV doesn't show authenticity. The stiff guys in the suits just make us more leary that they are covering something up. Let's hear some honesty- "yeah, we messed up. we're gonna fix it."
4. Shut up, own up, and fix it. There seems to be a lot of finger pointing among the brass at Toyota. The only person who seems willing to own up is the founder and Chairman, Mr. Toyota himself. But all of his top brass are trying to pass the buck. Someone needs to step up and be willing to change the game.
5. Find, recruit and create scouts. This is pretty simple, but find trusted leaders inside and outside your organization who will constantly look for areas, issues, problems that could potentially become a brand killer. These have to be leaders who will tell you what you may not want to hear, vs. just telling you what you already know.
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