Catalyst One Day in Atlanta

Been away from the blog for several days. Earlier this week, we had 2,000 leaders assembled at North Point for Catalyst One Day Atlanta. You can see some of the tweets and blog posts at Catalyst Backstage. Will have some pics posted in a couple of days.  Craig Groeschel and Andy Stanley were phenomenal. Steve Fee, Eddie Kirkland and Todd Fields led worship, along with Pat Malone, Reid Greven, and Ashley Appling as part of the band. David McDaniel joined Andy for an interview regarding North Point's strategy in regards to campus extension and expansion. Overall, a great day. And then on Thursday evening we hosted Off the Blogs in Buckhead. Very unique and authentic gathering. More on it later. 

Looking forward to the next Catalyst One Day in Dallas on May 18. And the first ever Catalyst West Coast event on April 22-24 in LA.

Create an Experience

It's been a while since I last read Joe Pine and Jim Gilmore's book The Experience Economy. If you haven't read this book, trust me. Go buy it and start reading it right now. If you have a product or service that you offer (we all do, whether in business, church, or the non profit arena), it is imperative that you grasp the context of the Experience Economy.

I am reminded of it because in a conversation yesterday someone asked me how I would recommend they keep their product from becoming a commodity. From just being lumped in with all the other similar products in their space, and being seen as just an option instead of the only option. Where price determines what the consumer chooses vs. other factors like emotion, connection, and memories. 

In the book, Pine and Gilmore lay out the four levels of economic value : commodities, goods, services, and experiences. Progression happens by moving from commodity to experience. Think about coffee. Coffee beans are a commodity, ground coffee is a good, a cup of coffee at dinner is a service, and a latte at a trendy cafe is an experience. 

Or about birthday parties for kids- a cake is a commodity, a customized cake is a good, a birthday party with friends is a service, and a full fledged laser tag birthday celebration is an experience. Think about Apple stores. Disney World. You get the point. 

The question is how are you creating an experience with the product or service that you offer? How are you allowing your customer to be so engaged with your product that they connect emotionally? Does your product or service creates memories for your customer? Do they want to tell their friends?

There is also a fifth level of economic value, which is transformation. Incredibly hard to reach this level, but our goal should be to get there.

Innovation Experts

I am sure many of you have seen the most recent issue of Fast Company that highlights what they consider to be the 5o most innovative companies. 

At #1, team Obama, particularly as it relates to the campaign and utilizing innovative ways to get the word out, the vote on, and the election won. Pretty impressive list. It's worth a look through the entire list of companies. 

Interestingly, only 3 out of the 50 were from states in the southeast part of the US. The deep South. What is going on down here? Have we lost our groove?

20 National Bloggers United for One Free Book

A brand new project. An e-book that is free. Leadership Learnings from Bloggers. The best leadership blog posts of 2008 from 20 national leaders/bloggers, such as Craig Groeschel, Perry Noble, Tony Morgan, Ed Stetzer, Seth Godin, Dave Ferguson, Mike Hyatt, Mark Batterson, Alan Hirsch, Tim Stevens, and many others. Including several posts from yours truly as well.  You can access the e-book here. Check it out. Download it. And pass on to friends. It's free.

Thanks to Exponential Network for putting this great resource together.

Catalyst One Day and Off the Blogs

Really excited about next Thursday February 26th here in Atlanta. One week from Today. Two great things happening- Catalyst One Day and Off the Blogs. Catalyst One Day is a day of practical leadership teaching, dialogue and Q and A with Andy Stanley and Craig Groeschel. Held at North Point. Still seats left if you can make it.  Then, on Thursday evening, the first ever Off the Blogs evening with Carlos Whittaker, Anne Jackson, and Jon Acuff. Leading the discussion will be Pete Wilson. And worship led by Aaron Keyes. Tickets are $10 or free if you are attending Catalyst One Day. Location is the Buckhead Christian Church in the heart of Atlanta. Begins at 7 pm. 

Carlos was here in our office yesterday with the team discussing Off the Blogs and also our upcoming West Coast event in April in LA. Really appreciate Carlos' heart and vision for ministry and for leaders. He is someone who has his pulse on where things are heading. We talked for a while about the future of churches working together in collaboration with each other. Buckhead Church recently hosted a creative meeting via mogulus that included around 60 other leaders from churches around the country. They were all in a "virtual" creative meeting planning and talking around their Easter services. Learning from each other, sharing ideas, concepting, benchmarking. 

What a novel idea, huh? The idea of churches collaborating and working together. Seems really simple, but when you hear about it, it is a surprise. But the tide is definitely turning, and Carlos is helping lead the charge in this area along with many other areas where he is creating conversations. If you get a chance, take some time and come to Atlanta and hang with the team at Buckhead Church. They are the real deal.

Catalyst Speaker for October event revealed

Not revealing the entire speaker roster yet. Still working to finalize. Will be revealing the full speaker lineup with a special webcast in March. Stay tuned for that. But for now, one confirmed speaker for Catalyst in October I want to highlight is Jessica Jackley, founder of Kiva. Kiva is an amazing organization. If you are not aware of Kiva and their work, visit their website and check it out. It is the most innovative approach to connecting people to projects and donors to causes that we have run across. It allows for individuals all over the world to connect directly with entrepreneurs in third world countries and provide them small loans- loans that go a long way in helping lift them out of poverty. Over 60 million dollars have been "loaned" over the last year through the microfinancing system that Kiva has set up. 

Jessica is a young leader making a difference for hundreds of thousands of people around the world. She is a Catalyst. We've been inspired by her and her story, and can't wait to introduce her to the Catalyst community in October in Atlanta. 

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Big Decisions

As leaders, we make hundreds and hundreds of normal decisions throughout the day. Many of them unconscious and seemingly by habit. We also make big decisions. Important decisions. Decisions that alter the course of a business, change the landscape of a team, create revenue, cut expenses, push projects to next year, etc. Big decisions are part of the job of a leader. Normal and ordinary. But I recommend to always sleep on a big decision. It can wait until the next day. Always. And the extra time will allow your decision to be one without the emotion of a spontaneous response. 

Just a small step in the process of decision making, but one that is worth it.

Young Influencers List- February edition

Here you go, the February edition of the Young Influencers List. You can also check out the Archives of past months. Remember kids, order of the list does not mean anything... there is no ranking system in order here in terms of which names are where.... now, back in the pool.

February Edition:

1. Barton Damer- motion graphics, animation, designer and illustration guru. Follow his blog here. 

2. Wendy Kopp- founder of Teach For America, an amazing organization that places recent college graduates as teachers in poor communities and underperforming schools across the country. 

3. John Bishop- pastor of Living Hope Church in Vancouver, Washington. This guy is the real deal. 

4. Kristian Stanfill- many of you are probably aware of Kristian. A talented songwriter and worship leader who recently released a new EP. Leads at North Point, Catalyst, and Passion events regularly. 

5. Jon Gordon- best-selling author of The No Complaining Rule and The Energy Bus. He is impacting major influencers in the business/corporate community. 

6. Austin Gutwein- founder of Hoops of Hope, and one of my heroes. Austin has impacted more people at 14 than most of us will during our entire lives.

TED Talks

I am a big TED fan. Love the diversity and depth of speakers they gather every year for the annual TED Conference. What's great is they post the talks from the event on their website for all to enjoy. 

Do yourself a favor and find a couple of hours of free time.... pop yourself some popcorn, sit down on the couch, and watch some of the talks. I highly recommend Bill Gates most recent presentation, as well as Sir Ken Robinson on creativity, David Merrill on digital blocks, and Benjamin Zander on music and passion. 

There are many, many more to take in besides these. Thanks TED for providing such a great medium for learning - for all of us.

Off the Blogs Evening with Carlos, Anne, and Jon

Off the Blogs on Feb 26 in Buckhead. 7:00 pm. This will be a great evening. Three influential bloggers- Carlos Whittaker, Anne Jackson, and Jon Acuff, with worship led by Aaron Keyes and the conversation moderated by Pete Wilson. You need to attend. Register Here right now. And if you are attending the Catalyst One Day event at North Point on Feb. 26, your registration for the Off the Blogs evening is included. Just pick up a wrist band during the day at North Point.

Interview with Guy Kawasaki

Check out the latest Catalyst Podcast featuring an interview with Guy Kawasaki, mega-blogger and twitter extraordinaire, managing director of Garage Technology Ventures, former Apple Fellow at Apple Computer, and author and speaker. Guy will be a featured speaker at Catalyst West Coast. 

You can stream the interview from the Catalyst website or download from itunes.

Recent Office Videos

It's Wednesday. Thought I would provide a little lighthearted entertainment from the Catalyst offices over the last few days. First, a visit from an NFL legend, Mr. Morten Anderson, the all-time leader in points scored in NFL History. That's right, NFL history. The greatest kicker of all time. And pretty good at tossing the ole bean bag as well.  And the second video, just our team acting like 8th graders, trying to see who can outperform the other at push ups. Let's just say yours truly was the favorite....

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Are you competent?

Are you a competent leader? Competent- having suitable of sufficient skill, knowledge, and experience. Doesn't seem like a stretch to try and be competent at your job and as a leader. Another definition of competent- adequate, but not exceptional. Wow, sign me up.... every since a child dreaming about what I would be when I grow up I dreamed of being adequate.... yeah, not real inspiring, huh.  How about being Exceptional as a leader? How about being the best in the world at your skill or area of expertise. How about being #1 in your industry as an organization. That seems a bit more inspiring than adequate, average or suitable.

Being competent is the norm. Being exceptional is the unusual.  

Websites you should check out

I've run across some great websites recently. Not necessarily for the content on the site, but more for the design, layout, aesthetics, and overall feng-shui. If you run across something on any of these sites that is not uplifting, sorry. I didn't scan the sites to make sure they were rated G.  Check these out in your free time today between meetings: 1. Chichov

2. Kenya Imagine (thanks to Guy Kawasaki for the link on this one)

3. Work At Play

4. C3 Conference

5. Konigi 

6. White House (great design for a government site)

Interview with Pete Scazzero and Jon Gordon

Check out the latest Catalyst Podcast, featuring a recent interview with Pete Scazzero, the Senior Pastor of New Life Fellowship in New York City and author of Emotionally Healthy Spirituality. Pete shares some really wise insight on the issue of being emotionally healthy and living in rhythm, plus tells the story of his church and the role they play in the heart of Queens, NY.  Also on the podcast is a profile interview with Jon Gordon, the best-selling author of The Energy Bus and The No Complaining Rule. 

Download from itunes or stream on the Catalyst website. And if you are a pastor, check out the Emotionally Healthy Conference that Pete will be hosting at New Life Fellowship on May 1-2 in New York City.

Speed of the Leader, Speed of the Team

Been reading Bill Hybels latest book Axiom. It is a great resource for leaders. Basically includes short chapters with 2 or 3 page thoughts from Bill on a number of leadership areas. 

One particular lesson that stands out to me is the principle of "Speed of the Leader, Speed of the Team." As Bill writes, "If you cannot say 'Follow me' to your followers - and mean it - then you've got a problem. A big one." This is a great statement. Leaders must never expect from others anything more than they're willing to deliver themselves. The leader should set the tone. 

Speed of the Leader, Speed of the Team. Don't expect your team to give or fight or sacrifice or Love or Forgive or Stay focused more than you are. 

Lead by Example.

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