5 Gears - A New Productivity Book to Check Out

5 Gears: How to Be Present and Productive When There Is Never Enough Time

My good friends Jeremie Kubicek and Steve Cockram, founders of GiANT Worldwide, have written a book you'll want to read. This new book will help you develop a rhythm and routine for your life that allows you to be productive at the right time of the day, as well as shift gears to be truly present with your family and fully recharge. 

People around the world struggle with work/ life balance. It is difficult to be productive and manage the relational dynamics of staying connected with others, while consistently recharging personally. 5 Gears came to light as Jeremie Kubicek and Steve Cockram applied what they learned through their own experiences and their work with leaders around the globe. It is a powerful concept that has the ability to radically change the way you live and lead.

While many people focus on adding a new time management method to their life, Kubicek and Cockram have gone to the source of conflict and created a common language, that if implemented, will decrease drama and insecurity and replace it with a secure confidence that people everywhere need.

The leaders of GiANT Worldwide, Kubicek and Cockram share stories of successful transformation, leadership skill, and help you master the art of being present with those you lead. The 5 Gears are highly transferrable and are designed to be sticky and memorable. You will inevitably experience these results as you add your own story of what being in the right gear at the right time does to your influence and respect.

"5 Gears will profoundly change the way you see yourself and your interaction with others in every area of your life. How many books do that?" — PATRICK LENCIONI, President, The Table Group; author, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team and The Advantage

About the Authors:

JEREMIE KUBICEK is co-founder of GiANT Worldwide and the GiANT companies. He is a bestselling author of Making Your Leadership Come Alive and speaker to organizations throughout the world on transformational leadership, emotional intelligence, and personal growth. He currently resides in Oklahoma City with his wife and three children.

STEVE COCKRAM is co-founder of GiANT Worldwide and a recognized expert on personality development, applied leadership learning and culture change with executive teams and
organizations around the world. Steve is a sought- after speaker and teacher on apprenticeship, personality development and team building. He resides in London with his wife and three children.

A Few Ways the 5 Gears book will help you:

- Designed to help people conquer work/life balance
- Master the art of being present and productive
- Learn how to connect with those around you
- Learn how to be in the right gear in the right time… social, work, rest, etc.
- Learn how to fully recharge & be at your best
- Reconnect with your kids/spouse/family
- Build better relationships at work
- Maximize your influence
- Hard skills alone do not make you influential - emotional intelligence & your ability to connect does.
- Discover the most common pitfalls when it comes to connectivity, leadership and influence
- With Google and Youtube, information mastery is no longer enough...your ability to build and maintain authentic relationships with others is the competitive advantage.

Order the book today!

5 Points on Decision Making as a Leader

Leaders are decision makers. Period. Whatever the time of year and season of life, lots of decisions are probably on your desk or in your to do list waiting to be pushed forward. It's something we must do. Constantly.

So here a few thoughts on making decisions:

1. Understand that it's part of your job. Making decisions as a leader is normal and ordinary and required. It's why you are a leader. Embrace it.

2. Sleep on the big ones. For big decisions, always sleep on them. The extra time will allow your decision to be made without the spontaneous emotion that comes with a spontaneous response.

3. Know your values. As Roy Disney stated, "It's not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are." Many times indecision occurs because of lack of clarity on vision and values. Values are foundational and must be in place in order to move the organization forward.

4. Understand the context. Do your homework and make sure you are informed. Plus be aware of the situation- in the case of a good/bad decision, those are pretty easy. In the case of a better/best decision, those take a bit more time to push forward and get to a final decision. Different decisions require different levels of involvement, awareness, and information.

5. Just do it. Create a culture of action in your organization. Many leaders quickly become overwhelmed with several decisions in front of them and then unintentionally paralyze the organization by avoiding them all. Create a system of action that demands completion and execution, and ultimately your system/culture will demand decisions from you.

7 Ways Coaches are Great Leaders

My dad coached high school football in Bristow, Oklahoma for almost 30 years. They won three state championships, played in the state championship game another three times, won district titles basically every year, and in the 1980's were one of the winningest high school programs in the state. Growing up in Bristow meant high school football.

I asked him what makes a good coach. Here were a few of his responses:

1. First and foremost, coaches must be great leaders. Players and other coaches want to follow them. They will make the tough decisions, and also have no problem surrounding themselves with other coaches who are more talented than they are.

2. Ability to motivate- they have enthusiasm, and are able to pull the best out of kids. They also create great camaraderie among their staff.

3. Create a great program- great coaches carry with them a certain aura; they are incredibly competent, but also have the "IT" factor. People want to be around them. Kids want to do their best for them, parents want their kids playing for them, the school embraces them, and the community loves them. They create a winning tradition and other schools don't like to play them.

4. Competent- they know X's and O's. They are highly organized, lead well, and skilled at their profession.

5. Never complacent- great coaches don't allow for complacency to set in once they've established a winning tradition or system. And with each year they find new ways to raise the bar and make sure everyone are creating new goals and getting better constantly.

6. Winners through and through. The best coaches have a knack for winning. They play to win, not playing to lose. Their perspective is always a positive approach to win, not a negative approach of trying not to lose.

7. Teacher at their core- there really is a connection between a great coach and great teacher. Coaches love to teach- the best coaches can take a player and raise their level of skill and ability because they not only can motivate them, but also can instruct them on how to be better.

Young Influencers List, August Edition

Here you go, the August edition of the Young Influencers List.

1. Britt Nilsson- former bachelorette, aspiring actress, and World Vision sponsor advocate and spokesperson.

2. Todd Adkins- director of Leadership at LifeWay, co-host of the 5 Leadership Questions Podcast, and keeper of Ministry Grid.

3. Drew Bodine- worship leader at Central Christian Church in Las Vegas.

4. Eric Brown and Taylor Jones- co-founders of Whiteboard, an interactive branding agency in Chattanooga.

5. Annie Brooks- Colorado based photog, artist and creative designer, and the other part of the duo of Brumley and Wells wedding photography.

6. Lance Villio- Nashville based executive director of Q Ideas.

7. Rich Perez- pastor of Christ Crucified Fellowship in NYC.

Buy my new book H3 Leadership Now and receive an Exclusive offer

You can now pre-order my new book H3 Leadership: Be Humble. Stay Hungry. Always Hustle.

The book releases on September 22, but if you pre-order before then, you will be eligible to receive the following:

Buy 1 book and receive The Catalyst Leader audio book, an exclusive new (never before released) ebook from me that includes a 20 Day Leadership Makeover, and free registration to a 2 hour video coaching online event with me later this fall.

Buy 5 books and receive all of the above plus a Branded Journal and The Catalyst Leader Small Group DVD Study.

Buy 10 books and receive all of the above plus a complimentary ticket to a future Catalyst One Day or Leadercast event.

 Just send a copy of your receipt of purchase to h3leadership@gmail.com and then you will receive and have access to the exclusive pre-offers.

Happy ordering!