Passion: Part 1

Listen to the five-minute Passion: Part 1 audio program from Coach’s Corner. 

Recently I was swamped: not getting all of my work done, not spending enough time with my family, and feeling overwhelmed. Then an opportunity came up to go to see my favorite college basketball team play, an endeavor that with travel would eat up six hours of my day, and I jumped at it.

Today’s post is the first in a series I’m doing on passion and the very important role it plays for anyone, but especially those of us that bear the challenge and cost of being a Christian leader.

Lifelong Learner

Listen to the five-minute Lifelong Learner audio program from Coach’s Corner.

When is the last time you did something for the first time? Think about it for a moment.

If you’re younger than thirty you probably think this is a silly question because it’s so basic, like asking when’s the last time you breathed air. Of course you’ve tried something for the first time recently.

But if you’re fifty or sixty, maybe it’s been a while, maybe a LONG while, since you’ve tried something new. 

Fear Part 4: Wrap Up

(This is Part 4 in a series on fear and leadership. If you haven’t already, take a minute to read Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.)

Listen to the five-minute Courage and Faith Wrap Up audio program from Coach’s Corner. 

Today’s post in the fourth and final part of my series on Fear. In the first post I wrote about the most prevalent fear I see in people: uncertainty or the unknown. In the second post I wrote about the antidote to that poisonous fear: faith. In my last post I wrote about courage and how that helps us when we lack faith. However, if we have faith, we need no courage. 

Fear Part 3: Faith and Courage

(This is Part 3 in a series on fear and leadership. If you haven’t already, take a minute to read Part 1 and Part 2.)

Listen to the five-minute Faith and Courage audio program from Coach’s Corner. 

As you know I believe the greatest fear is the fear of the unknown, and that the answer to this uncertainty is faith. Today I will talk about the relationship between faith and courage.

Fear Part 2: The Antidote to the Greatest Fear

Listen to the five-minute Antidote to the Greatest Fear audio program from Coach’s Corner. 

In my last post I wrote about what I believe is the greatest fear for most of us. In this post, I’ll talk about the antidote to that poison.

In Fear Part 1: The Greatest Fear, I shared that I believe the greatest fear is the fear of the unknown, or uncertainty. I believe that we have an antidote to this fear: our faith in God. 

Fear Part 1: The Greatest Fear

Listen to the five-minute Greatest Fear audio program from Coach’s Corner.

In today’s post I’m going to explore fear…in fact, what I believe to be the greatest fear of leaders, and of people in general. This blog is designed to help you grow as a Christian leader. Knowing your fears and being able to overcome your fears is necessary to becoming a great Christian leader.

Magic Moments

Listen to the five-minute Magic Moments audio program from Coach’s Corner. 

In today’s post I’m focusing on magic moments in the life of leaders. Magic moments are those times when something unique happens and the leader’s action will define who he or she is and will tell others whether or not he or she cares about the mission and people impacted.

Silence

Be still and know that I am God…

A key to being a good leader is being non-anxious in anxious situations. (For more on this, check out Rodger’s series on Anxiety and Leadership.) One practice that has helped me grow in this capacity is silence.

By nature I am not a silent person. I’m active, busy, always forward moving. I have trouble sitting still and trouble resting. In order to have a day of rest, I have to make it a goal to check off at the end of the day, and even then it’s hard (but the fact that it’s a goal keeps me on track – goal-oriented person that I am). On top of that, our culture doesn’t encourage silence—quite the opposite, in fact. We are spoken at and marketed to every waking minute. Many of us expect engagement and entertainment every minute of the day, even falling asleep at night to the sound of the TV.

Stewardship

Listen to the five-minute Stewardship audio program from Coach’s Corner.

Today I’m writing about stewardship, but with a twist. The description I’ve heard of stewardship is this: Imagine back in medieval times. A king needs to leave his kingdom for several months. In order to make sure his kingdom and people are well cared for while he is gone, the king appoints a steward: A person who is highly trusted and whose job it is to show good stewardship of the kingdom while the king is away.

Followership

Listen to the five-minute Followership audio program from Coach’s Corner. 

In today’s post I’m going to talk about followership. This is a new topic for me, and one that I’ve been stewing on for years. It all started with a Fast Company magazine article in the 1990s about how West Point turns eighteen-year-olds right out of high school into very impressive leaders by the time they’re twenty-two. Step number one could be stated as this:

To make great leaders, make them great followers first.