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Andy Stanley and I had a great conversation on his Leadership podcast. I hope you enjoyed Part 1 where we discussed setting daring destinations for ourselves and our organizations. Today, in Part 2 of our conversation, we’re going to take a deeper dive into the power of bold decisions to
When I was about 11 years old, the oldest of four children, I wrote a letter to my parents telling them all the things that I would do when I became a parent. I would make the younger children behave. I would not let them have privileges until they did
Guest Post by Mark Deterding. Servant leadership is many things, but one thing it is not is “soft”. Servant leaders have high expectations, both for themselves, as well as for their team. There’s only one way I know to make things better in your organization. Create and share clear, reasonable,
It’s up to leaders to set the daring destinations for their teams and organizations. Daring destinations create the dynamic tension between daring and serving that leads to outstanding results and we all want results, right? I was honored to be a recent guest on Andy Stanley’s Leadership Podcast. Andy is
Apparently our human minds can only remember three or four things at once. Psychologists at the University of Missouri published a paper in 2008 entitled “An assessment of fixed-capacity models of visual working memory.”* Up until this study, most researchers thought we could remember seven things at once – like the
Week 2 video from the Leadership Discussion Guide – What is the Daring Destination? Why are we reluctant to pursue a daring destination for the benefit of those we lead? Is it fear of failure? Absence of ideas? Lack of courage? I’m not sure. But this I do know: A
Seems like the whole month of January is one big football game. I’m not complaining. It’s a great sport. This time of year, the stakes are high, as we approach the game of all games, the Super Bowl. The playoff teams are giving the games their best, with hopes of
As we end 2015, I want to thank you for following and commenting on my blog posts each week. I am grateful for the dialog we are having about leaders who dare to serve. This year, my favorite blog post came from a pizza lunch shared with a landscaping team
This week we contemplate the last of forty reflection questions from the book I authored, Dare to Serve. I hope this journey has led you to new thinking about how you lead. I hope you are encouraged to act on these new ideas so that your followers will be well-served.
The following is an excerpt from Dare to Serve: “Humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less.” Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life I was once being interviewed for a leadership job in a restaurant company. The interviewer, a senior executive at the company, asked
The following is an excerpt from Dare To Serve: In developing dare to serve leaders, I have witnessed another stumbling block – the absence of personal responsibility. If one believes they have been a victim in this life or if they have a propensity to blame others for their problems,
The following is an excerpt from Dare To Serve: The stories of prisoners of war are both heart-breaking and inspiring. Our hearts break for the horrible things done to prisoners to defeat their dignity. And then we hear the story of the prisoner who was not defeated. Through intense focus,
Will having a personal purpose change your life? I believe so. But the bigger and more important question is – will your personal purpose change other people’s lives for the better? One of our Popeyes franchisees has a purpose “to make at least 10 restaurant leaders millionaires.” I realize this
A few years ago, I went to see the movie Hugo – the story of a young boy, who loses both parents at a young age, and ends up living with a drunken uncle in the clock tower of the Paris train station. The child, Hugo, is fascinated with the
When I was about nine years old, I begged my parents to let me take a gymnastics class. About halfway through the class, my parents came to observe my prowess as a gymnast. I gave it my best – but struggled through the somersault and couldn’t do a cartwheel. On
A couple of weeks ago my daughter was teaching me how to make a chocolate soufflé. She is amazing in the kitchen – and I am barely functional. As part of my soufflé training, she was explaining to me why you put cream of tartar in the mix instead of
Recently I was asked this question: when did you first know that you were a leader? My answer is too easy. I was the oldest of four children. Babysitting at the tender age of nine is my first memory of leadership responsibility. According to my siblings, I was a bit
Tuesday afternoon, I spent a couple of hours with fourteen emerging leaders at Popeyes. This is a group of young leaders who have organized themselves to connect with each other and grow their leadership capabilities. They are primarily Millennials who have been with Popeyes in office or field positions for
Wallenda does daring tight rope acts – over canyons and cities – while we stand and watch with awe. He is so bold and daring, we watch with terrified anticipation. There is a chance he will fall and die, and there is a chance he will safely make the crossing.
When you search the web for an image representing a big idea, you get a lot of pictures of light bulbs. Why is that? Was the light bulb the last big idea? Is it the only symbol of transformative technology? What is it about the light bulb that makes it
We are living in a bad boss reality. Are you doing anything to change it? In November, 2012, Inc. magazine featured these statistics in a website article called Jerk Alert: The Real Cost of Bad Bosses by Maeghan Ouimet. Three out of four employees report their boss is the worst
On Friday afternoon, I taught a workshop on The Purpose Of Leadership at the national convention of the business fraternity, Alpha Kappa Psi. The audience was primarily college campus leaders of the fraternity’s chapters. Time with student leaders is my favorite kind of opportunity – to speak with young people
Monday was my first day back after a four-day vacation. I must confess, I am not good at taking vacations. For the first two days I didn’t even know I was on vacation. I kept answering emails, taking calls, and reviewing work. Somewhere around day three, I notice that I
This fall, I will have the opportunity to speak at the Gwinnett Leadership Forum, on September 5, 2013. The Leadership Forum is all about helping local leaders connect to their highest potential – a mission that is right up my alley. Twice a year they bring in world-class leaders to
My observation is that sacrifice is not a popular notion in our culture. It has bad implications. When you sacrifice, you lose something, you give something up. It might be hard, uncomfortable, even painful. Who would want that? Pleasure is a very popular notion in our culture. It has a
While speaking on a panel at the Women’s Foodservice Forum a few years ago, I was asked if mentors had played a large role in my development of a leader. I struggled with the answer because, honestly, I wasn’t sure that I had been mentored. But I certainly remember wishing
We often gain insight from questions we are asked. Particularly when the questions are on topics we were not thinking about at the time. Recently, I have been asked twice to describe my career path to groups of young leaders. Ostensibly, the young leaders were interested in how one gets
In my work, I often have opportunities to meet great leaders and to learn from their wise counsel. Recently, I met such a leader and he was kind enough to spend an hour with me sharing his observations about leadership. It was a gift. This leader served in elected and
When my daughter was getting ready to go to college, my husband gave her Cal Newport’s book, How To Win At College, to read. Among other things, it gives the future college student real world tips on what the top students do to succeed on campus. It includes advice on
One of my many shortcomings is that I hate exercise. I’ve never experienced that adrenalin rush thing that athlete’s talk about. For me, exercise is just sweat and muscle aches, and I don’t enjoy either of those things. Now rationally, I know that exercise is good for my body and that is
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