Why not? Everyone else has a blog.

De-Railed is a book about leadership mistakes. It starts with 5 case studies of “catastrophic failures of leadership”. The rest of the book is a discussion about how you and I can avoid the same mistakes and ultimately avoid leadership de-railment. Honestly, I had a hard time reading this book. The 5 case studies were very interesting and I read through those with ease, but the rest of the book felt kind of pointless to me. I appreciate the concept and perhaps I will give it a re-read one day…but I doubt it. If you are completely oblivious when it comes to dealing with and leading people, then this book may make more sense to you. But I felt like 95% of its content was common sense.

As always, check it out for yourself as my opinion is just my opinion. If you would like my copy and you will read it and post your own thoughts below…please let me know and I will give it to you for free. And if you would like to purchase or find out more about De-Railed, please click here.

A few days ago I was part of an unfortunate discussion about the Chile earthquake and the Haiti disaster. As we talked about the death toll and the disturbing photos of the disaster, one lady flippantly remarked “It’s just scripture being fulfilled”. Her comment bothered me so much that I literally had to walk out of the room. It was a combination of the way she said it and the blatant lack of compassion that shocked me. The thing that bothers me the most is that I’ve made similar statements in the past.

Ironic. When it’s our American children dying, the devil gets all the blame. But overseas disasters are just God’s way of getting me to heaven faster?

What about the fulfillment of some other scriptures? 1 John 3:17 “If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?” OR Romans 12:15 “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.” Sadly, it seems like we prefer the fulfillment of the scriptures that don’t require anything of us.

In a world that is more connected than ever before, it’s still easy to disconnect ourselves from the sufferings of others.

If you would like to donate to a great organization providing spiritual, emotional, and physical relief to those in Haiti and around the world, visit Convoy Of Hope here.

What do YOU think? Do you think I’m over-reacting? Any other charities or ways you would suggest to get involved?

When it comes to leading people, we only lead them two places:

1. Where we have been.

2. Where we haven’t been.

Leading where we have been seems pretty simple, right? I’ve been to Atlanta many times and my leading would reflect that past experience. I may give you a story peppered with some pitfalls that you should avoid. There may be a particular intersection that I’ve had some negative experience with that I can help you avoid. I can share my successes with you and assure you that it IS possible for you to get to Atlanta…I’ve done it…others have done it…I’ll show you how.

Leading where we haven’t been can be just as simple, but just a little bit different. See, I’ve never been to New York City…but I HAVE been to Chicago. In leading someone to a place I haven’t been, my leading will reflect general lessons that I’ve learned that will probably work in a similar situation. I may not be where we are going, but I have been SOMEWHERE.

It is so important that we as leaders learn to process all that we go through in life. I’m not talking about always looking for a blog idea or a book title…but just thinking a little bit. What was it like to be in that big city? What were some of the problems that I ran into and how did I handle them? What would I do differently if I could go back?

Obviously you won’t spend much of your time leading people into physical cities, but my goal is to create questions…not give you answers and formulas that may or may not work for you. There are only two ways we lead. If we ask ourselves continually, “Which way am I leading right now?”, then we can use our varied personal experiences to be more effective as leaders.

Though it would be a shame for the multitudes to be deprived of my musings, I don’t write for the multitudes. Even though I do have Google ads in my RSS feed, I don’t write for money. And I think it’s great that many people have made a name for themselves through their blog, but I don’t write in hopes of recognition. I write for other reasons.

Everyday I’m amazed as I look back at all that God has brought me through and I stand in awe as I see tiny glimpses of the future that He has for me. I feel like Peter and John when they said in Acts 4:20: “We cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard”. I live an overwhelmingly blessed life. I write to record, process, and share pieces of what I’ve “seen and heard” in my life. I hope that it sparks something in you.

What about you? Do you process what you go through or do you just make it through?

Why is it so easy to procrastinate? What makes it so easy to say “I’ll do it tomorrow” instead of “I’ll do it now”? For me, tomorrow often seems far enough away that I somehow think my emotions will be different by then. I can even picture myself doing whatever “it” is tomorrow and I seem relatively happy. Have you ever driven home after work and upon realizing all the things you DIDN’T get done today, you began to make a mental to-do list for tomorrow? It all seems so easy when its in the future, doesn’t it? To do it now requires that I fight through my feelings of apathy, boredom, or stubborn refusal…but to put it off ’til tomorrow just requires some optimism on my part. It’s like we think we’ll feel differently about the dreaded task tomorrow than we do today. Over the past year, I’ve started doing something to make procrastination more productive for me and I thought I’d share it here.

I have always been in sales and it requires that I make a ton of phone calls each week. The funny thing is, I HATE talking on the phone! So the dilemma I would often find myself in is driving home regretting not making some necessary phone calls…which would inevitably lead to me “planning” to make them tomorrow. I could even picture myself hammering out the phone calls and getting them all done with ease. I felt pretty good about it by the time I got home and maybe even a small percentage of me was kind of looking forward to it (probably an exaggeration). But when tomorrow came, I would usually have the same frustrating conversation with myself on the way home.

Here’s how I broke this cycle in this particular area: When I didn’t make my phone calls for the day and I decided I would do it “tomorrow”, I would immediately (while the optimistic juices were still flowing) go and make me a call sheet with all the phone numbers I had to call and I would place it right beside my phone. The next morning when I came in, it was a little easier for me to grab some coffee and start dialing because I didn’t have to do very much. Just pick up the phone!

My situation probably doesn’t apply to you, but it’s the same for anything. If you are procrastinating about re-arranging your office, then before you go home unplug everything and pack up your computer or something. You’re giving yourself a break by not having to actually re-arrange the office TODAY, but doing a little something will help motivate you to complete it TOMORROW.

Procrastination gives us a great deal of relief and will instantly improve your disposition, so why not use these positive feelings to set you up for success tomorrow?

This post will be a change of pace from the stuff I usually write about. I saw this performance on the Grammy Awards last Sunday by the Dave Matthews Band and thought I would share it as soon as it was available. The joy that they have as they perform is what makes it so fun to watch. Even Dave Matthews’ silly little dance near the end of the song added to the experience. And I have to make at least ONE abrasive comment on each post (per a binding endorsement with 3M Sandpaper) so I will simply say that it’s great to see that they allowed some real musicians onto the Grammy stage instead of the usual over-paid karaoke acts. : ) Enjoy!

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For the first time and probably the last, I’m going to get a bit “political” in this post. With tax season upon us, I’m reminded of something that just drives me crazy every year: People walking around bragging about their big tax refund. Here are just a few of my reasons for thinking this is dumb:

1. It’s YOUR money you goof ball! – Somehow people think that they’ve ‘beat the system’ when they get a big refund…but in essence they are just getting back the overage that the government took from their pay during the previous year. Simply put, you were supposed to pay $1,000 in income taxes but you had $2,500 withheld from your pay during the year so you get a refund of $1,500…it’s YOUR money!
2. You are giving the US government an INTEREST-FREE loan! – According to almost any bank’s lending standards, our government could not qualify for a mortgage. The US government owes way more money than it can repay and is overextended in ways that most of our minds can’t even wrap around. If you walked into any bank with a financial condition similar to our government, they would laugh you out of the office and tell you to never come back. So instead, the government gets its loan from you and pays you ZERO interest. If they banks won’t do it, then why should you?
3. These over-inflated refunds just cover up poor money management. – I can hear it now…”Forced Savings”. “It’s a great way to force myself to “save” money.” I disagree. I have an acquaintance who recently got a 5-figure tax refund (yes that’s $XX,XXX). This particular person has several kids and only one spouse works. They don’t own OR rent as someone else pays for their living arrangements. They have 7 people living in a 3 bedroom home. Their phones are constantly being cut off as well as other utilities and they can’t keep gas in their cars (yes, 3 cars). So, naturally, when I heard they had received such a large refund I was excited for them and hoped that they might put a deposit on a bigger place to live or buy some of the necessities that they lacked. But what did they do with the money, you ask? They bought a tanning bed!!! Oh yeah, and an ample supply of dvd’s and video games.

Some people are really terrified of owing the IRS money at the end of the year and I can understand how scary the IRS can be. I am not recommending you don’t have any income taxes withheld for the whole year and then end up owing a ton of money, but my goal is to break even or have a very small refund. If you need to have someone hold your money for a year so that you can spend it in bigger chunks next year, then choose a better steward than the US government. Maybe even someone that will pay you interest!

I’m simply saying you should talk to your tax person when you file your taxes this year and ask how you can keep more of your money in the future. And please remember, you can talk to your tax person during the year. Even if you use H&R Block or a similar chain, you can call throughout the year to make sure you are on track to break even or get a small refund. If you are having too much money withheld then you can adjust this with your payroll department at work.

Don’t take any of this as tax advice…I’m not a tax professional. Just saying.

Earlier this week, I was really wanting some Arby’s for lunch. And like any American…if I want it, I shall have it! So I drove about a mile, parked, and walked inside. As soon as I entered the restaurant I was hit in the face with the aroma of char-broiled hamburgers. HAMBURGERS! Yes, somewhere between “I’m thinking Arby’s” and “I’m walking into Arby’s” my brain decided to take me to Burger King instead.

Miraculously I had the presence of mind to turn around and drive 3 buildings down to Arby’s. Afterwards someone asked me why I didn’t just eat Burger King. Aside from the obvious reasons (such as the food) I explained that I really wanted Arby’s. What would have been even worse would be for me to go to the counter and order a Roast Beef & Cheddar with Curly fries…and that DID cross my mind.

Okay….are you ready?

Time for the deep, TOTALLY PREDICTABLE tie-in to real life:

Your direction, not your intention, determines your destination.

Somehow I seem to have adopted the idea that as long as I have good intentions then my decisions and directions don’t really matter. Let me explain it in simpler terms:

If you want to eat lunch at Arbys:

1 – You have to make a decision to go to Arbys.

2 – You have to know where Arbys is.

3 – You have to make the decisions that will get you from where you are to Arby’s.

4 – You then arrive at Arbys.

Where do you want to end up? What’s it going to take for you to get from where you are today to where you want to be? Now make the daily (sometimes small) decisions that lead you to your intended destination.

I went to Chick-fil-A for lunch today and saw something quite unusual. One of the employees was standing in the drive through talking to customers as they drove by. He was wearing the wireless headset and taking customer’s orders IN PERSON.

After I went inside, ordered my food, and was walking back out to my car I had to ask “What are you doing standing in the drive-thru?” and he said “Our drive through speaker is broken”.

I had to think that many restaurants would have just placed a “Drive-thru out of order” sign and cut their losses. But these guys took an otherwise frustrating situation and turned it into an opportunity to add tremendous value to their customers.

What setbacks could you transform into value-building opportunities?

The temptation exists throughout each year, but in the first few weeks of a New Year it becomes especially difficult to deal with what I call “Idea Addiction”. Whether you call it goal setting, making resolutions, or turning over a new leaf…we all usually begin each year with some sense of “looking forward” and with a determination to make this year better than the last. I include myself in this club, so please understand I didn’t come to burst your shiny New Year bubble. (One of my 2010 resolutions is to hone my paper airplane making skills.)

I’m sure we would all agree that a large percentage of our New Year goals only last until about the 3rd week in January…IF they even last til all the New Year confetti hits the ground. (Not YOURS, of course, but the other people ). Even if we’re optimistic we can agree that there will definitely be SOME of these grand goals that will NEVER come to pass. My purpose here is not to discuss perseverance. (But if that’s what you need then here’s a great movie. and, yes, that is Sam from Lord of the Rings.) My purpose is to ask “Why do we start each year this way?”

Because we believe that making a decision could start our life on a different course? Yes, I believe that.

Because we can use all the experiences from the previous year to grow and accomplish more this year? Yes, that also sounds good.

Because “if we fail to plan, then we plan to fail”? Yes, but you just saw that on your church marquee sign so it doesn’t count.

Now, these are all great reasons and I can see myself in each of them, but let me suggest another reason: I believe that we are addicted to new ideas. I don’t know if it’s the relief that comes from abandoning the last idea or the hope presented in the new idea…but there’s just something about it that charges us up. I know that part of it comes from the sincere belief that we possess the discipline and ability to reach our goals and as a result improve our situation in some way. Of course, none of us WANT to fail, so we start with a mind made up to succeed.

This addiction is also seen outside of the arena of New Year’s resolutions (or “commitments” if you think that raises your batting average). In our businesses, churches, and organizations we are constantly trying to think of ways to expand our effectiveness. How often do we send out that big bad memo only to find ourselves breaking our own rule the next week? Or maybe you’ve been in situations like I have where a boss makes some emphatic declaration beginning with “From now on…” or “Starting today…” and you can feel a silent consensus around the room that seems to whisper “Don’t worry, he’ll forget he even said all of this in a day or two”.

“Regardless of who you are or where you work…we all experience this cycle of going from idea to idea to idea.”

Here are a few quick thoughts on Idea Addiction:

The Temptation: To be an idea machine.

The Consequence: All we ever do is dream.

The Alternatives: 1 – Generate ideas in moderation. 2 – Monitor your brainstorming as a surplus of ideas can sometimes be a waste. 3 – Mandate that you take at least ONE WEEK between conception of an idea & execution of the idea.

Break the cycle. Stop living from idea to idea. Do something with one of those genius ideas you have stored away in the recesses of your mind. Do something.