I'm back...did anyone even notice I was missing?

Well, after a 5 year layoff and not one person even noticing I had not blogged, it felt like the time was right to get back to it. Hello again world. So what has changed? Quite a bit actually. We will get to that in a minute. For now, lets focus on what hasn't. I still have the best wife on this beautiful blue marble, together we have four amazing kids and a great poodle named Bella. Other than that, LOTS of changes.

Allison and I are just about to celebrate our 23rd anniversary next month. Our oldest daughter is going to Hillsong Leadership school in Sydney, Australia. Our other daughter is a senior in high school. Our oldest son is in middle school and the "baby" is in his last year of elementary school. So yes, you read correctly...we have a child in every stage. College, High School, Middle School and Elementary School. Come to think of it, I don't know anyone else who can say this, but I am sure they are out there. If that is you, let me know.

With this type of super exciting blog info we may just break the internet with the high traffic. But we better not, Al Gore may not like that. (Google that if you didn't get it). Not a ton to share on this initial post, just getting my fingers stretched out for the next one. Truthfully, I just happened to remember my password and thought hey, why not fire this up. Over the coming weeks and months we can post more specifics but there have been quite a few changes since we last hit publish on this site. For starters most of my kids are taller than my wife. Oh and we're planting a church. We've known this was coming for years but the way it's unfolding is going to be really special. Great news, it's not a cut and paste of what most church's do today. It will be very different and focus on what I believe to be God's greatest love, his family. We can dive into those details at at a later time but for now just go visit the new website. Click Here. Until next time.....Go #Steelers



Chris

It’s all about relationships

We should all be able to agree on this. Whether at home, in business, at church or at school, relationships matter. We were designed to be in relationships from the very beginning. The interesting thing is few of us are and most assume the opposite. We may have some form of relationship that resembles more of the “acquaintance” type or “co- worker” flow but true relationships are harder to find. We are not designed to go through life alone. We must have a support network that isn’t judgmental and will stand with us regardless of the opinion polls.

For those of you in leadership, don’t assume that your team has a support network in place. Chances are they don’t and won’t burden you by sharing this. The only way to know for sure is to invest in your people. By investing, I’m talking one on one time in a neutral environment (not your office).  Find out about their family, personal interests, professional goals and most important, their dreams. You may have the chance to help launch a dream that changes the planet all by having a coffee with somebody. Oh, and one more thing, give them your undivided attention and PUT THE PHONE AWAY!! “It” can wait.  Please don’t have one meeting and call it done, this needs to be an ongoing commitment and you will see fruit, I promise. Once people are sown into, it is natural for them to sow into others, but it has to start somewhere.

We can all remember that person, who took us under their wing, invested in us and helped shape us into who we are today. We need to be doing the same for others. It won’t be hard to find a handful of those who you can influence to chase the dream that is inside of them. Leadership is defined as the ability to influence, nothing more, nothing less. Everybody is a leader so help others to reach their full potential.

Leading leaders will result in explosive growth and multiplication that will promote followers to become leaders. This is the ultimate goal. Nobody wants to raise up spectators, we want and need leaders.

Chris

What’s in your hand?

Is their anything worse than having a great idea, or several, and not having the resources to make it happen? When a good idea comes to light and we are not able to immediately put it into action we can often take what was a good idea and turn negative. I’m not talking about all idea’s here; I’m talking about the ones that require some vision and faith.

It’s not a secret that as the economy has contracted as have the budgets. Projects, both large and small, have all been impacted.

What has been extraordinarily refreshing is how many organizations have really stepped up and used resources (not money) that they’ve had all along. I’m talking about people.

Recently, I approached some people with some very basic ideas and before the first sentence could be completed the excuses about LACK came at me faster than anything that I’ve ever experienced in my life. “We don’t” was the focus of the conversation coming back to me. It was shocking to hear the defeatist attitude. Trust me money is valuable but there is more to success than just throwing money at things.

I have heard this on several occasions and it’s a classic, “We will always have more vision than resources”. Think about that for a minute…. this is very logical. Who wants to be so engrossed in the now that there is no room to grow and dream?

So my question is this…What’s in your hand? Are the resources you need already in front of you? Double check and you might just find that what you have been in need of, has already been provided.