End of Week Links

- We have finalized our Catalyst One Day locations for the fall. August 26- Seattle, WA at City Church (Judah Smith). October 21- central Virginia at Thomas Road Baptist Church (Jonathan Falwell), November 18- Phoenix, AZ at Christ’s Church of the Valley (Don Wilson).

- Word Made Flesh and Chuck Anderson, one of the top designers around, have teamed up to create a limited edition t-shirt. The campaign was created by Kharma NYC as part of the “What Matters to Me” project. Only 150 shirts were created by Chuck for Word Made Flesh. Check it out.

- Let me reiterate…… You need to buy a copy of Scott Belsky‘s book Making Ideas Happen right now. In fact, buy them for your entire team and read it together. We are doing that with our Catalyst team.

- Congrats to Jamie Tworkowski and the team at To Write Love on Her Arms. Their full page ad is appearing TODAY in the USA Today, all because of winning a contest several weeks ago. Check out the ad and spread the word!

- Phileena Heuertz‘s new book just released today: Pilgrimage of a Soul. Great book.

- Really excited about attending Hillsong Conference in a little over a month in Sydney, Australia. Love the staff and team from Hillsong and can’t wait to see them put on one of the best conferences in the world, period. Let me know if you are also going to be there. Would love to say hi.

Interview with Mark Batterson, Part One

Mark Batterson is the founding pastor of National Community Church in Washington, DC, and best-selling author of several books, including his most recent Primal. I always appreciate the chance to sit down with Mark, because he constantly challenges me to read more, create more, lead more, and live more. His next great adventure in a few days- swimming from Alcatraz Island to San Francisco! Amazing.

In this conversation we talk about his latest book, the great commandment vs. the great commission, the need to stay focused as a leader, and some new projects he is working on.

Part two tomorrow.

What NOT to do as an up and coming leader

DON’T DO THESE:

1. Believe that you are “the answer.”

2. Stop honoring those who’ve laid the groundwork before you.

3. Write off all the folks who finally helped you “arrive,” who might suddenly seem insignificant or unimportant.

4. Remove yourself from reality by surrounding yourself with “handlers” and those only interested in being “yes” men and women.

5. Regard yourself as crucial, and ultimately more important than all others, in connection to the success of the organization or project.

6. Stop learning since you now know everything.

DON”T DO THESE.

New Catalyst Podcast featuring Anne Jackson and Susan Isaacs

The latest edition of the Catalyst Podcast features a conversation between Susan Isaacs and Anne Jackson backstage at Catalyst West. Susan is the author of Angry Conversations with God, and is a renowned actress, comedian, speaker and author. Anne Jackson is an uber popular blogger, speaker and author of Mad Church Disease and the soon to release Permission to Speak Freely.

In the interview, Anne asks Susan about her latest book, they talk about the Church, leadership, depression, the entertainment industry, and a host of other items.

You can listen here or download from itunes.

A few leadership lessons from horse training

I worked on a ranch after college. Lost Valley Ranch in Colorado. An amazing place. I’ve written about it before.

I spent lots and lots of time around horses- 150 total horses. 8 hours a day. And these horses taught me a lot. Actually a lot about Leadership.

1. make the correct thing to do really easy, and the wrong thing to do really hard.

2. whether you like it or not, you are ALWAYS training.

3. I would much rather have a horse I have to hold back, vs. a horse I have to spur to get going.

4. horses would rather eat, poop, and sleep vs. do any work.

5. horses reflect their trainer- if you train incorrectly, then horses will mirror that bad training.

6. consistency is key. Repetition and persistance are crucial for training to stick.

7. you must always lead them. Horses are naturally herd-bound animals, meaning the herd mentality will always drive their decisions, many times to their own detriment. They need someone to constantly guide them.

Who I am Learning from

Every leader needs to make sure they are continuing to learn on a consistent basis. Here are a few current outlets for my learning. This is not an exhaustive list since the things I’m listening to, reading, or watching change on a pretty regular basis. But this gives a pretty good perspective for what is happening right now.

1. Andy Stanley Leadership Podcast- one of the best resources available.

2. Catalyst DVD sets- I don’t get to hear most of the talks at Catalyst, but I always go back later and listen to every talk.

3. TED Talks- one of my favorite places to look for fresh content and inspiring new voices.

4. Seth Godin- through his blog and latest book Linchpin.

5. Fast Company- both their magazine as well as the website. Great content for innovative leaders.

6. Blogs from Michael Hyatt, Guy Kawasaki, TechCrunch, Robert Scoble,

7. Alltop.com- a great aggregator of blogs, links, and important info. Check out the Church section on Alltop for a listing of some good Church Leadership blogs to read.

8. Charlie Rose- one of the great interviewers of our time, and always has fascinating guests on his show. And you can watch all the interviews on the website.

9. Scott Belsky- his book Making Ideas Happen is everywhere in our office. On purpose. Practical stuff on getting things done.

Reggie Joiner, Part Three

Here is part three of my interview with Reggie Joiner, founder and President of the Rethink Group, and author of Think Orange. Reggie recently started blogging on parenting, and will be launching a new blog in the next couple of weeks that is a more personal/lifestyle blog.

Even though I previously posted Part One and Part Two, I’ll include those as well so you can splice together the full interview.

Ten Small Things that will Kill Company Morale

1. bad tissue in the bathrooms- no one wants the equivalent of sandpaper at the office. invest in the good stuff.

2. charging for coffee- seriously. a bad decision all the way around. and while I’m at it, quit charging for snacks.

3. standardized approach to your office or cube. let your team add some flare to their area. please.

4. a faulty copier- I think there is an international conspiracy to make all copiers bad.

5. technology issues- computer issues, incompetent IT people, and slow responses will cripple your team. Invest here or else.

6. public recognition that is incorrect. make sure you know who actually did a great job before handing out the kudos at the company picnic or staff meeting to the wrong person. this is a total demotivator.

7. a new policy every week. whether it is expense reports, insurance, office furniture, parking, kitchen etiquette, dress code, IT, pets, pranks, profits, travel, meals, hiring, firing, vacation, talking, phones, dating, child care, meetings, conference rooms, dish policy, management, health care, etc., etc. etc. Change is good, but can quickly overwhelm the system. Constant change can be incredibly draining.

8. fun Police. there is one in every company, and their entire reason for living is to make you feel guilty for any kind of fun in the office. Punch them directly in the throat. Just kidding, sort of.

9. too many meetings- if you are an executive or team leader, this is usually your fault, because you feel like you need to schedule meetings in order to seem busy. Stop it. When in doubt, don’t meet. Just execute. Don’t talk more about it. Just get it done.

10. unmet promises- i’m guilty of this one. I admit it. and it is a morale killer. Leaders- don’t throw out promises you can’t keep because you feel like the leadership moment demands it. hold your tongue, or be prepared to deliver.

What would you add to the list?