Interview with best-selling author Tim Sanders

My good friend Tim Sanders has a brand new book out titled Today We Are Rich. This book really serves as a prequel to Tim’s first and best-known book Love is the Killer App.

This is a book about confidence, and in the book Tim talks about 7 key principles that he learned from his grandmother Billye regarding confidence, essentials he considers life lessons that he promised to her he would never forget.

I had the chance to talk with Tim about the new book, the incredible legacy of his grandmother Billye, some of the ways he’s struggled with confidence over the years and how he overcame those areas, what key principles from the book are most important for young next generation leaders, and his favorite music picks right now.

Also, Tim has made available an e-b00k with an extra couple of chapters for free on his website that you should definitely check out and download.

Thanks Tim!!

Catalyst is coming to Dallas!!

Catalyst is going to the BIG D, and I do mean Dallas!

I can’t wait to be in Dallas on May 11-13 for our first ever multiple day Catalyst experience in Texas.

Catalyst Dallas is going to be an amazing time. 3,000 young leaders will converge on Bent Tree Bible Fellowship for an experience unlike any other.

Hear from leadership authorities including Andy Stanley, Matt Chandler, David Platt (author of Radical), Christine Caine, Donald Miller and Craig Groeschel , along with several innovative thinkers and practitioners like hip hop legend Rev Run, best-selling author Scott Belsky, International Justice Mission founder Gary Haugen, long-time activist Dr. John Perkins, ESPY winner Scotty Smiley, and charity: water founder Scott Harrison.

Plus, Catalyst Labs will feature innovative thought leaders like Michael Hyatt, Mark Batterson, Scot McKnight, Bob Goff, Mike Foster, David Kinnaman, Samuel Rodriguez, Amena Brown, Esther Havens, Shaun King, Dino Rizzo, Gayle Haggard, Jon Acuff, Lecrae, Margaret Feinberg, Chris Seay, Bianca Juarez, Jo Saxton, Vicky Beeching, Eugene Cho, Tyler Merrick, and Jenny White.

Musical guests include Lecrae, Gungor, and others.

Here’s the deal- if you plan on attending, please make sure you register by tomorrow. After tomorrow- Thursday, March 31st – tickets will be full price. Call 888.334.6569 to speak to a Catalyst Concierge, or register online.

You can use Rate Code FOB for an additional 15% discount off your ticket price.

Hope to see you there!

 

Step out of your comfort Zone

We all have our comfort zones. Your home. Your office. The seat in the back right on the last row at Church. A certain restaurant you always go to. The same songs over and over again.

Might be a group of friends that has been the same since high school. That favorite uncle you always play golf with on Saturday morning.

Whatever it is, we need to be leaders who take risks. And step out of our comfort zones. On a regular basis. This can be incredibly big life decisions, but many times it may just be a small decisions, or a small change in our usual routine, that can provide the momentum we need to consistently Step Out of our Comfort Zones.

Reality is, most of us by nature enjoy the same old routine, the luxury of the known, the safety of the convenient. Ultimately, it takes extra effort to step out, but if we’re not risking and pushing ourselves out of the normal and routine, then we can’t expect others around us who we lead to do the same.

Here are a few examples to get you thinking on how you can this week step out of your comfort zone.

1. attend a weekend service of a completely different religion than your own.

2. visit a local homeless shelter or soup ktichen.

3. walk somewhere instead of driving. Or ride a bike.

4. leave the TV off for one week straight.

5. read a book and download a song that you never would have before.

6. Call an old friend and get reacquainted.

7. Ask your neighbors how you can help them.

8. Take someone to lunch from your office who you’ve never had a conversation with before.

9. Go fishing, hunting, camping, or hiking. The key is outside.

10. Visit your local police station and fire department and take them food.

What are other simple ideas that help you step out of your comfort zone?

6 Warning signs of being too big for your britches

This post ties in directly to the previous post on Accountability. Having someone in our lives who will shoot straight with us is incredibly important.

Many times as leaders we start losing a sense of reality and get “too big for your britches,” as my grandmother used to say when I was growing up.

Here are a few warning signs of this potentially occurring for leaders. The pitfalls of becoming too much of a prima donna.

1. You feel like you need an entourage. Everywhere you go.

2. You’re unreachable. You have so many systems and handlers in place to shield you from the outside world that not even your closest friends can get in touch with you.

3. The only people who get any time with you are those who you need something from or who you see as further up the ladder of success. Anyone “below” you gets pushed off to someone else.

4. You speak and give advice WAY more than you listen and ask questions.

5. You quit laughing consistently, especially at yourself.

6. There are certain jobs or projects that you feel are simply “below” you. You would be offended if someone asked you to do some of these tasks.

Any of these consistently showing up in your world? If so, I recommend you take a chill pill and lighten up!

Who are You Accountable to?

Leaders: Who are you accountable to?

Who speaks truth into your life? Your spouse? Your best friend? Your boss? Your co-workers?

Who has the right to honestly tell you when you are wrong, and make sure you stay in touch with reality?

Do you have someone, or a group of people, who will challenge you, tell you when you are wrong, confront you on the tough issues, make your aware of areas where you might be missing the mark?

If not, figure this out. Quick. If you are surrounded by only yes people, you’re probably unaware of things that could be jeopardizing your leadership.

We all have dysfunctions. Every leader does. But our healthy response to our own dysfunctions depends on how much we let others “in” and give them full access to pushing back and kicking us in the tail if we are off base.

For many leaders, the greatest threat to our influence is our tendency to read our own press clippings, and continually put a “wall” up around us that protects us from any kind of honest feedback.

Don’t do this. Avoid the temptation to “remove” yourself from healthy accountability.

We need people around us who will tell us what we don’t want to hear, when we don’t want to hear it. Identify these people in your life, and give them full access to keeping you in check.

Motivation Matters

Watching VCU (Virginia Commonwealth University) storm through their first 3 games in the NCAA Basketball Tournament reminded me just how important MOTIVATION is to each of us accomplishing the goals we have in front of us.

Motivation Matters. Just ask the team members from VCU.

If you’re not familiar with what happened, here’s the short synopsis: when the 68 team field was first released last Sunday, March 13, VCU was one of the teams that every basketball pundit was convinced shouldn’t have made the cut into the tournament. Not good enough, couldn’t guard, no quality wins, competition wasn’t good enough, weak conference, and on and on and on. Well, the VCU team took those stabs and cuts and harsh words to heart, with a pure motivation to prove everyone wrong. And now we look back one week later and see three wins in a row, all by more than 15 points in each game. Their magical run through the tournament continues into this week in the Sweet 16.

Motivation matters. It fuels us. Gives us the staying power, and the drive to overcome.

VCU felt like “it’s us against the world” and they proved everyone wrong.

As leaders, we have to constantly be aware of the current motivation factors in place for our teams. Maybe for you it’s “us against the world,” or maybe it’s simply trying to beat last month’s #’s? Whatever the case, it’s important that we put motivational triggers in place to fuel a sense of accomplishment and focus.

Interview with Eugene Peterson, writer of the Message

Recently at Catalyst West, we had the chance to hear from Eugene Peterson, longtime writer, pastor, leader and translator of the Message Bible. We also presented Eugene with the Catalyst Lifetime Achievement Award.

Our good friend Rick McKinley, pastor of Imago Dei in Portland, OR, had the chance to interview Eugene.