The Blog

With all the hype around the upcoming College Football National Championship I thought I’d share with you a few cool things happening in the world of LEAD…for God’s Sake.

Ohio State’s Head Football Coach Urban Meyer has continued to be a huge part of this journey, and as he prepares for another shot at the top, he has continued to reference the book as one of the key “game changers” in his life leading up to this point. Below are comments he shared at the National Championship Media Day, after being asked about LEAD…for God’s Sake and how often he references it.

I’m so appreciative of his genuine heart for this message! But most importantly, it’s been an incredible blessing to see the consistent peace in his eyes as he’s climbed back to this spot!

Stay tuned over the next few days for stories I’ve been interviewed for on popular platforms such as ESPN.com (story will be posted Sunday and Monday), Fansided.com (a part of SI.com (Sports Illustrated)), and I’ll also be live on the Doug Gottlieb Show Monday at 5:00PM. Don’t forget to tune in!

Thanks again for helping us share the message!

What passions are you pursuing in life? Do they wake you in the middle of the night or dominate your thoughts throughout the day? Are they what you’ve always dreamed of becoming or feel “destined” to do with your life? Or maybe they’re just a part of who you feel you were called to be—your purpose. Whatever they are, in the midst of pursuing them everything else in life seems to slip into the shadows of insignificance.

I must confess that after nearly two decades of pursuing my passions in both athletics and business, God opened my eyes to a bit of an unpopular view of the pursuit of my passions. And He did it through a simple question that I believe we all ask ourselves from time to time: Why do I do what I do? The challenge is; do we answer honestly?

As a young athlete I occasionally asked myself this question regarding my passion for basketball. Why was I willing to spend hours upon hours of my teenage years pushing myself to exhaustion? Was it for the love of the game, the thrill of victory, or maybe the camaraderie or the competition? Whatever it was, I eventually dismissed the question, satisfied with how I’d justified my pursuits in my own mind.

If you’re anything like me, you’ve heard it said a thousand times: “Where there is no vision, the people perish…” I guess it’s understandable since this verse seems to be a pretty harsh warning for leaders who don’t take the time to cast a vision for their team. Let’s face it; perishing is not something most of us have on our 2012 to-do list. And, since almost every leadership guru, life coach, pastor, and consultant seems to agree on the importance of vision in leadership it must be a key element to success…or is it?

If there’s one thing I’ve learned in 41 years on this earth it’s to be leery of the masses. In other words, do your own research, along side of prayer and soul searching to find truth. This doesn’t mean we should discount the wisdom of others, it simply means we should confirm that it is, in fact, wisdom from TRUTH! To do this, it’s best to begin at the source, in this case, Proverbs 29:18 Where there is no vision, the people perish; but he that keeps the law, happy is he.

So what’s Solomon really saying about vision? To determine this we must understand what the word vision means in its’ context and not simply in the modern sense of the term.

In my last update I wrote about the importance of checking our motives by asking ourselves why we do what we do – especially before embarking upon any leadership journey. I also challenged you to make certain that why you do what you do aligns with the more important why question – WHY are you here on this earth? This is the question that truly lies at the heart of hearts of your leadership and is where you will ultimately find the answer to what it means to be your BEST in leadership and in life.

So why are you here on this earth? Although countless books and articles attempt to go deep into the philosophy, physiology, psychology, and even theology of the reason for our existence, I much prefer the simple approach of seeking the truth of the matter from the very source of our existence – God. So why are you here?

• God created you in His image and for His glory (Gen. 1:27) (He does have that right, by the way).
• Relationship is central to His image (Gen 2:15, John 3:16, John 14) (He loves you and wants you to love him).
• We bring glory to Him by following what His son clarified and simplified for us as the greatest commandment: LOVE GOD and OTHERS as YOURSELF (Mark 12:29-31, John 15:9-17).

I firmly believe that this is the most important question a leader should ask before embarking upon any journey. So, in following my own advice, I asked myself, WHY write a LFGS newsletter? What are my true motives? Well, of course, one reason is to stay connected with LFGS fans in order to encourage them to encourage others to keep sharing the message of the book. However, for me there truly is another motive – a motive that I should add, aligns with the foundation of my purpose. That motive: To encourage you in your own journey toward LEADING…for God’s Sake!

In our culture almost everything we do we risk doing out of selfish ambition. When we take the time to really think about the deepest motives of our hearts - and ask God to help us see them accurately – it can be very revealing, and in some cases very ugly. That’s why it’s essential to not only ask the question why do I do what I do…but even more importantly, why am I here on this earth? When we come to an understanding of this second part of the why question (more on this in the next newsletter) and learn to align all of our motives with it, we can rest assured that “…all things truly will work together for the good of those who love God…”