Today I am cleaning out a number of my personal files. As I was going back through what I have accumulated over the last year, I found some leadership gold I want to share with you. First, a few things I am thinking about followed by some of today’s more well-known leaders:
- Today’s Leaders Are Thinking And Talking About The American Church – The primary problem with the American church is not systems, structure or approach. The primary problem is its leaders and members no longer fear God.
- Today’s Leaders Are Thinking And Talking About Personal Holiness – In my opinion, the greatest challenge facing today’s pastors is what do they prioritize most – personal holiness or personal freedoms?
- Today’s Leaders Are Thinking And Talking About New Leadership Ideas – It feels as if God has put a canopy over any new leadership ideas. Think about it, over the last 10 years, what actual new leadership concepts are there? There is a lot of new language which frames old concepts in a fresh way but nothing really new. I’m feeling that once we are faithful with what we were given over a 25 year period, God will give us new leadership insights. Our leadership knowledge has outpaced our leadership obedience.
- Today’s Leaders Are Thinking And Talking About The Next Generation Of Leaders – While people over 40 years of age seem to have an overabundance of leadership knowledge, those under 35 need to be taught all the fundamentals my generation now takes for granted. We need to effectively pass the baton. It should be mandatory reading for every leader younger than 35 to read John Maxwell’s The 21 Irrefutable Laws Of Leadership and discuss each chapter with a seasoned leader.
- Today’s Leaders Are Thinking And Talking About Solving Problems – Leaders need to be more focused on solving problems than defending positions.
The following are 16 Additional Very Important Things Today’s Leaders Are Thinking And Talking About:
Misc.
- Today’s Leaders Are Thinking And Talking About Seasons Of Leadership – “If there is not the war, you don’t get the great general; if there is not a great occasion, you don’t get the great statesman; if Lincoln had lived in times of peace, no one would have known his name now.” – President Theodore Roosevelt as quoted in Pulitzer Prize winner Doris Kearns Goodwin’s incredible new book Leadership In Turbulent Times
- Today’s Leaders Are Thinking And Talking About Odell Beckham, Jr And It Is Not Good – “I wish he would create the headlines by his play on the field as opposed to what he says and what he does off the field. I think he needs to do a little more playing and a little less talking.” – New York Giants owner John Mara on Odell Beckham, Jr.
- Today’s Leaders Are Thinking And Talking About True Friendship – “True friendship is not transactional. A friendship is formed when the person you are forming the relationship with can do nothing for you. They can’t increase your platform or your influence. Friends love you for you, not for what you can bring to their lives.” – Derwin Gray in an October 20th Tweet
USA Today, February 15th
- Today’s Leaders Are Thinking And Talking About Personal Fulfillment – “I own 600 restaurants and five casinos (with over 65,000 employees combined), and everything is a lot of fun. But there’s something about sports. This is a sports world. We live in America, and there’s a huge part of population in America (where) this is what they get up and they think about every day, is their home sports teams. I just love owning ’em, my family loves owning the Houston Rockets… We would never trade this.” – Tilman Fertitta
March/April, Inc Magazine
- Today’s Leaders Are Thinking And Talking About Overcoming Barriers Rather Than Excuses – “I didn’t know anybody. I didn’t have a famous last name, didn’t have any access to capital, and didn’t go to college. None of those held me back.” – Daymond John
USA Today, June 5th
- Today’s Leaders Are Not Thinking And Talking About Student Loan Debt Until It Is Too Late – 35% of high school juniors and seniors have $1,000 or less in their college savings fund.
- Today’s Leaders Are Thinking And Talking About Why Things Fail – 5 Reasons Solo: A Star Wars Story flopped – Burn out (too many movies too fast), Some untold stories need to stay that way, Keep looking backwards (origin stories) instead of forwards (something new), No longer special or an event (May opening instead of Christmas), and they were trying to please everyone (a sure-fire recipe for failure).
USA Today, July 26th
- Today’s Leaders Are Thinking And Talking About Creating Value – “It’s part of our continued commitment to deliver unsurpassed craveability with unsurpassed affordability. Five dollars seems to be a popular price point, because it is a reasonable amount to pay for a meal, compared to $10 which starts to feel pricier for a quick-service restaurant.” – Taco Bell press statement
USA Today, August 7th
- Today’s Leaders Are Thinking And Talking About A Shortage Of Values – “There is a shortage of values about what is right, what is wrong. We as a city, in every corner, have an accountability and responsibility.” – Chicago mayor Rahm Emmanuel
USA Today, August 28th
- Today’s Leaders Are Thinking And Talking About The Importance Of Raising Up New Leaders – “If we’re just teaching football, we’re failing. If they’re not better men after leaving your watch, you failed.” -Arizona State head football coach Herman Edwards
USA Today, September 14th
- Today’s Leaders Are Thinking And Talking About How To Better Connect With Their Customers – “We don’t treat our customer as a customer. She’s family. We know who’s getting married, who’s having a baby, who’s getting divorced.” – Chary Wright of the clothing retailer Ashley Stewart
- Today’s Leaders Are Thinking And Talking About Opportunity – “We’re not the team we aspire to be, by any stretch of the imagination. But our effort, how we play, is what I like the most right now. We still make some errors, but when you play with effort and passion, you’re gonna be in football games. You’re gonna have a chance. That’s all you ever ask for is a chance.” – Coach Edwards
GM Street Podcast, October 12th
- Today’s Leaders Are Thinking And Talking About Older Leaders – “The hardest thing to do in coaching is coach a declining superstar.” – Michael Lombardi
- Today’s Leaders Are Thinking And Talking About Their Personal And Organizational Needs – “You don’t have a need if you don’t admit you have one.” – Lombardi
USA Today, October 18th
- Today’s Leaders Are Thinking And Talking About The True Value Of Public School Teachers – “Teachers hold our hands and wipe our noses, tell us we can be more than we are, maybe more than we think we can be. In return, we tell pollsters that they’re underpaid, without being sure what they actually make; that we endorse collective bargaining, yet often resist higher taxes; that we support their right to strike, preferably in someone else’s district. A day with American public school teachers ends with this irony: These people, whom opinion polls show to be among the nation’s most respected, feel disrespected.” – front page feature
- Today’s Leaders Are Thinking And Talking About Their Legacy – “On a personal basis, I really valued his (Paul Allen) advice about the league and asked for it. There was a stature with him that really increased your credibility as a league.” – Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones
What is something else you are thinking and talking about?
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