Category: The Dave Rave

For good or bad, I’ve always been an early adopter.  By that I mean, if a new thing comes out, be it technology or a piece of equipment, I am always interested.  And not every time, but a lot of times, I go ahead and take the plunge with the first wave of adopters.

One of the things I got into early was Twitter.  I didn’t understand it at first.   I couldn’t imagine why anyone would want to know if I was putting gas in my truck, eating a hamburger, or just taking out the trash.  That’s what Twitter started out being.  But it’s morphed into something far more powerful.

I am using Twitter as an example.  You can plug in any other social media platform in which millions of people gather: places like Facebook, Linkedin, YouTube, and so on.  Here are the five reasons why I made a commitment to Twitter and social media early, and why you should too:

1. I Twitter to connect. It’s amazing how many people from so many different places you can connect to in the Twitter stream.  And the great thing is, if you know what you’re doing, you can choose to follow those people who are talking about things that matter, and make connections that will help move your own mission and brand forward.
2. I Twitter to contribute. I Twitter to the conversation by adding not only my perspectives that may help people at a certain moment, at some location, going through the very thing I am talking about.  I contribute my research, the things that I’ve found, and also the content I’m creating.
3. I Twitter to learn. And man, is there a lot to learn!  If you have an iPad, you have to have flipboard, and you have to have it plugged into your Twitter stream.  It’s amazing how many articles and research come alive in that platform.
4. I Twitter to save time. There is no way I have enough time to find all the articles and research that are out there, all at my fingertips, all giving me access to not only information, but resources and tools that help me do my work more efficiently and with less clutter and friction.
5. I Twitter to communicate. At the end of the day, that’s the motivation; to add my voice, to believe that I have something to contribute that will help people know God,  love God, and live the life for which they were created, to give my renegade brand of understanding about spirituality, to also contribute to makingmarriagefunagain.com, our mission to help good people grow great relationships over time.

So I suppose the bottom line is this:  If you have nothing to say, nothing to contribute, nothing to communicate, nothing to learn, and if you’ve got all the time in the world to go research all of the information out there by yourself, by all means, don’t Twitter.  But if you do that, not only are you robbing yourself, you are robbing us when you fail to offer your contribution to the conversation.

The numbers are out.  There were over 200,000 new books published in the United States in 2010.  This is by traditional, old world media publishers.  The real blow-your-mind statistic is that an additional 700,000 books were self-published by authors.  What does this tell you?  One, it’s a lot easier to get a book published and a lot less expensive than it has ever been.  The only reason you’d need a publisher anyway, is for their ability to get dead-tree books into big-box stores.  And now that both of those are going away, publishing is open to everyone.

You know you have a book in you, and you know you should probably write a book.  So let me give you five reasons, hopefully to push you into action:

1. You should write a book to contribute your insights to an area of expertise or interest that you have a particular, singular, interesting passion for.
2. You should write a book to force yourself to grow intellectually by reading, researching, putting your thoughts on paper and making them make sense.
3. You should write a book to find your own voice. One of the hardest things to do as a first-time writer is to trust that you have something to say and that your voice is as legitimate as anyone else’s out there.
4. You should write a book to be taken seriously.  Let’s be honest.  We take people who write books – serious books, interesting books, well-researched and well-written books – more seriously than we do people who write two or three-paragraph blogs.  Yes, I know there are exceptions.  But trust, me.  They are the exception.
5. You should write a book to leave a legacy of thought and insight that will continue to live on long after you pass off the scene.  You talk about passive income or passive influence; I’ve been in ball games, concerts, even sleeping, to wake up and get a voice mail, email, or tweet from someone halfway around the world who has read one of my books.

I hope these are enough to get you into the game and get you started.

I was talking to someone on Facebook this week and they let me know that  because of downsizing and other disrespectful activity, the company that they’d given so many years for had laid them off and hired someone cheaper.

His statement was, “I get to start all over again.”  And while I admit, no one who has invested years of hard work and sacrifice wants to go back and start over, it does have its advantages.  Here are five I can think of:

1. When you start over, you have the wisdom of the years that you’ve put in. You know what will and won’t work better than anyone else.  And by itself, the wisdom that you have gives you an advantage over anyone who is younger, even if they are better educated.
2. You have the advantage of not having a lot of overhead. You can stay lean and nimble.  You don’t have to spend a lot of money.  The gatekeepers are now powerless because the price of entry to most things these days is a fraction of what it used to be.
3. You have the advantage that you can move fast. Any new learning or opportunity you have today, you can do.  You don’t have to call a lot of meetings or consider a lot of hurt feelings, you can move and make decisions.
4. You have the advantage of being able to learn new skills that you can add onto your already acquired skills that augment and make you valuable.
5. Most of all, you have the advantage of gathering smarter, better, more generous people around you. Over time, we tend to collect people who were good for us at one time, but have long since become toxic.  It’s great to jettison the old baggage for the new.

Here is the truth in the new world.  You’re probably going to have to start over more than once. The day of starting when you’re in your twenties and going for forty years in a career that’s always up and to the right, advancing with more prestige and money is over.  And I’m actually glad.  Because, let’s face it, if you do the same thing for forty years you are in danger of acquiring the disease of entitlement.  And that’ll kill you.

If you’re a leader, you have to ask yourself this question almost every day, “What do I do that others can’t do? What do I do today with the position and the power that has been handed to me?”

A lot of leaders answer this question without thinking.  But it’s incumbent upon every leader to ask themselves, “What are the legitimate uses of my power?”  Here are five I can think of:

1. Use your power to empower, which simply means you give everyone in the organization the permission to do their job, to carry out their task, and not be held up with endless bureaucracy and procedures.  Empower the people in your organization, group, or company, and they will pay you back tenfold.
2. Use your power to free-up. Don’t allow good people to be bogged down by endless levels of communication, procedure, or in-fighting.  Where there are bottlenecks, step in and free-up the free-flow of meaningful action and creativity.
3. Use your power to enrich. As a leader, you make the decision that your group will have a learning environment.  Are the people you’re working with and leading feeling better for having worked with you and around you, and achieving a common goal?  Enrich people that you have been given the responsibility to lead and they will enrich you.
4. Use your power to take initiative. The leader is the one who has to do the first next right thing. You have to take action.  People in your group and company will react, even overreact, and fail to act.  And many times they’ll blame it on you because you’re the leader after all, and you have to initiate.  You have to be a self-starter.  You have to make sure that the momentum of the group is maintained.
5. Use your power to protect. What are you supposed to protect?  The people?  Yes.  The product? Certainly.  The service? Of course.  More importantly you protect the mission, vision, and goals of the organization.  No one in your group is more important than the mission for which the group exists.  All of you serve the mission, you promote the vision, and you take action that leads to the achievement of your stated goals. Protect the mission against apathy, and most importantly protect it against success.

Everyone’s looking for ways to be happy: secrets to happiness, the road to happiness, 5 steps, 5 formulas, 5 easy somethings that might end up one day making them happy.  I’ve come to the conclusion that you go down a slippery slope when you try to answer that question so why don’t I just add my own formula?

I’ve found that real happiness isn’t in arriving in a certain state, but is in being engaged in certain activities.  Happiness is not inactivity.  Happiness is full-engagement.  Here’s what I mean.

1. People who serve are happy. Those people who are engaged in a calling, moving toward a goal that helps people are the happiest.  Serving, helping, healing, reconciling, redeeming, restoring: all of these are not only the highest human activity, they find God’s favor as well.
2. People who give are happy. Generosity comes out of gratitude.  Gratitude comes from a heart that knows it has been blessed far beyond what it deserves.  Generosity also makes people happy because it is a surefire way of flourishing in life.  The more I give, the more I get.  This is a promise from God.  It is a law that cannot be broken.  Often the danger is we fail to realize that not only that we give, but what we give is what comes back to us.
   
3. People who love are happy. Loving someone is a selfless act.  It makes them the object of not only your affection, but of your actions. Loving someone well is a full time job and will call for you to engage at the highest levels of your creativity and your humanity.
4. People who move forward are happy. Life is all about movement.  Money is about movement.  The economy moves.  We step into the stream of life the moment we’re born and we’re constantly moving.  You’re at one of three places right now: stagnant, dying, or moving ahead.  Happy people are the people who are moving.  It doesn’t matter how fast they are going, just so long as they are moving toward a big, hairy, audacious goal that is worthy of life, love, and sacrifice.
5. People who morph are happy. We often frame change as a negative thing.  But growing things change, and change causes friction.  And I’ve found that really happy people lubricate that friction with generosity, service, love, and a can-do attitude.  Changing is inevitable.  Changing for the better is a choice.

What are the ways that you see happy people behaving? Can you add to this list?  Sit down and have a conversation your group, your family, or your team at work and see if adding one of these five might make you a happier, more productive group.

I love living in Nashville because it’s a town of creators.  More particularly, I love to live around all of these songwriters: people who dedicate their lives to the meaning and significance of not just words, but the right words.  It was Mark Twain who said that the difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning, and the lightning bug.

Words matter.  They create worlds. What we say matters; negatively and positively.  So if you want to create the world of your dreams, and live the life for which you were created, here are five words you should use every single day, with great boldness and bravado.

1. Every single day you should say, “yes.” Knowing what your mission on earth is, having a vision of that mission and specific goals that will get you there, helps you know exactly what you can say “yes” to with a shout.  All those things that contribute and move you on toward that goal are good things.  You focus on those things and pour your energy into them with a great big “yes.”  No hesitation, no worries, no doubts.  You simply go with everything you’ve got for your big yeses.
2. Every single day you should say, “no.” There are so many things competing for our attention and affection, we have to learn to say, “no.”  Sometimes it is the most liberating thing to say.  It keeps us from getting entangled in a thousand different good things and allows us to focus our attention on the best things.  It keeps us from disappointing those who we’ve said “yes” to but we really meant, “no.”
3. Every single day you should say, “please.” Civility, kindness, politeness: these things seem to be on the back burner these days. But they are still important.  Please, thank you, kindness, and recognition of those around you every single day will help keep you humble and create goodwill.
4. Every single day you should ask, “what?” What should I do at this moment? What’s the best use of this day, my time, my energy and efforts? What can I do to make this better?  What can I do to solve the problem?  Anything that you can’t define are things that may have your concern, but shouldn’t hold your attention.
5. Every single day you should ask, “how?” How do I fix this?  How do I get it done?  How do I achieve my goals?  How do I launch that new business or web site?  How do I write the book?  How do I create the products that will help people be free from the bondage of their past, their doubts, and their mistakes? How can I help?  How can I be a blessing?  I’ve learned that any great, compelling “why?” and “what?” will ultimately find its “how?”

Think about the words you are using.  These words created the world in which you now find yourself, and will continue to create the world you live in. So, every day say, “yes, no, please, what, and how.”

It’s hard to actually believe that Coach Fisher is no longer at the helm of the Titans.  For 17 years he’s defined the franchise and led us through good and bad times.

I met Coach Fisher when he first moved to town; when the Titans didn’t have a stadium or a headquarters in Nashville.  He showed up one day in the school where we were meeting, and from that day until this, I have been in awe of the man, the friend, and the brother he is.

I am so sad to see him go, but I know that our city along with me, will not forget or even want to get over the influence he’s had on our lives. So as I’ve reflected on the new reality, I’ve thought about the leadership lessons Coach Fisher has taught me personally over the years.  There are so many, it is hard to limit but here are the top ten.

1. Coach Fisher has taught me integrity. All across the board, Fisher is known as a man of integrity.  He’s known as a player’s coach.  He always does the right thing, even when it costs him. In all the recent verbiage about the conflict between his quarterback and his owner, Fisher has always taken the high road.  He doesn’t tolerate in himself what he won’t accept in others.  He realizes that when his integrity is gone, everything else is gone with it.  He’s willing to take the criticism that comes sometimes along with standing with your integrity intact.  It is one of the main reasons I think he has won the heart of all of Tennessee.
2. Coach Fisher is a man of compassion. Few people know that Coach Fisher never cuts a player through proxy, phone call, email, or text.  He always talks to them face-to-face.  No matter who the player is or what his contribution has been to the team, he doesn’t delegate that to his coaches. Fisher is a man of compassion and understands the dreams of his players and the sacrifices they make.  There are many stories floating around about how Fisher has gone the extra mile for players whose families are in distress.  I’ve personally seen him, out of his own pocket, go to an expense to meet the needs and keep quiet about it.
3. Coach Fisher has taught me vision. By this I mean he can see everything.  He has a vision for the organization, the players, the owner, for the NFL, for his coaches, and for everyone around him.  Across the board, he is always present and engaged.  He can see his players, their needs, their liabilities and their abilities.  He can get more out of them separately and together than anyone could ever have imagined. He has a vision of how it all comes together, so it makes him a unique leader.
4. Coach Fisher has taught me passion.  Watch him on the sideline after a win or a touchdown, or in an intense moment.  He loses his refinement and just simply celebrates the moment like a little kid at his first game.  And it’s contagious.
5. Coach Fisher has taught me about playing until the whistle blows. Yes, I was actually there, in person, at the Music City Miracle.  One of the things I noticed in the latter part of that game as well as many others, is that when it seemed hopeless and the other team was celebrating their victory and winding down, Fisher and his coaches were thinking and processing; always in the moment, always strategizing, never thinking of giving up.  I’ve seen him relentless at the task, no matter what the odds were against him.  As a leader, any lapse of judgment can be devastating.  As the old saying goes, “it’s never over until it’s over.”  And Coach Fisher has displayed that constantly, for 17 years.
6. Coach Fisher has taught me balance. He has an uncanny way of handling the pressure.  You don’t stay 17 years as the head coach of a team that has moved from state to state, built a stadium and a headquarters, gone through all the ups and downs, the turmoil, and even the scandal that NFL teams do, without finding balance.
7. Coach Fisher has taught me faith. Though he doesn’t flaunt it and wear it on his sleeve, Coach Fisher is a strong man of faith.  I’ve seen him stand on it, use it, extend it.  I’ve seen him pray with his coaches and his players day in and day out; no foolishness, a man of first-hand, solid faith.
8. Coach Fisher has taught me loyalty. Again, he has the reputation across the league of being loyal to his players. He is loyal to his coaches and even to his ownership.  He always keeps conflict where it should be kept – inside the family where it can be dealt with positively.
9. Coach Fisher has taught me toughness. Fisher is a tough guy.  For all the things we can say about his compassion and his caring, he can and will do the hard thing with class and integrity, and a measured toughness.
10. Coach Fisher has taught me defiance. You don’t often think about defiance when you think about Fisher.  But he is a man of quiet, principled defiance. He simply won’t go with the popular opinion.  He will not be pushed, he will not be cajoled, and he will not be threatened. He defiantly stands for what he thinks is right, and he defiantly does what he thinks is best for the team over the long haul.  He refuses to give in to quick fixes to bolster up his reputation.

Coach Fisher, we say “good-bye,” but you’ll never be forgotten.  Your legacy and influence are intact with us.  We will pray for you, and know that your next assignment will lead you to that elusive goal – a Super Bowl.

Life moves fast, doesn’t it?  What we determine in a quiet moment of reflection can be turned upside-down in the crazy, emergency, hurry-here, or fix-it-now life that we all face.

In the process of trying to get it all right, we’re tempted sometimes to compromise, to make trade-offs in order to get through what we’re going through.

I’m not saying that’s always bad.  But here are five trade-offs that won’t pay-off in the long run.

1. We’ve traded our joys for jobs. You know what it’s like.  When you’re young you can be childish.  I prefer to say, child-like.  But when you grow up, you have to face the real world and get a job. Why can’t our jobs be the expression of our joys, our calling, and our place on this earth? You can do work that fills you with energy and joy, and makes a difference in the world.  It won’t be easy, and it won’t surrender overnight.  But don’t give up hope that you can live the rest of your life making the world a better place, and loving it so much that you would never think about retirement.
2. We’ve traded our soul for security. Oftentimes we stay in toxic relationships in environments at work and at home because it leaves us a pain we’re familiar with.  We neglect our soul.  Our spirit sinks through boredom, sameness, and resentment.  Security is way overrated.  Living with a free, full, and joyful soul is why you’re on earth to start with.
3. We’ve traded our humanity for hurry. There is nothing that hurry doesn’t damage.  Why not trade a bad hurry for a good busy?  How do you do that?  Let’s start by knowing the difference between what’s important, and what’s urgent.  Remember, the important will always wait; the urgent won’t – or so we think.
4. We’ve traded our relationships for our responsibilities. Here is the equation I’ve seen worked out in the lives of people over and over again.  Responsibility without relationship equals rebellion.  Equally too, is relationship plus responsibility equals fulfillment.
5. We’ve traded transformation for therapy. Let’s face it, it’s hard to grow up.  It’s hard to grow up healthy.  It’s hard to change, but not impossible.  It’s often the hard work of walking through the fire of refinement and transformation that allows us to take our weaknesses and turn them into strengths.  If we medicate every problem we have and call it a sickness or an addiction, we’ll find ourselves trapped in a therapeutic life.

Here are the five trade-offs I’ve been tempted to make.  What are some of yours? Discuss them with those around your team work-table, or even at home.  What trade-offs are you tempted to make in your business or organization, or even in your family?

People are hurting everywhere you look.  I truly believe that one of the greatest sins we commit every Sunday morning in our churches is underestimating how much hurt and pain people are in.

And while I am very compassionate, because people have been caring for me in my pain, I also have to acknowledge that there are some self-inflicted wounds that we ought to be avoiding.

As a matter of fact, I’m calling for a new normal.  I call it weird.  Yeah, I mean weird.  It’s really weird to be happy and full of joy and energy, and to love what you do.  So here are the five kinds of weirds you want to be:

1. You want to be debt-free. It sounds kind of odd, revolutionary.  But normal in America is to be in debt, and in some cases, in debt so far that it would take at least a decade to get out.  Determine to be weird and to pay cash.
2. You want to stay committed to your marriage commitment. Thank God people still believe in marriage.  We’re eternal optimists.  Not only are we getting married, we’re getting married 2, 3, and 4 times.  Whether or not this is your first, second, or third marriage, be weird and stay committed to the promises you made before your pastor, your family and friends, and God and said that you would have each others back and love each other forever.
3. You want to make the most of your choices. You are never powerless until you give up the power to choose.  You can choose a better life today, this moment just by making a better choice.  The moment you begin to walk and exercise, your body responds and you become healthy.  The moment you begin to read books and learn, your creativity level goes up.  You get the point.
4. You want to be the kind person that people like to see coming through the door. How do you do that?  Be generous.  Create goodwill.  And one of the most important things you can do is say, “please” and “thank you.”  You want to be the person people smile at and want to welcome into any situation.
5. You want to be the person who has the strong, vibrant faith; who can without shame or excuse say they love God and seek to do His will.  And if you can do all that without becoming an arrogant, stuck up, self-righteous, religious know-it-all you’ve beat the odds.  Guess what: you’re weird.

Maybe you have some other new kinds of weird that you want to be, to add to this list.  Sit down and talk with your family and friends and ask them how easy it is these days to excel in a sea of mediocrity.

Well, we’re off and running in the New Year, and I have to tell you, I’m a guy who is all for making resolutions.

I know a lot of people oppose it because they think it really doesn’t matter.  But let’s face it.  All of us need a little recalibrating from time to time.  Even the most passionate among us can have leakage and drift.  So here are the five resolutions I invite you to make along with me for the New Year.

1. I resolve to move forward. By that I mean, life is about advancing.  It’s not how fast you go.  It’s that you’re going forward. I’m not going to look to the past, to the regrets, the sins, the mistakes that I have made and, more importantly, the ones that have been perpetrated against me.  I’m going to let the past be in the past and I’m moving forward.  There is no future in the past and it’s really tough to navigate the road ahead by looking in the rear-view mirror.
2. I resolve to plan ahead. I have set goals for the New Year.  I have a plan.  Not only do I have a 36-month plan, I have a 12-month plan.  I divide that up into small bites that I schedule weekly.  Just going with the flow and letting things happen often means that we get far less done than we could have with a plan.  Remember, we woefully overestimate what we can do overnight, and we woefully underestimate what we can do over time.
3. I resolve to resist judging others. Too often we waste our time trying to figure out other people’s motives; trying to make judgments on who’s good and who’s bad, who’s in and who’s out.  I’m simply not going to make a judgment as to whether or not a person will be open to my influence, or even open to helping me.  I’m going to ask and let them make the decision.  I resolve to not say “no” for someone else.
4. I resolve to show up. My daily mantra is to get up (oftentimes depressed people stay in bed or lie on the couch), suit up (which means brush my teeth and put on my work clothes so I will feel ready), show up (which means I’m going to be where I should, keep my promises , and be on time), and do the next right thing.
5. I resolve to expect the best. I know that this year is going to be my best year yet.  2010 was a great year.  It’s hard to believe in the last four years, my life has developed into something I’ve always dreamed it would be.  After a very dark night and a disappointing failure in my life, God has shown up.  He’s taught me to expect the best.  Yes, I can plan for contingencies, but I will not plan for the worst.  I will expect the best and make my plans, understanding that things always take longer than I thought they would, cost more than they promised me, and sometimes have to be jettisoned and revamped altogether.  But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to expect the best from God and His plan for my life, as well as other people.  Just because some people let you down doesn’t mean everyone will.

This is my list.  Either adopt it as your own, or come up with one that’s better.

One of the reasons I love living in Nashville is that it’s a city full of creatives: writers, singers, entrepreneurs; all people who are determined to make something of their lives.

As one of those creatives, here are five reasons I do what I do.

1. Creating captures time. By that I mean the hour or two or three it takes me to write something is captured in the content that I’ve created.  I’ve literally written, with my books and my talks, thousands and thousands of pages of content; creative ideas.  All of that time is captured, is mine anytime I want it.
2. Creating knows no distance. A book, a song, an idea, a blog, a tweet, all go anywhere we want them to.  With the death of distance, it is a wireless, wall-less world where anyone, anywhere, anytime can access your creative input. Yea God!
3. Creativity demands critical thinking which, bottom line, means that I have to stop and focus on something to see it through.  Think about the idea.  Is it worthy to be developed?   Is it worthy to be communicated?
4. Creating creates endless possibilities. The deeper you get into the creative process, the more you see of what’s possible.  One creative idea links to another.  These creative ideas use synergy to create bigger, better, bolder ideas; many of which can change the world.  Without creativity, we’d just simply be sifting through the clutter.
5. Creativity at its best, changes the world. We must believe, or at least recover the belief, that what we do matters; that we can indeed change the world through the endless creative possibilities that are presented to us each day.  As a creative, I simply won’t tolerate a world of inequity, pain, and injustice.  I must heal a hurt, lift a load, right a wrong, or at least support a dream.  So should you.  You’re creative.  How do I know that?  Because you were created by the most creative person in the Universe – God.

Every day I get up seeking to know God, love God, and live the life for which I was created.  You too?

One of the hot topics in my hometown of Nashville right now is the controversy going on
with our quarterback, Vince Young.

The press loves nothing more than to find something small and blow it out of proportion.  So now there is a triad of dissent between Vince Young, our quarterback, Jeff Fisher, the longest tenured coach in the NFL and considered by most one of the top four coaches in the game today, and our absentee owner who lives in the deep, dark recesses of Houston.

The truth is, I know a couple of these people very well.  And I know how they operate.  As I’ve been thinking about all that gets stirred up in football and sports and political arenas, I think about the difference between those who are true leaders, and those who simply fill leadership positions.

So here are my 5 signs you’re nowhere near ready for leadership:

1. You’re nowhere ready for leadership if you can’t stand the heat. Leaders are admired, followed, and paid well.  But they are also criticized, put upon, and cut down relentlessly.  A true leader understands this and stands up under the heat of leadership.
2. You’re nowhere ready for leadership if at the first sign of controversy you play the victim. You know, the person who always uses the why, who, and when questions: Why is this happening? Who’s to blame? When are they going to fix it? That is the language of victims.  By definition, victims can’t be leaders.  But oh, don’t we have so many filling leadership positions.
3. You’re nowhere ready for leadership if you don’t have a core passion for some important, world-changing mission that you’re willing to sacrifice your comfort and even your well-being for. Having watched Coach Fisher the many years he has been here in Nashville, I admire his work ethic.  I’ve found this to be true in other people I know like Dave Ramsey, Dan Miller, Randall Wallace, and those who truly achieve greatness.  They are willing to pour everything they have into a passionate mission, a big idea that can truly end up changing the world.
4. You’re nowhere ready for leadership if your primary motivator is money. Yeah, it is true that by and large leaders get paid more than followers.  But I don’t know one significant leader who does it for the money.  What I’ve found is, when you find something you’re passionate about that matters and do it with excellence, the money always seems to follow.
5. You’re nowhere ready for leadership if you’re not a reader. I heard someone say many years ago that leaders are readers.  Why is this important?  It’s important because of one truth you can’t deny.  And that is, speed a leader; speed a team.  Or said another way, a leader has to be not just out front, but out front just enough, informed by what he’s learning – insights and principles – that will allow the team, the organization, the company, to move forward to a successful effort.  I’ve heard men and women proudly proclaim, “I haven’t read a book in years.”  The sad truth is, they didn’t have to say it.  Everyone around them knew it.

So before you lust after a head-coaching job, a CEO’s position, or anything that will require personal responsibility and accountability, ask yourself, “Am I ready for leadership?”

I often hear people say, “I live on the cutting-edge.”  What I think they mean to say is they live on the bleeding edge.  I’ve never quite understood how important it would be to be on the cutting edge, because it seems to be too thin to be substantial for long.

So in light of that, in this Dave Rave, I want to talk about the five best things that you can be behind.

1. It’s best to be behind the latest thing. Don’t be too quick to get in on the latest thing.  Oftentimes it’s the thing that fails and costs the most money.  Sometimes those people on the cutting edge really bleed the most.  And if you hang back and learn, you can gain a lot of valuable information and experience without having to go through the pain of the loud thud of failure.
2. It’s best to be behind the crowd. The majority may rule, but often the majority is wrong.  That’s why in this country, in this democracy, we have what we call a republic, a representative form of government.  We elect people to go and make decisions in our name.  Why?  Because if the majority had to vote on everything, nothing would get done. More importantly, the wrong things would be done.  So don’t be so quick to follow the crowd.  Just because everyone else is doing it doesn’t mean it’s right, profitable, or fits you.
3. It’s best to be behind the trend. Trends are usually those things that are made by talking heads on TV taking polls and surveys and using them to justify their existence.  Today’s trend can easily be tomorrow’s cautionary tale.
4. It’s best to be behind a great cause that is bound to prevail. One of the reasons I am a Christian is because I want to be behind a big, epic movement; a Renegade movement started by The Renegade from Nazareth.  What is this movement?  Not to make the world more religious, mad, or messed up. Having three major components, it is a movement centered on redemption, reconciliation, and restoration.  It’s a cause that has endured for thousands of years, and will continue to endure for thousands more.  I want to make sure I’m behind a cause that is bigger than me and will outlive me.
5. It’s best to be behind great people. You can be at the right place at the right time, have a lot of talented people around you, and look successful for awhile.  But over time, the time has a way of revealing not just the content of your marketing, but the content of your character.  Whether it’s at home, at church, or in the marketplace, make sure you are behind good people, people who you admire and respect, people who are growing and leading, full of joy and energy; people who understand the difference between power and control and inspire and influence.

We’re fast coming upon the Christmas season when we hear the same seasonal cliche’s like “Joy to the World, Peace on Earth, Goodwill to Men.”  We’ll sing songs that will contain phrases like “comfort and joy.”

When I think of that term, comfort and joy, I think about the five joys of discomfort.

1. The joy of the kind of discomfort that gets me to move. That’s what all of life is, isn’t it? Movement.  The only things in life that don’t move are those things that are dead.  Discomfort (low income, broken relationships, dead-end jobs) can be seen as negatives, or turned into positives when that discomfort gets me to move.
2. The joy of the kind of discomfort that wakes me up. Way too many people I see have a blank look on their face.  We live in the greatest country in the world, enjoy the highest standard of living than ever before, electronic gadgets are coming out the wazoo, and yet the number one emotion painted on the faces of the people I see is disappointment and boredom.  Sometimes discomfort wakes us out of our dogmatic slumbers and makes us face new realities so we ourselves can be transformed.
3. The joy of the kind of discomfort that makes me change. Someone has said that the only predictable reality of life is change.  That may be true, but whether we change for the better or worse is always up to us.  Sometimes the discomfort of staying in the same place is so great that we are willing to change. We change usually under three conditions: when we know enough to change, when we want enough to change, and when we have no other choice.
4. The joy of the kind of discomfort that makes me appreciate what I have. Why is it that we fail to appreciate things until we no longer have them?  That happened to me when I lost my job and what I thought was my ability to do what I was created to do.  When it was handed back by an army of renegades and righteous believers, I’ve never been the same.  Every day is a joy.   Every Sunday morning is like Christmas for me. Yea God for the discomfort of that kind of disruption.
5. The joy of the kind of discomfort that reminds me who my true source is. Whether you are a person of faith or not, trust me, the day will come when, if God loves you any at all, He will allow something to happen in your life that will shake your confidence in your company, your corporation, and even your country.  This event will shake you to the core and remind you just how helpless and vulnerable you really are.  Why does God do this?  He does this because he loves us.  We too easily forget that the resources that God brings into our lives can become idols.  And our true source – our Master Donor, the lover of our souls – begins to take a back seat.

These are my five joys of discomfort.  What are yours?

One of the controversies that exists in almost any arena of achievement is, do you want character or skill?  My response is, why not both?

But let’s face it.  If we do have to make a choice, and at times we do, character will always trump skill.  People with skill but unfulfilled lives are legendary in all areas of achievement.  Here are five times character trumps skill.

1. Character trumps skill when it comes to being consistent. People with character can be counted on over time to continually achieve and behave at a higher level simply because this is who they are and what they demand of themselves.  People with skill tend to be up and down and lack the self-discipline it takes to win, over time.
2. Character trumps skill when continuity is important. Let’s face it.  If you relate to anyone in your work-a-day world (and who doesn’t?) people need to trust that there will be continuity not just in what you say you will do, but what you do.
3. Character trumps skill when reliability is important. People with skill only as their major emphasis tend to be temperamental and moody.  They hold out for higher pay and special treatment.  And yet people whose skill is bolstered by high character will do what they say, deliver on time, and keep their word.
4. Character trumps skill when other people and their livelihoods, reputations, and hopes are on the line. How many times have you been held up at work by someone with great skill, but simply can’t deliver in the crunch?  When you’re on the line and you depend on others, you want to make sure that they are consistent, reliable, and can offer continuity to your project.
5. Character trumps skill when the mission is more important than one person. If you are trying to achieve something significant, then you don’t need high-skill prima donnas, but high character people who know how to relate in harmony with others.

Here is my list.  Sit down with your team, add your own and let me know what you come up with.