Remember the Peanuts cartoon with Snoopy, Charlie Brown and all his friends? American cartoonist Charles M. Schulz wrote and illustrated the famous series which featured a group of young children and one memorable dog. In the strips, there were rarely any adults seen or heard, but the life lessons were no less power-packed! In one…

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Earlier this week, John Maxwell wrote a blog post on A Leader’s Silent Investment. I was captivated by this thought and wanted to spend some time unpacking this further with you. I fully affirm John’s belief that personal growth is a leaders greatest silent investment. Let’s break this down… What makes personal growth silent? Well,…

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It’s true. You need to focus–and so do I! I chose to write on this topic this week because I have discovered that the more opportunities I’m involved with, the more difficult it is to engage in focused thinking. We must face this hard truth about success: you will not achieve it if you are…

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If you’re human, you are going to make mistakes. I love Denis Waitley’s perspective: “Mistakes are painful when they happen, but years later a collection of mistakes is what is called experience.” John Maxwell says there are two kinds of people in regards to setbacks: splatters, who hit the bottom, fall apart and stay on…

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The IF Factor

Adversity is inevitable. Challenges, setbacks, disappointment, criticism – you won’t be able to avoid these for long. The most important question is how will you respond to adversity? If there is anyone with reason enough to respond to his circumstances with a negative attitude, it’s Rob Mendez. Rob was born with what they call tetra-amelia…

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The 4th of July was always an important holiday for the community where I grew up. I’ll always remember the anticipation waiting for the sun to go down and the real celebration to begin. Fireworks! I love fireworks for 2 reasons: 1) Everyone seems to love them, and 2) Nothing screams a unified celebration quite…

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My dad was the first influence in my life to teach me the importance of relationships. In his words, “The only thing that will last is what you invest in people.” Acquisitions and possessions will all fade away, but what you place inside of the people around you will remain long after you are gone.…

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Is it really possible for us to change the world? What a big question! Have you ever thought about it? John Maxwell and I are on a worldwide trip for the next few weeks with eight different stops, literally all over the globe, adding value to leaders who influence hundreds of thousands of people. As…

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Everybody has problems. If you aren’t sure about that statement, just ask someone—most people will gladly tell you all about theirs! When it comes to problems, I agree with Lou Holtz’s humorous perspective, “Don’t tell your problems to people! 80% don’t care and the other 20% are glad you have them.” While most people don’t…

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Is any leader really comfortable being known as a beginner? I don’t think so. I’ve observed that most leaders have a natural desire to become an expert. But this doesn’t always lead to success in leadership—as John Wooden said, “It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.” To continually grow and learn,…

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