The words and actions we leave in the wake of following our dreams are often the only remanent of our lives that others hear and see. Sometimes my path has been clean and clear with a focus on specific target or goal. But at other times, it is wandering as I push through my daily storms – climbing, reaching, longing for the elusive dream. However, if I take the time to pause and look back, even though my path may drift and bend, there are others who are following that same path. I am all about setting goals and setting my heart to reach them, but as we all know life is not all about the goal, it’s the journey. As soon as we reach one goal, we move on to another.

Today, pause, reflect, and smile at the lives you have touched on your journey. Be thankful and hopeful as you reflect on the lives that have touched you. If you have touched my life, thank you. If I have touched yours, to God be the glory.

Typically when meeting with an organizational/leadership team, I engage them with a series of questions that almost always causes them to respond with, “Wow, we really are not all on the same page!” The moment that happens, at least a few members catch the vision for what could happen if they were all on the same page and that is a break-through moment. As we work together to discover root problems, their causes, and how to overcome them, those lightbulb moments are truly life-giving.

I specialize in bringing teams together to optimize their synergy. To ensure the organizational finish line is the same for everyone. While we may identify organizational strengths and weaknesses, I am more focused on discovering the reality of where you are, who is on the team, and how we can create wins for the organization every day. When leaders come together to fix what’s wrong, the team owns the problems and the solutions; consequently, the organization turns to the corner – every time.

Sometimes leaders understand where they are deficient and what they need to work on, but all too often they are trying to fix symptoms rather than root causes. Organizational Coaches help you understand root causes and help you create a winning strategy to overcome those deficiencies. If I do my job correctly, you win as individuals, as an organization, and your leadership team becomes an unstoppable force to not only give you wins, but a winning culture that leads to success for everyone involved.

The gift of self is not something we often think about, but we take that gift from others and offer ourselves as that gift throughout our lives. There is an incredible dynamic that takes place when we simply endeavor to give ourselves. Sometimes we do that through sharing a call, a text, or an email; other times it may through a card, a small gift, or a bouquet of flowers. While the text, phone call or flowers may be a physical gift we are offering, what we are actually doing in those moments is giving ourselves.

When we give ourselves – the gift of self – we are giving the most costly and precious thing we have. In that moment we are saying, “The only way I can express my concern for you is to give my time, to give myself.” There are always people in your life, in your journey or just in your way, that desperately need the gift of you and even though you may be behind schedule, approaching a deadline, or in a frantic hurry to cross off the next thing on your to-do list – you always have time to give the gift of self to someone. So give it a try, you may find that in giving yourself away, you actually have more time for other things than you ever realized.

Today, live!

All the time spent hiding, covering, and twisting the facts to shield your inadequacies is time wasted. As a leader you will fail and if you are a good leader you will likely fail often. Let those around you learn how to admit failure and move on, as opposed to learning how to hide their shortcomings. If I never fail, I am either not taking enough risks or I am deflecting the failure to some other person or cause.

If you have ever walked a road like this, I would encourage to stand in front of a mirror and say aloud, “I do not have all the answers. I have made mistakes and I will make them again. I refuse to hide them any longer and I resolve today to be more authentic about my failures than I ever have before. Everything changes today!” Admitting to yourself that you are not the savior is the first step to freedom. Realizing that others will not hate because you make mistakes is life-giving. Recognizing that time spent covering mistakes is time spent – never to be recovered.

You might not want to dwell in the past but taking a short journey back there from time to time may serve as a reminder that mistakes are not final and that you still have value – mistakes, failures, and shortcomings included.

Today, live!

Silly childhood fears still manifest themselves from time to time.  Only this time the monsters reside in the recesses of our minds.  Fear of rejection, fear of failure, fear of confusing God’s voice with my own, fear of missing the mark.  Dealing with those monsters as an adult is not as easy as looking under the bed, in the closet, or pulling the curtains back.  The monsters I experience as an adult require much more effort to overcome, but it is possible.  In fact, we are taught that all things are possible if we simply believe.

If you struggle with monsters consider this simple prayer:

“God, help me to believe that you are a monster slayer.  Help me to know that when times are dark and uncertain.  Remind me that you are greater than any of the monsters I may encounter.  Give me the courage to know the monsters that manifest themselves are as easy to defeat as hanging over the edge of the bed and taking a look – if I simply trust You.  Grant me faith to pull back the curtains that offer hiding places.  I          ask for strength to enter the dark closets of my mind and let Your light in.  Help me to keep all of my fears in check and to always be confident that You are the light that still dispels the darkness and the monsters I create today.”

Today, live!

Nearly 30 years ago, I discovered a truth that has helped me combat this problem in my own life. I do well with this concept, but even still I sometimes mess up. That concept is simply to stay present. The story being shared, the information being disseminated, the communication taking place is important enough to the person talking that they chose you to hear it and the very least you could do is listen and not just hear them.

The classic definition of hearing has more to do with noticing sounds, than actually making sense of the words being said (which is the definition of listening). So, the real challenge is to actually listen to others and not just hear them. Block out the noise, the distractions, the chaos all around you and give the person standing in front of you, your undivided attention. While they are talking to you, help them to feel as if they are the most important person in the world to you. Hear their words and listen for the meaning of the words. When we do this, we communicate to them that we care and that their words have value.

If you can learn to listen to the person in front of you, treat their story the way you would like them to treat yours, and let them feel is if they are the most important person the room, they may start to learn to do that for others. Who knows you may be the catalyst for making the world a better place, one conversation at a time.

Today, live!