Life, Leadership, and Football

Seriously. I love learning. I wish I could say I have always been that way, but to be completely honest, I haven't. I was always very good at playing the game of "school," but I never had a genuine love for learning as I grew up. I was driven to do well by my desire to please my parents, my teachers, and my coaches, and I knew that if I wanted to "be successful" in life I had to "do well in school." I had what Dr. Carol Dweck would call a very "fixed mindset," and it stuck with me all the way through my college years. I was a good student, but I focused on achieving, not learning. I hated reading with a passion. Again, I was good at it (maybe just "good enough"), but I hated it. Being a double major in history and psychology was not good for someone who hated reading, but I managed to survive. Thankfully, I had a few professors who were masterful presenters that could keep my attention, and I had the motivation of my football coac...

I read an article once that featured Richard Robinson, the CEO of Scholastic Books. In the article Robinson tells about a time when he was visiting their distribution center in Jefferson City, Missouri. As he was touring the facility, he started talking to a man driving a forklift, and during that conversation, he asked him, "What is your job? What are you doing here?" I'll never forget what the forklift driver said. "My job is to help children love to read."   What a statement! If Robinson was asking us the same question in our own workplaces, how many of us would have responded with such a statement? Most of us would respond with something along the lines of "I'm a teacher," "I'm a coach," "I'm a forklift driver," or "I'm an insurance salesman." All too often we allow our job titles to define us. It's easy to do because most of us take great pride in our job titles. I know I am proud of...

"'Am' always follows 'do' in American culture." - Alex Himaya, Senior Pastor, theCHURCH.at I was sitting in church a couple weeks ago, and when our pastor said this, I knew I had to include it in this post.  I don't think it's a profound statement, but I do think it points out a troubling truth. Our culture tends to define us by our accomplishments.  We see it all the time.  Let's use Dan Marino as a quick, easy example. Dan Marino is arguably one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game, but every time the debate comes up, the first argument against Marino is the fact that he never won a Super Bowl.  The critics ask, "How can he be the greatest if he never won a Super Bowl?"  Really?!  Trent Dilfer won a Super Bowl, and if I had to pick between the two, I'd take Marino every time (no offense, Trent). "If you ain't first, you're last." - Ricky Bobby The problem, as Pastor Alex went on to point...