Leadership Articles
10 Principles for Sowing into the Lives of Others
As leaders should we seek to continuously deposit nuggets of truth into our people? Sometimes when we bare our heart, sharing and teaching, but see little results, sowing into the lives of others can feel like a waste of time. But we must not lose heart. If we expect that every single seed we sow […]
Explaining Death to a Child
If you are a parent, you most certainly will have to face this arduous task at some point in the journey—telling your child about death. This was my wife and I’s first time… Today, our 10-week-old husky killed one of our chickens, an event that has not happened at our household before. I was on […]
Yes, You Can Grow People
Some say leaders cannot grow people, that rather, people must grow themselves. While this is technically true, that we cannot listen to and apply wisdom for them, we can certainly cultivate an environment in which any reasonable person will grow. If we leave people to their own devices to grow because we ascribe to the line […]
Stop Living in Every Area of Your Strengths
Stop Living in Every Area of Your Strengths Live in your strengths is a recipe for success. While I agree with the wisdom, I would like to offer a clarification. For maximum effectiveness, we must not live is every area of our strengths. The Live In Your Strengths Principle The live in your strengths idea […]
Reflections of a Leader
Reflections of a Leader The discovery of COVID in 2020 unleashed a very busy season for me as a leader. I had to immediately reevaluate my personal and professional priorities, thus necessitating that I stop writing weekly leadership articles. Prior to March 2020, I had been writing articles almost without ceasing since September 2012. Now, […]
Raising Up Leaders
A few weeks ago I visited a dear pastor and a wonderful leader in the hospital. In the brief ten minutes I was there, he shared with me a story that prompted me to think about my leadership. Raise Up Leaders He said, ?Wes, many years ago my leadership mentor told me pastors ask two […]
Religious Intolerance in Advanced Societies
Merry Christmas! Today Christians all over the world celebrate the birth of Christ. Yet here in America, where we cherish our religious freedom to do so, I sense a slow shift toward religious intolerance. Currently in media, public debates, and intellectual discussions, the mention of God, the devil, an after life, or the origin of […]
Do You Need to Walk Away From Your Position?
The most powerful act of leadership George Washington ever displayed was to surrender power. This was recently expressed by Joseph Ellis, one of our nation?s leading scholars on revolutionary history. Surrendering power. Giving up a great position. Why would anyone ever want to do that? Great leaders do when it’s time. Let me share with […]
How to Turn Any Organization Around
Recently, I was approached to help?a small, struggling organization. I’ve discovered that most teams or?organizations who find themselves in dire?circumstances such as this one tend to have a problem in?at least one of the common?areas outlined below. In this article I want to reveal five practical steps to?turn any organization around. One: Know How Your […]
Healthy Leaders Are Restless Seekers
Five words that will transform anyone?s life:?Seek and you shall find, spoken by Jesus of Nazareth. We understand these words to refer to spiritual truths. But they are true in any area of life in which we need answers. What kind of seeking is required? Restless seeking. Below, I will?to share how a leadership expert?demonstrated […]
When an Issue Arises, Admit It
Leaders make a huge mistake when problems arise, but they act as if there?is no issue. Ignoring a matter does not make it go away. People know. We must be as transparent as possible, as quickly as possible, for two reasons. An issue arose. I was recently at Exchange, a high-impact three-day leadership experience, hosted […]
Lessons from General George Washington
Few historical figures are uniformly praised and lauded for their leadership acumen like George Washington. Much has been recorded about?his leadership. This is what historian Ron Chernow said of President Washington in a recent TV interview: ?There were probably other generals who from a strategic standpoint were superior. But while the other generals were jockeying […]