Leader Growth

5 Tips for Effectively Leading Your Team

Why is it such a challenge to get everybody headed and leading in the same direction? Why do team members get frustrated? How do you get them excited about what you are doing?

A few weeks ago, I was driving Madison and her friend to school. To avoid busy school traffic, I turned down a narrow back road.

As we talked about her morning and her after school plans, the passenger side tires left the pavement for a few moments spinning up grass and gravel. I laughed and told Madison to keep her side on the road – the same thing you say to your kids, right?

Then Madison asked, “Dad, why does mom always complain about your driving?” (For the record, Sarah doesn’t ALWAYS complain about my driving. And she complains less today than she used to.)

When People Trump Everything Else

Leaders who genuinely care for people, consistently live out vision, and selflessly help others reach their full potential know when the relationship trumps everything else.

Relationship development is not something that can simply be checked off of the to-do list. It can’t be outsourced. And it’s certainly not an exercise in convenience.

Effective leaders value key relationships and make them top priority.

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In August 2012, I transitioned to a new role in Dallas. So our family moved (drove) halfway across the country. When we made the decision to move, we knew (I knew) that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to travel back to DC a few weeks later for my youngest sister’s wedding.

Now – about 15% of the people who just read that last paragraph are thinking – That makes sense. (I’m one of those people.)

Everyone else in the world is thinking – What an idiot! Unless you are on your deathbed, you’d better be at that wedding!

Approval Of Others – The ONE Thing That Limits EVERY Person

No matter how hard you work to win the approval of others – your boss, a colleague, your father, your mother, a mentor, a man, a woman – you will be disappointed. Every time!

Because no matter how much money you make. No matter how much stuff you have. No matter how far you go in life, the approval of others will never be enough.

The approval of others will never be enough.

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The reason is – your life has real purpose – and your life matters far more than what someone else thinks of you.

John Eldredge asks, in his best-selling book, Wild at Heart, Are you willing to live with the level of risk that your soul invites you to?

To live a fulfilled life, every person needs a clear, compelling mission – a life purpose. And every person needs a vision for accomplishing that purpose.

Your life has a purpose that no one else in the world will ever be able to fulfill. Here’s the challenge – no one can tell you who you are and what you were made to do. Nobody!

So why do so many buy into the lie – the lie that winning the approval of others matters? There are 3 reasons…

7 Things That Will Guarantee Your Failure – Free Book Chapter

I lacked focus and clarity. I was having a hard time getting motivated to get in bed on time. To get up on time. To work out. To write. Maybe you’ve been there.

Why does this happen? We set out with big plans and we make great progress – then the wheels come off! And we can’t figure out how to get it all back together.

Weeks, months, even years slip by. Then one day – reality slaps you in the face! You’ve got to get moving again!

In this post I’ll tell you how you can get a chapter of Jon Acuff’s new book, Start, absolutely FREE!

The Importance of a Quarterly Review

Your life and work are not something that you can plan once and then put them away. They are far too important for that!

I’ve learned that I must plan regular, purposeful time away if I am going to live out the things that are most important to me. And I must adequately prepare for my time away to maximize its impact on my life and work.

Let’s face it – the number one problem with goals is that people forget about them. And when you do, those things that you once identified as top priorities fade into the noise of life.

The number one problem with goals is that people forget about them.

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