I believe in the power of written communication and work to use it for the good of leaders around the world—through the books I write and these weekly blog posts.

But as much as I enjoy writing, I am particularly passionate about speaking. I firmly believe that effective public speaking has the power to change the world in an instant—because effective public speaking starts with a vision.

Think about it. Each of us have experienced a message that’s changed our lives. Whether it was listening live to a lecture that reframed our perspective, sitting under a Sunday morning sermon that changed the trajectory of our faith, or even going back to the archives of the greatest speeches of all time—like Martin Luther King Jr. sharing his dream for America or Ronald Reagan charging Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall. Speeches change us, they change the world, and they move people to action. Because I believe speaking is an effective way to impact people and change lives, we’re doubling down on helping members of our ADDO team become more effective speakers. Our friend and partner Dana McArthur is coming into the office to show our team how to become better trainers by engaging and challenging the leaders they teach. And I am helping three of our team members pinpoint, design, and craft their signature speeches.

Part of this training has been helping these members of my team determine what they have to say to the world.

I believe we shouldn’t speak because we want to say something, but because we have something to say.

What we have to say should be focused on our vision for a better future. Regardless of your desire to speak publicly, if you’ve read this far, this next piece applies to you. How can you identify your vision if you don’t know what that is?

It’s more simple than you might imagine: Start with a burden.

Every vision emanates from a burden.

Some of you know exactly what burdens you, but if you don’t, try asking yourself these questions:

- What do I get angry about?

- What breaks my heart?

- What do I look at and say, “This shouldn’t be this way”?

A vision should come from what you want to see changed in the world because a vision is your idea of a better future. How should things be in the world? Your answer to this question is the start of your vision. It doesn’t have to be dramatic or earth-shattering, but it does need to make the world a better place.

This idea of starting with a burden to identify your vision works for both a personal vision and a corporate one. If you want to start a business, what gap are you able to fill in your field? How are you able to make your customers’ or clients’ lives easier? If you’re starting a church, what are you providing to potential members? How are you going to reach out to your community in a way other churches and organizations aren’t?

Here’s my challenge to you today: If you’ve been struggling to define a vision for yourself, your team, or your organization, start with a burden. Don’t wait for the perfect words to come to you. Start with the passion and the right words will follow.

Have a couple more minutes? Allow me to make the case.

In our businesses, we make decisions based on a variety of factors. How will this product be received? What is the influence on the customer? What is going to create the greatest return on our investment?

But there is a factor that is a secret driver of many decisions—but seldom spoken out loud— a person’s ego.

Ego is one of the most expensive things in business.

Take this example. There’s a new chief marketing officer at a highly successful brand. She is taking the place of an individual who decided to retire and left behind a wildly successful marketing campaign. But because this new executive wants to prove her own way (and get credit), she decides to bag the successful campaign in order to create a new marketing strategy that she can spearhead and take credit for pioneering. Or how about this example. An individual is assigned to help develop a new HR process for the organization. They have the budget where he could hire a vendor—a professional HR expert—to help him establish a successful process for the organization. But if he brings on someone with the experience, he wouldn’t receive as much individual credit for its success. So instead of hiring an outside expert, he decides to do something in house. Not only is it more time consuming for this individual, but it’s more expensive and less effective for the entire organization in the long run.

Here’s the reality. Few of us would actually admit when we are making a decision based on our ego—but there are times we choose a lesser option because it will make us look better, position us more effectively, or increase our future personal success. Ego isn’t just costly to our businesses. It impacts other important aspects of our lives as well.

There are times where we may not parent as well because of our ego. Think about the Little League team that suffers because the dad coaching thinks his kid needs to always pitch or play shortstop even though there are more talented players on the team.

It can even happen in church. Think about a scenario where the pastor wants to prove a personal point, so he centers the Sunday sermon on a specific issue and finds Scripture to support it, rather than teaching what the Bible actually says and what his congregation needs to hear.

Ego is an individual struggle that is costly to any group we are a part of—businesses, churches, families, and communities.

It sucks time, money, energy, and extra effort out of the people around us. So it’s something we need to identify and fight back against. We also need the courage to call out this behavior in one another.

Here’s my challenge to you this week: Identify one recent decision you made based on your ego (big or small), admit it to yourself, then make a decision to adjust in the future. The best leaders are able to set aside their personal ego for the good of the people around them.

Talented individuals want to know if they are winning or losing. Are they making progress? Are they meeting—or even exceeding—expectations?

It’s the job of the leader to answer these questions for the members of their team, and they are best answered in two ways: affirmation and accountability. In case you stop reading after this line, it’s important to know that good people need both!

Affirmation is the confirmation that what an individual is doing is right. This can come in the form of a verbal encouragement, a written note, or even a simple head nod in a meeting to show a team member that he or she is on target.

Accountability is the correction and push we need to keep us moving in the right direction. This could be challenging a team member when they did not follow through on a commitment or pointing out an area where their performance needs intentional improvement.

Affirmation and accountability are equally important in developing people.

Time for some honesty- in my most natural state, it’s much easier for me to extend affirmation than to hold someone accountable. Because I am a people pleaser, I can affirm what people are doing well because I want them to feel good about themselves (and if I’m being really honest, about me). However, affirmation without accountability leads to a vicious cycle.

When someone isn’t held accountable (given clear and direct feedback), they will eventually miss the mark in an area of their work. This isn’t because they aren’t smart or talented. The truth is, we all miss the mark at different times. When someone isn’t doing all parts of their job well, affirmation is withheld. And therein lies the start of a cycle that creates even greater challenges.

All of us need both affirmation and accountability.

In the absence of affirmation, we don’t know if we are doing anything right.

In the absence of accountability, we aren’t getting better and finding ways to develop.

Affirmation without accountability can feel disingenuous and fluffy.

Accountability without affirmation can feel harsh and overly critical. It’s the balance of both that spurs on people to be the best they can be. As a leader, I need to remind myself of this daily, and I’m working hard to personally grow in this area.

If you don’t directly lead people at work, let me show you how this idea of extending affirmation and accountability reaches far beyond the four walls of an office.

Affirmation and accountability are essential to fostering every healthy relationship.

I see this with my son, George. He needs so much encouragement when he completes a task on his own or is kind to a friend, but he also needs correction when he is not obeying after I’ve asked him to do something.

I see this in my friendships. My most meaningful friends are those who will encourage me in the good I am doing but will also hold me accountable if I am falling short in an important area of my life.

I see this in healthy churches. Healthy churches encourage the spiritual fruit they see in their members, but there is also a culture of accountability where members are encouraged to resist temptation and grow deeper in their faith.

Here’s my challenge to you and to me this week:

Provide affirmation and accountability to the people you lead and care about most. Not only will it foster growth, but it will strengthen your relationships as you prove to be a more trustworthy leader, friend, and parent.

As a reminder, I often use the term “organization” to refer to a group of people working together toward something. To me, organizations can be businesses, teams within a business, local boards for community projects, teams within a church, and even families.

Last week, we unpacked why inspiration matters. For some of you, this idea of inspiration is exciting and motivating. But for others, it’s crippling. Perhaps you feel an added weight on your shoulders because you may not see yourself as an inspirational leader: I am not an amazing public speaker. I am not great at articulating the vision. I have a group in my organization that’s disengaged. I don’t have the relational equity. If this is you, I want to free you up now by saying the best leaders don’t manufacture inspiration; they find inspiration and fuel it.

The best leaders don’t manufacture inspiration; they find inspiration and fuel it.

Isn’t that great news? You don’t actually have to create anything! Instead, you can find inspiration where it already exists and bring it to the forefront for others in your organization. Whether you are already passionately working to inspire your team or slightly intimidated to get started, here are three tactical tips for leveraging the power of inspiration in your organization.

1. Find it. 

‍It may sound overly simplistic, but the first step for leaders is to actively look for inspiration.

Accounting firm KPMG launched their 10,000 Stories Challenge in June of 2015 and inspired their team beyond what they could have imagined. They asked their 27,000 partners and employees to develop posters, as individuals or teams, that described the impact of their work. Posters read statements like “We champion democracy;” “I combat terrorism,” and “I help farms grow.” Surprisingly, KPMG reached their 10,000 story goal just a month into the campaign. It was clear that employees were inspired by one another and themselves when they were given the chance to express the meaning of their work. Less than six months into this initiative, 85% of employees agreed that KPMG is a great place to work, and after a year, scores on this same question rose to 89%. So not only were employees inspired to do good work in their individual roles, but they were more satisfied with their workplace.

Think about this example for a minute. These leaders didn’t create inspiration for their team. They simply brought it out of their team. They empowered their team to be inspired by themselves and one another!

2. Foster it.

‍Once you’ve identified inspiration, you have to bring it to the surface, so it’s easily accessible to you and the people you are leading. If it’s gathering stories from your team members, you need to develop a process to gather them and a system to archive them. When I hear stories from members of my team or from clients and customers, I try to write them down, compile, and categorize them so I can return to them later. I’m not always the most organized person, so it takes effort, but it’s worth it when you can pull out stories at the most impactful time for your team. And here’s a tip. If your team members aren’t eager to share their stories, give them an incentive for doing so. Buy them lunch or maybe even give them a day off!

By the way, it works with customers too. When you can foster stories from your clients or customers, you can share those success stories with others.

3. Fuel it.

‍It’s your job to spread the inspiration. Though you may not be creating it, you need to find the fire and pour gasoline on it. Help create excitement around your team members connecting the work they do to something bigger than themselves. Celebrate and spread their stories! It inspires your team.

It also inspires your clients and customers!

It’s important to remember that inspiration isn’t just an internal business tool. It’s important to find ways to spread these stories to clients and customers because inspired customers are more loyal. Not only will they keep coming back to you for more, but they will also inspire new business to come to you.

If you haven’t figured it out yet,

I think sharing stories is the most powerful tool for inspiration.

They are the easiest vehicles to find, foster, and fuel individuals to feel inspired in the work they are doing.

So here’s my challenge to you this week: Share a story of how an individual or team within your organization is using the work they do to positively impact the lives of others.

In fact, I’d love to hear those stories! And to show you I put my money where my mouth is, I will give you an incentive: If you share a story, I will send you a free copy of one of my books!

Share a Story

I can’t wait to see how you are finding, fueling, and fostering inspiration—the world needs it!

While we have always believed the world needs inspiration, I have to admit there have been times we’ve downplayed it to our peers, customers, or clients. Because inspiration feels like the fluffy stuff to some people, we’ve often opted for language that feels stronger—more business-like.In 2021, we are doubling down on inspiration.

I know inspiration is needed more now than ever before, and we are on a crusade to help people understand its importance and leverage it in their own organizations. This week, I’m going to make the case for inspiration and help you understand why it’s so important. Next week, I’ll be back with practical ways to leverage it in your own organization. First, I want to emphasize this fact: inspiration isn’t something intangible. It’s not something you can’t measure. And it certainly isn’t soft.

Psychologists Todd M. Thrash and Andrew J. Elliot from the University of Pennsylvania created the inspiration scale—a tool that measures the rate a person experiences inspiration in their everyday lives. This scale not only allowed them to determine who was inspired regularly, but also the impact this inspiration had on their personal and professional lives. Scott Kaufman examined their findings and took them to the next level in his Harvard Business review article “Why Inspiration Matters.” He noticed that people who scored higher on the inspiration scale accomplished more. They had a stronger drive to master their work and were naturally more motivated, confident, and creative. In other words, Kaufman found inspiration drastically increases individual performance, and in turn, the success of our businesses!

Inspiration drastically increases individual performance, and in turn, the success of our businesses!

Perhaps the most important reason inspired individuals yield more positive results is that they are able to connect the mundane to the meaningful. When inspired, an individual is able to see how their daily tasks are helping them work toward a larger goal.

So if we know we can measure inspiration, and we also know being inspired helps us perform at a higher level, every single business, organization, and leader should be committed to regularly inspiring their individuals and teams. Take this example from one of NASA’s most famous missions. On May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy announced that the United States would put a man on the moon by the end of the decade.

Shortly after Kennedy’s famous Congressional announcement, he visited NASA’s headquarters for the first time. The president was taken on a tour of the facility, and as he walked around, he met a janitor who was mopping the floor. When Kennedy asked him what he did for NASA, the janitor quickly responded, “I am helping put a man on the moon!” That janitor clearly understood that keeping NASA’s facilities clean was vital to helping the organization meet its ultimate goal. This janitor was inspired by President Kennedy’s vision and eager to be a part of the work NASA was doing.

Inspiration helps individuals and teams achieve results. There are so many business metrics that are easy to measure and to fixate on improving, but increasing inspiration is the often overlooked ingredient that can take organizations from ordinary to extraordinary.

Increasing inspiration is the often overlooked ingredient that can take organizations from ordinary to extraordinary.

If you’re someone who always believed inspiration matters, I hope that you’re reminded and encouraged. Hopefully, this blog post provides you with the ammunition you need to show others how desperately we need individuals to be inspired. On the other hand, if you’ve been a bit of an inspiration skeptic, my hope is you’ll begin to understand how inspiration can make a tangible difference on the performance of your team and success of your organization.

The world needs more inspiration, and that’s the reason ADDO exists.

These are some of my favorite words to hear. My son says them when he wants to do something that he knows he can’t do on his own. I love that he is so eager and so willing to ask for help when he needs it. I know it won’t always be that way.

When was the last time you asked for someone to help you? Here’s a thought:

If you want to get better, you better be asking for help.

If you want to play an instrument, you find someone who can teach you.

If you want to get in shape, you join a gym—and sometimes you hire a trainer.

If you want to get better in a subject in school, you work with a tutor.

Because I want to get better, I recently did something I said I would never do: I hired a coach.

To be honest, I’ve always been skeptical of the prospect of an executive coach or a business coach. Why would I hire someone who doesn’t have my job, to help me do my job? I am a firm believer in personal and professional development. I’ll read books, listen to podcasts, or even take a course. But hiring a business coach? That seemed absurd. Then I heard something that caused me to pause and reflect: You would never play a little league game without a coach, so what makes us think that we can get through life without one?

The big idea is that all of us could benefit from someone who is focused on helping us get better. And if you want to get better at leading an organization, it’s helpful to have a coach. Having a coach has not only helped me grow as a leader in my business, but it’s also helped me grow in other important areas of my life. Who knew a business coach would have as much positive impact on my home life as my work life?!Without focused development, we will never get better.

If you aren’t intentional about growing in your personal and professional life, you won’t.

Each of us need people in our lives who are committed to our development. It doesn’t matter if we call this person a coach, a mentor, or a friend, but we all need someone who is committed to encouraging and challenging us to get better in the different areas of our lives.

Here is a short list of the invaluable things coaches can do for us:- They reinforce our strengths.- They challenge us when we need it.- They hold us accountable.- They help us see the bigger picture.- They help us clarify our goals.- They increase our engagement in the work we’re doing.- They help sharpen our leadership skills.- They ask us to think more deeply and intentionally.

Maybe you’re a new parent and need to find someone you respect to mentor you in this important role.

Maybe you're wanting to get in shape, but nothing has worked. It’s time to find a trainer or at least a workout buddy.

Maybe you’re a new teacher and need to ask the seasoned teacher down the hall if they will watch you teach and provide you feedback.

Or maybe you’re leading a business, and it’s time to invest in a business coach.

You don’t have to pay a coach to grow, but you do need someone in your life who is intentionally helping you develop both personally and professionally.

Find someone and ask them to help.

We may not call them these names, but we each have something we are aiming for—for our businesses, our families, and ourselves. You might be working to roll out a new strategic plan at work. Maybe you’re just trying to eat healthier and lose some weight. Perhaps you have a focused financial goal and are working hard to get out of debt. Or maybe you just want to get your toddler potty-trained!

From the biggest goals down to just the things we want, preparation is crucial to success. If we are truly serious about achieving something, we need to be as serious—if not more serious—about how we prepare for it.

If we are truly serious about achieving something, we need to be as serious—if not more serious—about how we prepare for it.

Abraham Lincoln famously said, “If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I'd spend the first six hours sharpening my axe.” In other words, if what we are trying to achieve is important, our preparation is equally important. It may even take more time to prepare for the work required to achieve our goals than the time it takes to actually get it done.

American businessman and New York Times best-selling author Harvey McKay takes it one step further:

I subscribe to the wisdom of the oft-quoted sports maxim [Vince Lambardi], “The will to win is not nearly as important as the will to prepare to win." Many people have the will to win, but they aren't willing to put in the hard work and time required to become great at something. What makes this even more challenging is that preparation is not a one-time thing. You can't prepare to win once and then just let success flow. Great performers possess the will to prepare to win over and over again.

For those of us who are not naturally prone to prepare (hand raised here!), McKay’s words are especially challenging. Preparation is hard work, and it’s required to achieve something great. But it can’t just be a one-time thing. On-going success is tied to ongoing preparation. If we want to be people who achieve our goals, we have to be people who are always preparing.

On-going success is tied to ongoing preparation.

Before the final session of our ADDO team retreat last month, I sat down with Elizabeth, our chief of staff, and we asked three questions for the rest of our team. After they leave this retreat, what do we want them to know? How do we want them to feel? And what do we want them to do? We decided to write down these goals, and they looked something like this:

KNOW: We want our to be confident of ADDO’s future, of our financial position, and aware of all of the projects and initiatives underway.

FEEL: We want them to feel inspired, challenged, and refreshed.

DO: We want them to be motivated to personally develop in order to help our organization grow.

We prepared in advance what, and how, we would communicate with our team, with the hope that they would work to prepare themselves for ADDO’s future.

So what is your goal, aim, or dream? Are you preparing yourself for it? Take some time this week to evaluate how you can strategically prepare to achieve your personal and professional goals.

If you have, you know how frustrating it can be and how easy it is to misunderstand or to be misunderstood. Within our organizations or our teams, it’s also important that we speak the same language. We may all be speaking English, but are we really understanding each other?

Whether your team is reading the same book, attending the same retreat, listening to the same podcast, or participating in the same training, they are sharing an experience. They are not only learning about the same thing, but they are also developing a common language around what they are learning. They are processing the same words and the same ideas in the same framework. This allows them to communicate with one another more effectively and connect what they have learned to everyday experiences in the workplace.

At ADDO, we have a common language around new ideas or fresh perspectives in the work we’re doing. We call these lightbulb moments. Not only is it a goal for our individual team members to experience lightbulb moments for themselves, but it’s also one of our team’s collective goals to create lightbulb moments for the people we serve. We initially created the courses for 8 Essential Exchanges and The Lens this past year in order to help individuals and groups take these books to a deeper level. Our focus was on promoting the value of the content—because we believe content is incredibly valuable. But what might be equally as important is that both courses provide an opportunity for a group of team members to share an experience and learn about the same things at the same time. Both courses give a group of individuals a common language around things like vision, culture, obstacles, and profit—providing every member of the team a way to meaningfully contribute to conversations about these important topics.

Here’s my question for you today:

Have you intentionally helped the people you lead create a common language?

As a leader, you may feel like your list for how best to lead your team is a mile long, but this is an easy thing to add to your list because it’s simply a happy side effect of intentional team development. Here are some examples of things you could do depending on the nature of your team:

You and your spouse could read a parenting book together, so you are able to grow together as you connect your own experiences with your children to what you are learning.

Every member of your sales team—from the senior-most sales associate to the newest member of your team—could attend the same training seminar, so you all could apply the same techniques to your current practice and generate productive discussions around what’s working and what’s not.

You are leading a small group of individuals at church who have mentioned a desire to grow in evangelism, so you could work through the same book together and even practice sharing the gospel with one another. This provides a way for you to talk about your experiences and helps you encourage one another to grow.

If you are leading a team and are already working to intentionally develop your team and create a common language, keep it up! But if you aren’t and are looking for a place to start, I would love for you to check out my books and courses: 8 Essential Exchanges and The Lens.

Shared experience combined with a common language unifies a team, clarifies communication, and paves the way for your team to leave a lasting impact.

In it, we unpack an ancient story from the Old Testament about four lepers who stare death in the face and choose to step out in faith.

Isn’t it interesting how impending death has a way of clarifying your purpose? When you’re faced with death, decisions seem easier. The right choices seem more clear. Paulus tells the story of his battle with cancer in The Lepers' Lessons, and for him, this season was a wake-up call. After facing death, he knew how he needed to reorient his life.

Impending death has a way of clarifying your purpose.

Last week, I shared that I had lost two people I care a lot about. The first one was Shauna D'Agostino, a lifelong family friend, who died tragically in a car accident at the age of 42. The second was Andy Smith who lived a full life and died at the age of 86. Because Andy was a grandfather to me, I shared 10 lessons I learned from his example. Due to the overwhelming response of last week’s blog, I felt the need to expand on what I said in today’s blog.

Eighty percent of the time, I am talking about leadership. I am talking about how to build a healthy corporate culture, how to clarify your vision, or how to get scrappy. I believe leadership is important—it’s why I spend so much time talking about it!

But there are times like last week when leadership seems secondary to life. It’s in these moments that I take a step back and ask myself these questions that Paulus and I first asked in The Lepers’ Lessons:

- Why am I alive?

- Why do I do what I do?

- Why do I have what I have?

- Who is going with me?

- What am I carrying?

‍

Maybe you didn’t have the same experience I did a couple of weeks ago, but maybe 2020 has spilled over into 2021 for you. You may be anxious and scared for our country, discouraged, depressed, or maybe even just tired. Whatever the case may be, I hope you’ll take the time to ask yourself these questions and work to gain clarity about your purpose this year.

This clarity isn’t about dwelling on death, but rather, it’s about helping us live our lives to the full—because one day, we will die.

If you have been along on this journey with me for a while, you’ve probably already read The Lepers’ Lessons, but if you haven’t, I encourage you to pick up a copy and learn these timeless truths from four lepers in the Old Testament.

Get The Lepers' Lessons Here