I believe that the more we lean into our strengths, the better we are. Individuals, organizations, and societies that have unique strengths should leverage them.

But here’s the downside: When we take our strengths too far, they can turn sour and become weaknesses. Take these examples:

Strength: You’re dedicated to your work. Overplayed: You have a tendency to be a workaholic.

Strength: You move fast. Overplayed: You’re impatient when things aren’t moving at your preferred pace.

Strength: You’re good at considering all options before you move forward. Overplayed: When there are a lot of options, you get analysis paralysis.

You get the point.

One of America’s strengths is our rugged individualism. But in this season of dealing with COVID-19, this strength overplayed can become a costly weakness. We must stand together behind decisions that are better for all—not just the individual—to keep us moving forward and out of this crisis.

We must stand together behind decisions that are better for all—not just the individual—to keep us moving forward and out of this crisis.

Is it wise to stock up on paper products? Yes. Do you need to buy every last roll of toilet paper in the store, so there’s nothing left for anyone else? No.

Is it wise to make sure you have hand soap in your home? Absolutely. Do you need enough for seven years? Nope.

Is it a good idea to grab groceries to last you a week or two, so you’re limiting contact with people? Yes. Do you need enough non-perishable food items to get you to summer? No.

I’m proud to be an American and firmly believe our individualism is a unique strength. But let’s not overplay it in this season.

Let’s stand together, care for one another, and walk out of this Coronavirus chaos together.

One final note: In this season, as work looks different, our team at ADDO has outlined a few things that are important for us and our clients. I hope you’ll find it helpful as well.

We are in a season of incredible uncertainty. Daily briefings, social media rumors, and the latest closures have us all trying to navigate the coming days and weeks. We should all pray for wisdom during this time.

As we look toward the future, we need vision now more than ever. We need vision from leaders in government, in business, in organizations, and in communities across the country—which takes us back to the quote above by Helen Keller.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Helen Keller, this American hero was deaf and blind; yet, she defied all odds by learning to communicate, earning a bachelor’s degree, and advocating for individuals with special needs all over the world. Her story is what makes her statement above so powerful. She was blind. She knew the daily struggle of not being able to see. Yet, she believed there was a greater problem—sight without vision.

When I think of “vision,” my mind naturally goes to the corporate statement written on the wall, the one printed in the book, or the one repeated week after week at the team meeting. These can certainly be examples of vision.

But the vision Helen Keller is talking about is more than this. It’s a dream, a goal, a purpose, or a place that you’re headed.

Proverbs 29 is one of my favorite passages of Scripture: “Where there is no vision, the people perish” (Prov. 29:18, KJV). The word perish is blunt and weighty. In other words, without vision, the people will die.

The New American Standard version presents a different perspective: “Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained,” and it goes on, “but happy is he who keeps the law.” So without vision, people have no guardrails, no structure, and nothing to work toward. But people are happy when they have boundaries and direction.

Not only does Proverbs 29:18 reinforce Keller’s statement, but it takes it one step further. Without vision, people can’t be happy. We need to have a purpose to live a satisfying life.

Without vision, people can’t be happy. We need to have a purpose to live a satisfying life.

This week, ask yourself this question: Do I know where I’m going?

As I’ve gotten older and passed certain milestones in life, it’s harder to have a clear vision of where I want to go. When I was in high school, I wanted to graduate. When I was in college, my goal was to get a job. Sometimes vision comes more naturally when we are less content with our present circumstances.

At other times in life, when things seem to be going well, we need to work harder to uncover a vision for the future. If you’re a leader, it’s not just for you but for the people in your care. It’s your responsibility to provide and reinforce a vision for your family, your team, and your community, so that others can experience the same kind of peace and freedom that comes with purpose.

So how can you respond? Not everyone is in a position to cast a vision, but all of us need to be able to articulate it, reinforce it, and remind the people around us of what we’re working toward.

We stood and caught up for a few minutes when the president of Hobby Lobby, Steve Green, and his wife Jackie recognized my friend and came by to say hello. At this point, I was no longer a part of this conversation, but I wanted to be. So I stuck around (somewhat awkwardly) and listened in. As they were talking, Evan recounted his recent experience of visiting the Hobby Lobby headquarters and said that one of the things that struck him most was a huge sign in the facility that reads:

“Close Counts.”

Happy to elaborate more on the meaning of the message, Steve said that his dad, David Green, originally made this sign when he heard about an internal plan to implement a point of sale system. (Side note: This is crazy that they didn’t already have one in place!) Steve’s dad, David—the founder of Hobby Lobby—quickly stopped the campaign and worked to emphasize his philosophy of going with your gut. David believes that important business decisions can often be made by trusting your instincts. Apparently, David still roams Hobby Lobby’s “store 101” with an assistant and simply looks at the different displays and indicates where items should go on each shelf. He uses his eye and makes these decisions all by gut!

It’s not that David Green believes point-of-sale systems are inherently bad, but he believes that too much data is bad for business.

Too much data is bad for business.

Make sure you read this clearly:

Data itself is not bad for business. Data helps us make good decisions, follow trends, and anticipate needs for our companies. But too much data is bad for business.

So think about it like this:

Data tells you what’s selling. Your gut tells you how to sell it more effectively.

Data exposes market trends. Your gut tells you how to respond to these trends.

Data reveals who is walking in the door. Your gut tells you how to serve them best.

With advancements in technology, data is more accessible than ever before.

But an over-reliance on data can cripple your ability to differentiate and innovate.

This concept of close counts reminds me of a blog I wrote a couple of years ago on insights vs. instincts. On their own, both insights and instincts can be helpful, but it’s insights coupled with instincts that lead to innovation that can change the world.

In the same way, data coupled with gut-feeling will help you most effectively serve your customers, engage your employees, and make wise decisions for your organization.

According to Forbes, 40% of people are planning to switch jobs in the next year and 69% say they are already passively looking. Another study shows 47% of people seeking a new job say that culture is the main reason they want to leave.

I’m passionate about helping organizations improve their culture, so they can have a more engaged, energized, and effective work life.

This is why I often talk about culture at speaking engagements and why ADDO's resources equip leaders to foster and grow healthy cultures. Today, I want to unpack a core component of culture that could change your organization—celebration. Before you start organizing a party planning committee, here are three ways to think about creating a culture of celebration.

1. What’s celebrated is repeated:

Andy Stanley In other words, be careful about what you choose to celebrate. If you only celebrate people showing up to work every day—essentially, you celebrate attendance—this might be all that’s repeated. So identify what’s important in your organization. Is it closing sales? Is it creating a remarkable customer experience? Is it making sure your environment is safe? You’ll probably find that multiple things are important, but you must prioritize what you choose to celebrate. And once you’ve identified what you’re celebrating, lead the charge and encourage your team.

2. Your celebration should be relative to the size of the accomplishment:

‍It’s important to celebrate both the small things and the big things. But the big things merit a big celebration. For example, closing one sale definitely earns a shoutout at our team meeting. But exceeding our year-end sales goal earns a full-blown party (or in ADDO’s case, a company-wide trip to Cuba)!

3. Genuine celebration trumps contrived celebration:

‍Last month, it was announced that Jimmy Johnson, former head coach of the Dallas Cowboys and the Miami Dolphins, would be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. And the first time he heard the news was captured on live television.

Watch the video below: http://www.facebook.com/ESPN/videos/493061994923836/

My favorite part of this video is the reactions of the people around him. These are all former football players and coaches, and they understand better than anyone the weight of this achievement. And they celebrate Johnson with genuine excitement! I think it’s important for all of us to learn from this.

We should strive to be the kind of colleague and peer that’s eager to celebrate the wins of the people around us.

My charge to you this week is an easy one: celebrate. But remember, the kind of celebration that fosters a healthy culture is one that’s in response to what’s important to your organization, is appropriate for the size of the win, and is full of genuine excitement.

Need an example (and maybe a brain break)? Check out the fun video at the bottom of this post. I’m in the world of leadership development, and one word we hear incessantly these days is VULNERABILITY. And I hate it.

Now, before we go any further, I want to make it clear that this blog is not meant to criticize, critique, or condemn any other leadership expert out there, especially people who have been far more successful than me. But I do want to make my case… my case against vulnerability.

The heart behind the vulnerability movement is positive. It aims to move leaders from yelling and telling to care and service. It challenges leaders to be more proximate and understanding to their people. It moves leaders from authoritative and harsh to approachable and inclusive. I agree with all of these notions, so I can get behind the sentiment of vulnerability.

But as a person who very much thinks that words matter, I have a problem with this one.

The word vulnerability literally means “the state of being exposed to the possibility of being attacked or harmed, either physically or emotionally” (Oxford Lexico).

Wikipedia’s definition is even worse: “Vulnerability refers to the inability (of a system or a unit) to withstand the effects of a hostile environment.”

If we take this word by its actual definition, when we encourage people to “be vulnerable,” we’re encouraging them to expose themselves so much that they are unable to withstand any negative external forces. This is a bad idea.

So I want to propose three alternative approaches that encompass the heart behind this vulnerability movement without its negative consequences: humility, transparency, and authenticity.

There are three alternative approaches that encompass the heart behind this vulnerability movement without its negative consequences: humility, transparency, and authenticity.

Humility is “a modest or low view of one’s own importance” (Oxford Lexico). Humble leaders are able to admit when they are wrong, ask for help, and celebrate the unique gifts and abilities of the people they lead.

Transparency is “the quality that makes something obvious or easy to understand” (Merriam-Webster). Transparent leaders do not project an air of infallibility or importance. They offer access to their team and answer the why questions. And they let you know what’s really going on in the business and in their lives.

Authenticity is being “true to one's own personality, spirit, or character” (Merriam-Webster). Authentic leaders do not put on a show to project a false image of who they’d like to be. They show up as their whole selves and lead out of their unique gifts, talents, and abilities.

At the end of the day, I think the notion behind vulnerability has been good for leadership development, but I think we need to be more careful with our words. Being exposed to the point of being damaged is not a positive thing.

Let’s champion good attributes like humility, transparency, and authenticity as we work to redefine our approach to leadership and to impact people around the world.

And if you want to see the business buzzwords video, you can find it here.

Jimmy Collins is the former president and Chief Operating Officer of Chick-fil-A who has dedicated his life to motivate and inspire leaders around the world. I recently met with Steve, and he shared a lesson he learned about decision-making while working with Jimmy Collins. As soon as I heard the phrase “decision-making,” my posture changed. I leaned in, grabbed my pen, and braced myself for the answer to the secret I’d been waiting years to uncover—how to make the best decisions. Because if I can I just make the right decisions, everything else will fall into place. Right?

Wrong. Well, sort of.

Jimmy Collins used to say, “I’ve made a career not on making the right decisions, but on making the decisions I’ve made the right ones.”

So often people, especially leaders, fall into one of two camps in their approach to decision-making. One group is fixated on intuition, trusting their gut to make the best decision. While the other fully relies on data, analytics, and research to guide them. The problem doesn’t lie in the approaches but on these leaders’ fixation on making the right decision.

Thinking this way can lead to either pride or discouragement. Leaders can wrongly think that it was their good sense that made them successful, or they can wrongly be discouraged by an obstacle and quit too soon. The reality is that there might not be a right decision or a wrong decision. Maybe there’s just a decision to make, and it’s imperative to take a step forward.

Collins’ perspective of decision-making is refreshing. He’s saying that we may not know if we made the right decision, but once we’ve made it, we need to do whatever we can to make it work. Let me be clear. The decisions we make are not inconsequential. It’s important that we use our insights and intuition to try to make good choices. But at the end of the day, what we do once we’ve made a decision is what matters most.

What we do once we’ve made a decision is what matters most.

So the next time you’re faced with a big decision, here’s my advice to you:

1. Decide: Take the step. Sign the contract. Have the courage to make the decision.

2. Commit: Once you’ve decided, see the decision through. Don’t waffle. Stick to it.

3. Grit: When it’s tough, keep going. Push through adversity. Overcome obstacles. Don’t quit.

Don’t let the fear of decision-making stop you from taking a step forward. It’s time to make your choice and get to work.

This year I thought it was important to tell our team why we prioritize taking this day off. We don’t just use the day to get an extra long weekend in January—although that’s always a good thing. This day, however, we intentionally celebrate a man whose life’s work is directly related to the heart-beat of ADDO’s vision—to inspire leaders today to impact tomorrow. Martin Luther King Jr. lived out three characteristics that we believe are essential to leaving a lasting impact: servant leadership, inspiring communication, and action.

1. Servant Leadership

‍Servant leaders are servants first. They lead out of a desire to meet the needs of others. And this is exactly how MLK worked as a leader of the Civil Rights Movement. He labored to make the world a better place for all people by fighting against the horrors of racism and segregation. He used his unique gifts and passion to serve his generation and all of us who will come after him.

At ADDO we want to equip, empower, and celebrate servant leaders, and MLK's life and work is inarguably worth celebrating.

2. Inspiring Communication

If you’ve never watched MLK’s “I Have a Dream” speech or read his Letter from a Birmingham Jail, stop reading this blog and click on one of these links. One of the key reasons for MLK’s effectiveness was his communication ability. I have come to understand that communication is an essential piece of leadership. The 38th president of the United States, Gerald Ford, once said,

“If I went back to college again, I'd concentrate on two areas: learning to write and to speak before an audience. Nothing in life is more important than the ability to communicate effectively.”

‍Harvard Business Review said that communication is the number one quality for someone to get promoted at work.

King had a unique gift for writing and speaking. He painted vivid images and crafted sentences that will be repeated for years and decades to come.

3. Action

At ADDO, we say that leadership is influence that leads to action. MLK moved people to action. In MLK’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail, he appeals to a group of clergymen in the Birmingham area who had criticized him for his boldness in nonviolent direct action (things like sit-ins, protests, and marches). They wanted him to “pull the reins,” to step back, and to simply wait for an opportunity to negotiate. But King knew the problem with waiting. Without direct action, they would never be given an opportunity to negotiate. He knew he needed to act to bring the problem to light. In his letter, he uses the word “act” 23 times to prove his point.

At ADDO, we’re grateful for MLK’s life and work. We hope that the work we’re doing will inspire others to continue to make the world a better place.

It was pouring down rain. As I pulled up to the event venue—wipers working furiously against the raindrops pummeling my windshield—I noticed the option to valet, entertained the idea for a fraction of a second, and turned into the self-parking lot. $22 for valet? That definitely wasn’t in the budget. Decked out in the nicest suit I owned, I stepped out of the car into a puddle, opened my umbrella, and attempted to balance my laptop and umbrella in one arm, and a giant box full of my books in my other arm, as I made my way to the venue entrance. With socks soaked through, I walked on stage and gave it all I had.

Thankfully, things look a little different now—at least most of the time. With more experience, I’m landing bigger speaking engagements with better benefits. My days of lugging books around and trudging through parking lots full of puddles still happen, but they are few and far between. At my last speaking engagement, the company who hired me didn’t try to cut corners. I pulled right up to the main entrance of the Ritz Carlton at Lake Oconee, handed my keys to the valet attendant, and was immediately greeted by a host: “Welcome, Mr. Scott. We’re so glad you’re here!” Talk about a contrast. It’s truly humbling. I love what I get to do.

I’ve heard Jeff Foxworthy talk about the progression in his comedic career and describe a similar experience. He went from doing any comedy gig he could get on nights and weekends to hosting sold-out shows across the country. He went from being treated like the 3:00 a.m. slot at the local comedy club to “Mr. Foxworthy, how can I serve you?”

I’m nowhere near as successful as Jeff Forxworthy, but I can see a similar progression.  You have a little bit of success, you gain additional benefits, and people start treating you differently. Jeff Foxworthy said that when clients and hosts first began treating him better he was genuinely humbled and thankful, but the more he progressed in his career, the more he began to expect this special treatment. He said it became easy for him to forget where he’d come from and be genuinely grateful for the care he received.

There’s no problem with people choosing to treat us better, but when we shift from appreciating it to expecting it, it becomes a heart issue.

This plays out in so many different areas of our lives. Our first experiences of care, kindness, and service make us grateful, but once we get into a routine, it’s easy to take them for granted and to expect others to go the extra mile. When you first begin dating someone, you’re amazed by the things they do and the ways they love and care for you. But down the road, after you’ve been married for a little while, it’s easy to expect those things. When they bring you a cup of coffee as you’re getting ready, you aren’t appreciative because you expect them to do it. When you’re a new member of a church, it’s easy to appreciate your pastor and the hours of work he puts into teaching and serving your community. But once you’ve been a member for a little while, you begin to expect it, and you stop thanking him for the work he does for you week after week.

Early on at ADDO, I remember being so thankful and genuinely appreciative of people willing to work extra hours and put in additional effort to help a client and our company succeed. But I have seen seasons of our organization where I began to expect people to do that. Here’s what’s interesting: When I am appreciative of what others do, I find that most of the time they are appreciative of what I do. But the inverse is also true. And that’s the danger.

When we move from appreciation to expectation, we get on a slippery slope that makes our relationships transactional.

This week, I want to challenge you to live a life of appreciation. If you begin to notice yourself expecting something that you used to appreciate, stop, take a deep breath, and intentionally grow in gratitude.

When I was younger, I felt far more comfortable confronting conflict head-on. I remember being a leader in student organizations and addressing different problems easily. If there was a way to do something better, we were going to do it. If somebody needed to be challenged, I was on it. No problem.

But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve become less confrontational. There are times when this can be a good thing. But more often than not, it has made me more hesitant and far less willing to address certain challenges in a timely manner. In fact, I’m willing to admit that my unwillingness to confront conflict could be the single greatest gap in my personal leadership.

Recently, I heard a story about a cow and a buffalo that’s challenged me to better handle conflict this year.

I love when real-life examples provide me with practical tools to live and lead at a higher level.

Let’s start with cows. Did you know that the natural reaction for a cow when it senses a storm coming is to run away from it? If the storm is moving from west to east, the cow will move further east, trying to outrun the storm. Here’s the problem: cows are slow. The storm will always catch up to them. And because the cow continues to try to run away from the storm, it will actually spend more time in the storm than if it had just stood still and never moved at all.

A buffalo takes a totally different approach. When a buffalo senses a storm coming, it moves toward it. If the storm is moving from west to east, the buffalo moves west and will move headfirst into the storm. Because the buffalo is going one direction as the storm is moving the opposite way, it will end up spending far less time in the storm than the cow.

When approaching conflict, I’m not saying it’s good to be a bull (or a buffalo) in a China shop. A love for conflict and a desire for constant confrontation is not a good thing. But this example of the cow and the buffalo is meant to remind us of this principle: when we see a challenge and are willing to face it head-on, the consequences are fewer and the resolution comes more quickly.

When we see a challenge and are willing to face it head-on, the consequences are fewer and the resolution comes more quickly.

So this week: Turn around. Face the conflict you’ve been running away from. And meet your next challenge head-on.