Books That Have Made an Impact On My Life

While I was in Romania last week, I was asked the question “What books have had the most impact on your life?”  I get asked this question on a regular basis.  For this article I thought I would list the top ten leadership books that, up to this point, have added the most value to my life in the area of leadership.

1.  The Bible: This one is obvious.  More than any other book, the Bible has changed me and continues to change me.  The Bible is the Word of God and no other book has the potential to change us like the Bible.  It is, by far, the greatest leadership book in the world.  Most everything I have learned about leadership, I have learned from the Bible.

2.  Spiritual Leadership (J. Oswald Chambers): Spiritual Leadership is the best book I've read on Christian leadership.  No other book, other than the Bible, has influenced my life the way this one has.  This book does not borrow principles of leadership from the world and try to force them to fit the Bible, but rather derives principles of leadership for every area of life and work from the Scriptures.

3.  Developing the Leader Within You (John C. Maxwell): I list this book, not because it is the best book I’ve read on leadership, but because it was the first book I read in the area of leadership.  This book awakened me to the subject of leadership and introduced me to John Maxwell.

4.  The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (Stephen R. Covey) This book is simply one of the best leadership development books of all time.  Covey shares 7 habits to improve every relationship in your work and private life.  My productivity increased tremendously when I began to apply the lessons learned from this book.

5.  The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership (John C. Maxwell): This book is among the best books ever written on leadership.  The content here is good and it's practical.  I teach this book on a regular basis.  I believe it is the foundational book for anyone desiring to raise their leadership lid.  I keep this book and a typed list of the 21 laws taught in this book on my desk at all times.

6.  Good to Great (Jim Collins): This book is fascinating.  Also considered one of the best leadership books of all time.  Jim Collins highlighted eleven companies and how they made the leap from good to great.

7.  The Leadership Challenge (James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner): John Maxwell considers this to be the best leadership book of all time.  Kouzes and Posner show how leadership can be learned and mastered by all of us.  I could hardly put this book down once I started reading.

8.  Today Matters (John Maxwell): John teaches you how to seize the day with 12 daily practices to help you control your daily agenda, make time for people you love, and find success in your career.  A very practical book.

9.  The Bible on Leadership (Lorin Woolfe): I am actually reading this book now for the first time.  It certainly will not be the last.  This book is full of leadership wisdom.  I have marked this book up to capture many quotes, thoughts, and stories.  This is a must read book for anyone who desires to grow in leadership.

10.  The Total Money Makeover (Dave Ramsey): While not a book on leadership, this book has made a huge impact on my life.  Following Ramsey’s baby step approach to being debt free allowed my wife and I to experience the liberty of having no debt (with the exception of our house).  Becoming more disciplined in our finances challenged us to become more disciplined in other areas of our lives as well. Leaders are looked up to. Leaders should set the example in the area of money management.  It adds credibility to their leadership.  If you are heavy in debt this book is a must.

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Moving Beyond Mediocrity - Average Is Not Good Enough

For me, life is too precious to be lived in mediocrity.  With our life, God has given us a golden opportunity and we should use it to reach our full God-given potential.  Every person has been endowed with a certain mixture of abilities, gifts, talents, and opportunities which makes him or her unique.  There is something that God has placed within each of us that causes us to cry out to be above average and extraordinary.

Unfortunately, many people are trapped in mediocrity.  I believe one of the main reasons is that they do not dare to be different.  You must dare to be different if you want to be above average.  As someone has said:

“Excellence can be obtained if you:

...care more than others think is wise;

...risk more than others think is safe;

...dream more than others think is practical;

...expect more than others think is possible.”

Do you dare to be different?  Your answer will make the difference between excellence and mediocrity.  Below are some questions to help you check yourself and take action:

1. Do you have a dream?
One of the main reasons people simply follow the crowd is because they don’t have a dream of their own.  They have nothing to pursue.  Having a dream is what sets you above  average.


2. Are you doing what matters to you?
Many people neither strive for or achieve excellence because what they are doing is not what they want to be doing.  They are not doing what matters to them.  What they are currently doing leaves them unmotivated.  When you do what matters to you, you are naturally motivated to achieve excellence in that area.

3. Are you working in your area of strength?
It’s hard to rise above average when what you are doing is outside of your strength zone.  You can only be successful at that which you are gifted.

4. Do you fear failure?
Failure is a part of life.  In fact, successful people always have more failure in their lives than average people do.  Only those who never try, never fail.  Anyone who is achieving anything in life is at the same time risking failure.  Everybody gets knocked down.  It’s how fast he gets up that counts.  Don’t fear failure.  Those who don’t take chances don’t make advances.

5. Are you making a difference?
I have found that when people see that what they are doing is making a difference in the lives of others, their motivation intensifies.  They are challenged to be and do the best they can because it matters to others.  There is no motivation to strive for excellence if what you are doing doesn’t matter to others.  Look for opportunities to invest in others and to help make their lives better.  You’ll find yourself striving for excellence.

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In John Maxwell’s book, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, law number six is the “The Law of Solid Ground.”  The law of solid ground states that “trust is the foundation of leadership.”  Leaders must always remember that if people can’t trust you, neither will they follow you.  In other words, if trust is not the foundation of our leadership, then no matter how charismatic we are, how smart or gifted we are, our leadership will come crashing down.  As one person has said, “charisma may get you in the door, but character is what keeps you in the door.”


In his book, The Case for Character, Drayton Nabers writes, “Character counts is an understatement.  Our success in family and business depends upon our character.  The strength of our nation's government and its economy rests on good character.  In fact, character is the single most important building block for quality of life in any individual, company, team, or nation.”


How many times, in recent years, have we seen leaders and their companies come crashing down because of the lack of character on the part of the leaders?  It is the responsibility of the leader to work hard to earn the trust of people and then to work even harder to keep that trust.  Trust is like a mirror, once its broken you can never look at it the same again.


Leadership operates on the basis of trust.  How do you gain the trust of people?


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Qualities Of An Effective Leader

I have often been asked the question, “What makes a leader effective?”  While there are many qualities that one must possess to be an effective leader, I find five qualities that are common among effective leaders.

■ Effective leaders value people.
There are two kinds of leaders.  Those who value others and those who don’t.  Those who use people and those who help people.  Those who power-up over people and those who empower people.  Those that lord over other people and those who serve people.  Effective leaders genuinely care about people. The best leaders are those who people follow because they choose to follow them.

■ Effective leaders have strong personal convictions.
Effective leaders do not compromise their convictions.  Strong leaders do not doubt.  They know who they are, what they stand for, and where they are going.  They are willing to pay the price because they are driven by their convictions.


■ Effective leaders recruit other leaders.
Every good leader is a good recruiter of other leaders or potential leaders.  It is one thing to draw a crowd, it takes real leadership to be able to attract other leaders or future leaders.  Effective leaders know what to look for in recruiting potential leaders.


■ Effective leaders equip others.
Effective leaders make leadership training a priority in their organizations.  They are highly intentional in equipping others to be leaders.  They not only know how to perform well themselves; they also know how to motivate and equip others to reach their full potential as leaders.

■ Effective leaders have positive attitudes.
Effective leaders understand that one’s attitude really does determine his or her altitude.  Attitude can make a leader or break a leader.  No one wants to follow a person with a sour attitude.  People flock around those who have positive attitudes.

What qualities would you add to this list?


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The Importance of Identifying YOUR Core Values

In the movie, A Few Good Men, two marines stand on trial for killing a fellow marine. Their lawyer attempts to demonstrate that the murder was the result of an order that the two marines had received from a Colonel.  The order ended up causing his death.  When their lawyer begins to investigate, the prosecuting attorney offers to reduce the sentence from 20 years to 6 months.

The Lawyer, played by Tom Cruise, goes to tell his clients the good news.  Harold, one of the marines, refuses the plea bargain and chooses instead to stand on trial.  Cruise is mortified.  If the case went to trial, they could lose and likely spend a lifetime behind bars.  Tom Cruise looks Harold in the eye and asks him why he would refuse a plea bargain of six months.  Harold responds, “Unit, Core, God, Country.”  Tom Cruise, somewhat confused says, “What?”  He repeats, “Unit, Core, God, Country.”  Harold explains that this is their code.  The center of marine values is “Unit, Core, God, Country.”  Harold had followed the code, and if following the code meant that he would spend the rest of his life in prison, then so be it.  Unit, Core, God, and Country were his core values and they determined everything he did.  He lived by them and he would die by them.

What are your core values?  What is it that you believe in so passionately that it dictates your actions - it’s what you will live by and it’s what you will die by?  Although it may not be stated, every person reading this has a set of core values.  If you were to let me follow you through your day for two weeks, by the end of those weeks I could tell you what your core values are.  Core values determine your actions.  Therefore, it is extremely important to have the right core values.  Wrong values will lead to wrong behavior.  Right values will lead to right behavior.

What is the benefit of identifying your core values?

• Values give meaning to life.
• Values clarify purpose in life.
• Values help set vision and goals.
• Values make decisions easier.
• Values reduce stress.

How do you identify your core values?  Your core values are what is most important to you; not something you want, but something you literally live by and die by.  They are nonnegotiable.

Create a list of character qualities that are important to you.  For example: integrity, faith, excellence, truthfulness, etc.  You can google “Core Values” and find a number of lists of common personal values that will help you to think through this process.  Your first list may be very long.  That’s okay.  You'll narrow it down in the next step.

Revisit each value you listed and eliminate anything that is superficial or temporary.  Ask yourself, “Do I need it in my life to be true to God and myself?  If there's any doubt, delete it.

Repeat this process until you have a list of 6 to 12 values that are absolutely essential for life to be meaningful and fulfilling for you.  Write down your list of values and place it where you can see it every day as a reminder of the principles by which you live and make decisions.

Leadership Begins in the Home

Leaders aren’t born, they’re developed and leadership development starts in the home.  Leadership is influence and parents provide the earliest influence on children.  By modeling leadership in their own lives, parents profoundly affect the kind of leaders their children become.  Training children to be leaders takes time and intentionality.  With Father’s Day approaching I want to encourage dads to be leaders at home first.  Men, I am calling you to be a model leader in your family.

Below are some ways you can be a good leader and model good leadership in your home:

• Take time to know your children.
Leadership is influence, nothing more and nothing less.  You cannot influence your children if you do not spend time to get to really know them.  Do you know your children’s personalities?  Do you know what moves them, what makes them laugh, what excites them?  Do you know what problems and issues your children are dealing with?  Do you know their strengths and weaknesses?  How can you help your children develop strengths and overcome weaknesses if you don’t know what they are?

• Add value to your children.
Love your children unconditionally.  Take the time to praise your children regularly for right choices and gently point out the choice they missed when they go astray.  Give them age-appropriate responsibilities and let them stand or fall on their decisions.  Reward them when they stand, correct them and lift them up when they fall.

• Demonstrate a Servant’s Heart
Take the time to involve your children in family activities and work.  Include service projects for those outside your immediate family as well.  This will help kids learn responsibility, teamwork (sharing and considering others) and a good work ethic.  In his essay titled “Three Roles of the Leader in the New Paradigm,” Stephen Covey wrote, “There is no place where [the] spirit of service can be cultivated like the home. . . . People are supposed to serve.  Life is a mission, not a career.”

• Have a Teachable Spirit
When you make a mistake be the first to say, “I’m sorry.  I messed up.”  This teaches your children that it’s ok to fail.  Failing does not make one a failure.  We all fail.  Our response to failing determines whether or not we are a failure.  Saying “I’m sorry.  I messed up” shows that we understand that we are wiser today than we were yesterday.

Let your children see you learning, reading, listening to those who are more knowledgeable and experienced than you.  Your children will see that learning is a life long process.  Growth is a process not an event.

• Demonstrate Faith
Teach your children how to know God, love God, and serve God.  If you want your children to grow up to serve God, then show them what serving God looks like.  If you want your children to grow up to make a difference in someone’s life for eternity, then show them how to lead a person to faith in Christ.  If you want your children to grow up to be givers, then show them what tithing and giving looks like. Teach them that leaders are givers.

Men, God has called you to be leaders in the home.  Step up!  Take the responsibility!  Lead!  Your children’s future depends on your leadership.

Dealing with Distractions

Do you have any unfinished projects lying around collecting dust?  It’s so easy to get sidetracked; isn’t it?  It takes tenacity to finish what we start because there are always so many competing distractions. This became very personal for me this morning when I was working on one of my four messages I needed to prepare for this week.  As I started working and setting my mind to writing, I looked around my desk and saw how cluttered it was.  I said to myself, “Self, this desk needs cleaning off.”  I stopped working on my message to clean off my desk. As I was cleaning off my desk I saw some folders that needed filing.  So, I started filing. One non-essential task led to another and before I knew it, I had spent half the morning cleaning and filing when I should have been studying and writing.  And the sad part about all of this is - I know better.  I teach leadership lessons on how to stay focused and on task.

I was reminded that fighting distractions is a constant battle.  The fact is, sometimes distractions come disguised as harmless options or even good things.  There are many things that can distract us from what’s really important - things like meetings, TV, sports, reading, and even email.

That’s one of my biggest distractions.  I like to get up early so that I can read and pray and jump into sermon prep while I’m still fresh.  Lately however, I have found myself turning my computer on and checking email before anything else.  While that’s not really bad, it does serve as a distraction because it takes time.

What are your greatest distractions?  What are you doing to fight them?  When you walk into your office or place of employment tomorrow look around and ask yourself, “Is my desk and/or office a distraction?”  One commitment I made today is that I will work to keep my desk clear of anything that will distract me from doing what is most important each day.