My four-year old twins were given matching Cam Newton jerseys for their birthday last fall, and every day since then, they’ve woken up with eager expectation, “Are the Panthers playing today?” “No buddy, they play on Sunday,” I’ll reply. They frown for a moment, then they insist on watching highlights so that they can run around the house mimicking Cam Newton as they chant KEEP POUNDING. As a late Christmas present, my parents surprised all of us with tickets to the Panthers final home […]
A clever hoax, supposedly validated by Good Morning America, circulated on Facebook recently: Mark Zuckerberg, the thirty-one-year old billionaire founder of the social media giant was giving away a reported $45 billion dollars to users who copied and pasted a status sharing the news. Hundreds of thousands flocked to see if it was true. It wasn’t. But humor me (and yourself) for a minute. Suppose it was true. Suppose you were the beneficiary of a million-dollar windfall. How would your life […]
A man once approached me after a speaking engagement and asked, “So how long have you been a pastor?” “Oh, I’m not a pastor,” I quickly replied. I even threw in a chuckle as an attempt to further dismiss the absurdity of his suggestion. “You’re not?” He paused and tilted his head ever-so-slightly, locking his eyes with mine. “No, I’m not.” I repeated assertively. “Well,” he said with a smile, “keep listening.” That conversation has replayed in my mind like a broken […]
I remember a movie when I was growing up called, Nobody’s Fool. Although I haven’t seen it, I think it stars the guy whose picture is on the salad dressing bottle in the grocery store. That’s Paul Newman, right? I always confuse him with Robert Redford for some reason. Anyway, I thought about that title this week as my thumb was busy perusing my Twitter feed. I don’t have many followers on Twitter. Perhaps it’s because I don’t play the game […]
The Story of the Anti-CEO There was once a CEO of a thriving, 100 million-dollar business. What began as a dream in a garage had grown into a national organization with more than a thousand employees. According to every economic, social, and professional metric, the CEO and the company were successful. As the business grew, the CEO found out that one of his employees had a daughter who was battling cancer. Upon learning the devastating news, he insisted that his […]
Leadership is a buzzword that is often coupled with catchy phrases and trendy ideas. But in a sea of experts, our culture seems to be drowning. Am I being too harsh? Maybe so. There are some great leaders, but take a minute and answer this question: Who are the great leaders of our time? Popular culture dominates so much of the mainstream today that it’s often mistaken for leadership. That’s a dangerous correlation to make because some of the greatest leaders […]
If you pause and look at your life objectively, I think you’ll recognize a real tension that pulls you in opposite directions. On one side there’s gratitude, generosity, and humility. On the other side, you see entitlement, fear, and pride. Every human being is driven by three distinct tensions: Gratitude — Entitlement Generosity — Fear Humility — Pride In every circumstance, every relationship, and every interaction, we feel these polar forces at work. A quick look at American culture and many would argue that we […]
We get busy in life. Matt reminds us of why we dedicate ourselves to something other than ourselves.
- Robert Wagnon, CEO, Republic State Mortgage
