Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Best Play or Worst Play

I love sports. If you have ever watched a sports highlight show, you will know that they usually end their show with a highlight real package of the best or worst plays of the day/week.


Lately I've been asking myself the question about my best play or worst play as it pertains to leadership.

I've been involved in leadership in one way or another for the better part of the last 20 years...first as someone who was being grown and developed as a leader as a teen, then someone who was hired to be a leader and now someone who is learning to grow and develop leaders around me. During this time, I have personally felt tempted to try and make myself fit into a variety of different moulds or expectations. There were seasons where I wanted to change my personality or reinvent my passions in order to fit what other people were looking for...and in doing so, I often wonder if I was making my best play or my worst play in terms of leadership.


In a conversation I had with my wife recently, she shared this quote with me:

Oscar Wilde - Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken

Have you ever been tempted to try and be someone different than who you are as a leader? Have you ever wondered what your best play or worst play might be? 

My best play...it's to help introduce people to their future. That's how I lead and that's who I am. I'm not ashamed that I'm different...I kinda like it. I'm learning to lead with this notion in mind; how about you?

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Living in Inspiration


For our 10th wedding anniversary I surprised my wife with a trip to Las Vegas. Friends of ours had a condo in Vegas which they generously allowed us to stay at for free, and I had been saving up air miles for 5 years to offset the purchase of our flights.

One of our most favourite things to do as a couple as we have gotten older is to explore the outdoors through walking, hiking and other activities. We have been inspired by the many things we have seen.

This photo was taken in Red Rock Canyon. What do you think of when you see it?


This photo inspires me towards hope. Even in a dry climate like the Nevada desert, life can be found. 

In my current occupation, I have the opportunity to listen to thousands of different stories told by many different people about their own lives, their own dreams and their own wounds that they have sometimes endured. As I hear about the loss, the frustration, the hurt or the bitterness, this image I took from Red Rock Canyon often comes to mind. 

There are times when we are overwhelmed to the point where we can no longer see hope. In these dark seasons where life sometimes leads, there is only one question that is really worth asking:

When life seems to be at its' worst can you find what really inspires you?

A Little Something from Psalm 8

 Had a lot of fun with this one.