Character isn’t built in trying times. It is revealed.
Happy Friday, Brew Nation!
Grab your favorite coffee cup, sit back, relax, and get ready to sip on some enriching and thought-provoking content that will equip you to thrive in all areas of your life:
- Build Faith & Worry Less – I had the opportunity this weekend to lead the morning huddle for our Guest Services Team at church. Guest services includes volunteers who serve on the parking, greeting, and usher teams. Here is what I shared with them about ‘fear’:
Each time I get the opportunity to lead our huddle, I am first and foremost humbled, but I must admit there is a little bit of fear that creeps in. It’s kinda like that fear that I used to have in school before a test. Each time I walked in there was always a little bit of fear, but over time this is what I learned: My level of fear was in indirect proportion to my level of preparedness. In other words, the more I studied (prepared), the less fear that I had. I was never 100% without fear, but it helped.
About once a month I get to lead the huddle and I push myself to get up an hour earlier on these days so that I can be better prepared to be an encouragement to each of you. As volunteers and as disciples, I am sure that each of you may at times have fear about sharing with others. So, how do I reduce and overcome the fears? It comes down to 3 P’s for me:
- Pray – I will intentionally sit down before I start my reading time and ask God to give me the words. Today was no different. I generally will hear from him when I get to the second P and that is
- Prepare – I have a daily reading habit that includes the New Testament in a year plan that we are going through as a church family in 2024, I use the Verse of The Day on the Bible app, and I read a devotional from one of the many daily devotional books that I have. I didn’t always have that discipline. It’s only been in the past few years that I have been rigorous in my approach. It is easy to get distracted still, but I plow through.
- Practice – In Philippians 4:9, Paul says “whatever you have learned or received or hear or seen from me, put it into practice.” AND, even Paul had fear of sharing his faith. In 1 Corinthians 2:3, Paul says “I came to you in weakness and with great fear and trembling.
So, I want to encourage you today. This field we are in is a great ‘practice’ field. We all have fear that keeps us from stepping on to that field. You’ve overcome part of that by being here. We are surrounded by believers and you have been preparing and praying, so practice as well! The Holy Spirit will give you the words. Face the fear – trust your faith.
As I read that aloud, I knew that I wasn’t just talking only to a group of volunteers at church, but that the idea of fear paralyzing us is something that we all face as leaders face every day. We all have fears. Overcoming those fears and acting takes prayer, preparation, and practice!!
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- Exercise Daily – One of the influential figures I avidly follow on Instagram is Dr. James DiNicolantonio, renowned as @drjamesdinic. His account often has thought-provoking insights and practical tips for enhancing our lives from well-established advice to more controversial perspectives.
In one of his recent posts, I stumbled upon a collection of practical tips that resonated with me:
11 tips for a 10x better life:
0 complaining
1 hot bath/day
2 L water/day
3 hours outside/week
4 days of lifting weights/week
5 min cold shower/day
6 hours of exercise/week
7 000 steps/day
8 hours sleep/night
9 minutes stretching/day
10 minutes of morning sunlight/day
I practice a few of these. Intentionally, I try #’s 2,4,6, & 7. I would love to get 8 hours sleep, but I target 6.5. Maybe I can move to 7 hours as a goal for 2024. And I am not sure that I can ever get to 1 minute, let alone the 5 minute cold shower per day!
What about you? How many of these do you practice to improve your life? Share in the comments!
- Read More –The readers have spoken. Last week we finished up reviewing John Maxwell’s 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership and I asked where you wanted to go next. You all responded and the winner is: The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader – Becoming the Person Others Will Want to Follow. This small book was published back in 1999 and was an instant classic. By its second edition publishing in 2007, it had sold over 1 million copies and still remains a top seller on Amazon with over 600 reviews and an average 4.7 star rating. I remember devouring it and gifting it many times and I have referred back to it frequently as a leader and coach. I look forward to walking through it again with you, Brew Nation! This week, I will dive into Chapter 1. I hope you will get a copy (available for just a little over $6 on Amazon in hardback!) and read along with me. The author designed and wrote it to be a complementary companion to John’s best selling book of all time, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. Let’s get started:
Quality #1 – Character
“Be a Piece of the Rock”
Bill Lear, the brilliant mind behind the Lear Jet, was not just an inventor, but also an aviator and a remarkable business leader. In 1964, when he delivered his first Lear Jet and sales grew rapidly, he learned that two of these aircraft suffered mysterious crashes, leaving him devastated. Lear was determined to uncover the cause. He immediately contacted all the owners, urging them to ground their planes until he could identify the problem.
Then, Lear personally piloted one of the jets to recreate and verify the potential defect he had discovered. Astonishingly, he came perilously close to crashing the plane himself. However, this harrowing experience led him to develop a new part that would rectify the problem. Despite the substantial financial cost and the doubts planted in the minds of customers, Lear retrofitted all fifty-five previously sold planes with the corrected part, eliminating the danger. It was a costly endeavor that nearly claimed his life, yet he persevered.
Reflecting on my early journey as a general manager in a manufacturing company, I faced a similar predicament, albeit one that didn’t pose life-threatening risks like Lear’s aircraft! We learned of a manufacturing defect on our flagship product, resulting in a high failure rate in the field. My team and I made the difficult decision to halt production until we could identify the root cause. While I had a strong inkling of the issue, this didn’t alleviate the concerns of our customers or the pressure from my superiors, who were understandably concerned about missed revenue targets. We were able to quickly determine the cause and a solution for the defect and resumed production within a matter of days. In addition, we proactively shipped replacement components to the field before failures occurred, demonstrating our commitment to customer satisfaction.
In both pivotal moments, it was character that was the common link. We were willing to risk short-term success in order to protect our integrity and prioritize the long-term well-being of our customers and business.
Here are 4 things John Maxwell outlined that everyone needs to know about Character:
- Character Is More Than Talk
- Talent is a Gift, but Character is a Choice
- Character Brings Lasting Success with People
- Leaders Can’t Rise Above the Limitation of Their Character
As you lead others at home, at work, and in the community, recognize that character is your most important asset. Do you need to repair a situation where you may not have used good character? If so, then apologize, ask for forgiveness, and change your behavior going forward. Do as Nobel Peace Prize Winner Dag Hammarskjold said: “Never, ‘for the sake of peace and quiet’ deny your own experience or convictions.”
Next week: Charisma
Quote of the week: “Your talent determines what you can do. Your motivation determines how much you are willing to do. Your attitude determines how well you do it.” – Lou Holtz
What You Need to Do:
Call to Action: Spend some time looking at the major areas of your life (career, family, finances, fitness, etc.) and identify any instances you can recall where you may have compromised or let people down. Start now at rebuilding one of those areas by creating a plan that will prevent you from making that mistake again.
It’s an honor to be your trusted “Friday Coffee Guy”. Each week, I’m excited to provide yet another round of curated content that I’ve been reading, listening to, watching, or thinking over. The purpose of the Champions Brew is to inspire, equip and encourage you to become the uncommon leader you were designed to be. I am so grateful for your decision to invest a few moments with me! I hope you enjoyed this week’s edition of Champions Brew. If you did, I would appreciate it if you would share it with someone who might enjoy it as well and ask them to subscribe! I will make sure they automatically get this email every week.
Until next time, Go and Grow Champions!
P.S. – Are you a podcast fan? Maybe the Uncommon Leader podcast is for you. Are you interested in being a guest on the Uncommon Leader Podcast? Do you have a story to tell? Email me [email protected] and let’s have a chat and set something up!!
