Optimism | Talent | Passion | Leadership | Selflessness | Encouragement

Some of you know that one of my favorite hobbies is playing flag football. I’m the Quarterback of a team that plays in a competitive league in Waterford. It’s intense fun!

I was reflecting on our game the other night. We had a rough start with the first couple drives. The other team had the ball first and scored way too easily on us. We began our counter drive with a couple completions for a quick first down and then I made a weak pass that got intercepted with a return that put them in place to score on the following play. Not good!

Often this is when teams will crumble apart. Not this time, however...

The team received my apology about the bad pass and told me to shake it off. Furthermore, the team owned our collective errors (particularly on defense) and we all resolved together to play catch up on offense and lock down on defense. I was particularly appreciative of my friend Mickey. He supported me with full confidence and was an incredible support with passion for calling our team to be one in mission and attitude… The whole team was great. I would have a hard time imagining better guys to have wearing the same jersey.

We began by driving down the field and scoring - down 1 score. Unfortunately, we did not stop them on their next drive - back down 2. Then we couldn’t quite score before the end of the half - Down 7-18 - could’ve been worse; needs to get way better. We reviewed our team goals and started strong the next half…Long story short, we won! 21-18

I’ve talked before about the idea of a "first follower" - a leader isn’t leading unless people are following. The key point of momentum is not the leader’s speech, but rather the first person following. That’s when everyone else will join in the march. That first follower is as (if not more so) crucial to the leadership as the original leader.

Another thing I really appreciate about him that he displayed the other night is his selflessness and value for seeing the ball moved down the field even if it means he never catches a pass. He easily could be the top WR - or at least could warrant being cocky enough to ask for the ball to be passed to him more than others. Instead, he takes pride in drawing coverage to open his teammates up - a pump fake to him followed by a toss to a wide open other player. I love team football!

Hats off to my friend Mickey. I’m greateful for who he is and how he helped lead our team to embody the spirit I want us to always carry ourselves with.

Whether a photograph, a spreadsheet, performance art, or leadership moment.

Sometimes the best path is nonlinear. Process matters. Effective is more important than efficient.

Life is too short to allow people to cherish the lesser. Break paradigms. Call people to the higher standard.

Tell a story. Be an artisan. Craft the magical.

Give good notes; be a good coach. Do not "play small." Give the gift of honest and constructive criticism - it is a real gift if your team trusts that you are for them.
Being full of hope, bring your full self to any and every situation. Know your unique talents and steward them well.

Use your creative mind as a gift to the team. When at your best, you'll ask helpful, focusing questions that will guide us toward a better future.

Always take a chance on better, even if it seems threatening. Break paradigms - dare to bend the implications of what people think they know.

Ideate where we might go as we consider "hopeful, unknown, future possibilities."

Tomorrow is not rooted in the past unless you are lazy in your vision. May we call each other to the higher standard. Let us reach for the stars.

May we be known by love. May ours be a collective voice of hope. May we realize our potential to create a beautiful future.

Do not hesitate to step up where others shrink in fear. Charge as a warrior in the service of joy. Never cease speaking up and offering your very best work. Be relentless in generously sharing the gift you uniquely can be - to your ecclesial community and the world beyond.

If we don't constantly call our teams to the higher vision, we will slowly deteriorate into mediocrity.

"Talent hits a target no one else can hit. Genius hits a target no one else can see."

-Arthur Schopenhauer

This slide is from my Lighting Training slide deck. It illustrates the importance of accurate, thought-out documents and the iterative process of designing at a university theatre for a theatrical production that I was brought in to be the Lighting Designer for.

Observation:

Every Guru whose wisdom we seek out tends to have these qualities:

1. They work really hard.

2. They never stop learning how to improve their craft. Including the 101 level fundamentals.

I stopped into the greenroom earlier today at the Gurus of Tech Conference to refill my coffee and found a conversation happening between some people that are definitely top names (if I were to type them here would be definitely known) in the field of their discipline. Anyway, I heard them talking about some thoughts they were learning that could definitely be considered "beneath" their expertise level.

The humility I saw displayed was a tremendous encouragement to me.