Grab some popcorn & get ready to discover some leadership gold inside of your favorite Christmas classics. Yeah, yeah, don’t act like you don’t have those Hallmark movies on repeat (even if it is just the same story with different sweaters)! Believe it or not, there’s essential lessons we can apply to our life, family, and organizations tucked away in the movies we watch every Christmas. Be careful with the hot cocoa when you’re taking notes on this one!

As dynamic leaders, we love to move fast and get things done! But BEFORE you move too quickly onto the next big mountain, it’s important to take some time to EVALUATE where you’re at & how you’re doing. These honest moments come from the desire to always get better. Whether it’s with your team, family, or even self-reflection, taking time to evaluate is essential to success.

Sometimes leaders are faced with situations that they can lead through by drawing on past experiences. But what about the times when something in completely NEW, and you find yourself in uncharted waters? Everyone is looking to you to lead, but there are is no precedent and no map for the way to go or how to get there. Even in uncertainty, we believe you can take steps in the right direction. With a clear vision, you can prepare your team for the choppy waters ahead. This ain't no cruise ship, and we're in deep, unfamiliar waters! Just how we like it...

If your team lacks trust, it’s quite possible that you haven’t gone first in vulnerability. Believe it or not, vulnerability is a leader’s sign of strength, not weakness. When done appropriately, vulnerability can be a huge asset to foster collaboration, trust, and bonding on an otherwise splintered team. But as always, it means WE as leaders must go first. Vulnerability with stability leads to healthy, growing teams.

President Harry Truman was famous for the sign on his desk, “The buck stops here.” In other words, the final decision rests with the leader. But how do you know what the right decision is? Or even more importantly, WHEN to make it? The answers to these questions usually lead to a wide range of outcomes --- from raving success to utter disaster! There are best practices to making timely decisions & they can be learned with discipline and courage.

Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps said, “I believe the only difference between gold and silver medal winners is their attitude, not their ability.” Simply put, nothing affects an outcome quite like your attitude. Your circle of influence & every room you walk into will be affected by your attitude - positive or negative. And when we feel like SOMETHING needs to change in our life - our careers, our relationships, our broken situations - our attitude must change FIRST! Your attitude is the X Factor in your life & in your business.

Currently in the United States, anxiety affects more than 40 million adults and that number is only increasing and often highly under-reported. Even when everything in life may say that we’re successful, our anxiety will tell us that something is wrong, that something is just off. And what about those everyday stressors that just drive us crazy? Why are we so stressed and what do we do about it?

Currently in the United States, anxiety affects more than 40 million adults and that number is only increasing and often highly under-reported. Even when everything in life may say that we’re successful, our anxiety will tell us that something is wrong, that something is just off. And what about those everyday stressors that just drive us crazy? Why are we so stressed and what do we do about it?

One of the common themes we’ve explored is the concept of pursuing people who are further along than you in their leadership journey. As you grow, others will look to you to mentor them on their journey — whether it’s their career, family, finances, or personal influence. It’s an honor that anyone would ask, but it’s important to use wisdom in how you approach mentoring others. You only have so much bandwidth and so much time, so you must steward it well! So what should you be looking for when you’re deciding who to invest time in?

Maturity isn’t defined by age, personality, or even experience. It’s marked by traits that a leader of any age can begin to adopt and walk out in their everyday life. The best part is that none of these come with a certain set of talent or charisma, but are made up of daily choices that will set you apart if you decide follow it. To say it explicitly, well…JUST LEAD!

Great leaders aren't focused on how many followers they have, but on how many leaders they are developing. This takes an extra stretch of leadership capacity, but it's key to going to the next level in your leadership. And let's be honest! Leading other leaders is hard. Sometimes it can feel like you've got a tiger by the tail! But trust us; it's so worth it. When you let go of the need for control & recognition, and instead invest your time into the potential of future leaders, your life and organization will benefit from it. Sure, it takes an adjustment to learn how to lead leaders. But it's more than possible to shift your perspective to slingshot others into success.

Here's the deal, appreciation is not just a nice idea - it's a winning formula! Genuine appreciation inspires like nothing else and has a multiplying effect. A rising tide lifts all boats. And when you RAISE UP the unique contributions of others, it LIFTS up their attitude, spirit, morale, and spurs them along to excellence. But for appreciation to work, you have to develop a keen eye & position yourself to catch people doing something RIGHT, before correcting them and telling them what they're doing wrong. Let's raise the volume, and make appreciation loud again!

What happens when your team under-achieves, under-performs, and at times miss the most important values? It's far too easy to play the blame game, throw your hands up in frustration and say, "THEY just aren't cutting it!" But healthy leaders take a different approach. Rather than pointing fingers, they look in the mirror and find ways to improve their own leadership.

“WE NEED TO TALK!” Does that phrase trigger something inside of you? Why or why not? The reality is, confrontation is NOT negative, but necessary in our life, family, or organization! The only reason we have a negative reaction to it, is because we’ve seen it done so poorly. However, when done in the most healthy way, confrontation can be a catalyst to a better relationship. Once you understand your approach to confrontation, you can better pursue growth strategies to take the next right step!

As leaders, we love to get things done, crush it, conquer, and advance! But we can’t look past the blinking light on the dashboard, no matter how fast we’re moving. The truth is, the conversation around mental health has been ignored for far too long.

Any time there’s a major issue in culture whether it be current events, politics, trending topics, or maybe something specific to your niche – people inevitably ask YOU as a leader, “What are your thoughts?”

What happens when ego gets in the way of moving things forward? Whether it’s your life, family, or organization — our own ego can be a major roadblock to progress. And if we’re not careful, we can start making decisions that feed our ego, but cause harm to where we’re leading.

Vision may very well be the most important responsibility of any leader. Without it, life grows mundane. People become frustrated or unmotivated. Organizations decline. But vision is more than hype, and more than just dreaming…

Leaders are learners. Period, end of story. No debate! They are always looking for ways to improve, get better, and lean into whatever it takes to grow…

Can we be honest? Your family may be the most challenging organization you'll ever lead. Sure, all the leadership podcasts, motivational YouTube videos, and the next guy selling their masterclass might equip you with "leadership knowledge." But all of the hype often goes out the window when we stop teaching what we know, and reproducing who we are. The family is a crucible of leadership where we really find out if we believe all this stuff. And truthfully, it's the simple common-sense approach that works best. We've identified 7 building blocks of rock-solid families, and it's important to set them in place right away. Even if you've never seen it modeled, there is hope for you to build a solid foundation that will leave a legacy for your kids. Lean in!