The Highlight Of The Year Was My Failure

We’re coming to the end of our academic year. Next week is Finals Week. This morning, during our Student Development Team Meeting, our Vice President encouraged us to go around and share one highlight of the year. As we went around the circle, I started thinking of all of the events, activities, and projects that went well. Yet when it …

How You Say It Makes A Difference

Email. Twitter. Facebook. Texting. Television. Radio. Speaking. Art. All of these can be used to send a message. The question is: Do people hear what you’re saying? Or is your message simply background noise in a busy and message-bombarded world? Watch and reflect on this video. In the end, if you’ve got something important to say, it’s important to say …

Better Than You Found It

Tonight is our traditional dinner where outgoing student leaders will bestow their blessing and traditional gifts on the incoming student leaders. It’s our annual version of passing the baton. I had the opportunity to sit down a few weeks ago with our student leaders who were getting ready to finish up their student leader year. We sat around the table …

Just Starting Out – The Ebook

Rather than pointing people back to specific posts and encouraging them to navigate around my site, I like to compile a series of articles into an ebook. This is exactly what I’ve done with my recent series – Just Starting Out: 7 Priorities For New Student Leaders. I’ve gone through each post and edited, enhanced, and elaborated a bit. I’ve …

Character Is Formed In Your Daily Decisions

In the midst of changing fads and opinions, character is the one thing that never goes out of style. Author Warren Wiersbe says, “Life is built on character, but character is built on decisions.” Consider the decisions you make today in light of their impact on the following character traits. Think about… Integrity — as you make decisions about your …

7 More Relational Sticking Points

I recently wrote a post entitled, 3 Subtle Ways We Get Stuck In Relationships. I’ve noticed there are certain behaviors that leave a relationship spiraling in a loop…creating a barrier. I said… It doesn’t matter if these actions are intentional or not. Each has the same effect of leaving a relationship stuck in a circle that’s going nowhere. Since writing …

Leaders Help Everyone Look Good In The Group Picture

I’d like to introduce you to what I’m calling, The Principle Of The Group Picture. It’s really simple. You are in a group picture. The picture comes back. When you see the actual picture, the law goes into effect… The first person you will look for and look at in a group picture…is you. Come on. Admit it. You look …

Just Starting Out! 7 Priorities for New Student Leaders (#7)

In the student leader year, momentum naturally occurs at the beginning. There is a lot of energy and excitement and a sense of “newness.” The buzz and dynamics of having everyone back on campus creates a strong sense of togetherness. But momentum will soon fade if it’s not nurtured, managed, and fed with an intentional plan. If you think about …