Framework and Freedom

Day 80 of 280 | The 7-40 Challenge Round 2 is done. Forty more days. All seven habits. Two full rounds in the books. And I want to talk about something that I keep coming back to — the relationship between structure and freedom, and why most people have it backwards. When I started the … Continue reading Framework and Freedom

Cover Band

Day 79 | The 7-40 Challenge I’m about to open a piece about not playing covers with a cover. I know. Stay with me. Todd Henry makes a distinction between cover bands and original artists. A cover band can be really good — fill a room, play the songs people love, make decent money on … Continue reading Cover Band

Communication Is Not a Soft Skill

Day 78 | The 7-40 Challenge I was listening to Todd Henry’s Die Empty this week, and he referred to communication as a soft skill. I had to stop the book and take a voice note so I wouldn’t forget how frustrated I was. Communication is not a soft skill. It never was. Calling it … Continue reading Communication Is Not a Soft Skill

Twenty-Three Years

Day 77 | The 7-40 Challenge I found a document on my computer yesterday that I wrote in 2003. I was twenty-four years old. I’d wasn’t too far out be leaving my ministry job. I may have been selling Thomas Kinkaid paintings, or managing a Pizza Hut— I honestly can’t remember when I wrote it … Continue reading Twenty-Three Years

Nobody’s Going to Tell You to Go

Day 76 | The 7-40 Challenge I started reading Seth Godin's Tribes this morning. Early in the book, he draws a line between managers and leaders that I haven't been able to stop thinking about. Managers make widgets. Leaders make change. Managers manipulate resources to get a known job done. Leaders create change they believe in. I've … Continue reading Nobody’s Going to Tell You to Go