Backstage Leadership is the culmination of a few years worth of learning, growing, idea-ating, dreaming and stretching.  The basis is pretty simple.  I’ve take larger strides in development, leadership, ideas, in ministry, with my marriage, (the list could go on and on) by talking with those who have been down the road I’m trying to take.  These conversations were more important than books I read and conferences I attended. They helped me deal with specifically what I was going through.  Don’t get me wrong, I learn by reading and by listening to talks at conferences.  The problem with that format is it is stemming from the foundation of the speaker/author.  There is nothing wrong with that, it just is not as helpful to me.

Here’s an example I use frequently.  If you were at Catalyst last year than you remember Dave Ramsey knocking it out of the park with his talk on building trust in his organization.  The talk was awesome.  The principles were sound.  The problem is this…I don’t have 300 employees and 8 direct reports.  I have a handful of volunteers and half of those are family!  I’m not on step 50 Dave, I’m on step 5.  I’m trying to lay the foundation so that when I have 300 employees, there will be trust.  Help me get there!  This is where Backstage Leadership comes in.  Now, you can ask the questions you want answered.

This is going to be more than a conference.  This is a journey that you’ll experience with 125 other hungry leaders that want so desperately to grow and be used to do great things.  If you are ready to go to the next level, then visit www.backstageleadership.org and apply today.

Sign Up Today!

Nick Vujicic spoke and I think it should really take a lot for me to complain again.  Nick was born with no arms and no legs and the doctors had no reason to explain why.  Here are two quotes from him:

“I’d be dishonoring God if I didn’t live my life in a way that I thought I could change the world.”

“I have a pair of shoes in my closet just in case God answers my prayer.”

I’ve never seen such joy cover adversity.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGZYT50Bow4&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0xe1600f&color2=0xfebd01]

1. Living with no humidity is better.

2. Uncertainty is why we need leaders.  This was such an awesome talk by Andy Stanley.  He says that a leader is not required to be certain about everything.  As we’ve seen over the past year in the economy, no one knows for certain what the best next step should be.  In uncertain times though, the leader should always fall back on the original vision-that one thing that God called you to do.  The leader has to be clear.  People will follow a leader who is clear about the vision even if the circumstances are uncertain.  Powerful!

3.  Andy also said something that blew me away.  He said he prays every single day for God to give him wisdom and direction for his life.  Now, maybe I’m not as spiritual as you, but here is a guy who is doing amazing things for God and is being used to influence tens of thousands of people and he still prays that God would show him what to do!  That was sobering and humbling.

4. Guy Kawasaki got permission to say “crappy” and “suck” before his talk.  His talk was neither.  Great thought from Guy, if you create something great, you will gain lovers and haters.  That’s just reality.

5.  Jud Whilhite spoke on the true image of ourselves.  When you look in the mirror do you see you the way God does or the way your memory does?  A stong case from Scripture reveals that God sees us differently that we often see ourselves.  How many people are not doing great things because they see themselves in the wrong light?

6. The biggest question that was burning through my heart was this: “Would I rather be used by God or to be known?”

So, it will take me a few weeks to process all the information that was learned over the past week.  Go ahead and add a few more weeks to write about it.  Let me give you an overview and prepare you for more details later.

1. We released the speakers for this year’s Backstage Leadership class.  Early bird sign ups run through May.  In this  you’ll learn from people like Chuck Colson, Mark Batterson, Brad Lomenick, Carlos Whittaker, Gabe Lyons, Dan Cathy, Mike Foster and more.  Apply today as spots are limited to 125 participants.
2. My brother and I flew out to California to attend Catalyst West Coast.  My best friend growing up was one of the emcees.  He was hilarious. I’ll post a few of his videos soon. Ben and his team did an amazing job with the event. Thanks to Dan Cathy, everyone ate Chick-fil-A for free…both days!  We heard from Andy Stanley, Guy Kawasaki, Catherine Rohr, Ravi Zacharias, Nick Vujicic, Erwin McManus, Craing Groeschel, Francis Chan, and my pastor Perry Noble.
3. At Catlayst I met Bethany Hoang from International Justice Mission.  I was able to share with her about Free Chains and I hope there will be an opportunity for us to partner with them and learn from them.  She’s also speaking for the Centurions this fall!
4. After Catalyst, I went to Austin, TX for the Q conference.  Gabe and his team did an amazing job.  This is not  your typical event.  I met some awesome new friends and was able to meet many more.  I picked up a pair of TOMS shoes (and in the process gave a pair to a child in need).

I have tons of notes to review and flesh out.  In the mean time, check out some of the links above and be sure to check out Backstage Leadership.

So, the past few weeks I got to see a lot of people from my family.  It was great, considering we do not have any relatives in our state, unless you count my mate, which you can not debate, sorry.  It got me thinking how special and powerful our families are.

My mom came up for easter and she served us like she’s been doing my whole life.  She cooked 2 amazing meals!  I love her cooking. It made me thankful for how hard she worked when I was growing up.

We saw my dad for a few days. It was fun. My brother came down and we played golf.  Playing golf with my dad and brother (and my wife riding in the cart!) is one of my all time things in the world.

We saw one of my grandmothers. Unfortunately it was in the hospital before she had heart surgery!  She was in great spirits and was witty as ever.  She is doing much better now.

We got to spend time with Betsey’s parents, sister and her 4 kids.  It was great to spend some time with them, plus I was a part of the best canasta comeback in the history of the family.

The truth is, I know I take for granted my awesome family a lot. It was great to see all of them and I can’t wait to do it again.