This past week I had the opportunity to sit in a coaching training session with leaders from across the nations which was extremely valuable.  We’ll likely be sharing more on the specifics in the months ahead.   

One of the topics we covered was best practices in one-on-one coaching relationships.  A topic which comes up in the coaching world frequently is where coaching crosses the line with counseling which should be done by licensed professionals.  This isn’t always the easiest decision and I’m always thankful for others input and experience.

As part of our training, we were afforded the opportunity to view a firsthand counseling session to better understand what goes on in their environment.  We were truly impacted by this session and wanted to pass this along to our community.  It’s about 6 minutes in length and we encourage you to view the entire session.

Be sure to let us know what your thoughts are after viewing as we always are welcoming your input.

Thanks for continuing to be a part of our community and have a FANTASTIC day!

Bigger picture wise, I’ve been reflecting on how “commitment” shows up in our culture today and its potential influence on the generations to follow.  Honestly, it’s my experience that we live in a culture that, in general, does not honor commitment.  Yes, if we ask the average person walking down the street if the honored their commitments, they would likely respond “absolutely”.  But really, are we truly honoring our commitments?

Let me set a little context.  First, in conjunction with our friends at Zarvos Leadership & Coaching, we coach five levels of commitment.  They are:

1. “I don’t care”
2. Wishing, hoping, and wanting
3. Trying
4. Committed “Unless”
5. Committed “Whatever it Takes”

 Briefly, let’s walk through these levels. 

1. “I don’t care”- Have you ever been driving down the road with your spouse or a friend and asked them what they want to eat?  They respond, “I don’t care” and you say, “let’s have Mexican” and they respond, “uuhhhh, I really don’t want Mexican”.  As much as we say we “don’t care” the reality is we really do care.
2. Wishing, hoping, and wanting – I’m sure you’ve heard these words in the past.  Maybe it’s your Account Executive who says, “I want to land this account” or it’s your Operations Manager saying, “we hope to finish the order by noon tomorrow”.  In both levels 1 & 2, we really don’t have a commitment and we’re likely sabotaging our vision.
3. Trying – For you that have kids in school, how many times have you heard, “I’m trying to get my grade up” or, “I’m trying to make the team”?  If you’re like me, if you had a nickel for every time you’ve heard people “trying” to get something done, you’d be a millionaire.  

So, I think most can relate to the first three and we would challenge you to understand that they really don’t truly represent “commitment”.  So, focusing on the committed “unless” and “whatever it takes”, let’s make a few observations.

4. Committed “unless” can show up as committed, however, “unless” is normally where we fall short.  I won’t go into great detail today, however, in a “process for manifesting results”, one of the steps we encourage folks to do is “determine the prices that you’re willing to pay and resolve them”.  Relating this to committed “unless”, we need to spend time identifying reasons we might abandon commitments upfront.  Let me share an example.  At one point in my career, I had a vision to become a President of a mid-size corporation.  While it doesn’t have to look this way always, in my particular case, it was requiring a significant time away from family.  While I went through several years of my career committed and on the fast track, I came to a point that a price that I wasn’t willing to pay was the amount of time away from family.  I also had a few other prices that I wasn’t willing to pay which I won’t get into at this point.  So, I had a few “unless” circumstances that prevented me from fulfilling the commitment to become President.  This is an example of a longer term commitment, however, hopefully it gives you a prospective of how “unless” shows up.  

5. Committed “whatever it takes”is the level we coach individuals and their teams toward.  There is a great deal of foundation which must be laid upfront for this level.  For example, we want to clearly outline your core values and set the context that the only reason you would bail on a commitment would be because it’s in conflict with your core values.  Beyond that, wherever we have clear intentions to make a commitment, we condition our minds to always be operating in a mindset of “whatever it takes”.  Reality is, no one can operate in a mindset of “whatever it takes” 100% of the time; however, it is the vision.     

This is only an overview of the levels of commitment and there is much more to the process.  It’s also critically important that you understand we’re presenting this at a “conscious” level and your “subconscious” thinking is actually having more of an impact on your ability to fulfill commitments.  If you have a desire to learn more, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

So, setting this context of what true commitment looks like, let me circle back around to our culture.  How many of you relate to the following:

• What’s your businesses on-time delivery performance?  Is it 100% or have we fallen into a mind-set that if it’s in the 95%+ range we’re “doin pretty good”.
• When’s the last time you had a business appointment cancelled?  Depending on the nature of the appointment, some would say 1 out of 5 will “no show” or “call at the last minute to cancel”.  We now have an entire industry built around reminder voice mails, emails, and other systems in attempt to improve these statistics.
• When’s the last time you blocked out an evening for a friend only to get a call at the last minute saying they’ve “had something come up” or “they don’t feel good”.
• Or, what about, today’s statistic on marriage with over 50% ending in divorce.
• Yet another may be “Christ-followers”; how many of us are “committed” to truly follow Him?

Now, my point here is not to offend or judge individual circumstances.  I’d be the first to admit that I don’t operate at a “whatever it takes” level consistently.  What I want to do is raise your awareness that we are living in a culture that is declining in their commitment to honor commitments.  As mentioned earlier, it’s likely not that we’re “consciously” lacking commitment most of the time.  It’s really about the programming which has gone on so long for most of us “subconsciously”.

As we’ve shared in the past, we all have blind spots which can’t be seen simply by looking in the mirror.  Additionally, most of those closest to us have difficulty exposing those blind spots as they fear hurting us and potential retribution.  Through our High Performance Coaching process and Truth@Work, we provide that value to hundreds of clients across the globe.  Specific to commitments, we’ll walk you through a process to more clearly understanding what commitment looks like and identification of those items to which you’re truly committed.  If you’d like to learn more about what this may look like for you specifically, please contact us to set up a time to further discuss.

Thanks for continuing to be a part of our community and have a FANTASTIC day!

First, we must define what “integrity” means.  The Merriam Webster Dictionary de­fines “integrity” as:

1. an adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values : INCORRUPTIBILITY
2. an unimpaired condition: SOUNDNESS
3. the quality or state of being complete or undivided : COMPLETENESS

Now, let’s break that down a bit further:

• Incorruptibility – de­fined as being incapable of corruption: not subject to decay or dissolution: incapable of being bribed or morally corrupted.
• Soundness – free from injury or disease: free from flaw, defect, or decay, free from error, fallacy, or misapprehension.
• Completeness – having all necessary parts, elements, or steps: brought to an end.

Well, I don’t know about you; however, when we start to look at “integrity” through this lens, these are some pretty high standards to uphold.  As a matter of fact, could anyone of us truly operate in integrity 100% of the time looking at these definitions?

So, that’s Webster.  Let’s open it up to the group to share their definition of integrity and how they see if playing out in the marketplace.  What are some practical situations you find yourself in on a daily basis?

Well, here are a few which we have discussed in our forum groups in the past.

Large Claim – A multi-million dollar company has a defective product out in the market.  To date, they have over $1.0M in claims.  Internally, while they know they are responsible for the product and their manufacturing process influenced the defect, they believe the larger influence is defective raw material from one of their suppliers.  Presently, because they view one of their primary values as protection of “shareholder value”, they are not highlighting to their customers that there is a potential of an additional $10M in defective product out in the market.  With the information presented, are they operating in integrity?

Overbooked – John is a sales representative and averages 6-8 prospective clients meetings per week.  Historically, John recognizes that he has 1-2 cancellations per week for various reasons.  In order to compensate for this, John often double books appointments and calls to reschedule one of the appointments closer to time if it looks like there is going to be a conflict.  Is John operating in integrity?

Staff Meetings – Your business has weekly meetings at 8A every Monday.  For whatever reason, some folks have a bit of a struggle getting started at the first of the week and you find that people typically stroll in between 8:00A and 8:05A.  Thus, you typically don’t ever plan to start the meeting prior to 8:05A.  Is your team operating in integrity?

After a hard day – You’re on a business trip and decide to have a drink at the bar at the end of a hard day.  Sitting next to you is an attractive gal/guy whom you strike up a conversation.  The conversation ends up having a few flirtatious innuendos passed back and forth which you see as no harm as you’re married and would never take it any further.  Are you operating in full integrity to your spouse?

Can you relate in some manner to any of these examples?  So, how did you answer them?  Chances are there might have been a bit of mixed bag depending on what you have defined as your “values”.  If you need help understanding what your “values” are, contact us and we’ll walk you through a very simple process to identify what you value most.

So, let’s assume, you’re in the camp of saying all three of these examples are “not” operating in integrity.  Let me ask you a question.  In your day to day interaction with people, what percentage of the time do you feel they are operating in integrity? Is it 90%, 75%, 50%, 33%, or 10-20%?  So, what is it?  Are you sure?

Well, I would tell you that generally, after 30-45 minutes of discussion around this topic in our forum groups, you would find that most come back and say that they’re much more likely to deal with people who don’t have true integrity than do.  In fact, most of the group tends to have a bit of a wake-up call with respect to their own integrity.

For some, today’s examples may have been a bit more black and white than others.  I am sure you found yourself reflecting on a few other examples that might have fallen into the “grey” area for you personally.  So, how do you find yourself sorting through these “grey” areas?  Are you trying to figure it out on your own?  Are you depending on your internal team to figure it out?  Or, do you have an independent, non-biased, 3^rd party sounding board to help you work through these grey areas?

Last month, we offered that everyone needs a personal board of advisors, mentor, and/or coach.  Click here to read more.  With something such as integrity, most would agree they desire to have it, however, we all have blind spots which can’t been seen simply by looking in the mirror.  Additionally, most of those closest to us have difficulty exposing those blind spots as they fear hurting us and potential retribution.  Through our High Performance Coaching process and Truth@Work, we provide that value to hundreds of clients across the globe.  If you’d like to learn more about what this may look like for you specifically, please contact us to set up a time to further discuss.

Thanks for continuing to be a part of our community and have a FANTASTIC day!

Blessings,

Chris

Reflecting back on my years in corporate positions, I would tell you that I definitely had great members on my teams who I bounced things off of and even shared a bit of my personal struggles. That being said, due to our working together and, in some cases, having these people report directly to me, it wasn’t easy to maintain a high level of transparency with these individuals. Additionally, since they were in the fire with me, they didn’t really provide that independent third party prospective that is so important in identifying potential blind spots.

On the personal side, I am a part of a church small group that provides somewhat of an advisory board experience. However, these environments are not environments where we typically get into a lot from the business side. Additionally, sometimes these environments are a bit difficult to discuss personal challenges as they are possibly a bit “too close to home”. This isn’t meant to diminish the value of these types of environments; however, it is to say that many don’t find the type of experience I am proposing.

Taking it a step further, we often surround ourselves with mentor or coaching relationships which provide a tremendous amount of value. As a personal coach, I know my clients truly value the ability to open up and share some of their deepest challenges and get feedback. I also know the value of learning from mentor and coaching relationships. Still yet, this doesn’t capitalize on the synergies of a board or team of individuals listening to these challenges and being able to speak into these challenges.

So, what does that personal board of advisors environment look like that I am proposing? Well, let me share just a few characteristics I typically see and personally find value:

• A group of 8 to 15 committed individuals who share common values and a high level of trust.
• A safe & confidential place to share with people who “get it”
• Members committed to work together as each other’s personal Board of Advisors
• Formal structure and criteria for participation which is signed off.
• Financial commitment or “skin in the game” to be a part of such a group of trusted advisors.
• A champion, chairman, or facilitator who is compensated in some means to bring meaningful curriculum and formalize structure to the meeting.
• Members help one another grow their businesses, grow personally, and grow spiritually (if applicable)
• Members are able to provide neutral/unbiased feedback – no “personal interest”

This is simply a list of a few highlights and there is much more to consider when forming your advisory board. Unfortunately, I have seen many try to create this type of environment and it fizzles out after only a few months or even a couple of years. This in itself is another reason to consider having someone with “proven” expertise facilitate your meetings.

For me, this environment has been Truth@Work who facilitates these personal advisory boards for Christian business leaders. For over a decade, they have been facilitating a proven model with an 87% year-over-year retention rate for their members. Truth@Work still has several members from their initial roundtable launched over a decade ago.

I can honestly say that I would likely not be in business today if it weren’t for my Truth@Work advisory board. In additional to providing counsel for my business, this group of individuals has provided sound counsel in the areas of my personal and spiritual life as well. As many of you know, I have become so passionate about the “life and business changing experience” Truth@Work provides with their members that I now facilitate roundtables throughout Indianapolis with virtual roundtables on the horizon. In these monthly meetings, I see life change happen nearly every meeting.

Truth@Work isn’t for everyone, however, the model which includes all of the highlights outlined above is the type of personal board of advisors I highly recommend you find, if not already. Some may say, “Chris, I’m just a housewife” to which I would say, “you” still need the type of environment I am proposing. Life is too short to “go it alone” and we need these types of “unbiased” people in our lives.

If we can help or you’d like to learn more about Truth@Work, please reach out to us to schedule a time to talk.

Have a fantastic day!

Blessings,

Chris

Last week, I had the opportunity to attend a Truth@Work webinar with Donnie Smith, CEO, Tyson Foods. Let me simply say, WOW!   In today’s culture, it’s sometime difficult to discern wise counsel when it comes to leadership.   There is an abundance of information and people claiming to have “best practices”, however, do they truly have “fruit on the tree”? So, when you get an opportunity to listen to someone like Donnie Smith, it is truly impactful.

Given this and as a testament to Donnie’s humility, he began the presentation by acknowledging right up front that he’s just another man and there is nothing special about him.  With his southern accent, he says, “Donnie Smith is just eat up with normal. There is nothing special about me, but there is something special about the Lord I serve.”

Much of the context of the webinar was about how Tyson Foods has created a “faith-friendly” culture. If this is of interest to you, I am more than willing to share more on this topic with our partnership with Truth@Work. However, today, I want to focus in on a couple of key points Donnie made that stood out to me.

First, Donnie stressed the importance of truly spending time on your company’s core values, purpose, mission, and culture. Many organizations have taken time to put these things on paper, however, do they truly believe them and “walk the talk”? Clearly, the evidence supports that Tyson Foods is intentional about their core values, purpose, mission, and culture. For your benefit, here is a link to Tyson’s Core Values page on their website.

Another thing that truly struck me was Donnie’s response to a question asking, “What have you seen derail most leaders careers?” Without hesitation, Donnie responded, “Whatever is the opposite of Servant Leadership.” Elaborating a bit further Donnie shared a conversation with one of his executive not too long ago. He said, and I’ll paraphrase, “You know what your problem is? You are too focused on that office or position that you want next. If you would simply focus on serving your people, that position will come.”

While this sounds so simple, it speaks volumes! I can relate to numerous examples where I have seen leaders get too focused on that next step in their careers that they lose track of how they arrived at where they are. Yes, some have bullied their way to where they are, however, most have served their people if they are at any level of influence within a prospering organization.

If you have interest in viewing this webinar with Donnie Smith, simply click here. Truth@Work has a monthly webinar series which we’d love to add you to the distribution list. Please recognize that Truth@Work is a Kingdom focused organization thus this will be the context of the content being delivered.

At Arnold, we are “Equipping Leaders for Life” all across the world using the principles of servant leadership. If you would like to learn more about our “High Performance Coaching” process, click here and/or contact us to set up an appointment. We find great joy in serving our clients and would love to build a relationship with you and your team!

Have a fantastic day!

“It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time:…a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness;…paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community. I could go on…”

Stated differently, we might list words like: “untruthful, discontent, worry, impetuous, hard driving, immorality, idolatry, fits of anger, emotional outburst, & selfish ambition.”

Wow, tough stuff huh!

Or, is it possible this describes the “heart” of your business?

“But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard-things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.”

Stating this a bit differently, we might list words like: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, and others oriented.”   Yes, for those who are familiar with the Bible, these are the “fruits of the spirit” and the passages above are taken from the book of Galatians 5:19-23 MSG.

So, which is it? Clearly, it must be the second scenario as the first is far too harsh…right?

Let’s not skim over this too quickly. Seriously, if you were to look at a typical day within your business, are you sure we wouldn’t see things like “discontent, worry, fits of anger, or emotional outburst?”

In our executive coaching as well as association with Truth@Work, one of the things we spend quality time on is understanding the true heart of a leader. Reality is that most of us experience things like “discontent, worry, selfish ambition, etc.” on a regular basis. If you don’t think so, just ask those around you; you might be surprised.

That being said, we also find circumstances that leader’s hearts outwardly appear to be in great condition, yet, inwardly, they are wrestling to find things like “joy, peace, patience, self-control, etc.”

Let me give you an example. Some time ago, there was a leader of a growing business whom had two different distribution channels. For the purpose of the story, we’ll call these distribution channels, “peace” and “worry”. While both outwardly appeared to be great opportunities which were in alignment with the businesses values, mission, and purpose, something just wasn’t right with the “worry” distribution channel. At a “heart” level, the leader was experiencing things like “discontentment, worry, hard drive, and emotional outbursts”. A bit more troubling was that “worry”, long term, had the potential of being much more profitable than the “peace” distribution channel.

For months, while most wouldn’t have noticed, the leader wrestled at a heart level. Why would “worry” look like such a great opportunity when we got involved? “Worry” has the potential of being so much more profitable than “peace”. Why am I wrestling with this? Others are doing what “worry” does and there doesn’t appear to be anything wrong with this distribution channel. Am I simply being “selfish and discontent” when I look at “worry?”

Vice versa, “peace” had its share of opportunities and wasn’t a cake walk. However, reflecting on the leader’s heart, he clearly was more characterized by words like, “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” in association with “peace”. No, “peace” didn’t have near the potential for financial results that “worry” did. Yet, there were many non-tangibles that came with “peace”. One of the most important to the leader was his own personal “peace” versus “worry”.

So, after much time of reflection and counsel, the decision was made; it was time for “worry” to go. The transition plan was relatively painless, especially since the leader had been reflecting on “worry” for months. While the story still is unfolding today, the leader’s experience with “peace” far outweighs that of “worry”. We’ll plan to keep you posted as things progress.

At Truth@Work, we would differentiate “worry” and “peace” by modeling a “Business in the Flesh vs. Business in the Spirit”.

We anticipated that most of you would desire to see the “heart” of your business aligned more with the characteristics of a “Business in the Spirit”. However, once again, are they really in alignment?

For many, this time of year is a time of reflection and refocus. We encourage you to assess the “heart” of your business across all aspects of your business. The story above dealt with a sales distribution channel, however, there are several other aspects of business you as a leader are encouraged and likely are assessing. For example, do you have that one person on staff that always seems to yield “results”; however, exhibits characteristics more in line with a “Business in the Flesh”? Or, possibly, you have multiple areas of “worry” within your business in today’s tough economic climate.

If so, don’t go it alone! While we didn’t emphasize it above, the counsel of a group of like-minded business leaders and a personal coach were invaluable in working through the situation. Chances are the leader in the story would still be floundering today if it weren’t for these resources. Would you like to learn more of how we can help? Please contact us for a no cost, no obligation consultation.

Several years ago a professor at Indiana – Kelley School of Business shared something that has really stuck with me over time. It was the following equation:

Level of Success = Value of the Idea X Level of Buy-in

So, if we have an Idea that is a “10″; however, only have a Buy-in of “1″, then the Level of Success is only a “10″. Vice versa, an Idea of a “1″ with a Buy-in of “10″ is still a “10″.

What I frequently see is businesses, organizations, and individuals having some really great ideas; however, they don’t take the time to stop and seek buy-in. They tend to be so excited about “their idea” that they get out in front of their teams without ever truly seeking input. In multiple studies, we see that what people value most is that they have an opportunity to contribute and are being heard. When we don’t take the time to allow this with our ideas, we are sabotaging them from the get-go.

Looking at it from a bit of a different prospective, seeking buy-in is a form of promoting win-win relationships. If we focus on relationships in general, a critical component of mature relationships is “trust”. We have written in the past about the importance of trust and encourage you to review prior post. Today, we want to highlight a basic principle which is: Communication => Trust => Relationship. Thus, if we’re looking to have win-win relationships and promote buy-in, one of the most important factors in doing so is to increase our level of communication.

So, it’s really pretty simple…right? If we want to increase buy-in and have successful outcomes, we simply need to talk about our ideas openly and seek other peoples input. Not that simple? If not, what’s getting in your way? Well, let us elaborate on a few things we see getting in the way.

Time – Much like anything having to do with relationships and people, it takes time to go out and promote buy-in. Sometimes we are in crisis, and leaders truly don’t have time to promote buy-in. They simply need to execute and deal with the consequences after the fact. That being said, I believe these situations to be few and far between. What one has to realize is that if you’re truly focused on “time”, the more time you take upfront to communicate an idea, seek input, and promote buy-in, the more effective you’ll be in execution. Thus, the total time is much less in the big picture.

Confidentiality - Many times, the ideas we have may be confidential in nature and we don’t want our entire organization or team to find out premature. This is very legitimate in many situations. What must exist in these situations is that you still have an inner circle with whom you are communicating and promoting buy-in. This inner circle needs to spend considerable time mapping out a strategy to gain buy-in with the rest of the organization prior to premature “leaks” starting to happen. There are tactical ways of soliciting buy-in from the rest of the organization without raising flags which we don’t have the time to get into at this point. The emphasis here is simply that buy-in is still critical and you must have a strategy to deal with it.

Self-Awareness – You may think this is somewhat of a tangent, however, stick with me on this one. Most new ideas mean “change”. Human nature is to resist “change”. Thus, we have to help people come to the realization themselves that “change” needs to happen. So, in order to promote buy-in, we must promote within our relationships a “self-awareness” that change is necessary. Working with teams, this is typically done by going in upfront and performing an assessment with the group. This assessment is used to promote “self-awareness”. Then, the assessment becomes the basis for a need for change and new ideas which leads to communication which leads to buy-in. Our reasoning for adding “self-awareness” to the list is that many leaders lead with why THEY feel change is necessary which can place their teams on the defense. It’s always better for people to come to the conclusion change is necessary versus being told it’s necessary.

Through 20+ years of leadership experience, I can’t over emphasize the importance of buy-in. It really goes back to John Maxwell’s comment “He who thinketh he leadeth and has no one following him is only taking a walk.” If you don’t have anyone following, you’ve failed to promote buy-in along the way.

So, ultimately, our goal should be to create Ideas that are a “10″ with a Buy-in of “10″ which exponentially increases our Level of Success to “100″. When this happens, your business, organization, or relationships will truly experience a level of success beyond your imagination.

If today’s message has been helpful or you’d like to further discuss buy-in and resources we can provide, please drop us a note. We always love to hear from our followers and know that we’re providing value.

Have a fantastic day!

If you study these two pictures, you will find many things that are different. For example, the books, reading glasses, chair in the background, taller grass along the edge of the pond, and likely many other things.

For our followers, you likely know that this is a view off of our back porch which tends to be my summer office/reading area. The books in the picture represent my most recent reading.   This morning, in preparation for the front coming through our area on Labor Day weekend from the hurricane, I found myself focused on the difference between a “sunny” and “cloudy” day.

A bit more context, I received a Facebook message from an old colleague of mine this morning. This past year, the company I previously spent the majority of my corporate career (I left 4 years ago) was acquired by a major competitor. Unfortunately, as it typically goes in an acquisition, there are efforts to centralize and downsize the combined entity. This has resulted in many people making a decision not to relocate therefore severing their relationship with the new company. So, in some aspects, I guess you could say that it’s a “cloudy” day for a lot of these folks.

As a Christian, Coach, and Community Builder, I tend to run across people on a daily basis experiencing “cloudy” days. Some, like the colleague mentioned above, have lost their jobs. There are business owners struggling to survive, for others it’s their marriage which is “cloudy” or a recent divorce, yet others are having issues with their teenage children. And, the list goes on from there of how the word is full of “cloudy” days. What are the aspects of a “cloudy” day in which you can relate?

Now, with respect to a “sunny” day, most tend to find energy and excitement. Related to many of the situations above, life is “in the zone” and we’re typically hitting on all cylinders. In general, we are naturally attracted to “light” versus “darkness”. Even this morning I had to stop myself in thinking that it was going to be a “gloomy” holiday weekend.

Another question: Is it the “sun” or the “clouds” that remain the same? Yes, beyond the “clouds” the “sun” is the same today as it was yesterday and will continue to be tomorrow, God willing. What some people tend to lose track of, are that “cloudy” days are required for us to continue to be attracted to the sun. Without rain and water, there is no nurturing and growth. Without nurturing and growth, we tend to take the sun for granted, get too comfortable, and even become complacent.

One of the exercises, we do in Truth@Work is to have people develop their personal lifelines.

What we tend to see is that many people have “cloudy” periods in their lives. Having done this exercise multiple times with Truth@Work members and listening to people’s stories on daily basis through our LIFE business, I can confidentially assure you of one thing. While most tend to forget the “clouds” are temporary and the “sun” stays the same during the midst of a “cloudy” day, nearly everyone acknowledges that these are the days of their greatest personal nurturing and growth. Putting it another way, it’s always in the valleys of our life that we grow the most.

So, while today’s message is likely nothing new to you, we hope that it is a reminder to look past the “clouds” realizing beyond them the “sun” still shines bright. Thus, embrace the “cloudy” days truly as “opportunities” for you to nurture and grow. We might add that to maintain this prospective, it sometimes requires and external “source of light” which we’re in the business of providing for our clients and community.

Have a fantastic holiday weekend and be safe!

Blessings,

Chris

So, what does it look like to “change the world”? DeMille is one of those people that when he speaks, everyone intensely listens. In a word, DeMille’s purpose in this world is “freedom”. In his book, Freedom Shift, DeMille states:

“Americans enjoy a legacy of freedom and prosperity that is perhaps without equal in the history of the world. The pride we have traditionally felt over the idealism, vision, heroism, and sacrifice of our Pilgrims, Founders, and those that followed them is a part of our national heritage.

And yet it seems that it is no longer alarmist to assert that we are in grave danger of losing the freedom and prosperity that were won at so terrible a cost. Strangely, though, our culture of idealism, heroism and sacrifice is not lost.

Our people still show a great capacity for moral courage, tenacity and altruism. There are still those among us who are willing to take risks, endure hardships and make difficult choices. We still take our hats off when the flag goes by. We honor the sacrifices of our military brothers and sisters; we show compassion to the less fortunate. Why, then, are we sliding virtually unchecked down the slippery slope of cultural and societal decay?

Why are we losing our freedoms?”

In his November 2011 speech and his book, Freedom Shift, DeMille talks about the fact that every hundred years, give or take a few, there is a major world shift for or against freedom. The last major shift in American was during the period of 1913 to 1936. DeMille outlines four specific events which transpired (3 – 1913 and 1 – 1936) which shifted America in the direction of “force” or less freedom. I’ll let you read his books and listen to his speech to better understand what these four events were and how they have changed our world. DeMille states, that what he is sharing, you’ll likely not hear on the news, learn in schools, or other public media.

DeMille believes, which many tend to agree, that we are in the midst of another “world freedom shift” which will happen within the next 10 – 12 years. This shift will either take us dramatically further away from the freedoms our country was originally founded or be a “turning point” restoring many of the freedoms we’ve lost to date.

So, the question comes, what will it take to insure this world shift is “for freedom”? DeMille says, it will not be easy, however, it’s not as difficult as many would have it to be. He emphasizes that the events of 1913 were originated by a very small percentage of the population, 3% – 5% or even less. It’s his belief, that if this same 3% – 5% of inspired leaders band together and do three things, then we’ll make a dramatic difference and “change the world”.

What are these three things? You really need to read DeMille’s books or listen to his CD, however, here they are:

1. A Revolution of Entrepreneurship – Entrepreneurs tend to be free thinkers or Rascals, whom aren’t easily influenced to “follow the herd”.
2. The Rise of Vivacious Readers and Independent Thinkers – DeMille stresses the importance of reading; you’ve likely heard it said “leaders are readers”. He states that very few have ever truly read the founding documents of our country and they aren’t taught in our schools anymore. Adding to this, he states that as readers we must develop our ability to be “independent thinkers versus institutionalized thinkers”.
3. Building and Leading the New Tribes – Referring to Seth Golden’s book Tribes, DeMille speaks of the importance of this small percentage of leaders banding together and building tribes within their local communities.

Again, I encourage you to get DeMille’s books to better understand the history and his position on freedom. Many have chosen to band together with the LIFE community and support the principles DeMille outlines.

Going back to his speech in November 2011, DeMille challenges the crowd to stop and think about their grandchildren. He says that many of you will have the opportunity to sit with your grandchildren 25 years from now and share the story of how you lived during the time of a major world shift for freedom. With tears in his eyes, DeMille challenged the crowd to really stop and think about that moment. (pause) What will you tell your grandchildren? (pause) Will it be how you lived during one of the most important times in history and sat on the sidelines because you didn’t know what to do. Or, will you chose to engage with 3% – 5% of the population whom are banded together as a community of influence and committed to doing what’s required to insure we have a shift “FOR FREEDOM”!

DeMille’s books, as well as many other great resources related to Freedom, are accessible through our LIFE website. You will need to enroll as a member or customer and then you will be able to purchase DeMille’s products as well as a suite of many other life transformational products. We encourage you to get on a subscription of this information as part of your continual learning experience.

We live in a time where there is more information accessible at our finger tips, than any other time in history. The challenge is discerning, what of this information, is TRUTH? While LIFE doesn’t claim to have all the right information, they do work very hard to discern and publish the information weighted on the principles by which our country was founded.

So, with that, I have one final question for you: “How many of you are going to change the world?”

Sincerely,

Chris