Once in a while, I post a fun blog about something from our culture. Several days ago I wrote about some great leadership movies that have come out over the last three decades. Today, I want to list a dozen great movies on the topic of “mentoring.” We believe young leaders will not be raised up through massive crowds at some conference, but through life-on-life mentoring relationships. In fact, we believe that “more time with less people equals greater impact on students.” When I talk to young people, mentors are one of the hottest topics in their lives. Most long for helpful, healthy mentors to guide them from backpack to briefcase. Continue Reading
Today is President’s Day. A day we set aside to express honor and appreciation for the men who’ve held the highest office in our land. He is the Commander in Chief of our military forces, the CEO of our budget and finances and the voice of vision for our future.
But presidents have not always been up for the challenge. Over the last two and a half centuries, men have been elected to the office who had mediocre or even poor experiences. While they may have led the army, or a business or even served as governor of a state in their past—the presidency just didn’t suit their gifts and style. It wasn’t the right context. Continue Reading
Have you heard the name Jeremy Lin lately?
If you haven’t, you are missing out! His name was plastered all over the front page of USA Today and the local paper in Sacramento where I stayed last night. He was the hot topic on ESPN today and stores can’t keep his number 17 jersey in stock. Jeremy Lin has led the New York Knicks to a six-game win streak while the team battled injuries to stars Amar’e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony.
We love leadership movies. So recently we started a fun new tradition at our Growing Leaders office. Once a month we end the workday early and move into our creative space at our office, we pull some snacks out and watch one of these great leadership movies together.

Our team brainstormed some of the best leadership movies over the last few decades and we are going through this list once a month. We may not get through all of them but it provided us a great chance to see leadership failures and successes and discuss it afterward. Continue Reading
Troubled athletes are an unfortunate reality of working with any team.
I spoke to both a football coach and a basketball coach recently who relayed similar stories from their last season. Both had to dismiss four players from their teams because the troubled athletes couldn’t play as teammates. The athletes didn’t have a talent problem. They had a problem with discipline and perspective. The coaches both admitted they just didn’t have the time to get those troubled athletes up to speed—so they let them go.
I think there’s a deeper problem in this predicament. During their childhood and adolescent years, kids often experience something traumatic. They encounter one extreme or the other: either abandonment or abundance. Some troubled athletes experience both. Continue Reading
