Michael Hyatt's Blog, page 186

#026: How to Lead in Turbulent Times [Podcast]

It’s no secret that the last four or five years have been challenging from an economic, technological, and global perspective. In this episode, I discuss five actions leaders must take in order to lead well in turbulent times.

When I speak publicly on this topic, I call this presentation, “Shift: Leading in Turbulent Times.” I use the word “shift” for two reasons:

The world seems to be shifting under our feet.
We must also shift if we are going to lead well.

Click to Listen

Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes | Play in browser | Download

While I was the CEO of Thomas Nelson (2005–2011), we experienced three significant changes:

Change #1: The Great Recession
Change #2: The Digital Revolution
Change #3: The Social Media Revolution

Your industry has probably gone through massive change as well. Over the last few months, I have spoken to a vareity of groups representing several different industries:

The Telecommunications Industry has gone through a massive shift to smart phones and wireless communications.
The Mortgage Industry has gone through a massive shift in federal regulation and lending practices.
The Media Industry has gone through a massive shift to digital delivery and direct-to-consumer marketing.

And, of course, the phenomenon of social media has impacted every industry. And, if that weren’t enough, you are probably experiencing massive change in your own life.

Maybe you’re going through a tough time in your marriage or dealing with the aftermath of a divorce or even the death of a spouse.
Maybe you’ve been laid off and are struggling to find work. Perhaps you are under-employed or just launching a business.
Maybe you had a health crisis and are dealing with the impact on your family and career.

Or maybe it’s quite so massive but still change—perhaps you are newly married, just had a baby, or received a promotion. Regardless, we are living in a world of unprecedented change. To lead well in this kind of environment, you must take five specific actions.

Action #1: Shift your perception. You must acknowledge reality. This is the new normal. We’re not going back. At the same time, you must remain confident that you will ultimately prevail. In his book, Good to Great, Jim Collins refers to this as “The Stockdale Paradox.”
Action #2: Shift your intention. You can’t resist change; you must embrace it. This means taking the initiative—going first—and leaning into it. How you approach change as a leader will determine how your organization approaches it.
Action #3: Shift your direction. In turbulent times, it is easy to lose your vision. You just stop talking about the future. However, your people need to know there is a future and their actions matter.
Action #4: Shift your acceleration. You must recover a sense of urgency. Your responsiveness can be a competitive advantage, particularly if you are a small organization with big competitors.
Action #5: Shift your allocation. Unlike the federal government, you can’t fund new programs without defunding old ones. You have to shift your resources away from unprofitable programs to profitable ones.

Real leaders thrive in turbulent times. They come alive. Why? Because it requires them to grow. They discover abilities and resources they never knew they had.

Listener Questions

Tom Eggebrecht asked, ”How do you lead people who don’t want to be led?”
John Bergquist asked, “How do you handle the stress of change in a healthy way?”
DJ Wade-O asked, “How do you deal with change in an organization when you don’t agree with it?”
Dean Brown asked, “How do you manage well at work when your personal life is rapidly changing and things seem overwhelming?”

Special Announcements

I am excited to announce the publication of my brand new audio course entitled, “Everything You Need to Know to Get Published.” If you have ever thought about writing a book (or even if you have written a book) this course is for you.

In 21 audio sessions, I cover everything I have learned about publishing in my thirty-plus years in the industry as a publisher, former literary agent, and two-time New York Times bestselling author.

This week, I am offering a special 50% discount to my blog readers and podcast listeners. But, you must order before 11:59 p.m. on Sunday night, September 30, 2012. I’ll also throw in four FREE bonus products worth more than $150.00.

Click here to find out more.
I will be speaking four times at three events in the Atlanta area next week. If you live there, I’d love to meet you and shake your hand! You can find me here:

October 3: Catalyst Atlanta. I will be leading one of the labs on the topic of “Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World.”
October 4: My Healthy Church Luncheon. I will be speaking on the topic of Shift: Leading in Turbulent Times.
October 4: Savvy Blogging Summit. I will be speaking on the topic of “Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World.”
October 5: Savvy Blogging Summit. I will be leading a workshop on the topic of “7 Keys to Writing a Killer Blog Post.”

If you want to explore the possibility of having me speak at your event, visit my speaking page.

Episode Resources

In this episode I mentioned several resources, including:

Conference: The Launch Conference
Book: Good to Great by Jim Collins
Movie: We Were Soldiers, starring Mel Gibson
Podcast: Episode 3—“The Relationship Between Vision and Productivity”
Post: “The Four Disciplines of the Heart”
Post: “Why the Best Leaders Are Great Followers”
Post: “What to Do When You Don’t Know What to Do”

Show Transcript

The transcript of this episode is not quite ready. I will post it here when it is available.

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Also, if you enjoyed the show, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out! Thanks.

Question: What needs to change in you if you are going to manage change effectively? You can leave a comment by clicking here.

How To Be Predictably Persuasive [Podcast]

“How To Be Predictably Persuasive”

by Ray Edwards

Listen to this podcast on my website…













Ray Edwards Show
September 19, 2012

I met Ray Edwards in New York recently at a gathering of membership site owners. He is a copywriter by trade—a really great copywriter.

Recently, I was on his blog and discovered that he is also a podcaster. His show is mostly about Internet marketing and copywriting, but he throws in a few life lessons as well.

I listened to two episodes so far and am very impressed. I think his is now my favorite podcast. Give it a listen!

5 Reasons You Should Seriously Consider Writing a Book

Have you ever thought about writing a book? If you are like 61.5 percent of my readers, you probably have. But even if you haven’t, I urge you to consider doing it.

Being a published author has done more for my career—and my income—than I could have ever imagined. It has opened doors of opportunity I couldn’t have dreamed were possible. And, it can happen for you, too.

Here are five good reasons why you should consider writing a book:

It provides an opportunity to share your expertise. Whether you realize it or not, you are an expert. The problem is you take your knowledge, experience, or skill for granted. Because it is familiar, you assume everyone has it. They don’t. And people will pay to know what you know or learn how to do what you do.
It provides an opportunity to establish your authority. People work for years to land an important job or get a graduate degree. Both of these can be important steps in your career path, but neither provide the level of credibility that comes with having a book with your name on it. In our culture, this is still regarded as the ultimate proof of your mastery.
It provides an opportunity to differentiate yourself. Whatever your profession, you probably have lots of competition. But I’d be willing to bet only a handful of your competitors have a book to their credit. This is one way—perhaps the most important way—to set yourself apart and get noticed. It provides an unfair advantage in today’s dog-eat-dog world.
It provides an opportunity to expand your market. A book is the best marketing tool you could ever have. It makes an introduction. It opens doors. It prepares the market for the other products and services you offer. It goes where you can’t go and does what you can’t do. It positions you as someone with something important to offer.
It provides an opportunity to launch a business. A book is but one expression of your message. Once you have published it, you can introduce an assortment of ancillary products. For example, my Platform book led to an audio book, a video series, and a conference. Soon we will be launching an exclusive membership site and a premium WordPress theme.

Granted, writing a book is not easy. It takes a lot of hard work and, most of all, perseverance. But that’s where I can help.

I’ve spent the last 30-plus years in the publishing industry, most recently as the Chairman & CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers. I am also a New York Times bestselling author myself and former literary agent. I have seen the business from every side.

Today, I am releasing a brand new course called, Everything You Need to Know to Get Published. This 21-session audio system provides the information and tools you need to:

Navigate today’s publishing world
Evaluate your publishing options
Gain the attention of agents and publishers
Negotiate the best book contract possible
Write your book fast without getting overwhelmed
Maximize your publicity opportunities
Hit the bestsellers list
Launch a viable, long-term business

In short, it will provide the information and confidence you need to launch your writing career and succeed as an author. It is the most comprehensive publishing resource available anywhere. And, by the way, this isn’t just for unpublished authors. There’s a full section for those who are already published but want to know how to become a bestselling author.

As a reader of my blog, I am making this program available at a special, deep discount through the end of the week. In addition, I am offering four free bonuses worth $150.97. But you must buy now. This offer expires at 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, September 30th.

Click here to learn more. The short video will provide an overview. You owe it to yourself to consider how writing a book could benefit you.

Question: What would being a published author make possible for you? You can leave a comment by clicking here.

5 Characteristics of a Strong Mind

LaRae Quy worked as an undercover and counterintelligence FBI agent for 24 years. She exposed foreign spies and recruited them to work for the U.S. Government. Now she speaks and write on leadership and empowerment. Her book, Secrets of A Strong Mind , is available on Amazon. Visit her blog, Empower the Leader In You, or follow her on Twitter.

We live in turbulent times. If you and I are to overcome the obstacles in our way, we’re going to need a strong mind.

No matter the circumstances around us, we will need to rely upon the mental toughness we normally look look for in our heroes, not in ourselves.We admire heroes like Robin Hood and James Bond because they embody the characteristics that we’ve valued throughout the ages. Heroes let us feel what it’s like to have the mental toughness to break out of our boring little existence and enter into a much bigger world—one that is full of possibility.

I define a strong mind as having a great capacity to face challenges. Being strong means having the resources, the mental skills, and the physical capabilities to confront difficulties of all kinds. When a person is strong-minded, they have the energy and stamina to face a challenge without being robbed of inner strength.

Mental toughness gives us the courage to grow from the stress we experience in life. It is a mindset comprised of several qualities and attitudes.

The Secret Ingredients

What secret ingredients do heroes possess? They have five elements:

Confidence
Courage
Commitment
Control
Purpose

Well, maybe the characteristics of a hero aren’t so secret after all. But how can you and I harness their power and create the strong mind that is the trademark of those that live large in a world full of possibility?

If you are strong-minded, you express these attitudes and skills on a daily basis, no matter what is happening in your life. Some people may naturally be more mentally tough than others, but the good news is that you can learn to become even stronger.

Here are some tips to building a strong mind that I learned while in new agent’s class at the FBI Academy:

1. Confidence

When I took the physical fitness (FIT) test at the FBI Academy I was the 1 percent that makes the top 99 percent possible. I failed miserably, so my challenge became twofold: maintaining confidence in myself while training to pass the rigid FIT test.

My confidence plummeted. I worked with a coach at the Academy and he taught me the secret to building confidence—small steps.

By taking steps so tiny that they seem trivial, you can sail through obstacles that you never thought you could defeat. Slowly, you can cultivate an appreciation for the small improvements when they happen. Success builds upon itself, and slowly, it lays down a permanent route to change.

Small steps are concrete. Mountains are climbed one step at a time, not by giant leaps. We are less likely to feel out of control if we can locate the smaller problems within the larger situation. My coach encouraged me to acknowledge the small accomplishments and savor them before moving on to the next.

TIP: Confidence is a belief in yourself and your ability to meet your goals.

Courage

Everyone’s hell is different. I was scared—if I didn’t get pass the Academy’s physical fitness requirements, I wouldn’t become an FBI agent. I needed courage. My strength came from facing the reality of the obstacles in front of me and reaching deep within for the resolve to overcome them. My courage came from facing inward and developing a strong mind. I told myself:

Don’t run
Don’t panic
Face the situation
Believe you can do it
Fix it as soon as possible
Waiting would only make the situation worse
Now is the best time
I am the best person

The fear I felt did not weigh me down but deepened my resolve. A strong mind is not built on something that is slapped together on a shallow foundation. It needs solid rock—like a skyscraper, the higher you want to go, the deeper you must go.

TIP: Courage is the tendency to see life’s obstacles as challenges to be met rather than threats to be avoided.

Commitment

In the deepest part of me I knew that I would make the FBI my career. It wasn’t a stepping-stone to something better that might come along. I was a disciple of my own deep values and beliefs. I had the will to subjugate my feelings to those values.

In his book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey writes, “If you are an effective manager of your self, your disciple comes from within.”

People are often unsuccessful because they lack commitment to their deepest values. Competence is not an inherited trait, like blue eyes. Competence is the result of working hard and concentrating on bringing about the desired result. No one succeeds overnight; failures do not happen overnight, either. A person who is fully committed can find a creative solution to almost any task.

As Jim Collins once said,

The best form of commitment comes from a single-minded passion for what they do and an unwavering desire for excellence in the way they think and work.”

Control

To be in control means that, through personal struggle, you can find ways to empower yourself and influence both the direction and outcome of your own life. A strong mind shuts out feelings of fear and inadequacy and focuses on reaching the goal.

I learned a great deal about developing a strong mind in firearms. As a shooter, I employed many of the contemplation techniques I used in prayer; emptying my mind of extraneous thoughts and keeping my mind’s eye focused on one thing—the target. And then I narrowed the focus even further so my total concentration was on one thing—the thing immediately before me.

Once your mind is quiet, you can challenge the beliefs you hold about yourself that are false or can be changed. Athletes will not improve their performance unless they reach for the goal that is beyond their grasp. If you settle for mediocrity in yourself, that’s what you’re going to get, so don’t be surprised when your response is not what you had hoped it would be. Challenge the beliefs you hold about yourself and enlarge your territory.

TIP: Control is having a certainty that you are able to shape your destiny rather than passively accepting events as they come along.

Purpose

I learned from my firearms instructors that if you aim at nothing, you’ll hit it every time. Live your life with a purpose. No matter how many major changes and transitions you go through in your life, if you rely upon guiding principles and values that are important to you, they will always give your life meaning.

Dr. Benjamin Mays said,

“The tragedy of life does not lie in not reaching your goals, the tragedy lies in not having any goals to reach. It isn’t a calamity to die with dreams unfilled, but it is a calamity not to dream. It’s not a disaster to be unable to capture your ideals, but it is a disaster to have no ideals to capture. It is not a disgrace not to reach the stars, but it is a disgrace to have no stars to reach.”

TIP: Strong-minded people have a dedication that comes from a purpose that’s in alignment with their deepest values.

The five elements of a strong mind are not only for heroes—they are for people like you and me, people who are struggling through the tough times, so we can savor the good ones. Toughness is in the spirit and soul, not the muscles. Building a strong mind is a lifelong task. It will not only pay off when obstacles are in your way, it will become habit, and eventually a part of your identify. Be Strong!

Questions: How do you approach difficult situations? What has been most helpful to you in developing a strong mind? How do you differentiate between hardheaded and strong-minded? You can leave a comment by clicking here.

A Comprehensive List of My Tools [Link]

A Comprehensive List of My Tools













MichaelHyatt.com

09/20/2012

I just finished a page about all the tools I use. I arranged them by category: blogging, social media, speaking, podcasting, productivity, etc. You can find the page by clicking on “My Tools” in the navigation, but I didn’t want you to miss it because it was tucked away on a menu. I’d love to hear what tools you are using (leave on comment on the My Tools page).

Merrimack College and The Eagle-Tribune Speaker Series [Event]

I am excited about being a presenter at the very prestigious Merrimack College & The Eagle-Tribune Speaker Series.  This speaker series has notable speakers like John C. Maxwell and Sir Ken Robinson speaking in the past.









Date:
April 2, 2013


Time:
TBA


Event:
Merrimack College and The Eagle-Tribune Speaker Series


Topic:
Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World


Sponsor:
Merrimack College & The Eagle-Tribune


Venue:
Merrimack College: Rogers Center for the Performing Arts.


Location:
North Andover, MA


Public:
Public


Registration:
Click here to register.


More Info:
Click here for more information.

Should Books Be Priced According to Their Length?

When I was in the publishing business, the sales staff often wanted to correlate a book’s length with its value. They believed that books with more pages should be priced higher. Books with fewer pages should be priced lower.

Photo courtesy of ©iStockphoto.com/bitterfly

But is this true?Yesterday, I got this e-mail from an unhappy customer about her purchase of Writing a Winning Book Proposal, my e-book for authors:

I felt hugely ripped off by your ‘book.’ You didn’t say anything I didn’t already know and didn’t address any of the questions I actually had. You used a big font to pad the pages, but your content was truly sparse. No publisher in the country would have published this ‘book’ and charged $20.

What you wrote was more of a pamphlet and should have been advertised as such. I was totally disillusioned that a Christian man of your caliber and reputation would burn me like that. I know we all have to make a living, but we need to make an honest one.

Let’s set aside her perception of the quality for a minute. If you go to the sales page, you’ll see about 20 endorsements from leading agents and about 1,200 from satisfied customers. These speak for themselves.

Let’s also set aside her charge that I somehow mis-represented the length of the book and was thus dishonest and ripped her off.

I explicitly say in the sales copy the book is only 32-pages long. I also say the price is not based on the page count.
I offer an unconditional, money-back guarantee with no time limit. All she had to do was ask. (In fact, I volunteered to do this again in my reply to her yesterday.)

The issue I want to focus on is the length.

Personally, I don’t think the value of information products, including books, is in their length. In fact, I could make the case that brevity is a benefit, especially in a world where we are so busy. If I can get what I need in a shorter amount of time, so much the better.

Like you, I have read long books that were worthless and short books that were invaluable. I don’t buy page-count, and I’ll bet you don’t either.

The issue is whether or not the content helps me accomplish my goals and provides a sufficient return on my investment.

Consider the fact that some of the shortest works in history had the greatest value as measured by their long-term impact.

The Gettysburg Address is only 256 words long—a little more than a page.
The Declaration of Independence is only 1,100 words long—about four pages.
The Sermon on the Mount is about 2,500 words long—about eleven pages.

I’m not equating my e-books to these great historical works. I am simply making the point that there is no necessary correlation between length and value.

When I was first starting in my publishing career, a salty old publisher told me, “A book should be like a woman’s skirt—long enough to cover the subject but short enough to keep it interesting.”

Though sexist by today’s standards, the last half of his counsel is right. When we write or say anything, we should first focus on the message not the length.

Question: Do you think books and other information products should be priced according to length, value, or something else? You can leave a comment by clicking here.

A Question That Changes Everything

In 2003, I was named President of Thomas Nelson. It was an extremely busy time. I made some major changes to my executive team and had two vacant positions. As a result, I essentially had three jobs.

Photo courtesy of ©iStockphoto.com/kaisersosa67

One morning on my way to work, I grabbed my computer case in my right hand, a fresh cup of coffee in my left, and headed downstairs to the garage to leave to work.Four steps from the bottom, I slipped on the carpet. Without a free hand to grab the stair-rail, I tumbled forward. The next thing I knew, I was flat on my fanny on the landing.

I wasn’t immediately aware of any pain. However, my dress shirt and tie were soaked in coffee. I remember thinking, Shoot! I’m going to have to completely change my clothes. This was particularly frustrating, because I was already running late, and I had a very busy day ahead of me.

My wife Gail heard me fall and came running. “Are you okay?” she asked as she raced down the stairs to help me up.

“I’m fine,” I assured her. “However, I’m afraid I’ve made a mess.”

“Don’t worry about it,” she offered as she helped me up. “I can clean this up while you get changed.”

When I put my weight down on my right foot, I let out a yelp. “Oh my gosh! I think my ankle is sprained.” As it turned out, it was more than sprained. It was broken.

My day was, of course, scuttled. In fact, the next ten days were scuttled. I had to have surgery, including a plate and six screws to repair the damage. In addition, for three months I had to wear a therapeutic boot (in lieu of a cast). This couldn’t have happened at a worse time.

At this point, I could have asked myself several questions:

Why am I so clumsy?
Why did I have both hands full?
Why does this have to happen now?
Why did I have to be in such a hurry?
What did I do to deserve this?

The problem with these questions is that they are completely unproductive and disempowering.

They are natural, of course, and probably even necessary. It’s all part of the process of grieving a loss. But ultimately there are better questions.

One of the best questions you can ask when something negative happens is this:

“What does this experience make possible?”

Do you see the subtle shift? Suddenly, your attention moves from the past—which you can’t do a thing about—to the future.

It is also an acknowledgment that nothing happens by chance. Everything has a purpose. Even the bad things can have a positive impact, when we open our hearts and accept them as “part of the plan.”

In my particular case, a broken ankle had several positive benefits:

I couldn’t go to work for a week, so I got some much-needed rest.
I had time to set up a new blog and start writing on a regular basis.
I got to board first when flying and usually got to upgrade to first-class—for free.
I learned first-hand about the challenges you face when you are in a wheel-chair or on crutches.
I was forced to slow down and “smell the roses.”
I saw my colleagues take more initiative and gained a new appreciation for them.
I got to meet several people I would have otherwise never met, including an amazing surgeon who gave me a whole new perspective on what it means to integrate your faith with your profession.
I had a ready-made conversation starter, when I met people I didn’t know.

The bottom line is this: you can’t always choose what happens to you. Accidents and tragedies happen. But you can choose how you respond to those situations. One of the best ways to begin is to ask yourself the right question.

Question: Consider a negative situation in your life. Ask yourself, “What does this experience make possible?“

Wheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight, and Find Your Path Back to Health [Book]

Wheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight, and Find Your Path Back to Health by William Davis, M.D. (Emmaus, Pennsylvania: Rodale Books, 2011)







This is one of the most revolutionary health books I have read in some time. The author’s basic premise is that wheat and wheat products are responsible for many of the health maladies that plague modern Americans, including obesity, diabetes, arthritis, dementia, and more.

When I first heard about the book, I dismissed it because I have always been taught that wheat, especially in its whole-grain form, is healthy for you. He presents a compelling case that the wheat we eat today bears little resemblance to the wheat of one hundred years ago. It has been so genetically-modified and hybridized that our bodies can’t process it. The result is chronic inflammation, leading to everything from poor health to a general lack of energy.

The book is pretty technical. The author is a medical doctor, and he is determined to prove his case with hard data and lots of science. Fortunately, he weaves in lots of case studies about his patients and how a gluten-free diet transformed their health.

As a test, Gail and I, along with a couple of our daughters with Crohn’s disease, decided to give the diet a whirl. We’ve been on it now for two weeks. I can honestly say that I have never felt more alertness and energy. One of my daughters has already lost ten pounds.

3 Essentials Every Man Must Know to Be an All Pro Dad

This guest post is by Mark Merrill He is president of Family First, host of the nationally-syndicated “Family Minute” radio program, and author of the newly released book, All Pro Dad: Seven Essentials to be a Hero to Your Kids . You can follow Mark on Twitter.

It’s football season! From high school to college to the NFL, men are on the gridiron seeking to win and ultimately become champions. They’re digging, clawing, and giving it all they’ve got to come out on top.

Photo courtesy of ©iStockphoto.com/kupicoo

It should be no different with fatherhood. We need men out there who are in the game—the most important game of their life—working hard and striving toward the goal to be the best they can be, to be All Pro Dads.Former head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers and four-time Super Bowl winner Chuck Noll said, “Champions are champions not because they do anything extraordinary but because they do the ordinary things better than anyone else.”

In other words, you don’t have to do spectacular highlight-reel type of things to be a Super Bowl winner. There are fundamentals that it takes to play the game. Executing those fundamentals day in and day out, that’s how you become great. That’s how you win. That’s how you become a champion.

Just as knowing and executing the fundamentals of football are key to a player becoming an All-Pro, knowing and executing the fundamentals of fatherhood are key to a father becoming an All Pro Dad. And the two most important fundamentals for a father are love and leadership.

Simply put, love is all about giving—giving selflessly and sacrificially to our wives, our kids and others no matter what it costs us personally. And your capacity to love will determine your capacity to lead.

In other words, when your spouse and children know you want what’s best for them, they’ll follow you. They’ll say to themselves: “You’ve loved me. You’ve earned the right to lead me. I’ll follow you.”

Here are three essentials you need to know to love and, in turn, lead your kids well.

Love your wife. For those who are married, actively loving your wife will radically strengthen your marriage and will also be incredibly beneficial to your children. The number one source of security for kids is when they know that their dad loves their mother and is steadfastly committed to her for life.

When times get tough, remember that your spouse is not the enemy. You are on the same team.

When my wife, Susan, and I have disagreements over things like disciplining our children or finances, she’ll often say to me, “Remember, I’m on your team.”

Marriage is the ultimate team sport. You were designed to complete each other, not compete with each other.
Spend quantity time with your kids. How you spend your time is a reflection of what’s important to you. If you value your kids, you’ll want to be with them.

As my five kids were growing up, I tried to be intentional about spending one-on-one time with each of them doing things that they wanted to do. I often put those times on my calendar as a very important appointments.

Remember, it’s not just about quality time; it’s about quantity time.
Be a good role model. One of the best things you can do as a dad is to strive to live a model life that is worthy for your children to follow. Consistency, humility, and courage are all trademarks of the model dad.

Integrity should also be at the top of the list. Integrity is what you do when no one else is looking. Dark secrets and addictions can cause a breach in that integrity and keep you from growing as a leader in your home.

So, if you really want to love and lead your kids well, be a worthy model of integrity for them to follow.

These three essentials are easier said than done. My wife has thrown the flag on me when I’ve been harsh with my kids. My kids have pointed out my impatience on more than one occasion.

So what do I do? I admit my mistake, humbly ask them to forgive me and then I get back in the game and strive toward the goal of being the best dad I can be.

Tony Dungy, former NFL coach and now NBC sports commentator, recently shared with me that, “being an All-Pro takes hard work, dedication, and executing the fundamentals on the field with sheer determination.” Tony says those same principles apply to being an All Pro Dad.

An All Pro Dad not only knows the fundamentals—love and leadership—but also does whatever it takes to execute them with fierce resolve. It’s my hope that you will strive, by God’s amazing grace, toward the all-important goal of being an All Pro Dad.

Question: What are some other essentials every man needs to know to be an All Pro Dad? You can leave a comment by clicking here.