I like helping people experience their God given potential and works towards finishing life well.  I tend to specialize in working with very “successful” leaders but in reality, I will spend time with just about anyone who is ready to make the necessary changes to get better at leading themselves well.

The starting place always starts with a conversation identifying the stuff that they have to do for themselves because no one else will.

This of course assumes you know.  Goal setting is really a worthless exercise without clarity of purpose.

Why am I here? (and for some of us “why am I still here?” after some of the dumb choices we have made).

January is about new beginnings because the entire planet universally agrees to hit the reset button and give life a fresh start.

Today, my wife and I are meeting in an hour to share our goals for the new year for our businesses and our personal lives.  Invariably, we will start the conversation centered around our understanding of how we want to use our gifts, talents, resources to pursue our dreams and aspirations.  I like to call it our “sense of calling.”

Why do we spend time setting goals, sharing purpose and vision?  Because this is the stuff only we can do for ourselves.  Living life on purpose and with intentionality has proven over the years to be the way to go.  But it takes discipline to think, plan, commit, and then work.

Its your life to live.  How do you want to spend it?

Self leadership; the stuff only you can do for yourself.

I work hard every year so that I have the freedom to take extensive time off during December.  Not only to catch up on house projects and invest in friendships but also to refresh my worldview.  I have found that my thinking can become dulled throughout the year as a result of my exposure to the media monsters; filtered news outlets, blogs, marketing machines, and my social networks.  I really believe that If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn’t thinking (George Patton).  Sometimes I spend all my thinking power reacting to what others are trying to get me to think about.  I have to find the reset button and I plan to find it more often this next year.

Life can be tough.  Work can be difficult.  Relationships can be the most challenging. 

On any given week we face all kinds of resistance to our real potential.  January lends itself to regrouping, adjusting, and re-engaging in our God given purposes.

To help my clients establish their first quarter goals, we spend time discussing their answers to the following questions:

•    Do you feel you are making progress or merely coping?
•     Are you clear on your God given purpose(s) and do you have clarity of vision?
•     Have you refreshed your “what matters most” set of lists?
•     Are you goals set for first quarter (both personal and professional)?
•     Have you shared those goals with anyone?

These are not necessarily easy questions, but very helpful for leaders who want to make a significant contribution with their life, and who want to finish well. 

I am still haunted by my findings from personal research on life and death; most do not finish well.  So much so that I have it one of the driving forces of my coaching philosophy; helping people live and finish well by coaching them on how they can continually move their stories forward.

Merely coping with your life is doable for most.  Making a difference, living according to purpose, arranging your life choice according to calling and vision is certainly a road less traveled.

If you are attracted to becoming more purposeful with your life in 2013, then I would encourage you to do the following:

•     Make 3 one hour appointments with yourself this month, for personal development (PDT).  Guilt free,  without distraction, and highly intentional.
•     During these appointments, work through your answers to the questions above.
•     Set appropriate goals both in your personal life and professional life that will help you move your story forward in 2013.
•     Review all of the above weekly.  At the end of each quarter in 2013, repeat this process.

Do you want to just survive and merely cope with your life or do you want to move your story forward?

If you need some coaching this year, let me know.  I find great joy in helping others towards their God given potential!

“Moving towards the line” has been one of the most difficult but rewarding challenges I have faced in my 48 years of life. I have been working to embrace my DESIGN1 for quite some time but only within the last three years have I found the courage to begin to take action on what I had discovered to be true about who God made me to be.

READ: My DESIGN Journey by Dr. Nathan Baxter

Here is an article I wrote for xpastor.org on some of the unique challenges between a Senior Pastor and his Executive Pastor.

The SP-XP 3 Lane Highway

Christian leaders are no different than anyone else when it comes to self leadership; they alone must take responsibility for their lives because no one else will. January is always filled with new conversations with clients because it is an opportunity for us to think about new possibilities, new goals, and new ways of living. The reality of new beginnings is genius on God’s part because he knew that those of us who thrive on “driving towards the goal” would come up short many times as we attempt to do his work in our own strength. I have grown to like it when he calls “time out” on my life, shows me the score, and then let’s me start over because doing his work my way always results in a loss.

My greatest work is to lead myself well so that I put myself in positions when I can consume more of his grace and resources. Those of us who are actively engage in our callings know that spiritual enterprises require spiritual resources. Man is simply inadequate to do the work of the Master. (Even though of us who claim to be talented)

For me, 2012 is all about learning at a deeper level how to partner with God and to work with him in a way that accomplishes his agenda and brings great fulfillment to my soul.

I usually hit universal pay dirt when I talk about the need and importance of self leadership.  Everyone resonates with the core principle that if you can’t lead yourself well you will always struggle to lead others well.  Self leadership is a really cool idea but it is not for the faint of heart.  The most difficult person you will ever lead in your life will be yourself.

I would much rather lead other people than try to lead myself to higher levels of effectiveness.  Yesterday, I was working with a new client and she was frustrated with her attempts to lead herself better.  To help her understand why she was consistently struggling, I asked her to ask herself the following 4 questions.

Question #1: Do I have a clear vision for change? You must always start with some mental image of a preferred future and it needs to be as clear as possible.

Question #2: Have I made the decision to pursue this vision for change and if so, what actions can I point to demonstrate my decision? To grow, a person must make the decision to actually pay the price of change.

Question #3:  Do I have a plan that I can share with others that I believe will lead me toward my vision? Change doesn’t happen by accident or as a result of just a ton of effort.  You need a plan that makes sense, is doable, and also very simple.

Questions #4:  Have I made a commitment to do a daily mental review of all of the above? Expect resistance and failure.  It will happen!  With a daily review of the first 3 questions it will help you continue to grow and strengthen your commitment toward change.

These 4 questions usually will reveal the reason you are not moving forward (if you really want to know).

5 CORE LEADERSHIP SKILLS

On average, I spend about 7-10 hours a month talking to ministry leaders about their desire to improve their ability to lead others well. In addition to their calling, we review the various core leadership skills that are most critical to their roles as leaders. In particular, there are 5 core leadership skills that are required of every leader.

Here they are:
VISION: the skill of gaining a vision to the point that it is clear, compelling, and consistent.

DECISION: the skill of making the big decision to re-arrange your life to pursue your vision (i.e. “burn the ships”, “no plan b”, jumping without a net).

COMMUNICATION: the skill of communicating with others your DECISION to pursue your VISION.

PLANNING: the skill of making plans on a regular basis that will lead you towards your vision.

MENTORING: the skill of helping others to do steps 1-4.

Nothing fancy but after personally coaching over 600 leaders I can say with confidence that my early research and findings were accurate. There is a direct correlation between leaders who continue to accelerate in their careers and their skill proficiency in these 5 areas. (“accelerate” being defined as increased influence and impact).

“Who did you create me to be?” is a key question that must be answered before a person can truly discover their purpose.