The Air Force Thunderbird pilots are the ultimate high-performance leaders. In September, Kathy and I attended an Air Show where the Thunderbirds performed. Their Diamond Formation was amazing with four jets flying 18 inches apart in a diamond shape, while traveling between 400-500 miles per hour. A simple sneeze, momentary distraction, or engine flaw could have resulted in deadly consequences. ...
Anson Frerick, former president of Anheuser-Busch Sales & Distribution, was interviewed on The Daily Wire. He provided interesting insight into the business model shift corporate America made several years ago. In the 1980s, most corporations followed the Shareholder model, believing that the only purpose of business is profit. However, in 2019, 181 CEO members of the Business Roundtable embraced the ...
While visiting Ronald Reagan’s Presidential Library in Simi Valley, one of the interesting discoveries Kathy and I came across was his note cards. Sometime after President Reagan had passed, a folder of 4 by 6 note cards was found among the President’s possessions. President Reagan maintained a folder filled with quotes, stories, and jokes. He then categorized these handwritten notes into categories such as religion, character, and liberty. President ...
In his book, “A Man After God’s Own Heart,” Jim George tells a story of an army officer in India who stopped to have his shoes shined by a poor boy on the street. The boy approached the task with such intensity and enthusiasm that the officer was amazed. He asked the boy why he was so fervent in ...
Throughout my career, I believed that education was important for my advancement. I pursued advanced degrees to do my job and to better demonstrate to executives my commitment to my work. I pursued my faith in the same way, continually reading and studying to build my faith knowledge. But simply trying to get smarter has its limits. My pastor once ...
One of the benefits, Vermeer, an equipment manufacturer, discovered from integrating their faith into their culture came when they opened operations in a country hostile to Christians. Although Vermeer was limited in proclaiming their faith corporately, they marveled at how effective their employees were in modeling company values and their faith to their foreign employees. According to Vermeer’s President, Doug ...
In an August 2025 workplace survey, Gallup reported that employees who feel a strong sense of vocational purpose have better work outcomes. The survey said that 50 percent of those who have a strong purpose, feel connected to their work, are enthusiastic about what they do, and are committed to their organization’s success. By comparison, only 9 percent of employees ...
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. realized that if excellence was modeled in the workplace, the opportunity for job advancement and improvement would increase dramatically. In a famous speech, Dr. King said, “If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michaelangelo painted, or as Beethoven composed music or as Shakespeare wrote poetry. He ...
My wife, Kathy, recently visited a car wash. When Kathy approached the attendant’s booth, the attendant began sharing about the benefits of their monthly club. Kathy stated she just wanted their cheapest car wash. This lady forced her canned sales pitch on Kathy anyway. Kathy said, “I’ve been coming here for two years. I just want the cheapest car wash.” ...
In a recent Harvard Business Review article, Scott Cook, cofounder of Intuit, and Professor Nitin Noharia discussed how to enhance customer value. The article highlighted CEO of RELX, Erik Engstrom. Engstrom has been asking his team customer-obsessed questions for twenty years. Some of Engstrom’s profound questions include: “How does the customer measure value? How do we know? How do we ...
Equipping Others to Do Work Differently
