Over the past four weeks the social media channels have been flooded with people dumping buckets of ice water over their heads for the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. At last count the wave of support has helped the ALS Association bring in more money in the last four weeks than all of last year. ALS is commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig's Disease. The other evening as my sons and I talked about the Ice Bucket Challenge, I realized they did not even know who Lou Gehrig was.

Often in today's society we are moved by what is popular or trendy. When a disease strikes down someone famous such as we saw with Robin Williams last week, the illness becomes relevant in the national spotlight again. The reality is there are millions of people who are fighting daily battles with ALS, Cancer, Parkinsons, and many more debilitating diseases. They do it without fan fare or a spotlight on them. They cling to hope and struggle to survive with the love and support of those closest to them.

So whether or not you agree with dumping ice water on your head, I am certain we all can agree that the money raised will be a blessing to those who suffer from ALS. However, I would encourage everyone to look closely around them for those who are hurting right in their community. There are opportunities all around us to make a difference in the lives of others who might be struggling or afflicted. Make a conscious effort to live each day looking for an opportunity to help and serve those who need it. Not because it's trendy and can be a cool video online, but because it will make a huge impact on the quality of someone's life!

Lou "The Iron Horse" Gehrig was a major league baseball player who was diagnosed with ALS which forced him to retire from the Yankees at the age of 36 and took his life two years later. He finished with a career batting average of .340, an on-base percentage of .447, and a slugging percentage of .632, and he tallied 493 home runs and 1,995 runs batted in (RBIs). A seven-time All-Star and six-time World Series champion, Gehrig won the Triple Crown in 1934 and was twice named the American League's (AL) Most Valuable Player. Gehrig was the first MLB player to have his uniform number retired, and he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939. Gehrig's speech on July 4, 1939 is one of the most famous sports speeches of all-time. No all of the speech was filmed so the video below only has some parts but the full transcript of the speech is below the video. Well worth your time to watch and read!

Looking back through my notes and found these great principles for self affirmation. Can't remember where I got them but they are awesome and hit home for me today!

10 PRINCIPLES FOR SELF AFFIRMATION

"And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good." - Genesis 1:31

God knew the specific purpose you were born to fulfill, so He provided all the gifts you'd need, including the environment required to put it all together. Then He looked at you and said, "Very good." Can you say that too? It's important that you can. Why? Because others will treat you according to how you treat yourself! This is not pride, it's just healthy self-esteem based on God's opinion of you as revealed in His Word. When you have it, it affects every area of your life. Truth be told, it determines how far you'll go in life.

Stop and ask yourself today, "How do I really feel about myself?" Before you answer read these ten principles. Better yet, keep them before you daily.

• Never think or speak negatively about yourself; that puts you in disagreement with God.
• Meditate on your God-given strengths and learn to encourage yourself, for much of the time nobody else will.
• Don't compare yourself to anybody else. You're unique, one of a kind, an original. So don't settle for being a copy.
• Focus on your potential, not your limitations. Remember, God lives in you!
• Find what you like to do, do well, and strive to do it with excellence.
• Have the courage to be different. Be a God pleaser, not a people pleaser.
• Learn to handle criticism. Let it develop you instead of discourage you.
• Determine your own worth instead of letting others do it for you. They'll short-change you!
• Keep your shortcomings in perspective - you're still a work in progress.
• Focus daily on your greatest source of confidence - the God Who lives in you!

There have been many articles done over the past ten years about the decline of the multi-sport athlete in the United States. In my opinion that falls directly on parents and coaches. As a parent and former multi-sport athlete myself, I am just as guilty as the next parent or coach. In our quest to have kids who excel and possibly even earn a scholarship, we narrow their focus at very early ages. When we find a sport where they have some success, we tend to steer them in that direction. The growth of organized youth sports has allowed a child who wants to specialize the chance to compete almost every weekend. For example, I could register my sons for some sort of basketball camp, showcase, or clinic practically every weekend of the year without driving more than 3-4 hours from my house. On top of that, there are numerous basketball trainers eagerly awaiting to train them daily or weekly. This abundance of opportunity is not necessarily a bad thing, but in my opinion is not the healthiest way for athletes to develop.

The reality is that most kids are not fully developed and finished growing until they are 16-18 years old. In today's society, athletes are often starting to narrow their focus prior to high school. If I had chosen the sport I was best at in the 8th grade, I would have specialized in baseball. I was 5'9" and rail thin but had great hand eye coordination and a good arm. Would I have made it to the majors or even gotten a baseball scholarship? I don't know the answer but I am glad I continued to play multi-sports. Yes I probably was not as proficient at any one sport due to playing the others, but I learned valuable lessons and skills in one sport that translated to the other. The toughness and leadership skills I learned as a quarterback as well as the focus and attention to detail I learned on the baseball field were integral in my growth as a basketball player.  I certainly would not have played ACC basketball if it wasn't for a full football scholarship.

We have all heard the stories of burn out as well as the potential for over use injuries. Of course those are concerns but I want to focus on what I feel is the biggest reason why athletes should play multiple sports while developing. Growth as a person and an athlete can only come when you are challenged and pushed outside of your comfort zone. In my opinion, playing multiple sports is the best way to challenge an athlete mentally and physically. The effort and mental toughness it takes to switch your mindset from one sport to another will stretch and grow a young athlete physically and emotionally. The star in one sport might have to learn to be a role player in another. By playing more than one sport, an athlete stokes the competitive fire within them in different ways and that is a great thing.

You might argue that when competing for a college scholarship, you can't afford to not be playing year round because your competition will be. In reality you might be right that someone who focuses on one sport may have more skills at an earlier age. However, I would argue that a smart college coach will look at the fact that you played multiple sports and see the benefit in that. If I am comparing two players in high school one of which has focused exclusively on basketball year round and another who has played multiple sports, which one do you think might make the biggest advances once they go to college? I strongly feel that athletes should play more than one sport at least through their sophomore year of high school. At that point, if one sport sticks out as something they should focus on then go for it. Enough already with the 12 year old phenom who does nothing but play one sport. Push them out of their comfort zone and try something new. If it's not another sport then have them learn an instrument or pick up a hobby. I guarantee in the long run it will be a rewarding experience.

John Maxwell's 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader Part III

RELATIONSHIP
“The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people.

• “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”
• People truly do want to go along with people they get along with.  And while someone can have people skills and not be a good leader, he cannot be a good leader without people skills.
• The first quality of a relational leader is the ability to understand how people feel and think.
• The ability to look at each person, understand him, and connect with him is a major factor in relational success.  That means treating people differently, not all the same as one another.
• Leaders have empathy for others and keen ability to find the best in people by truly caring for others.  You cannot be a truly effective leader, the kind that people want to follow, unless you love people.
• People respect a leader who keeps their interests in mind.  If your focus is on what you can put into people rather than what you can get out of them, they’ll love and respect you.
  

RESPONSIBILITY
“Success on any major scale requires you to accept responsibility… In the final analysis, the one quality that all successful people have is the ability to take on responsibility.

• “A leader can give up anything – except final responsibility.”
• In a study of self-made millionaires, it was found that all have one thing in common – they work very hard.
• If you want to succeed, be willing to put the organization ahead of your agenda.
• “Stress comes from doing less than you can.”
• Excellence is a great motivator.  People who desire excellence – and work hard to achieve it – are almost always responsible.
• The ultimate quality of a responsible person is the ability to finish.
• “When an archer misses the mark he turns and looks for the fault within himself.  Failure to hit the bull’s-eye is never the fault of the target.  To improve your aim, improve yourself.”
• If you have trouble achieving excellence, maybe you’ve lowered your standards.
  

SECURITY
“No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself or get all the credit for doing it.

• Don’t follow the crowd; make up your own mind.
• What great banner would have been fought and won under the banner, ‘I stand for consensus’?
• No one can live on a level inconsistent with the way he sees himself.  You may have observed that in people.  If someone sees himself as a loser, he finds a way to lose.  Anytime his success surpasses his security, the result is self-destruction. That’s not only true for followers, but it’s also true for leaders.
• An insecure leader hoards power.
• “Nothing is a greater impediment to being on good terms with others than being ill at ease with yourself.”

SELF-DISCIPLINE
“The first and best victory is to conquer self.”

• “A man without decision of character can never be said to belong to himself… He belongs to whatever can make captive of him.”
• Self-discipline can’t be a one-time event.  It has to become a lifestyle.
• “Almost all our faults are more pardonable than the methods we think up to hide them.”
• Anytime you concentrate on the difficulty of the work instead of its results or rewards, you’re likely to become discouraged.  Count the benefits of doing what’s right, and then dive in.
• “Talent without discipline is like an octopus on roller skates.  There’s plenty of movement, but never know if it’s going be forward, backwards, or sideways.”

SERVANTHOOD
“You’ve got to love your people more than your position.

• Servanthood is not about position or skill.  It’s about attitude.
• The truth is that the best leaders desire to serve others, not themselves.
• Definition = Intentionally being aware of your people’s needs, available to help them, and able to accept their desires as important.
• The real heart of servanthood is security.  Show me someone who thinks he is too important to serve, and I’ll show you someone who is basically insecure.”
• The Law of Empowerment says that only secure leaders give power to others.  It’s also true that only secure leaders exhibit servanthood.
• Great leaders see the need, seize the opportunity, and serve without expecting anything in return.
• It is true that those who would be great must be like the least and be the servant of all.
  

TEACHABILITY
“Value your listening and reading time at roughly ten times your talking time.  This will assure you that you are on a course of continuous learning and self-improvement.

• “It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.” John Wooden
• Leaders face the danger of contentment with the status quo.
• “As long as you’re green, you’re growing.  As soon as you’re ripe, you start to rot.”
• If what you did yesterday still looks big to you, you haven’t done much today.
• Teachability requires us to admit we don’t know everything, and that can make us look bad.  In addition, if we keep learning, we must also keep making mistakes.  “The greatest mistake one can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one.”
• “If you don’t like the crop you’re reaping, check the seed you are sowing.”
  

VISION
“A great leader’s courage to fulfill his vision comes from passion, not position.

• “The future belongs to those who see possibilities before they become obvious.”
• Vision leads the leader.  It paints the target.  It sparks and fuels the fire within, and draws him forward.  “Show me a leader without vision, and I’ll show you someone who isn’t going anywhere.”
• If you lack vision, look inside yourself.  Draw on your natural gifts and desires.  Look to your calling if you have one.
• The greater the vision, the more winners it has the potential to attract.  The more challenging the vision, the harder the participants fight to achieve it.
• “The first thing you do is to teach the person to feel that the vision is very important and nearly impossible.  That draws out the drive in winners.”

John Maxwell's 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader Part II

FOCUS
“If you chase two rabbits, both will escape.”

• What does it take to have the focus required to be a truly effective leader? A leader that knows his Priorities and has Concentration.
• "Don’t major in minors”
• The great mystery isn’t that people do things badly but that they occasionally do a few things well.  Strength is always specific!
• Growth equals change.  If you want to get better, you have to keep changing and improving.  That means stepping out into new areas.
• Work on yourself, on your priorities, in your strengths, and with your companions

GENEROSITY
“No person was ever honored for what he received.  Honor has been the reward for what he gave.

• Giving is the highest level of living.
• It’s hard for a person to be generous when he is not satisfied with what he has. Generosity rises out of contentment, and that doesn’t come with acquiring more.
• If you’re not content with little, you won’t be content with a lot.  And if you’re not generous with little, you won’t suddenly change if you become wealthy.
• The measure of a leader is not the number of people who serve him, but the number of people he serves.  Generosity requires putting others first.
• The only way to really win with money is to hold it loosely-and be generous with it to accomplish things of value.  “Money is a wonderful servant but a terrible master.  If it gets on top and you get under it, you will become its slave.”
• “You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you.”
• “All that is not given is lost.”

INITIATIVE
“Success seems to be connected with action.  Successful people keep moving.  They make mistakes, but they don’t quit.”

• Of all the things a leader should fear, complacency should head the list.
• Leaders are responsible for initiating a connection with their followers.  But that’s not the only area where leaders must show initiative.  They must always look for opportunities and be ready to take action.
• “The starting point of all achievement is desire.”  If you’re going to be an effective leader, you’ve got to know what you want.  That’s the only way you’ll recognize opportunity when it comes.
• I do the things that I believe ought to be done… And when I make up my mind to do a thing, I act.
• Proactive people always take risks.  But one of the reasons good leaders are willing to take risks is that they recognize there is a price for not initiating too.
• “The way to succeed is to double your failure rate.”
• “Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.”  If you want to achieve great things as a leader, you must be willing to initiate and put yourself on the line.  
• “Even the right decision is the wrong decision if it is made too late.”
  

LISTENING
“The ear of the leader must ring with the voices of the people.

• “A good leader encourages followers to tell him what he needs to know, not what he wants to hear.”
• Leaders touch a heart before they ask for a hand.  That’s the Law of Connection.  But before a leader can touch a person’s heart, he has to know what’s in it.  He learns that by listening.  
• 60% of all management problems are the result of faulty communications.
• You have two purposes for listening:  to connect with people and to learn.
• “Many a man would rather you heard his story than granted his request.”  If you’re in the habit of listening only to the facts and not the person who expresses them, change your focus.
• “Nothing I say this day will teach me anything.  So if I’m going to learn, I must do it by listening.”
  

PASSION
“Anyone can dabble, but once you’ve made that commitment, it’s very hard for people to stop you.

• Concentrate on what you do well, and do it better than anybody else.
• “Nobody can be successful unless he loves his work.”
• Passion makes it possible for people who might seem ordinary to achieve great things.
• Your desire determines your destiny.  Any one who lives beyond an ordinary life has great desire.
• There is no substitute for passion.  It is fuel for the will.  If you want anything badly enough, you can find the willpower to achieve it.
• If you follow your passion, instead of others’ perceptions, you can’t help becoming a more dedicated, productive person.  And that increases your ability to impact others.  In the end, your passion will have more influence than your personality.
• “A leader with great passion and few skills always outperforms a leader with great skills and no passion.”
• You can never lead something you don’t care passionately about.  You can’t start a fire in your organization unless one is first burning in you.
  

POSITIVE ATTITUDE
“A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him.”

• Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.
• If you look at the lives of people in any profession who achieve lasting success, you will find that they almost always possess a positive outlook on life.
• “The last of our human freedoms is to choose our attitude in any given circumstance.”
• The Law of Magnetism really is true: who you are is who you attract.
• If the only thing we leave our kids is the quality of enthusiasm, we will have given them an estate of incalculable value.

PROBLEM SOLVING
“You can measure a leader by the problems he tackles.  He always looks for ones his own size.”

• Effective leaders always rise to a challenge.  That’s one of the things that separates winners from whiners.
• People respond to problems in these ways: they refuse to accept them; they accept them and then put up with them; or they accept them and try to make things better.  Leaders must always do the latter.
• “In times like these it is good to remember that there have always been times like these.”  Effective leaders face up to the reality of a situation.
• Never try to solve all the problems at once - make them line up for you one-by-one.”
• If you’re faced with lots of problems, make sure you really solve the one you’re working on before moving on to the next one.
• Effective leaders understand the peak-to-peak principle.  They make major decisions when they are experiencing a positive swing in their leadership, not during the dark times (don’t decide to retire during training camp).
• The ability to solve problems effectively comes from experience facing and overcoming obstacles.
• Problem-Solving Method = TEACH (Time, Exposure, Assistance, Creativity, Hit it)
• Never allow others to put obstacles in the pathway to your dreams.

In my opinion, John Maxwell offers invaluable advice and knowledge for anyone who strives to be a leader. In the book "The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader: Becoming the Person Others Will Want to Follow", Maxwell lays out a great blueprint for leaders to follow. Over the course of the next three days I will cover seven of the leadership qualities per day along with some notes.

CHARACTER
“Leadership is the capacity and will to rally men to a common purpose and the character which inspires confidence.”

• How a leader deals with the circumstances of life tells you many things about his character.  Crisis doesn’t necessarily make character, but it certainly does reveal it.
• We choose our character.  In fact, we create it every time we make choices.
• The respect that leadership must have requires that one’s ethics be without question.  A leader not only stays above the line, between right & wrong, he stays well clear of the “gray-areas.”
  

CHARISMA
“How can you have charisma?  Be more concerned about making others feel good about themselves than you are about making them feel good about you.”

• I have yet to find the man who did not do better work and put forth greater effort under a spirit of approval than under a spirit of criticism.
• Charisma is the ability to draw people to you.
• People enjoy leaders who love and are passionate about life.
• One of the best things you can do for people is expect the best of them.
• Highly successful people could only see the good in people.
• The greatest good you can do for another is not just share your riches but to reveal to him his own.
• Hope is greatest of all possessions.
• As you lead people, give of yourself.  Share wisdom, resources, and even special occasions.
  

COMMITMENT
“People do not follow uncommitted leaders.”

• Michelangelo – “God will see.”
• The world has never seen a great leader who lacked commitment.
• Law of Buy-in: People buy into the leader, then the vision.
• Some people want everything to be perfect before they’re willing to commit themselves to anything.  But commitment always precedes achievement.
• Jordan – “Heart separates the good from the great.”
• The only real measure of commitment is action.
• There will be times when commitment is the only thing that carries you forward
  

COMMUNICATION
“Communicators take something complicated and make it simple.”

• Leaders must be able to share knowledge and ideas to transmit a sense of urgency and enthusiasm to others.
• Communication is not just what you say.  It’s also how you say it.  The key to effective communication is simplicity.
• Speeches = Exciting opening, dramatic summary, as close together as possible.
• To become a better communicator, become audience-oriented.  People believe in great communicators because great communicators believe in people.
• First, believe in what you say.  Second, live what you say.
• As you communicate, never forget that the goal of communication is action.

COMPETENCE
“Competence is the leader’s ability to say it, plan it, and do it in such a way that others know that you know how – and know that they want to follow you."

• Competent people come ready to play everyday, no matter what the circumstances they face.
• All highly competent people continually search for ways to keep learning, growing, and improving.
• The person who knows how will always have a job, but the person who knows why will always be the boss.
• Quality is never an accident: it is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction, and skillful execution.  It represents the wise choice of many alternatives.
  

COURAGE
“One person with courage is a majority.”

• "Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities, because it is the quality which guarantees all others.”
• “Courage is fear that has said its prayers.”
• Courage is doing what you’re afraid to do.  There can be no courage unless you’re scared.
• Courage isn’t an absence of fear.  It’s doing what you’re afraid to do.  It’s having the power to let go of the familiar and forge ahead into new territory.
• The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.
• Courage deals with principle, not perception.  If you don’t have the ability to see when to stand up and the conviction to do it, you’ll never be an effective leader.
• “Courage is contagious.” – “Fear limits a leader.”
• “Fear not that your life will come to an end, but that it will never have a beginning.”
• “What’s ironic is that those who don’t have the courage to take risks and those who do, experience the same amount of fear in life.”

DISCERNMENT
“Smart leaders believe only half of what they hear.  Discerning leaders know which half to believe.”

• Discernment = The ability to find the root of the matter, and it relies on intuition as well as rational thought.
• “Nothing in life is to be feared, only to be understood.”
• Discernment enables a leader to see a partial picture, fill in the missing pieces intuitively, and find the real heart of the matter.
• The closer a leader is to his area of gifting, the stronger his intuition and ability to see root causes.  If you want to tap into your discernment potential, work in your areas of strength.
• “Never ignore a gut feeling, but never believe that it’s enough.”

During the summer I like to go back through my coaching notes and reread some of my favorite ones. Below are my bullet points from John Maxwell's book "The 17 Essential Qualities of a Team Player: Becoming the Kind of Person Every Team Wants".

1. Adaptable - If you won't change for the team, the team may change you
2. Collaborative - Working together precedes winning together
3. Committed - There are no halfhearted champions
4. Communicative - A team is many voices with a single heart.
5. Competent - If you can't, your team won't
6. Dependable - Teams go to Go-To players
7. Disciplined - Where there's a will, there's a win
8. Enlarging - Adding value to teammates is invaluable
9. Enthusiastic - Your heart is the source of energy for the team
10. Intentional - Make every action count
11. Mission conscious - The Big Picture is coming in loud and clear
12. Prepared - Preparation can mean the difference between winning and losing
13. Relational - If you get along, others will go along
14. Self-improving - To improve the team, improve yourself
15. Selfless - There is no "I" in team
16. Solution-oriented - Make a resolution to find the solution
17. Tenacious - Never, never, never quit

Last week I was fortunate enough to attend the LeaderCast live event at the Calvary Baptist Church West Campus. LeaderCast strives to develop leaders who are worth folllowing and that look beyond themselves and consider the larger community. The theme for the day was Beyond You Leadership and the opening speaker was Andy Stanley, Senior Pastor of North Point Community Church in Buckhead, GA. While I thought all of the speakers were great, Andy did an awesome job succinctly laying out what leading beyond yourself is all about. Below are some of my notes from his talk.

Definition of a Beyond You Leader
A leader who fearlessly and selflessly empowers leaders around them, as well as those coming along behind him.

The value of a life is always measured by how much of it was given away.

We celebrate generosity and selflessness but we envy accumulation.

To become a Beyond You Leader:

1. Make as few decisions as possible. Empower those around you by saying "You decide."
   As your organizational power increases, your organizational IQ decreases.
2. Work for your team. Help them get the job done by asking "What can I do to help?"
   He suggests asking those who report to you what one thing you can do to help them get the job done.
   
3. Empty your cup. Spend time investing the success of others by passing along your knowledge.
   You can't completely fill any one persons cup but you can empty yours.

If your leadership isn't all about you, it will live beyond you.

For more information on LeaderCast you can visit LeaderCast.com.