I read the story of a man who was accused of a crime he didn’t commit, and because he didn’t have fancy lawyers, he went to prison.

He spent 19 years there, and although he didn’t do what they say he did, he decided to make the most of it. He learned to speak Spanish and play seven instruments and earned a college degree.

He came up for parole four times, and even though he learned to do these civilized things and behaved well, they weren’t good enough reasons for the...

If you want to build a strengths-based culture in your organization, it won’t happen overnight. Sure, you may want your coworkers to take hold of strengths instantly to receive the tremendous benefits of focusing on strengths like: increased productivity, retention, job satisfaction, positive interactions with coworkers, and so forth.

But remember, Rome wasn’t built overnight. A strengths culture isn’t built overnight either. If it takes you more time to get momentum and...

Note: A few months ago, a college ministry approached me for help. It wanted to inspire its people to pray more. This post is based on the advice I gave.

Let’s say you’re the director of prayer for a college ministry.

One of your goals is to motivate your people to pray more. But this isn’t easy. Everyone seems to be as busy as ever. They have endless choices for spending their time. And “praying more” doesn’t seem to be a pressing concern. To be...

A few months ago, I had a speaking engagement. For whatever reason, I felt anxious and unqualified, so I clung to my manuscript. The result was a tense, robotic delivery. I didn’t even want to be there, and I was the one speaking!

Contrast that with another talk a few weeks ago. I felt free and comfortable, and brought only a business card with notes. The result was an inspiring, energizing delivery that motivated the audience (and me).

How were they different? The second time I engaged...

I've suggested that a sweeping strengths movement larger than we've ever seen could be coming. I defined strengths as, “your best means of contribution and contentment,” and wrote that few us have really tapped into the talents, traits, skills, knowledge, values, and more that are within us. And I commended us to seek humility as we seek our strengths.

With this as the backdrop, I want to share seven drivers of a contagious worldwide strengths movement. This would be a strengths...

What’s the difference between coaching and counseling? Most people don’t know. We shared previously that according to the 2017 ICF Global Consumer Awareness Study, only 30% of the public correctly identified coaching among other modalities such as mentoring, consulting, and counseling.

We already discussed the difference between coaching and mentoring, so now let’s tackle counseling. There’s a time for counseling and a time for coaching—Lord knows I’ve...

Recently I earned my coach accreditation from the International Coach Federation (ICF), which is recognized as the leading global organization for coaching. ICF estimates that worldwide there are 53,000 coaches who coach as a profession. With that many coaches (and more every day) let me ask you a question: If you could have a coach, would you get one?

Two big obstacles that keep people from coaching are the cost of coaching and the lack of access to coaches. People are saying, "I can't find...

Before I knew what coaching was, this is what I thought coaching was: you paid a coach to tell you how great you were and how everything would work out, if you just believed in yourself.

I thought a coach's job was to put a plastic sheen on life while quoting optimistic one-liners embroidered on throw pillows. I thought a coach was your private motivational speaker.

I was wrong. Coaching is not plastic or safe. Instead, coaching explores the four questions. Explore them at your own risk.

...

I was recommended a jolly, little book called Rejoicing in Christ, written by Michael Reeves. I have to tell you—there are passages that cause my heart to pound faster, like there’s a little drummer boy inside me, and I have to stop and take a breath.

Reeves has hit upon a nerve, a deep place in which deep calls out to deep. In this blog post, I want to share a passage of his and make some critical observations about the danger in spiritual growth.

I have read this passage seven...

It was my wife in our early days of marriage who set the record straight—I was wrong about gas stations. Up until that time, I thought the big numbers posted on gas pumps were the year the oil was collected. And so “93” meant it was from the year 1993.

This made sense because the “freshest” gasoline was also the most expensive—gas from the year 1993 was more expensive than gas from 1987. Now that's reasonable! But this ran counter to how wine worked because...