This video kills me…
It kills me because even though I agree with everything Colt shares, it usually quite awhile after my dreams are shattered to remember to “never question why things happen the way they do” and to “always give God the glory.” I am so impressed with his maturity and his boldness.
Go Colt…you will be blessed abundantly if you continue to walk through life with that attitude. You are an inspiration.
I feel like I go through seasons where everyone I know is talking about “StrengthsFinders.” And thankfully this is one of those seasons, because I love, love, love talking about Strengths. (Check out Spence talking about them here and Jenni talking about them here.)
Here’s more information about StrengthsFinder from Strengths.Gallup.Com
“Hide not your talents. They for use were made. What’s a sundial in the shade?”
– Benjamin Franklin
Do you have the opportunity to do what you do best every day?
Chances are, you don’t. All too often, our natural talents go untapped. From the cradle to the cubicle, we devote more time to fixing our shortcomings than to developing our strengths.
To help people uncover their talents, Gallup introduced the first version of its online assessment, StrengthsFinder, in the 2001 management book Now, Discover Your Strengths. The book spent more than five years on the bestseller lists and ignited a global conversation, while StrengthsFinder helped millions to discover their top five talents.
Here my top five Strengths:
Focus
People strong in the Focus theme can take a direction, follow through, and make the corrections necessary to stay on track. They prioritize, then act. (If you want to drive me completely crazy, just tell a long drawn out off-subject story during an important meeting.) (more…)
I went into Catalyst with some incredibly high expectations. And I did not leave disappointed. I left exhausted, like every ounce of me (body, soul and mind) was stretched to the absolute limit, but not the slightest bit disappointed. Brad Lomenick and his team have certainly figured out how to produce a WOW event.
As you can imagine, I need some time (like a year) to process everything I experienced, but here are some quick highlights:
And some quick pictures:
More details about Catalyst ’09 aka #cat09 to come. I promise.
If you attended, what were some of your highlights?
On Tuesday afternoon I am headed to Atlanta for Catalyst ’09.
I can not wait. This will be my first “full” Catalyst experience (I attended the One Day this Spring) and I can’t wait to soak it in.
The Catalyst Conference is the largest gathering of young leaders in the country, but it pains us to call it just a conference. Catalyst is more than just a three-day event – it’s a movement, a convergence, an experience where you find yourself fully immersed in learning, worship, and creativity. Catalyst brings people together – the influencers, the do-ers, the cultural architects, and the change agents who will reclaim our communities and culture for good.
Catalyst has been described many ways but once you’ve experienced it, you’ll call it what we call it – pure leadership adrenaline.
Here are a just a handful of the things I am excited about:
1. Spending a few days away with friends and colleagues. We have about ten folks from Thomas Nelson attending and the entire CrossPoint Church staff will be there not to mention other fun friends that I don’t get to see enough like Megan Miller and Jessica Esch. (more…)
So, it is time you all found out the truth about me. I used to be a serious bully. Really I was. I made kids cry at school, for sport. Check out this video for my “bully” story.
Cultivate Her – “Bullies” from Jenni Catron on Vimeo.
Pretty painful, huh? (more…)
I am so excited about the week that lies ahead. I’m excited because it’s a short week thanks to the Labor Day holiday. I’m excited because I am going to Wicked for the first time on Wednesday night. I’m excited because I head to Chicago Friday afternoon to see the city and hang with my friend Sarah. And most importantly, I’m excited because Friday is the inaugural Cultivate Her event.
My friend and Cross Point Executive Director, Jenni Catron, has been talking about wanting to create a venue “to encourage, support and empower other women leaders” for as long as I’ve known her. So finally this week, her dream is going to be a reality. (more…)
Luckily, I have always been someone who embraced change. I say luckily because my world has changed a lot. Over the last 32 years, I have changed schools, cities, workplaces, job functions, homes, cell phone numbers, and friends.
My first real experience with change was when I was elementary school. My family moved the summer between 3rd and 4th grade and I had to change schools. It was traumatic. I made the change, but there was plenty of kicking and screaming (Literally kicking and screaming, usually my classmates). But life went on, I made new friends, and I realized that change wasn’t so bad. More recently, at my last employer, Books-A-Million, in five years I had five different roles (Special Events Manager, Assistant Buyer, Buyer, Director of Special Events and Director of Advertising and Promotions). Man, did we waste some business cards! But I learned a ton, worked for some amazing people, and the depth of experience I accumulated has been wonderful for my career.
Candidly, even though I embrace the process of change, sometimes I do not enjoy the effects of change. And when that happens, I really have to work at staying positive and trying to find the good in the situation. There is always good in the situation, whether it be personal growth or strengthened faith. (more…)
Last Thursday, I attended Catalyst One Day with some folks from Cross Point. I was desperate to get out of the office, network, and have some professional leadership training. And Catalyst One Day was an investment I could afford to make in myself. And I am so glad I did!
Catalyst One Day
Here are just a couple of reasons why:
