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The “blood round” is a great tester of grit.  Both the pressure and associated stakes are extremely high.  It’s a critical juncture between sweet victory and agonizing defeat.  The Blood Round My son Grant wrestled in the Georgia High School Association’s State Wrestling Championships this past week in Macon, Georgia.  He is in his sophomore season at Allatoona High School here in Acworth, Georgia. If you aren’t familiar with wrestling, there are two formats of tournaments, dual and traditional. In a dual format, you are bracketed as a team.  The traditional format allows for each wrestler to compete individually against other wrestlers within their weight class. The traditional

What would the world look like if we were, “All out of legends?”  The day when the good guys grow tired and weary.  When those who sacrificed so much for others finally fade into the sunset.  All Out of Legends I often keep notes on my phone of potential blog topics.  It’s a list of random things that are my go-to on a night I can’t conjure up a topic.  In scrolling through the list, I found this gem. This particular note was thumbed in while watching an episode of Yellowstone.  Rip, who is one of the main characters in the series, visits a real-life cowboy named Billy

Leaders can often find ourselves restrained by many little things. A lot of little stuff that keeps us busy, but not productive. Those things that can hold us captive from what could be. Restrained by Many Little Things While on my morning walk the other day, I was listening to a podcast that referenced Gulliver’s Travels.  If you haven’t read it or watched the movie, here is the synopsis.  Lemuel Gulliver goes on four voyages that each have their own special adventures.  The first thing I pictured when I heard Gulliver’s Travels was a scene from one of those voyages.  He found himself shipwrecked on the island of

Articulating a vision is an art.  One that requires a unique ability to see further than others can.  A superpower gifted to few, but followed by many.  Articulating a Vision  On Monday, we celebrated Martin Luther King, Jr.  There is no better example of a leader casting vision of what could be and should be than in his historic I Have a Dream Speech. Dr. King saw something no one else could from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial that day.  There were people that HEARD the speech who desired to see a day in which “Little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands

Willingness is the great differentiator between ordinary and extraordinary leaders.  Whenever I get the opportunity to speak on the topic of leadership, I share this definition: “Leadership is the ability and willingness to better others and the world we live in.” There are two key words in this definition…ability and willingness.  Each and every person possesses the ability to be an extraordinary leader.  The question is do we have the willingness? The Willing I get the honor of serving my hometown of Acworth, Georgia as City Manager.  In that role, I have the awesome responsibility to oversee the daily operations of our city.  With that responsibility comes the

Early believers are critical to the start of every leader’s journey.  They were our Initial Investors who made the deposits of belief in us expecting a high rate of return.  Believers that saw more in us than we saw in ourselves at the time.  It was their belief that served as the spark that ignited our fire. Belief Belief is a big deal this time of year.  In my faith, Christians rest our total belief in the fact that our savior was born on Christmas Day.  A few days later, the Jewish people will celebrate their belief behind a miracle of a candle that was supposed to only