Leadership and Main: A Blog on Leadership in Local Communities

Breakfast, Lunch, and Coffee

James Albright 09.20.2021

Great leaders invest in breakfast, lunch, and coffee with others. These three meeting opportunities are a minimal financial investment with a high potential for rate of return. What if I told you that for $20 you could spend one hour with someone who has walked through the season of struggle you are currently in and came out on the other side? Would you pay $15 to be able to learn all the secrets of your trade by interviewing someone further ahead of you in your field? What if you could purchase a newly released leadership book for $18 that could change your world? Would you consider paying

Where Were You When

James Albright 09.13.2021

Where were you when? Depending on your generation, we all have an answer or answers to this question. Moments that intersected history that stopped the world in its tracks. Maybe it was a shuttle explosion, an assassination, the death of a prominent figure. Most of these moments are grounded in tragedy. For me and my generation, it was September 11, 2001. My friend since Middle School, Steven Oser and I were driving North on Main Street in Acworth, Georgia. We were two years out of high school and working on the grounds crew for the Acworth Parks, Recreation, and Community Resource Department. After finishing a job at

Extemporaneous Creates Memorable Experiences

James Albright 09.07.2021

Extemporaneous creates memorable experiences. My preference is to be planned and prepared in life. While these qualities have served me well in leadership, it can also restrict opportunities for adventure. When you Google the word extemporaneous it defines it as, “done without preparation.” That goes against my natural inclination. My buddy Todd Lollis shot me a text last Saturday to see if I wanted to go to the Duke’s Mayo Bowl Classic featuring the number three ranked Clemson Tigers and the number five ranked Georgia Bulldogs. After a quick check of my schedule and consultation with Shannon, the answer was yes! To pull the trigger on a decision

Emergency Hugs

James Albright 08.29.2021

Emergency hugs can change the world. I remember it like it was just yesterday. It was a brisk, fall evening in 2019 when the concept of emergency hugs came into existence. We were wrapping up football practice with conditioning as we usually did. As a result of their inability to follow instructions set forth by the coaching staff that fateful evening, the boys made the decision to participate in additional conditioning! Typically additional conditioning under these circumstances resulted in the occasional tears where consoling was needed. Whenever these corrective measures were taken, we always tried to huddle up after and reestablish expectations with the boys. A teachable moment.

Don’t Walk Past Trash

James Albright 08.22.2021

Leaders do not walk past trash in their worlds. There are two people in my world that have set this example for me. Through their actions, not their words, they inspired me to emulate their behavior. I watched my pastor Mike Linch and good friend Andy Duncan do this. Whether they knew I was watching or not. From their vehicle to the front door of the office, they collect trash on the way. This week we dive into this concept of don’t walk past trash and seven leadership lessons we can learn from it. It does not matter who you are, your status, or where you rank in

Calling Plays

James Albright 08.16.2021

The art of calling plays in football can translate to leadership. High school football kicked off this past Friday in Georgia. That means college football is not far behind! Up until this year, it meant coaching youth football for me. For twenty-one years I coached at the youth level. Nineteen of these were as a head coach. When I served as the head coach, I was the offensive coordinator and called the plays. There is nothing like designing and orchestrating an offense. I already miss the process of game planning, the excitement leading up to game day, and the chess match with the coach on the other sideline.

Choices Are Everything

Dr. George Manners 08.09.2021

Choices are everything in life. Do you desire to be more successful? Yes? Then, let’s share a not very well-kept secret: successful people generally make better choices than not so successful people. Duh … But now for some hopeful insight. I contend that there are only four choices in life: I choose my attitude. I choose between short-term gratification and longer-term development. I choose whether or not to take a risk. I choose my associates. That’s it! There are no other choices in life. Every decision I make is some combination of these four choices. And these choices are highly interdependent. Get one right and it improves the

Teachers Are Rock Stars

James Albright 08.02.2021

Teachers are rock stars, plain and simple. As students head back to school, we want to take an opportunity to celebrate one of our favorite community leaders, teachers. Their summers are winding down, classrooms are getting prepared, sneak-a-peeks are taking place, and the first day of school is staring down at them. Teachers hold a special place in my heart for two reasons. One, my amazing wife is a second grade teacher. She is a rock star teacher and mother. Two, many teachers played a pivotal role in my personal and professional development, all the way from kindergarten to graduate school. This week we dissect six leadership lessons

How We Wait Matters

James Albright 07.25.2021

How we wait matters. Waiting is inevitable in our worlds. It may be for your future spouse, your first child, a position, test results, or anything in between. One of the most problematic things for us as human beings is that we are not wired to wait. One thing that Shannon and I strive to do for our kids is to create experiences. A couple of weeks ago, we took the kids to Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. We were there for three days, most of it was spent waiting. Waiting in lines. Lines to get on the shuttle, lines to get into the park, lines for food,

It Takes a Village To Raise a Leader

James Albright 07.19.2021

It takes a village to raise a leader. You have likely heard a similar and more common version of this phrase, “it takes a village to raise a child.” Well, it applies to leadership too. In my world specifically. My story is unique. I was born, raised, educated, built a career, and am currently raising a family in my hometown of Acworth, Georgia. It is a rarity these days. Not too many people get this opportunity, one that I do not take for granted. Last Thursday was a big day. The day started off as most do. I got to work early, settled in, and developed a game