Clay Scroggins is the best-selling author of How To Lead When You’re Not In Charge, How To Lead In A World of Distraction, and his newest book, The Aspiring Leader’s Guide to the Future. For over two decades he worked at North Point Ministries, starting as a facilities intern (a.k.a. vice president of nothing) and eventually becoming the lead pastor of their largest campus. Clay is now a sought-after leadership speaker, engaging audiences that include the Atlanta Hawks, Mercedes Benz, Chick-fil-A, Federal Reserve Bank, and Terminus. Clay graduated from Georgia Tech with an Industrial Engineering Degree and continued on to acquire a Masters and Doctorate from Dallas Theological Seminary. Clay and his wife, Jenny, have five children and live in Atlanta.
Clay writes, “Leadership is not what it used to be and not what it once was. Too many leaders today are calibrated for a world that no longer exists. And people are demanding something so much different in leaders of today. Like a new house outfitted with the greatest VHS system on the planet, too many leaders are addressing today’s problems with the style and substance of yesterday’s leadership.”
Clay and Stuart have an inspiring conversation regarding what it means to be a leader today and helping the next generation of leaders be leaders worth following. This is going to be a great listen!
We asked you to read the amazing story of legendary rockers Van Halen and their use of green M&Ms to gauge excellence in venues.
INFLUNSR. defines excellence as choosing to create a better future by going the extra mile. Van Halen’s deep desire for excellence resulted in placing one sentence in a rider that allowed them to be one step closer toward excellence and safety. That idea has now been replicated — and misunderstood and misused — for decades. But the reality of why changes how we view brown M&Ms.
You and I have to be clear on what excellence looks like for each of us.
There is a scene in the movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall where Paul Rudd’s character, Chuck, teaches Peter Bretter, played by Jason Segel, to surf. The scene creates some uncomfortable laughter for those who know the frustration of working in a job where the target keeps changing.
With Peter lying on the surfboard on the beach, an agitated Chuck spouts out these confusing orders: “I want you to ignore your instincts. Don’t do anything. Don’t try to surf. Don’t do it. The less you do, the more you do. Let’s see you pop up. Pop up.”
Peter tries, but stands up on the surfboard too quickly.
“That’s not it at all. Do less. Get down. Try less. Do it again. Pop up.”
Peter stands up more slowly, but evidently still too fast.
“No, too slow. Do less. Remember, don’t do anything. Pop up. Well, you… No, you gotta do more than that, cause you are just lying right now. It looks like you are boogie-boarding.”
In leadership, clarity is kindness. The leaders we are most likely to follow are the ones who paint a picture of the future that’s clear, attainable, and inspirational. Sadly, they don’t even have to be great people. Plenty of dangerous leaders have done it with great skill.
Hitler did it.
David Koresh did it.
Heck, Adam Neumann, the founder of WeWork, did it.
But have you ever noticed that some of us are comfortable being miserable?
We are comfortable doing average work.
We are more comfortable complaining instead of taking action.
We are comfortable not pursuing excellence.
We are comfortable enough to be inactive.
Comfortable is easy. Comfortable never stretches you to grow. Comfortable is rarely grateful. Comfortable is often complacent. Comfortable is the enemy that wars against your greatest potential.
There is a big difference between comfortable and content.
Contentment is peace and joy where you are now. Contentment is gratitude for what you do have. Contentment will help you attract more resources and people to help make you better. Learn to be content in all circumstances.
But avoid being comfortable. Comfort zones are wonderful things, but nothing ever grows there.
Sometimes we are miserable because we subconsciously want to be miserable. Deep down we don’t believe we deserve better. Maybe in our head we think we deserve better, but in our heart we never believe it.
You are always doing what you want to do. There is always a choice, so you are always doing what you want to do. If you wanted it as bad as you say we do, your life would look very different because you would make radically different choices every day.
Think about this verse today… How does this verse apply to your life right now?
No matter what you do, work at it with all your might. (Ecclesiastes 9:10 NIVR)
Let’s discuss this in the Circle…
We asked you to read the chronology of mass communication, beginning with smoke signals. Ancient methods show us that the need and will to communicate with others far away had existed thousands of years ago and maybe even earlier. Smoke, pigeons, smartphones, or chats – the means may have changed, but the intention behind them – not so much.
As a next generation leader worth following, the need to create a better future will be a part of your influence. Excellence is a choice. It is choosing to create a better future by going the extra mile. Think about this: part of what made Jesus such a great leader, yet controversial, is that he challenged the status quo for the sake of better. Just the questions Jesus asked created a better future. More so, Jesus flipped upside down the way people considered and understood what God was like. Need an example? Read the Old Testament and the way people viewed God. Now contrast that with the first four books of the New Testament and the things Jesus taught, said, and did. Do you see it?
Is there something in your sphere of influence that you think “This needs to change?” What about in yourself? Is there an area in you personally that is “a smoke signal that needs to evolve to free Wifi?” Self-awareness is a critical skill that can help us be more effective. What is something that you recognize in yourself that can sometimes complicate matters for you?
How can you change it to achieve better results? What are three accomplishments that you take great pride in?
Let’s dive into this in the Circle…
We asked you to watch the Sony Pictures film Risen. Risen follows the epic Biblical story of the Resurrection, as told through the eyes of a non-believer. Clavius, a powerful Roman Military Tribune, and his aide Lucius, are tasked with solving the mystery of what happened to Yahshua in the weeks following the crucifixion, in order to disprove the rumors of a risen Messiah and prevent an uprising in Jerusalem.
“I have seen two things which I cannot reconcile: A man dead without question, and that same man alive again.” Clavius (Fiennes) is a Roman Tribune who has just been told to go complete a crucifixion where a Sentinel has refused. The next day he is tasked with making sure the body stays in the tomb. When he arrives in the morning and finds the tomb empty the course of human history is changed forever.
For so many of us, doubt is a huge burden we carry when it comes to our faith. We doubt if God really hears our prayers. We doubt if some parts of the Bible really happened. We doubt whether God really does love us. Doubt is a big theme of the movie Risen as well. The Tribune (Clavius) is haunted by his doubts
and questions throughout the movie. But he’s not the only one – Pilate, the soldiers guarding the tomb, and the disciples all wrestle with doubt, in different ways.
Why do you think it was so hard for Clavius to believe Jesus had risen, even after he saw him? Do some of those things still make it hard for us to believe today? Do you feel like it’s okay to admit when you have doubts, or do you feel pressure sometimes to be 100% certain about God, or the Bible, or prayer?
Jesus tells Clavius, “If it’s hard for you to believe, imagine the doubt of those who will never see. That’s what they face.” Who is Jesus talking about when he says that? In John 20:29, Jesus says something similar: “You believe because you have seen me. Bless- ed are those who believe without seeing me.” (NLT) Have you ever thought about the fact that Jesus knew there would be people who would never see Him in person and that faith for us would be hard? How does it make you feel to know Jesus knew that doubt and faith for us would be difficult?
Let’s discuss this in the Circle…
We asked you to watch the Today Show interview with Ohio State football player Harry Miller regarding his recent medical retirement from football due to mental health struggles.
After three seasons with Ohio State, Harry Miller announced he would be medically retiring from football, revealing mental health struggles that pushed him to the brink of suicide. Miller joins TODAY to talk about his decision to step away from the game he loves and delivers a powerful message to those who are struggling: “Hope is just pretending to believe in something until one day you don’t have to pretend anymore…I would just ask you pretend for a little bit and then one day you won’t have to pretend anymore and you’ll be happy.”
“You look around and you say, ‘something’s going on right now; Something needs to happen,’” Miller said through tears. “The problem is that nobody has to say something—and that is precisely why somebody has to say something.” Harry says “Maybe bravery is just being honest when it would be easier not to.” How are you doing with your mental health? Do you have someone that you can talk to about any struggles you may have? How can we at INFLUNSR. be a support to you?
Time to dive into this in the Circle…
We asked you to read Vox article Everyone Wants Forgiveness, but No One is Being Forgiven.
The state of modern outrage is a cycle: We wake up mad, we go to bed mad, and in between, the only thing that might change is what’s making us angry. The one gesture that could offer substantive change, or at least provide a way forward — forgiveness — seems perpetually beyond our reach.
What makes the concept of grace so powerful is that “it forces us to contend not only with other people’s human frailty but with our own: to remember how good it feels when someone, out of the blue, treats us with respect, empathy, and kindness in the middle of an angry conversation where we expect nothing but hostility. To be shown the kindness of strangers when we expect cruelty, and then bestow that gift in turn — that’s the remarkable quality of grace.” Jesus talks about this in Matthew 18:21-22. How difficult is it for you to extend forgiveness to others? How does this effect your ability to lead others?
Let’s discuss this in the Circle…
We asked you to watch the TED Talk by Brittany Packnett Cunningham titled How To Build Your Confidence and Spark In Others.
“Confidence is the necessary spark before everything that follows,” says educator and activist Brittany Packnett Cunningham. In an inspiring talk, she shares three ways to crack the code of confidence — and her dream for a world where revolutionary confidence helps turn our most ambitious dreams into reality.
Brittany says that “A lack of confidence pulls us down from the bottom and weighs us down from the top, crushing us between a flurry of can’ts, won’ts and impossibles. Without confidence, we get stuck, and when we get stuck, we can’t even get started. Instead of getting mired in what can get in our way, confidence invites us to perform with certainty. We all operate a little differently when we’re sure we can win versus if we just hope we will.” Let’s think: what is one thing that you are irrationally confident about? On the contrary, what is one thing that your cripplingly fearful of? How do you gain proper perspective regarding both? And how does this help you become a leader worth following?
Let’s dive into this in the Circle…
We asked you to read the Thrive article titled A Culture Without the Possibility of Redemption Is a Toxic Culture.
The paradox of social media, and so much of our technology, is that it keeps us locked in an eternal present, while at the same time creating an eternal archive that never fades away. The result isn’t just higher levels of anxiety, depression and loneliness, it also makes it harder for us to grow and evolve — which is, after all, our essential purpose at the heart of every spiritual and philosophical tradition.
“Social media is like an accelerant to an arson,” says Bard College President Leon Botstein. “Everything moves rapidly and out of control. So, the slightest spark creates an avalanche of retribution. There’s no room for error. And the response is not to start a conversation or a dialogue, but to shut the person out in some way.” How do you as a leader avoid the pitfall of the paradox of social media? How should a leader worth following frame their social media usage?
Let’s dive into this in the Circle…
Disclaimer:
INFLUNSR’s mission is to fuel the next generation of leaders worth following and to help students learn how to think, not what to think. Any articles posted and questions asked are intended for that sole purpose.