If you have followed my blog for more than a few months, you know that I am a huge fan of Don Miller and, especially, his most recent book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: How I Learned to Live a Better Story. In fact, last year I had the men in my Mentoring Group read through the book and discuss it. It was life-changing.

That’s why I am so excited to share with you about Don’s Storyline Conference. Gail and I attended last year in Portland and loved it. It is a two-day event, held in three locations: Portland (April 30–May 1), Nashville (May 6–7), and Santa Barbara (June 8–9).

Last summer, Gail and I visited the Royal Gorge near Cañon City, Colorado. It is only a few hundred feet wide at the top but more than 1,250 feet deep in places. This ten-mile long canyon was cut into solid granite over approximately three million years, at just a half an inch per century. It is an awesome example of the power of incremental change over time.

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Problems always come in pairs. There’s the immediate problem that must be fixed. Then there’s the problem behind the problem—the breakdown in the process, the policy, or the people that led to the problem.

If you don’t take time to fix both, you’ll end up with the same problem happening again and again.

I have been using task-management software since the late 90s, when I first installed a program developed by Franklin-Covey. Since then, I have tried almost every system available, including Things, Remember the Milk, OmniFocus, Midnight Inbox, iGTD, Wunderlist, and many more.

But the one I have used for more than four years is Nozbe. In my view, nothing else comes close. The company just released a new desktop version (both Windows and Mac), which I have been beta-testing for the past few months.

What do penguins have to do with leadership and changing your toxic team culture? More than you realize.

The power of a few can influence the behavior of many. Leadership, as John Maxwell suggests, is really nothing more than influence.

I am a habitual nap-taker. I take one almost every day and have for years. I used to feel a little guilty about it—like I was slacking off or something. Then Sam Moore, my predecessor at Thomas Nelson, admitted to me he too was a napper.

“Every day after lunch, I lie down on the sofa in my office,” he recounted. “I hold my car keys in my right hand and let my hand hang toward the floor. When the car keys fall out of my hand, I know I’m done.” (Evidently, the famous artist Salvador Dali had a similar practice.)

Gail and I have attended a Women of Faith Conference every year for the last ten years. That may sound strange since I am a man but stay with me!

Women of Faith is owned by Thomas Nelson. Most of the speakers at the conference are Thomas Nelson authors. So as the former CEO of Thomas Nelson, I had a business reason to attend. (That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.)

Do you feel overwhelmed by your e-mail? Do you feel like you are hopelessly behind and will never catch up? Do you feel like stuff is falling through the cracks? If so, I have great news. In this episode I talk about how to take control of your e-mail inbox. Specifically, I outline four behaviors that will transform how you think about e-mail.

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