It's Tuesday at 2:00pm! (PST Time: I live and work from Southern California)

Years ago, as a young pastor, I "borrowed" a sermon from my father. Now, I had grown up listening to my dad preach my entire life. He's a great communicator, and when I was new to this "preaching thing", I naturally went back to things I had heard him do and say, and I "borrowed" them. This worked well, because at 22 years of age, I didn't have a lot of experience. Everything was good until my father came to guest speak at the church I was at, and he preached a message that I had already preached. Standing at the door that day, a man came up to my dad and told him how nice it was that he was using his sons material.

Of course I thought this was hilarious, and I worked hard to be a little more careful in the future.

Now it's 34 years later, and I still "borrow" material, not only from my dad but from many others.

Jim Burns, a lifelong mentor of mine said:

"The essence of creativity is the ability to copy."

It's Tuesday at 2:00pm! (PST Time: I live and work from Southern California)

I don't know about you, but I feel that I've been bombarded with information over the past months. Live news, articles, webinars, podcasts, newsletters and I could keep going. There's a load of information, and at times I find I'm just filing information so I can gather more.

I was reading (OK, more information) and I found this quote:

"The key to learning is to stop passively consuming information and start actively engaging with the ideas we encounter."

This comes from the website doist.com and it was from an article that talked about the value of journaling.

Last year, I shared a post with you that talked about a thing called MORNING PAPERS. We were talking about productivity, and I was sharing a morning routine that involves writing.

Today, I want to talk about WHY I JOURNAL and there's a direct correlation to the quote above.

It's Tuesday at 2:00pm! (PST Time: I live and work from Southern California)

I'm walking through a series called, "Why I...." and I'm looking at some things that I do regularly in my life and am trying to determine why I do them. I'm not just looking at the things that have positive benefits, but I'm also exploring some things that aren't beneficial and helping my productivity. I'm not writing about all of these, but have chosen some to share.

I'd like to encourage you to do the same thing. Why do you do some of the things you do, and if you're doing things that are beneficial, share that with others.

We all need to learn from each other and sometimes being reminded of something causes us to put some energy into that thing, which hopefully makes us better!

Today, it's a short thought but one I experience every day.

"Why I Make Lists".

It's Tuesday at 2:00pm! (PST Time: I live and work from Southern California)

I read this quote from Steve Jobs (The Co-Founder and CEO of Apple) and it made me think:

"For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: 'If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?' And whenever the answer has been 'NO' for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something."

Have you ever been afraid to do honest evaluation in your life?

If you're like me...

• You're afraid of what you'll find... You might not like it!

• You're afraid of the work it will take to address what you find.

• You're afraid of what others will think when they see you address the mess that's going on.

The list can go on and on, but sometimes it's just easier to ignore the things that aren't working or the things that are creating a mess. It's easier.... for a time.

Job's quote hit me because I care deeply about evaluation. I'm not afraid of taking a hard look at my work, at a project I'm doing, at an organization I'm working with or at a team I'm a part of. I'm not afraid of that, and I find great value when we stop and evaluate.

It's Tuesday at 2:00pm! (PST Time: I live and work from Southern California)

The dog house I envisioned building and the dog house that I was standing in front of were very different. The dog house I built with my own 2 hands worked, but it wasn't pretty. It was painted blue like our house and the roofing looked pretty good, but if you looked closely at it there were some problems: The floor was sloped, there were some spaces in the corners that weren't there for ventilation, however that's how I spun it. It just wasn't very good.

I'm not that kind of builder. I haven't built my own home or done a lot of carpentry. I've played with it and really enjoy it, but that's not the kind of builder I am.

I am a builder though. I build people and I build organizations.

Today I want to tell you WHY I BUILD:

I remember the class like it was yesterday. It was 1993 and I was enrolled in a graduate program that focused on organizational design and development. The class I was taking was teaching me the value of building healthy leaders and healthy organizations at a time that people weren't talking about this a lot. A light came on inside of me, and as I learned more and more that year about organizational development, I began to understand that healthy organizations don't just happen, they have to be built. I also learned that to have a healthy organization, you have to have healthy leaders. It's all connected.

I became a builder that year and began putting together the ideas, the concepts and the values of an organization I would build someday.

It's Tuesday at 2:00pm! (PST Time: I live and work from Southern California)

I don't know when things changed, but there was a change. It might have been when my kids were growing up and I found incredible joy in seeing them accomplish something. It might have been when I began to see young people that I had pastored and led years earlier find their place and their voice. It might have been when I saw our organization begin to invest in the lives of team members and then experience the impact of their growth and effectiveness.

I don't know when it was, but at some point in my life I changed from wanting to be the one who was doing all the great things to being the one who "helped" others do great things.

I became a coach.

It's Tuesday at 2:00pm! (PST Time: I live and work from Southern California)

When I graduated from High School, I remember thinking to myself, "what else do I need to learn?" I went to college and spent 4 years learning in the classroom, and learning even more outside the classroom, and at graduation I breathed a sigh of relief: "I was done learning!" I then spent close to a decade completing my Masters, and when I finished I said, "OK, now I'm really done!"

Here's something I learned about myself through over 25 years of education:

I like to learn.

I'm challenged by new things. I know I don't have it all figured out. I like to hear others perspectives and experiences. I like to learn.

Years ago I had some "space" in my schedule and I wanted to do something that I had never done before, so I started an on-line coffee business. I didn't know how to do it, so I learned. From the website to the business license to the coffee roaster to the order fulfillment, it was a challenge and it involved a lot of learning.

It's Tuesday at 2:00pm! (PST Time: I live and work from Southern California)

The "Lead With Russ" post each week is simply my journey of leadership. It will always be in constant flux as I continue on this amazing adventure of figuring out who I am and what my greatest contribution is all about.

Someone commented last week and suggested that I do a series called "Why I Lead" and continue with the theme of "Why I....".

I began that a number of weeks ago when I put up these posts:

- Why I Walk

- Why I Ride

- Why I Rest

This is just a look into my life, and I want to challenge you to figure out why you do the things that you do. It's also caused me to begin thinking about things in my life that contribute to my leadership and that spur me forward in this leadership journey.

Today I'm prompted to answer this question:

"Why I'm Not Alone"