I think it was Mark Twain who said the difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter—it’s the difference between the lightning-bug and the lightning.  Sometimes what seems like a small matter is a really big deal.  Such is the case with distinctions in coaching. Distinctions help a

A few weeks ago I found myself explaining nuclear fusion to my 12 year old son as we drove to a basketball game.  I’m not exactly Bill Nye the science guy.  I don’t carry around that kind of science knowledge in my head, but I had recently read a news article on fusion as a

“Are you a leader or a manager?” Everyone replied, “I’m more of a leader.” It wasn’t just what they said, it was how they said it. When they said “leader,” their voice rose through the two syllables, crescendoing into energy. And when they said the word “manager,” their voice sloped downward, dying into oblivion. It

In the fall of 1999, I did it. I boldly crossed the transition bridge from the traditional church I had pastored to a contemporary church plant that would change the region. That’s right, the region. Not just our town, but central Illinois would no longer be the same now that we refused to be contained

Roger wants to pull out what little hair he has left. Frustrations have been rising all week, threatening to pour out over his lower eyelids or through a violent release of his vocal cords. “This transition was supposed to make things easier! I’m pretty sure this is not the definition of easier,” he confides to

I grew up near enough to St Louis that my family would make the trip two or three times a year. Coming from Illinois, the only way into St Louis is across a bridge spanning the Mississippi River. The Poplar Street Bridge is the length of two football fields and carries Interstate 70 across the