“Failures are scars on the way to ultimate success. Your failure scars reveal your success identity.” Brad Lomenick, H3 Leadership
I’ve enjoyed watching Brad Lomenick’s leadership journey from afar. I read his book Catalyst Leader two years ago and was excited to hear that he wrote H3 Leadership: Humble, Hungry, Hustle. I was privileged to receive a copy to review for this blog. What stood out to me the most was the authentic way that Lomenick processed and wrote about his recent change in Leadership. After a long time at Catalyst, Lomenick felt like God was closing the door on that season and moving him to a new assignment. It was helpful to read and reflect on the questions that Lomenick challenged himself with during this time. For him, the answers to those questions led him to make the change. For me, the answers to those questions confirmed for me that I’m right in the middle of where God has planted me.
H3 Leadership is a great resource for leaders or those contemplating leadership positions as the book provides a great framework with which to consider what the definition of success is. His story also gives the reader a chance to see that failure isn’t the end…it’s really just a part of the process where the Lord is refining us and growing us into the people He created us to be.
I highlighted several things while reading and have posted my notes below…
- Leaders will develop a variety of habits throughout their lives, but these three words divide them into categories that help answer three of the most important questions every influencer must ask:
• HUMBLE: “Who am I?”
• HUNGRY: “Where do I want to go?”
• HUSTLE: “How will I get there?” - NEARLY HALF OF YOUR DAY WILL BE DETERMINED BY THE PATTERNS YOU’VE EITHER INTENTIONALLY CREATED OR PASSIVELY ALLOWED.
- Habits create sustainable action out of chaotic energy.
- THE PATTERNS WE CULTIVATE SHAPE THE PERSON WE EACH BECOME.
- As C. S. Lewis once said, “people need to be reminded more often than they need to be instructed.”
- YOUR SENSE OF IDENTITY WILL HELP DETERMINE YOUR SCALE OF INFLUENCE. IGNORE IT AT YOUR OWN PERIL.
- Nicky Gumbel, the vicar of Holy Trinity Brompton in London and founder of the Alpha Course, tweeted, “You can teach what you know, but you will reproduce what you are.”
- “Who you are is not what you do. What you do is not who you are. Identity is unchanging. Being comes before doing. Who you are determines what you do.”
- PEOPLE WOULD RATHER FOLLOW A LEADER WHO IS ALWAYS REAL VERSUS A LEADER WHO IS ALWAYS RIGHT. DON’T TRY TO BE A PERFECT LEADER, JUST WORK ON BEING AN AUTHENTIC ONE.
- LONE RANGER LEADERS ARE DESTINED FOR TROUBLE. EVEN THE ACTUAL COWBOY CHARACTER HAD TONTO.
- Leaders must make honesty and trust the standard for their organizational culture.
- Humility looks good on everyone.
- worshipping Jesus is the very best weapon we have to fight against pride. Worship lifts our eyes and reminds our souls of who God is and who we are not.
- Your private life determines your public legacy. Your public platform, influence, and impact require internal faithfulness, quiet confidence, and consistent wisdom. The best leadership moments will probably be the ones that nobody sees.
- It is by doing what nobody wants to do that you end up doing what everybody wants to do.
- EVERY LEADER, NO MATTER HOW OLD OR ACCOMPLISHED, SHOULD REGULARLY REFLECT ON HIS OR HER CALLING.
- Many people conflate calling with identity. They confuse who they are with what they are made to do. While the two are connected, they are not the same. Identity is who you are, but calling is how you express that. Calling is your purpose. It is your guiding light. It is the string that connects our dots and allows us to feel fulfilled. It is, according to one of the most widely accepted definitions, where your deepest passions and your greatest strengths intersect.
- IF YOU’RE NOT LEARNING, YOU’RE NOT LEADING TO YOUR FULL POTENTIAL.
- Live as though you’ll die tomorrow, and learn as though you’ll live forever. Have an insatiable appetite for learning. An urgency that is almost annoying.
- But all of our best efforts are worthless unless leaders ask God to open them to learning and creating. Innovating requires a teachable spirit and openness to new ideas. God created every human to have some capacity for inventing and creating new things. Even if you don’t consider yourself to be creative, there is a part of you that is made to create.
- The key to innovation is intentionality.
- Open as many doors as possible, and see if innovation doesn’t walk through a few of them.
- Failures are scars on the way to ultimate success. Your failure scars reveal your success identity.
- People need to be motivated, and casting a vision that propels them forward is one of the first and central tasks of a leader today. Hope is true currency for this generation.
- THOSE WHO’VE FAILED MUCH DON’T FEAR FAILURE LIKE THOSE WHO’VE ONLY TASTED SUCCESS.
- The best ideas come out of the kiln of disagreement and discernment.
- The quality of work we do is not just about bragging rights. It’s about stewardship. We serve a great God who doesn’t settle for average. God has created the world (and you) with excellence and purpose, and God has buried gifts inside of you that can create excellent products and build excellent organizations. Committing to a habit of excellence just means doing great things with the tools God has entrusted to you.
- The way you behave in the “now” is practice for the “later.”
- Ask the question, “What’s it like to be on the other side of me?” This leads to greater emotional intelligence, leading to improved leadership. Leadership is a choice, not a position. Be the leader you wish you had. A title or position doesn’t automatically make you a leader. Influence makes you a leader. Forced followership doesn’t count. People follow the person, not the position.
- IF YOUR ORGANIZATION IS A TERRIBLE PLACE TO WORK, IT IS YOUR FAULT. THE SOONER YOU QUIT BLAMING OTHERS, THE SOONER YOU CAN ACTUALLY FIX THE PROBLEMS.
- You must lead people the way they want to be led, not the way you want to be led. Lead each person uniquely on your team.
- Culture building is too important to delegate.
- We lean in, get it done, have fun in the process, are the best in the world, lead out of humility, honor each other, are part of something significant and a bigger story, make each other better, have no they but we (all of us) are they, and trust one another. In the end, you have a duty to keep people motivated and morale high.
- An impulse toward broadened horizons is invaluable when developing a habit of partnership.
- THE MORE MARGIN IN YOUR LIFE, THE MORE ROOM YOU HAVE TO LET YOUR RHYTHMS RUN.
- As theologian Walter Brueggemann has said, “Sabbath means to be in a mode of receptivity for gifts to be given and that requires one to slow down, to pause, to wait.”1 Set a regular time each week for this, and fight to protect it.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through their book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”