Please take a look at this short clip that Jon recorded sharing with you some thoughts about his new book “The Seed: Finding Purpose and Happiness in Life and Work“.

As you can see, Jon is inspirational. He has found his greater purpose and today is inspiring millions to find their’s as well. Like I said, I was afforded the awesome opportunity of interviewing Jon. So without further ado …. my interview with Jon Gordon.

What was your first recollection of experiencing great leadership?
I would say meeting and spending time with Ken Blanchard, the author of the One Minute Manager.

Who had the most significant influence on shaping you as a leader?
Honestly the answer is God. I wish I had better leaders in my life growing up and in my early career but I didn’t. People often ask me where my leadership principles come from and they come during my walks of prayers in the morning.

What are three words people would use to describe you?
Energetic, sincere, real.

What do you believe is the biggest challenge facing leaders today?
Busyness, stress, fear and negativity.

What is one characteristic that you believe every leader should possess?
Optimism. It’s the most important characteristic of a leader.

What advice would you give someone who is considering a leadership position for the first time?
Know what you stand for. Know your purpose and vision and share them. Read leadership books. I’m amazed at how many don’t read to improve themselves as a leader. Books will help you clarify what you believe and shape you and your actions as a leader. It’s not just about reading. It’s about applying.

Over the years, what is one behavior or trait that you have seen derail great leaders?
Pride. It comes before the fall. The best leaders are humble and hungry.

If you could study leadership with anyone in the world with whom would you study?
Abraham Lincoln. For a leader who is living I would say Bob Iger the CEO of Disney.

If you could give my readers one piece of advice on leadership, what would that be?
Lead with optimism. Leadership is a transfer of belief. Steve Jobs had the ability to convince people they could do things they never thought possible and they did it.

What’s next for you? Is there another book in the works?
Yes. The Positive Dog. It’s about the benefits and strategies of positivity.

Within 24 hours I had already gotten the first designs and was less than excited about them to be honest. Then came over some designs from a guy name Justin at Jade Raven Design. Not only did he take the time to check out my site to find out really what my site was about and create a logo centered around its subject matter but he also provided a complete scan with several (6+) different mock ups. From there I requested a few more ideas and finally he hit it on my mark. I told him that was the one and he created it for me within 24 hours. It was amazing, not only how fast he was but also how creative he was.

Now, granted after the fact, I decided to go a different direction with the look of my site and so his design is not being used on my site right now but I wanted to take a moment and share with you all about his amazing service. Below are just a few of the designs he provided.

Justin is the owner of Jade Raven Design. In his early years of design he focused mainly on website design but later began designing print such as flyers, logos, album designs and more. One thing that I really enjoyed about Justin’s work was he provided concepts first instead of jumping right into the design software. Like I said, he literally sent me a scan of pencil sketches he made for my site. Great sketches! He shared with me that concepts are the foundation for a lot of his work. He has found that starting with a pencil and paper has helped achieve very consistent, strong designs that truly shine with his clients. He believes firmly in professional results that capture his client’s message and captivates their audience.

Like I said, Justin has design down. He is the man. He believes that design done right and executed well can be very positive and effective when communicating an idea – whether it be for a small business owner, musician, artist, or even a blog owner like myself.

If you are looking for a graphic artist, check out Justin at Jade Raven Design. I guarantee you will love his work.

Disclaimer: While Justin (Jade Raven Design) did provide services for this review please note that I had the complete freedom to speak my mind about his services. He provided me with great service and design options. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Planning Center Online

This app is one of my focal apps. Our children’s ministry (and worship ministry) utilizes “Planning Center Online” for scheduling, service planning and communication with our teams. This one small app will not only show me the serving schedule for each area of our children’s ministry but it also puts the contact information of every servant leader at my finger tips. I would say without a doubt that this one app is used more than any other app on my phone. Check it out!

Cost: FREE
Created by: Ministry Centered Technologies

Download to your phone through the Android Market

Google Docs

I am known for two things, one is my love of bleach (meaning, I like things sanitized) and two is for my love of Google products. Of all the products that Google has made available, I use Google docs is the product I use almost as much as Gmail. As a matter of fact, as I write this post I am looking at my January website usage stats and I can tell you that 22.1% of my time online is spent in Google Docs. Google docs is heavily used in our ministry because of its collaborative functions. Everything from attendance records, ministry budgets, and even curriculum is prepared and shared on Google docs. Obviously, having this information on hand as you are busy changing the world makes everything so much easier. Google is helping our ministry impact the world BIG TIME!

Cost: FREE
Created by: Google Inc

Download to your phone through the Android Market

Group SMS & Scheduler

This app is a little secret of mine … well was a little secret of mine. I love this app because I am able to send out a mass text message to my entire team but yet have each text message sent out as a personalized message. This is great for showing appreciation to your team or even reminding everyone about an important meeting coming up. I recommend this app to every leader because it’s easy to use and is a great tool for sharing information to your team via SMS.

Cost: FREE (premium options avail)
Created by: AntTek Inc.

Download to your phone through the Android Market

Contact Finder

I am a visual person so this app has saved my life many times. There is nothing that drives me nuts more than when I receive a call from someone but yet I can’t picture who they are. This app is easy to use and searches for photos on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google and other social networks based on your contact list. If you see a photo of the person you’re looking for, all it takes is a tap on the picture and it will save it to your contact list which helps me BIG time when they call or text me. Like I said, this app has saved my life many times! A must have for leaders!

Cost: FREE
Created by: Eclipson

Download to your phone through the Android Market

Busy Me

This app recently has helped me stay focused. I am that guy that feels that every text and every phone call needs to be taken care of right away and so my phone doesn’t go far from my side HOWEVER there are times when you really need to focus on what you are doing without any distractions. I have used this app for many things recently including meetings, prayer time, and even while sleeping. For those of you who have a hard time silencing your phone this app will help you BIG TIME!!

Cost: FREE
Created by: Fernando Dunn

Download to your phone through the Android Market

You see, it’s what is in front of us that dictates our actions. Let me give you an example, this morning the daily routine started in the bathroom like usual however today I decided to make a change. Today I stood in front of the mirror and pictured myself as a healthy fit guy. Yeah, it took some time but it was worth it. That extra 60 seconds changed my entire day and the amount of energy and motivation that I got was unbelievable. Why? It was because I was able to see the vision.

I can’t help but connect this with serving. I have seen so many people walk away from ministry because they lost the vision. They had lost sight of what they were working towards and how they were impacting the lives of people. The truth of the matter is that whatever we keep in front of us (in our vision) determines our success and impact.

God wants to blow our mind away. He has BIG plans for us all in 2012. Plans that we can’t even comprehend (Eph 3:20).

As you we launch into 2012 I want to encourage you to get a vision of the future. Save a snapshot in your heart. Remember that God said in Isaiah 43:19 “I’m about to do something brand-new. It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it?”. God is about to do something brand new in you and me. Do you see it?

Challenging times require leaders who can lead others through the challenges. Now more than ever, we need great leadership in our government, schools, businesses, hospitals and organizations. Good leadership won’t suffice. We need great leadership. There is a difference.

• Good leaders get people to believe in them.
• Great leaders inspire people to believe in themselves.
• Good leaders say “Watch what I can do.”
• Great leaders say “Let me show you what you can do.”
• Good leaders catch fish for others so they can eat today.
• Great leaders teach people how to fish so they can eat for a lifetime.

Having worked with countless leaders over the years in businesses, schools and professional sports, I’ve realized that great leadership is really a transfer of belief. Great leaders share their belief, vision, purpose and passion with others, and in the process, they inspire others to believe, act and impact. Great leaders are positively contagious and they instill confidence and belief in others.

Great sales managers inspire their sales people to believe in themselves and their product/service. Great school principals inspire their teachers to believe they can make a difference. Great teachers inspire and empower their students to believe in themselves. Great pastors inspire their congregations to serve and impact the community. Great sports coaches inspire their teams to believe they can win. And the people who have changed the world have been those who instilled in others the confidence to step up, serve, take initiative and create positive change. You don’t need a title to be a leader. You just need to lead.

To lead others in a powerful way you must invite them on your bus, share your vision for the road ahead and then encourage, empower and inspire them to drive their own bus. In the process, instead of having just one bus that you drive, you create a fleet of buses and bus drivers, all moving in the same positive direction. When you create a fleet of buses and empower people to drive their own bus, you generate an amazing amount of power and momentum that becomes an unstoppable force. This is what great leadership is all about.

Matthew 14:22-36 reads …

As soon as the meal was finished, he insisted that the disciples get in the boat and go on ahead to the other side while he dismissed the people. With the crowd dispersed, he climbed the mountain so he could be by himself and pray. He stayed there alone, late into the night.

Meanwhile, the boat was far out to sea when the wind came up against them and they were battered by the waves. At about four o’clock in the morning, Jesus came toward them walking on the water. They were scared out of their wits. “A ghost!” they said, crying out in terror.

But Jesus was quick to comfort them. “Courage, it’s me. Don’t be afraid.”

Peter, suddenly bold, said, “Master, if it’s really you, call me to come to you on the water.”
He said, “Come ahead.”

Jumping out of the boat, Peter walked on the water to Jesus. But when he looked down at the waves churning beneath his feet, he lost his nerve and started to sink. He cried, “Master, save me!”

Jesus didn’t hesitate. He reached down and grabbed his hand. Then he said, “Faint-heart, what got into you?”

The two of them climbed into the boat, and the wind died down. The disciples in the boat, having watched the whole thing, worshiped Jesus, saying, “This is it! You are God’s Son for sure!”

On return, they beached the boat at Gennesaret. When the people got wind that he was back, they sent out word through the neighborhood and rounded up all the sick, who asked for permission to touch the edge of his coat. And whoever touched him was healed.

The Bible says “Jesus didn’t hesitate. He reached down and grabbed his hand.” This tells me that Peter had literally walked all the way out to Jesus and when he was literally just foot or two away he lost focus.

How many times have you taken a step of faith and while hearing the voice of God, only to get literally feet away from the goal when fear takes you down?

The waves always get a little rough when we are in the Will of God and in those moments satans goal is to get us to take our eyes off God … even just for a second.

As we approach the New Year, I want to encourage you to “Keep Focused”. Keep your eyes on Him. If Peter had just stayed focused of God, fear would have never had the opportunity to shake him up.

Seriously the BEST EVER!! Imagine the people that were impacted by this? In the middle of one of the most populated places at Christmas. An opportunity to truly put Christ at the forefront. BOOM!! Thanks to Michael Hyatt for sharing this link.

On July 22nd, 1990 my grandfather passed away from a massive heart attack. This ripped my family apart big time because his death was unexpected. I beat myself up for years because I never told my grandfather about Jesus Christ. I made the decision after grandfather’s death to make sure that I told grandma about Jesus. It wasn’t easy to ever talk about God at Grandma’s house. The conversations were normally short and empty. Eventually the conversations stopped and there was an awkwardness when visiting.

Well, as many of you know, this past year my grandmother had run into some major health issues. She was taken to the hospital and was admitted for several days. The day after they informed us that she wouldn’t be with us much longer, I was able to visit with her for a bit. Through the conversation I heard about how her and grandpa fell in love and how they had found their church in Symco right before grandpa had passed. Of course this was a great opportunity for me to ask her if she had asked Christ into her life. This opened up a conversation about God that I never thought I would ever have.

On Sept. 3rd, 2011, grandmother passed away from cancer. Of course, while we knew this day was coming, she was still far more prepared than we were. As a matter of fact, before she was even taken to the hospital she had Christmas this year taken care of. Everyone’s gift was put away with their name on it. She was ready to go and I believe she wanted everyone to know that she was ready.

Christmas Eve is when the Fietzer’s side of the family gets together to open gifts. The gifts that grandma had prepared were given out. Everyone opened their gifts and got pillow cases that had embroidered birds and such on them. I opened mine to find that I got embroidered pillow cases as well except mine were different, they were embroidered with scripture.

I never thought that anything I had said over the years really mattered to much in Grandma’s life. Like I said, any conversation ever had about God was normally short and empty but this unique gift, that was made and set aside for me before her falling ill, proves to me that she heard me and she knew that my heart was to share the love of Christ with her.

Don’t ever give up on people even when you feel like they aren’t listening. You never know what’s happening on the inside.