Initial Insights from Global Leadership Summit

Awesome!!! Indescribable!!! Breathtaking!!! I've spent the past two days attending the Global Leadership Summit outside Chicago, via satellite uplink from right here in Evansville... listening to numerous fabulous teachers and interviews...

The list of speakers included several well-known Christian pastors and speakers -- including Bill Hybels from Willow Creek, outside Chicago; Andy Stanley from North Point Community Church near Atlanta; and Bishop T.D. Jakes from The Potter's House in Dallas -- and a number of lesser known pastors -- such as Jeff Manion of Ada Bible Church near Grand Rapids and Christine Caine of Hillsong Church in Australia. There were also interviews with Jack Welsh, former CEO of General Electric; Tony Dungy, former Indianapolis Colts coach; Blake Mycoskie, CEO/President of TOMS Shoes; and Terri Kelly, CEO of W.L. Gore & Associates, maker of Gore-Tex. To say nothing of the leadership/motivational authors/speakers -- Jim Collins, author of Good to Great; Daniel Pink, author of Drive; and a remarkable Chinese Communist economist turned Christian.

Here's a couple of small tidbits that stick in my mind...

"Leaders move people from HERE to THERE (your "Preferred Future")... with fantastic people of character, having competence, forming chemistry, and creating culture... identifying milestones along the path and celebrating the achievements... and most importantly, listening to whispers from God." -- Bill Hybels

"Preserve your core (values) AND stimulate progress... by setting BHAGs (Big Hairy Audacious Goals)!" -- Jim Collins

"Great, well-led organizations always, always have tensions and problems that never go away... they instead leverage them to advance the organization... as a leader, one of the most valuable things you can do for your organization is differentiate between tensions your organization will always need to manage vs. problems that need to be solved." -- Andy Stanley

I also heard about "the land between" from Jeff Manion... only to discover that's exactly where I am... but unlike many people, including the Israelites following Moses -- who complained and melted down -- I agreed with Manion who stated that the desert is fertile ground for our spiritual transformation and a place in which God's grace may be revealed in magnificent ways.

Amazing! Incredible! Well worth the two days I spent... to be reminded of God's love, compassion, and hope!

Grace to all of you!

It's Official! We're live on the Net...

First things, first... I must give all the glory and praise to God for this new (ad)venture that I've embarked on! Basically, that's the essence of my firm -- fHg Consulting -- all we do is for His glory.

I'm now 3 weeks into this (ad)venture with fHg Consulting... and I have only 1 client at this point (my former employer, BLA -- thanks, guys!), but a multitude of leads, including a couple with request for proposals "on the street." Plus, I have upcoming meetings planned with the leadership of DOTs in several Midwest states to discuss opportunities to provide strategic advisory and support services to their staff. And, not least, WE'RE LIVE ON THE INTERNET -- www.fhgconsulting.com!

Second, without your prayers and support, I wouldn't be where I'm at today... I recognize it took a tremendous amount of faith to "step out of the boat," especially since I didn't really have any work in hand... but, I have felt a ground swell of support, stretching from East Africa to my own home here in Evansville. I just want to say, "THANK YOU!!!"

Lastly, thank you to our Lord and Savior for all of the blessings he continues to give us... He knows just what we need when we need it... one small example -- I wasn't sure how our family would make it through the past month financially with starting up my new business... But He provided -- during the month of June, I received two checks from a retirement savings account that I didn't realize still existed... that totaled just what we needed... God is good!

Well, signing off for now,
Kent