By: Ali Elizabeth Turner
For the last 19 years, Athens Now has had a tagline by which we endeavor to live before we go to print, and which was given to the co-founder, Deborah Huff in a dream. She and her husband, Wayne, who was a veteran of the community newspaper world were looking for a way to set the paper apart as to its purpose. “Information and Inspiration” were the words that Deborah received in her dream, and by God’s grace I believe that you will see that each writer always accomplishes that dream-given goal to give useful information, whether it has to do with cooking, fitness, nutrition, faith, politics or “surthriving” in a 250 year-old experiment named America.
So, it is with industrial-strength hope, gratitude, and excitement that I get to provide an opportunity to inform, inspire, and potentially transform you through the generosity of leadership training veterans John Maxwell and Ed Mylett. These two, who are vastly different from each other, are great friends, and are men of faith, have collaborated to bring AT NO COST to anyone who wants it a 21-week seminar that is based on John’s iconic 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. The seminar breaks each law down into weekly get-togethers and manageable bites that you can watch at your own convenience. They have even devised a way to have Q and A sessions, and yes, I submitted a question myself with regard to running a newspaper and helping it to better help others.
They have even crafted a workbook for the sessions that contain what Ed calls a “rep,” just one task that has high impact but is manageable in a busy life. I am staggered by this generosity, and I am also not surprised by it. Both men are north of 50, and one is pushing 80. They have worked hard, been blessed by God, been successful in all of its definitions, and are at the point in their lives where they know that their energy needs to go into ALL of the generations younger than they. If ever there was a time when solid, accessible leadership skills need to be learned and implemented, it is now, and this is a “how.”
“But I’m not a leader,” you might say. “I’m just a….” whatever. Fill in the blank, and I have news for you. Because you are a human made in the image and likeness of God, you’ve got a leadership position, even if it’s only with yourself. I am not implying that you were designed and destined to put people on Mars, although you might be. After all, in North Alabama we do live in the ‘hood of Space Force.
What I am saying is that if you are drawing breath, you’ve got what John Maxwell calls a lid on your leadership abilities, even if by all metrics you are an excellent leader, and the first law has to do with “lifting the lid.” In a word, examining where we are weak, and taking the first step to do something about it.
We are all called in this life to “leave the campsite better than we found it,” and that means impacting ourselves for the better so we can impact others for the better. I would love it if you join me, and I would love to hear your story of “lid-lifting.” To register for the seminar and the workbook, you can go online and Google Ed Mylett John Maxwell 21 Laws for short and listen wherever you get your podcasts. See you on the other side of your “lifted lid.”
