Over at Leadership Journal, Robb Ryerse has written about the phenomenon surrounding the improbable rise of New York Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin, and what leaders can learn about “riding the bench”:

Leaders must be able to discern, not just the right things to do, but also the right time and place for making progress. Good leaders know that influence that is forced or coerced will backfire. Often, the best leadership opportunities arise naturally and organically. At just the right moment, leaders are called from the bench into the game, but they’re ready and willing to step up.

Read the full article.

It’s Valentine’s Day so I figured I would share my…

10 Most Fleeting Love Affairs of All-Time.

So, here we go:

1. Baseball. As Brad Pitt says in Moneyball, “It’s hard not to be romantic about baseball.” I agree. Growing up, little league was my life, the big leagues were my dreams, and Topps trading cards were my economy. However, my Orioles haven’t given me much reason to find romance in this affair over the last 20+ years!

2. The Baltimore Colts. I was a kid devastated on that Day of Infamy, March 29, 1984, when the moving trucks rolled out of Baltimore in the snow, carrying away the blue-and-white gear that I had on posters all over my bedroom. This love affair left me feeling used, abandoned, and taken for granted. I was only 13-years old and I had suffered my first relational breakup.

When you know the size of your God, the size of your giants becomes irrelevant.

In my book 13-Foot Coffins, I talked about how God has a coffin for every giant you will ever face, regardless of its size. In my lifetime, I’ve met many giants that I didn’t have the courage or power to face. And in this same lifetime, I’ve also never met a giant that God couldn’t handle or that His grace wasn’t sufficient enough to overcome.

Life is no place for the timid.

When God told Joshua to make a bold move in stepping into his destiny as a leader, He didn’t give Joshua a book of methods, strategies, or outlines on leadership. He didn’t teach him ultimate fighting techniques for taking giants down. He simply told him to be strong and courageous (Joshua 1:1-9).