What is a Catalyst Leader?

A catalyst leader must be the following:

- Called by God to leadership and willing to seek his will

- Authentic and humble, becoming influential rather than impressive

- Passionate about God, committed to developing a heart for the creator

- Capable and determined, working harder than anyone on the team

- Courageous when the time comes to take a leap

- Principled in every decision made, unwilling to compromise for convenience

- Hopeful despite challenges, believing God can do what we cannot

- Collaborative, drawing on the strength of others and sharing praise

Check out The Catalyst Leader on Amazon. 

Interview with Brad Lomenick The Catalyst Leader

What is the Catalyst Leader about? 

The Catalyst Leader lays out the eight essentials for becoming a change maker. The traits that I believe one must develop in order to become a change maker, and ultimately a Catalyst Leader. I hope this book will provide practical leadership answers for a new generation of aspiring leaders who are looking for answers and solutions, and not just leadership theory. It’s a practical guide for leading now, and leading well, serving as a leadership handbook for the next generation of leaders in our country. The book presents the key essentials that I believe will define our generation’s ability to influence over the next 20-25 years, laying out what it means to be a Catalyst in this generation. The Catalyst Leader is packed with a combination of candid interviews with thought leaders, research with the core leadership community, and overall leadership best practices. A rising generation of leaders need to be equipped for the task of leadership.


How is The Catalyst Leader unique from other books? The Catalyst Leader book is unique in many ways. First, it’s written from my vantage point as the steward and primary leader of the Catalyst movement. The book includes ground breaking research on the state of leadership in America in partnership with The Barna Group. Also included are thoughts and perspectives from today’s top leadership voices, and practical application at every turn. We’ve also included “5 Leaders to know” at the end of each chapter, as well as the “50 Leaders to watch for” at the end of the book, along with each chapter includes at least one compelling story of a young leader who has modeled the key essential in their life. The book is packed with a combination of candid interviews with thought leaders and overall best leadership practices from the lens of the leader of the Catalyst movement. Each chapter includes a profile on a wise older sage “Lessons from Leading Well” with advice from that leader. We’ve also included several QR codes that link to additional leadership nuggets and wisdom on the book website. Perspective, innovative research, and best practice from today’s thought leaders.

http://catalystleader.com/

Check out more on the direct link to catalystleader.com

The Catalyst Leader - And a Special Offer

 The Catalyst Leader: 8 Essentials for Becoming a Change Maker is a simple and tangible way to move yourself closer to being a leader who influences those around you. Brad Lomenick takes you on a behind the scenes journey of the inner workings of Catalyst and how he has led Catalyst to become the organization it has become today because of these 8 essentials. He does not claim to be an expert on these 8 essentials for becoming a change maker, instead he is open and authentic in his personal shortcomings and the failures of Catalyst during their 13 year existence. (See my personal review on Amazon.) Be sure to subscribe to the RSS reader on my blog or email updates for a quick look at this book throughout the week.


You can purchase the book wherever books are sold. Go to the book site at catalystleader.com to purchase today. I can't recommend this book enough, whether you are a young leader or seasoned sage. It's filled with practical leadership advice and application.

 -- See the Special Bonus Below - -

And, as a special bonus anyone who purchases the book this week, from April 14-19, scan and send your receipt to catalystleaderbook@gmail.com and you'll receive over $300 of leadership resources for FREE, all for simply purchasing the book during release week from any outlet, including the Catalyst store as well as other retail outlets.

"Lead well, Lead now."

Say No, to Say Yes

Strengthen your leadership by simplifying your life. 

Full. Our lives are full of things that we think will grow our businesses and increase our influence. We are busy - and that may, unknowingly, may be holding us back. What if there was potential impact in simplifying our lives so our leadership could thrive? Leading in a complex world requires simplicity to cut through the clutter. Saying no to what may be good in order to increase our capacity for the best. Join us at Chick-fil-A Leadercast as we learn to Simply Lead. Seats are limited. Food and snacks provided. CE credits are available.

I need you to spread the word about the Chick-fil-A Leadercast coming on May 10th. Watch the video below to get a small glimpse of the simulcast. 



2013 Chick-fil-A Leadercast from GiANT Impact on Vimeo.

  Register for the High Pointe Church of Christ host site location.

Disciples Who Multiply

Multiply from Multiply on Vimeo. Will you lift up the High Pointe teens as we embark on a journey to be disciples who make disciples? I need the prayers to live this out myself. Inviting others on this journey to follow Christ is about all that really matters.

Converge Parents and Teens to Talk about Sex

This past weekend was a weekend focused on purity for the High Pointe Youth Ministry. In an attempt to drive faith at home there was a big focus and intention on having this weekend with parents and teens together. There are several things I could have done to create a typical retreat weekend and probably had a better attendance. The goal and purpose of the weekend was to converge parents and teens together to talk about faith and sex...and the goal was achieved.

To often youth ministry lives in a vacuum and we have special events, weekends, and faith building experience for the teens, but I am not convinced that those experiences translate into conversations throughout the week once the teen returns. Since the parents shared in the same experience this weekend I know they grew in their faith as well as their sons and daughters.

The dynamic of having a teen session and parent session followed by a combined parent and teen session was a powerful experience. This weekend was and will be a marker for the youth ministry at High Pointe as a weekend when parents and teens converged in their faith experience together, not to mention the topic was sex and God. Dr. Beth Robinson led and facilitated the weekend and did a outstanding job and far exceeded expectations I personally had for the weekend.

There have been several small steps along this journey to drive faith at home, but this weekend was evident that many of those small steps have become large steps. I will continue to move forward to help parents and teens have conversations of faith together in the same room as well as equipping with tools for those conversations to happen in the car, dinner time, and throughout life.

Put Down Your Phone

Today on two separate occasions I started a conversation with someone who was spending idle time on their phone. Their first reaction was to turn their phone off and set it aside or in their pocket. This may or may not be normal, but I applaud their action to be present in a conversation. Next time someone is engaging you (husband, mother, daughter, son, etc) and you have your phone in your hands turn off your current app set the phone aside or in your pocket. Your action will speak volumes that you desire to connect a little more with the person in front of you and you will be practicing the disappearing art of presences.

Move From Thing to Thing

Yesterday's post ended with how can you slow down and see your need for Jesus. There are several answers and one can begin to quote Henri Nouwen or Dallas Willard at this point about solitude and spiritual disciplines. Prior to slowing down enough and naming your brokenness and seeing your need for Jesus you must wrestle with how we are ignoring are need for him. This quote from The Unkown God by Alistar McGrath speaks truth about are pervasive culture and how we have bought this lie of the good life as well. The ( ) and italics are mind added for emphasis.

"If there is something that has the power to fulfill truly and deeply, then for many it is something unknown, hidden in mystery and secrecy. We move from one thing and place to another, lingering only long enough to discover that it is not what we were hoping for before renewing our quest for fulfillment. The great certainty of our time seems to be that satisfaction is nowhere to be found. We roam around, searching without finding, yearning without being satisfied. The pursuit of happiness (the good life) is often said to be one of the most fundamental rights. Yet this happiness proves astonishingly elusive. So often, those who actively pursue happiness (the good life) find that it slips through their fingers. It is an ideal which is easily put into words, yet it seems to remain beyond our reach. We have long become used to the fact that the richest people in this world are often the most miserable, yet fail to see the irony of this. Perhaps it is just one of the sad paradoxes of being human. Maybe we will have to get used to the fact that we are always going to fail in our search for happiness (the good life). Part of the cruel irony of human existence seems to be that the things we thought would make us happy fail to do so."

For me personally I desire a vintage (or even new, but that is way to expensive) Land Cruiser and look foolishly for one thinking it makes for a great story, adventure, or a tough man. I know this will not fulfill me, but I have not wrestled with it and released it over to God.

What is that thing that you have come to believe at this season of your life that provides happiness or the good life?

Seeing Our Need

The two previous post and videos here and here are the beginning of a study of the Sermon on the Mount with the teens and parents at High Pointe. God is already stirring in the hearts of those preparing to enter the Sermon on the Mount and His Spirit is at work. The first two weeks have been creating tension and understanding prior to diving into the entire sermon. There are several aspects one must consider prior to reading the Sermon on the Mount. Chris Seidman and Josh Graves do a great job setting the stage for the words of Jesus in their new book Heaven on Earth: Realizing the Good Life Now. One of those aspects we easily skip over is Matthew 4:23-25:

Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them. Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.

Try to read the same scripture again in light of your hurts, disappointments, loneliness, heartache, addictions, struggles, fear, brokenness. I tend to skip right over this section because I am not the one who has a disease, demon possession, seizures, or ill. However, as soon as I name my brokenness within that context I begin to see my need for a new King and a new kingdom.

How can you slow down and see your need for Jesus in this passage?

If you were going to name your brokenness what would that be? (You are not broken. Separate yourself from your sin. Your brokenness is not your identity.)

How does culture and media define the good life?

Below is the second video from class yesterday over how does culture and media define the good life? Two of the commercials are from this years Super Bowl.