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Thursday April 13, 2017

// April 13th, 2017 // Comments Off on Thursday April 13, 2017 // Daily News

Let me preface today’s message by saying I can’t stand the patriots or their “know nothing” fans, but…

Bill Belichick reveals his 5 rules of exceptional leadership

Ask Bill Belichick if he’s one of the winningest coaches in NFL history because he’s a football genius, and he makes a face that’s familiar to anyone who has ever seen him annoyed. Which is, basically, everyone.
Roughly translated, the face says, “You’re killing me here.”
But then, after a sigh, because, after all, he’s agreed to talk about his life and career in a wide-ranging interview with CNBC, Belichick offers: “I think I know a little about coaching. I think I know a little about leadership.”
You think?
Love the Patriots or hate them, Belichick’s 209-78 record for New England says it all. Football teams do not lead themselves, and they certainly do not lead themselves to five Super Bowl victories.
So, according to Belichick, what exactly is the “little” he knows about leadership? His answer, it turns out, could fill a book, but here are the top five principles that emerged over nearly two hours of conversation.
1. Leadership means building a team that’s exhaustively prepared, but able to adjust in an instant
“The only sign we have in the locker room is from ‘The Art of War.’ ‘Every battle is won before it is fought,'” says Belichick, who started breaking down films of opposing teams when he was 7 years old and hanging out with his dad, Steve, an assistant coach at Annapolis.
“You [have to] know what the opponents can do, what their strengths and weaknesses are … [and] what to do in every situation,” he says.
That ability — to adapt on a dime — is why Belichick says he spends so much time building teamwork, from having the team train with Navy SEALs, to organizing trivia nights, where, incidentally, all social media is banned
“Nobody is against [social media] more than I am. I can’t stand it,” Belichick says. “I think it’s important for us, as a team, to know each other. Know our teammates and our coaches. To interact with them is more important than to be ‘liked’ by whoever on Chatrun.” (In the same conversation, he also derided “InstaFace” in all seriousness.)
2. Leadership means having the discipline to deploy your “dependables”
You know your star performers? The ones who can dazzle and amaze, except when they don’t? They’re definitely appealing, Belichick admits.
But over the years, he’s learned they’re not his type. He’d rather stick with his tried-and-true people — call them his “dependables.”
“There have been times when I’ve put too much responsibility on people. … They might have been the most talented, or the people you hoped would do the right or best thing, and they didn’t come through,” Belichick says.
Big mistake.
When it comes to getting things done, especially critical things, forget the high flyers: “You have to go with the person who you have the most confidence in, the most consistent,” Belichick says. “And if it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work, but I’m going down with that person.”
3. Leadership means being the boss
Belichick says this principle first came to him when he just 23, addressing the Colts as a special teams coach. Two players, one of them a talented starter, spent the beginning of the meeting giggling and chatting. Inside, Belichick recalls, he was seething: “I’m not afraid of these guys. It’s either [them] or me. We can’t run a team like this.”
Finally, he let loose. “Look, either you shut up or you get out of here. That’s it.”
It worked.
And it was an aha moment that has guided him since. “I don’t care if they’re a star player,” he says. “I don’t care who they are. You have to set the tone.”
4. Leadership means caring about everything going on in the lives of your people
Maybe the previous rule would make you think otherwise, but Belichick strongly believes you must see your team not just as players, per se, but as people who have full, three-dimensional, and often messy lives.
“There are a lot of things that affect what happens on the field that occur off the field,” he says. Players “have wives and girlfriends. And they have babies. And they have personal situations. They have parents that are sick. All of it runs in together.”
See also: 4 career lessons Bill Belichick wants millennials to know (including his own kids)
Work and life, in other words, are inseparable, and it’s incumbent on leaders to help their people sort through it. “The more you and the organization can help take care of personal situations,” he says, “the smoother the ship runs on the football end.”
5. Leadership means never resting on your laurels
Ask Belichick if he’s still celebrating the stunning come-from-behind Super Bowl victory in February and you get another “You’re killing me here” look.
“We’re onto 2017. No one cares about 2016 anymore,” he says. “You can’t look back. We don’t talk about last year. We don’t talk about next week. We talk about today, and we talk about the next game. That’s all we can really control.”
In other words, it’s OK to celebrate a big win — but get it over with fast.
Oh, come on, not even a little parading the championship rings around the house? Belichick pauses — and smiles. (Yes, he smiles.)
“I’m not a jewelry guy,” he says.

Today’s Inspiration

Sufficient Grace

by Joyce Meyer – posted April 13, 2017

…My grace (My favor and loving-kindness and mercy) is enough for you [sufficient against any danger and enables you to bear the trouble manfully]; for My strength and power are made perfect (fulfilled and completed) and show themselves most effective in [your] weakness.…
—2 Corinthians 12:9

Do you ever wonder why God does not always deliver you from your bondage and problems immediately? The reason is because only the Lord knows everything that needs to be done in the lives of His children—and the perfect timing for it to be done.

You are not always delivered from your distress at the precise moment you call on the name of the Lord. Sometimes you must endure for a while, be patient and continue in faith. Thank God, during those times in which the Lord decides for whatever reason not to deliver you right away, He always gives the grace and strength you need to press on toward eventual victory. 


Wednesday April 12, 2017

// April 12th, 2017 // Comments Off on Wednesday April 12, 2017 // Daily News

Trump says ‘We’re not going into Syria’ but ‘worst tyrants’ didn’t use gas

NBC News
President Donald Trump said in an interview to air Wednesday that “we’re not going into Syria” after the United States launched a cruise missile strike against a government airbase in that nation over a chemical attack in the country’s six-year civil war.
Trump in an interview with Fox Business’ Maria Bartiromo also tried to blame the administration of former President Barack Obama of past inaction, saying that “what I did should have been done by the Obama administration a long time before I did it,” according to excerpts released by Fox Business on Tuesday.
Asked if the United States is going to get involved in Syria, Trump said: “No. But if I see them using gas and using things that — I mean even some of the worst tyrants in the world didn’t use the kind of gases that they used. And some of the gases are unbelievably potent.”
“So when I saw that, I said we have to do something,” Trump said. Trump said he was dismayed by the images of dying children in last Monday’s alleged chemical attack on the Syrian town of Khan Sheikhoun, which U.S. officials believe involved a nerve agent.
Obama did consider air strikes in 2013 in response to the alleged use of chemical weapons by the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and at the time Trump on Twitter said the U.S. shouldn’t strike Syria at all, and shouldn’t do so without Congressional approval.
The matter never came up for a vote amid a Russia-brokered agreement for Syria to hand over its chemical weapons. U.S. Special Forces are operating in Syria to assist forces fighting ISIS, and the United States is leading a coalition conducting air strikes against the terror group in Syria.
“We’re not going into Syria,” Trump said in the interview. “But when I see people using horrible, horrible chemical weapons, which they agreed not to use under the Obama administration, but they violated it.”
Meanwhile, Trump’s “even the worst tyrants” line echoed statements that put his White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer in the middle of an uproar earlier Tuesday.

Today’s Inspiration

High Praises of God

by Joyce Meyer – posted April 12, 2017

Let the saints be joyful in the glory and beauty [which God confers upon them]; let them sing for joy upon their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their throats and a two-edged sword in their hands.
—Psalm 149:5-6

We should form a habit of thanking and praising God as soon as we wake up each morning. While we are still lying in bed, let’s give thanks and fill our minds with Scripture.

Praise defeats the devil quicker than any other battle plan. Praise is an invisible garment that we put on and it protects us from defeat and negativity in our minds. But it must be genuine, heartfelt praise, not just lip service or a method being tried to see if it works. We praise God for the promises in His Word and for His goodness.

Worship is a battle position! As we worship God for Who He is and for His attributes, for His ability and might, we draw closer to Him and the enemy is defeated.

We can never be too thankful! Thank God all day long and remember the many things He has done for you.

God never loses a battle. He has a definite battle plan, and when we follow Him, we will always win.