Being that this is December, and I happen to really like Christmas, I wanted to take a few weeks to look at lessons from some of the great leaders we see during Christmastime. This second week, we're taking a look at Santa Claus. You may not know much about his backstory, but my hope is that, after hearing about it, you will be motivated to give generously as well as taking a stand for those who can't stand for themselves.

Being that this is December, and I happen to really like Christmas, I wanted to take a few weeks to look at lessons from some of the great leaders we see during Christmastime. This first week, we'll learn leadership lessons from the character of Scrooge from The Christmas Carol. Bah! Humbug! As we review this story, you’ll see a man who transformed from a bad leader to a good leader. We’ll look at how that happened, and how he handled things once he knew he needed to change.

Shannon Venable lives her life as a swim coach for Tsunami Swim Club and Douglass Hills Swim Team in Louisville, KY. On top of that, she is a personal trainer and teaches first aid and CPR! In this episode, she shares how we can have as much fun as her, how she works through life's challenges, and how to coach youth in a way that goes beyond the sport.

While most 12 year olds were playing video games and watching TV, Kiera Dunk was writing a law that was eventually signed by the Governor of Kentucky. After hearing a particular story about a child abuse case, Kiera developed a passion that caused her to make a difference in how the law handles the offenders. Join Kiera and her dad, Andrew, to hear their story!

Your leadership should be so strong that your project would still get done with excellence even if you didn’t show up. And there are times you may not be able to show up. What is so intriguing about this idea is that it forces leaders to empower others to lead. When your leadership empowers others with the ability to own and succeed with your projects, you're creating leaders, and that is what leadership is all about!

As a leader, your words and actions should be so clear that those who follow you have a perception that matches what you intend your words and actions to do. People will always mis-perceive your reality, but knowing how to handle it wisely will make or break your leadership.

A person’s name may really only be a word that is used to identify a person within a population, but there are a lot of feelings of connection within our psychology when we hear our names. As a leader, if you frequently use people’s names, you’ll see that your influence with them grows significantly, especially considering that it’s a really small, simple action on your part.

When the Covid-19 pandemic shut down so much in the world, education had to continue on somehow. Chad Waggoner, a teacher at Trinity High School in Louisville, KY, used his leadership and creativity to exploit a world health crisis. He taught history by traveling to Civil War battlefields and filming himself at those locations. He taught film study by interviewing actors, directors, and other film experts to share with his students. Take a listen to hear how Chad used his creativity to keep education going when a pandemic tried to derail it.

Volunteering is a great chance to be a leader! It goes beyond service projects to be a leader that changes the world through volunteerism. This episode helps us figure out how we can use our leadership skills to more effectively volunteer while also using effective volunteering to improve our leadership effectiveness.

Investing in Leadership (Part 2 of 3: Family Leadership) - If you are a spouse or a parent, you are a leader. Fun tends to fall low on the priority list, but it is a wonderfully effective tool in helping your spouse and/or kids become more of who they are designed to be.