Let’s remind ourselves of the obvious – Superman was a comic-book hero! His red cape doesn’t exist and while that x-ray vision thing would be pretty cool, it ain’t gonna happen. Capice?

Yet, somehow in the realm of leadership mythology there is an illusion that emasculates scores of people who have legitimate capacity to influence others. That illusion? True leaders a rare breed of exceptionally gifted people able to make others and organizations to leap tall buildings with a single bound.

It’s time to tell ourselves the truth: there are NO RED CAPES. There is no secret source of super-leadership heroism. You don’t have to be a super-hero in order to live a life of world changing influence. It is a profound lie that says, ‘since I’m no super-hero, I must not be much of a leader.”

The secret is not in some supernatural ‘red-cape’ ability, but in applying critical practices that leaders have learned to live by. There are lessons that leaders have learned which shape their behavior and their well-being. They are practical, spiritual, and attainable.

NoRedCapes.com is a personal project dedicated to the notion that every new insight, skill, and paradigm increases a leader’s capacity for influence. It is an online journal of resources, leadership lessons, and best practice ideas from my own personal experience.

Each issue will focus on a theme and resources you can use with those that you lead. It is my desire to empower men and women like you who lead teams, churches, businesses, schools, even families. It is for people like you who are given daily opportunities to shape the lives of others and through them the world.

How I got started journaling the lessons that will populate noredcapes.com is another story, but it is my hope that over time you will add to this effort. I would love to see this site serve as a catalytic hub of collaborative learning with many contributors and that it resources leaders in a profound way. So, add your comments regularly and when you find you have a journal entry to submit, send it to me. I actually believe that God never teaches us anything for our benefit alone. What he has entrusted to us is meant to be given away to others.

And I guess I should be forthright. While I think that most of the lessons to appear here should apply whether you are a business owner or a bible-teaching pastor, I believe the intersection of life and leadership is a deeply spiritual place. These lessons were learned as I have sought to follow and learn from Jesus-the greatest leader of all time. That bias will be evident-some times more than others-and I make no apology.

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