Blog
Tuesdays With Tommy
Influence Audit
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, a world-renowned poet, novelist, scientist, and Statesman – who is considered the greatest German literary figure of the modern era – said 250 years ago, "Tell me whom you consort with, and I will tell you who you are." Translation: ...
Firefighter Leadership
I’ve been consulting for many years with an international food safety company called Neogen, and their products are a big reason why you can trust the milk, beef, and pork you buy at the supermarket. Every year they send their executives to my heart-led leader...
Get Busy Living or Get Busy Dying
Last Monday was a very special family dinner. My stepson, Anthony, was home from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point for his spring break, and my son, Tate, was also home from hockey prep school. For the first time in a long time, Jill and I had our daughter,...
Cinderella Man
One of my favorite movies of all time is Cinderella Man starring Russell Crowe. It was inspired by the real-life story of the heavyweight boxer James Braddock, whose once-promising boxing career was cut short after breaking his hand in the ring. For years he...
Love is What Makes You Family
After my parents had my sister Lisa and me, they were told they could no longer have children. But my mom and dad decided they were not done growing their family, so they adopted an eight-month-old girl from South Korea. It was a bold and beautiful thing to do in a...
The Look of A Leader
As the Roman poet Virgil once wrote, “Trust not too much to appearances.” This was true two thousand years ago and it’s still true today. We have cliches in our heads about who someone is—or how they ought to be—solely based on their appearance. For instance, what...
Couch Potato
As I’ve written about many times before, I wasn’t exactly the best high school student in the world. I got rejected from just about every college I applied to except, East Carolina University. When I showed up for my first day of class back in the fall of 1988, I was...
There Is No Dress Rehearsal
Last year, I met a wonderful guy named Tyler Erickson at my annual Men of Faith retreat, where I take twenty-five faith-based leaders on a three-day excursion to a beautiful part of the country. In 2022 we celebrated the retreat’s ten-year anniversary in Washington...
Two Questions
As we begin 2023, I find myself reflecting on how I can grow as a leader, spouse, parent, and friend. Perhaps you are asking yourself similar questions. What has been coming to my mind—and my heart—over the last few days are two opposing questions that bookend our...