I’m Writing a Book

A few years ago, I was sitting at a conference when the speaker said something that stuck with me:

“I believe lots of people have a book in them, but most die without ever getting it out.”

Something sparked in me. Could I actually do that? Could I write a book? I had been writing for years. Writing has always been a part of my work, and maybe more importantly, it’s one of the ways I make sense of the world. I tend to write myself clear.

So in some ways, the content of this book was already being developed long before I ever thought of it as a book.

I just don't think I was ready to write it yet.

The laboratory of leadership

For the last several years, I’ve been developing a vision of leadership in the “laboratory” of actual leadership. Stepping into the first chair and carrying the buck-stops-with-me weight of leadership has a way of testing and refining your younger, more naive theories about what leadership is all about.

These aren’t ideas I dreamed up and then went looking for ways to apply. In many cases, I experienced them before I could explain them.

I’ve watched what happens when leaders get it right. I’ve felt what happens when we get it wrong. I’ve wrestled with how to lead people well while still accomplishing organizational outcomes and advancing a mission that matters. And I’ve tried to understand what our responsibility really is to the people entrusted to our leadership.

Along the way, I started sharing some of these ideas with people around me. Fellow leaders. People I lead. Friends and mentors.

And they resonated.

Conversations kept reinforcing this feeling that maybe there was something here worth sharing beyond my own little leadership orbit.

Still, thinking I should write a book someday and actually sitting down to write one are very different things.

What are we waiting for?

Over the past couple of years, my wife and I have walked through some tragedy together. I won’t unpack all of that here, but one unexpected result has been a growing awareness that life is short.

There are things we keep saying we’ll do someday. Ideas we want to pursue. Things we want to create. Risks we want to take. But we’re not getting any younger.

So at some point, you have to ask: What are we waiting for?

We’ve started intentionally creating more room in our lives for creativity. And for me, that meant finally making room to write. Not just when inspiration struck. Disciplined writing. Setting aside the time, closing the door, and doing the work.

So I scheduled my first real writing retreat. And I started.

So, I’m writing a book.

It’s a book about leadership.

Not primarily the tips, tricks, strategies, or execution of leadership. There are already plenty of great books about those things.

I want to explore something underneath all of that: What is leadership actually for?

I want to offer a vision of leadership that changes the way we see the people we’ve been entrusted to lead. I think this stuff matters because I believe with all my heart that if leaders can become healthier, more intentional and more invested in developing the people around them, the impact reaches far beyond the leader.

It reaches every person on the team.

And every person they will someday lead.

And ultimately, my hope is that the things people find attractive in this vision of leadership would point beyond the book altogether, to the most compelling leader who ever walked the planet: Jesus.

Come with me.

The book isn’t finished yet. Neither is the story of what will ultimately happen with it. And I’ve decided that’s actually the fun part.

Rather than disappearing, working on this quietly and showing up someday with a finished book, I want to invite you into the process.

I’ll use this space to share updates, ideas I’m wrestling with, behind-the-scenes pieces of the writing and publishing journey, and eventually a lot more about the book itself.

There are some things I’m really excited to show you...

Just not yet.

For now, if you’d like to follow along, subscribe to the blog.

And if you’re willing, I’d love your prayers. I’d love for you to share this journey with others when something resonates. And I’d love for you to be able to say someday that you were here when this whole thing was just getting started.

I’m writing a book.

Let’s see where this goes...