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I want to take a few days this week and talk about people that have had a huge impact on my life. Earlier this year I read John Maxwell’s newest book: Leadership Gold. It is definitely a must read (aren’t all of his book?) Anyway… one of the chapters was titled “Few Leaders are Successful Unless a lot of People Want Them to be.” John talks about 3 kinds of people who’ve helped change his life and that will also change ours:

• People who have never known us

• People who know us, but never known they’ve helped us

• People who know us and know they’ve helped us

Over the next few days I will take each type and talk about the people that have helped mold me into the person I am today. I encourage you to sit down and write out a list of the people who’ve made a big impact in your life. Write them a thank you note or find some way to express how grateful you are that they’re in your life.

So far I’ve stayed pretty much with Christian leaders that I’ve wanted to have lunch with. Here is my list of Non-Christian (I just mean that they aren’t Pastors or in ministry… not talking about their belief system) that I’d love to sit down with:

#5 Howard Schultz - Ok… I am addicted to this mans work! This guy got people paying $2+ for a cup of coffee (SO WORTH IT!). I’d love to ask him questions, but really I’d just like to thank him for giving the world Starbucks!

#4 Bill Gates - Richest man in the world… has changed the world through his work. Who wouldn’t want to sit down and ask this guy questions?

#3 Steve Jobs - What this man has done with Apple Inc. has been unbelievable… Mac’s have changed my life! It would be awesome to get into this guys head!

#2 Barack O’Bama or John McCain – One of these two men will be the next leader of this country . . . again, regardless of what you think of them… it’d be great to sit down with these guys.

#1 George Bush or Bill Clinton – Presidents of the United States of America… Regardless of what you think of them… they could teach you a lot!

In part 3 I’ll make a list of non-christian leaders I’d like to have lunch with. Here is the remainder of Christian leaders I’d love to have lunch with (there are more, but going over 10 seems a bit ridiculous right now!):

#10 Doug Jones – This guy is awesome! He comes to our church once a year and his teachings and books have revolutionized the way I think and do things! I’d love to be able to pick his brain for hours!!!

#9 Joyce Meyer - I love Joyce Meyer! I got to see her at a conference in Hershey a few years back and became a partner with her. I think it would be sweet to spend an afternoon with her!

#8 Joel Osteen - Other than his critics (which is ridiculous), I don’t think there is a human being on the planet who would not love getting together with Joel. He is the pastor of the largest church in America (Lakewood) and brings the gospel to hundreds of thousands of people on a weekly basis. He is the man!

#7 Rick Warren - The Senior Pastor of Saddleback Church in California. The church has grown to 25,000 people! This man is a remarkable leader and is most well known for his book The Purpose Driven Life. What’s really cool is I know that Rick, Bill Hybels, and John Maxwell all started teaching leadership together in the 80’s and today they are the best!! To have an inner circle like that… Wow!

#6 Bill Hybels - The Senior Pastor of Willow Creek (one of the largest churches in America). I’ve seen this guy speak only one time on a DVD of a leadership conference. He spoke on the “Life Cycle of a Leader” which was one of the best leadership lessons I’ve ever heard. Willow holds an annual conference called The Leadership Summit. I plan on attending this conference sometime!