In the Loop with Andy Andrews

On this week’s episode, I answer a listener question on how to handle the pressure of people watching and looking up to you.

People watching you and looking up to you are two different things.

• When it comes to people looking up to me, I don’t think about that at all.
• While I know it’s probably true, everybody has people who are looking up to them.
• I think the people that become hyperaware that people are looking up to them somehow become people we don’t want to look up to.

I talk to a lot of leaders about the fact that people are watching.

• This can affect your income if you do not remain aware that people are watching.
• I knew that I was getting a handle on that in my own life when people would comment on my personality.
• I always want to be happy, fun, and approachable. If I don’t watch myself, I can get very direct and intense.
• People tend to take a glimpse as the whole deal.

What do I do to keep my batteries charged?

• I read.
• I make sure that I have time around people that I am totally relaxed with, who will joke around with me.
• I have to have time by myself.

Questions for Listeners

Do you have a question? Call in and your question might be featured on the show!

• Phone: 1-800-726-ANDY
• E-Mail: [email protected]
• Facebook.com/AndyAndrews
• Twitter.com/AndyAndrews

On this week’s episode, we sit down again with Jerry Jenkins to talk about and the surprising backstory behind New York­ Times Bestseller, The Matheny Manifesto.

Baseball is my favorite sport probably because I wanted to be a baseball player.

• One of my earliest breaks in writing was when my boss came into my office and said, “Would you want to help write a biography with Hank Aaron? I don’t really know that much about football...”
• People hear that I’ve written for Nolan Ryan, Walter Payton, Joe Gibbs, and Mike Singletary, but Mike Matheny is as classy a guy as I’ve ever worked with.

Mike was asked by some parents to coach a little league team.

• He wrote a letter to the parents, telling them that if he was going to coach the team, they needed to back off during games.
• In it, he wrote that “the biggest problem with youth sports today is the parents.”
• The letter ended up going viral and posted in locker rooms around the country. People referred to it as The Matheny Manifesto.

In the book, Mike tells this story about getting hit in the face with a 95 mile per hour fastball.

• He lost 8 teeth and didn’t even fall down.
• When he came back from the hospital he said, “I want to play tomorrow night.”
• Now when his players want out of a game they say, “Are you going to tell him you have an ‘owie?’ ”

There are plenty of other amazing stories in The Matheny Manifesto.

If you want to become a writer, Jerry’s blog is must read material. He teaches writers the little-known secrets behind writing an amazing book and getting it published. Click here to get Jerry’s top 5 most crucial writing tips for free.

Questions for Listeners

Do you have a question? Call in and your question might be featured on the show!

• Phone: 1-800-726-ANDY
• E-Mail: [email protected]
• Facebook.com/AndyAndrews
• Twitter.com/AndyAndrews

On this week’s episode, we’re honored to have special guest Jerry Jenkins with us to share his proven writing process.

Give us a snapshot of your journey that got you into writing.

• I played on a state championship little league team.
• I was hurt my freshman year in high school playing football and decided to be a sports writer so I could stay close to the games.
• We’re a bad example to great writers because we can’t identify the different parts of a sentence but composition was something that came so natural.

Did you go to college to write?

• My first year of college was at Moody Bible Institute.
• I wanted to go to journalism school, but by the time I was 19 I was a sports editor of a local paper and never did finish college.
• I felt a call as a teenage to full time ministry. I thought I would have to give up my writing to full-time ministry. Someone counseled me and said, “God sometimes equips us before he calls us. Don’t assume you have to give up writing. It may be the vehicle that you use to fulfill your call.”
• I looked for work in Christian journalism, and that really put me on the path that I am now.

Do you feel like writing is a discipline?

• I see people year after year that say they’ll write a book when they have the time or feel inspired.
• I keep a sign in my drawer that says, “The only way to write is with seat in chair.”
• Sit in the chair, look at the screen and do something.
• When I go to my writing cave, the work I do before noon is the best work I do. The first thing I do is a heavy edit of the work I did the day before. That catapults me into the writing I need to get done that day.
• When I finish the book, I’ll go back and start from the beginning with a heavy edit.

I have a phrase I use almost every time I teach: “Writers are readers. Great writers are great readers.”

If you want to become a writer, Jerry’s blog is must-read material. He teaches writers the little-known secrets behind writing an amazing book and getting it published.

Click here to get Jerry’s top 5 most crucial writing tips for FREE.

Questions for Listeners

Do you have a question? Call in and your question might be featured on the show!

• Phone: 1-800-726-ANDY
• E-Mail: [email protected]
• Facebook.com/AndyAndrews
• Twitter.com/AndyAndrews

On this week’s episode, I answer a listener question on how to get your kids to read.

It’s extremely important that you get your child to read.

• I understand when people say they don’t like to read.
• I’m more of an outdoor kind of guy so I have to make myself read.

When we look at the massive benefits of reading, then it doesn’t really matter whether you like to read or not.

• The statistics about reading show that people who read make more money, have a lower divorce rate, have fewer problems with their children, and get many more benefits.
• I want my kids to read because I know what reading does.
• Do we always want to read? Not necessarily, but we do want to make a better living for our families. We do want to be more valuable in our careers.
• If there’s something you want to learn how to do, you can learn exactly how the best people in the world have done it by reading their books.

If you think a certain book is critical for your child to read and it can’t wait…pay them.

• Have them give you an oral or written report.
• Make it worth their while and worth your while.

Questions for Listeners

Do you have a question? Call in and your question might be featured on the show!

• Phone: 1-800-726-ANDY
• E-Mail: [email protected]
• Facebook.com/AndyAndrews
• Twitter.com/AndyAndrews

On this week’s episode, I answer a listener question on how teens’ social media accounts affect their life and their employability.

You’ve heard me talk about how we’re misinformed about change. There are two things that have to be there with every single change.

• What’s in it for me?
• Proof beyond a reasonable doubt.
• It is critical that you understand how change occurs.

The guidelines for social media are going to be different for different people. Knowing that, what we do want is the best for everybody.

• The one thing that separates 100% great results from scattered results is explaining why we do things this way.
• One of the first things you want to do with your kids is make sure they know what you want their life to be like when they’re an adult.
• Build stories and examples.

I talk to a lot of people who are in the position of hiring and firing.

• When a company puts out word that they are hiring, they sometimes get 10’s or even 100’s of applications.
• Somebody will knock it down to the top people by just looking at the applicants’ social media profiles for obvious reasons not to hire someone (cursing, nudity, etc.).
• They will then knock it down to a few people after having personal interviews.
• Now they are down to the best people and just need to find a reason to pull someone.

Companies are looking for someone that is going to represent them outside of work.

• Let’s say 9 years ago you had your picture taken with your hat on backwards.
• We know that having a hat on backwards is not something bad or sinful, but 20% of people may think that’s not a good look.
• While they know you wouldn’t be wearing your hat backwards at work, they may wonder if it’s still the way you present yourself to people.
• Since they have to cut someone, something as little as that could be the difference between you starting at a company and you not having a job.

Questions for Listeners

Do you have a question? Call in and your question might be featured on the show!

• Phone: 1-800-726-ANDY
• E-Mail: [email protected]
• Facebook.com/AndyAndrews
• Twitter.com/AndyAndrews

On this week's episode, I talk about the myths that keep us living in fear, and how to stop anxiety from ruling our lives.

The key to unlocking our confidence is examining our fear.

• If you could put people on a scale and see the level of fear in their lives, I am convinced smart people would be on the higher end of the scale.
• Smarter people have bigger imaginations, and possibly more opportunities for fear.
• If you know what fear is, you can determine the effect it has on your life.
• Fear is nothing but the misuse of the creative imagination that has been put in you.

In The Noticer, there is a section that is based on a real study of what's really happening during our episodes of stress and anxiety.

• 40% of what you worry about will never happen.
• 30% has already happened and is in the past.
• 12% has to do with totally needless imaginings.
• 10% involves petty little things about what other people think.
• 8% was left for legitimate concerns, and most of them we actually have control over—but we're using all our energy worrying about the other things.

You are in control—so direct your imagination to things that excite you.

Questions for Listeners

Do you have a question? Call in and your question might be featured on the show!

• Phone: 1-800-726-ANDY
• E-Mail: [email protected]
• Facebook.com/AndyAndrews
• Twitter.com/AndyAndrews

On this week’s episode, I answer a listener question on how to teach a child to tell a good story in a conversational setting.

The ability to tell a great story is extremely valuable in all phases of life.

• When we train ourselves to tell a good story, we become more engaging to our peers, to authority figures, and to people we are in authority over.
• Being well liked by people can lead to a great number of additional opportunities.
• So we not only need to train our children to tell great stories, we need to train ourselves to tell great stories.

First, we need to train our kids to talk to all kinds of people.

• To train your child to tell a good story or anecdote, it’s very important that they watch adults tell good stories and anecdotes in conversational settings.
• Most kids grow up on the outside of those conversations. They don’t get to listen because the parents do not give them the opportunity to listen.
• Let them see adults in conversations. They tend not to act appropriately if they haven’t seen mature conversations before.

Encourage them to read.

• People who read books will learn things that fire their imaginations, and they’ll be able to bring those things into conversations beyond the books.
• People who watch TV generally talk about TV shows or the stars of TV shows.
• One of the best ways to learn how to communicate is by reading a book.
• Teach your kids to be good at learning in person when you’re with them, or when they are learning by themselves (when all they have is a book).

Questions for Listeners

Do you have a question? Call in and your question might be featured on the show!

• Phone: 1-800-726-ANDY
• E-Mail: [email protected]
• com/AndyAndrews
• com/AndyAndrews

On this week’s episode, I answer a question on how to help a child when they’re having a tough time making friends.

How can you help when they say, “No one wants to be my friend?”

• It’s a focusing process.
• Our thinking is at the foundation of everything.
• It determines our choices, and everything about us.

When people are disgruntled or depressed, they’re thinking more about themselves.

• They aren’t thinking about whom they can serve and help.
• If you’re child is sad or scared about making friends or going over to a friend’s house, focus their mind on the fun activities or opportunities they have.
• I wouldn’t talk to your child about why no one wants to be his or her friend.
• Instead, direct their thinking to how they can be the greatest friend in the class.

Questions for Listeners

Do you have a question? Call in and your question might be featured on the show!

• Phone: 1-800-726-ANDY
• E-Mail: [email protected]
• com/AndyAndrews
• com/AndyAndrews

On this week’s episode, I address a listener question on the questions I ask when first going into a consulting situation.

There are a couple things I’m looking for when deciding if I’ll take on a client.

• They have to be somebody that I like and connect with.
• They must have a great level of belief in their company or team.

You have to ask the questions that will lead you to their level of belief.

• I rarely ask, “What are your goals?” because people will lie or tell you what they think you want to hear.
• Ask, “What you we trying to do here?”
• Listen carefully to see what their level of belief is and what they ultimately want to accomplish.
• This can apply to all relationships: family, neighbors, teams, colleagues etc…

You’re going to have to come up with your own questions according to what you’re after and the people you are dealing with.

• If you’re going to be a guide, you have to see the future.
• You first need to find out where they want to be, so you can help lead them to it.
• Ask, “If you had a magic wand and could do anything you want, what would you do in this area?”

Questions for Listeners

Do you have a question? Call in and your question might be featured on the show!

• Phone: 1-800-726-ANDY
• E-Mail: [email protected]
• Facebook.com/AndyAndrews
• Twitter.com/AndyAndrews

On this week's episode, I discuss whether transparency helps or hurts your leadership potential.

I'm in a period of learning a ton right now.

• When it comes to my boys, I want them to understand that I'm still struggling to be wise in my choices and thinking everyday.
• We've heard leaders promise to be transparent and we see varying degrees of their choice to pulling that off.
• If you declare your intention to be transparent and you're obviously not, then that hurts your leadership.
• Other than that, I do not see how transparency can hurt your leadership—UNLESS it reveals something about you that makes you not worthy of following. (details on what makes someone unworthy of following available in podcast)

As a leader, we're human and we're going to mess up.

• If you know the difference between a choice and a mistake, and you handle both in a proper way, your leadership will grow by leaps and bounds.
• When a choice has been made, only true remorse and "Will you forgive me?" can press the reset button.
• Would you rather follow somebody who knows how to get back on track when they mess up, or somebody who either bluffs their way through life or doesn't understand where the track is to begin with?
• A good leader knows when they're off track, they know why they got off track (whether they made a mistake, or whether they chose to), and they know how to handle each situation the right way.

Questions for Listeners

Do you have a question? Call in and your question might be featured on the show!

• Phone: 1-800-726-ANDY
• E-Mail: [email protected]
• Facebook.com/AndyAndrews
• Twitter.com/AndyAndrews