leadership | Heartstone Journey

Authentic Men Are Warriors Who Protect, Not Rape!

Perusing through my feeds, I came across a story about four young men who demonstrated authentic manhood. Four skateboarders (Arnaud Nimenya, Carsyn Wright, James Hielema and Starlyn Rivas-Perez) displayed courage and bravery when they stepped into a horrific situation where a man was sexually assaulting a woman. They not only stopped the attack by scaring him off…they pursued him and held him down until police arrived to arrest him.

I remember earlier this year, another horrific story of rape, where Stanford University varsity swimmer Brock Turner was convicted for sexually assaulting a woman on campus behind a dumpster. The impact letter of the victim (known as 23-year-old “Emily Doe”) is gut wrenching, but she highlights two men from Sweden who demonstrated authentic manhood. They noticed what was going on,they intervened and tackled Brock…ending the assault.

Why “Real Men” Are Romantics At Heart

The big assumption on this topic is that romance is something exclusive to women, which doesn’t make much sense to me. When I think of a grand romantic gesture like a candle-light dinner at a nice restaurant or a surprise getaway, there’s usually a guy involved. Right? Ok think of it this way…in order for a woman to get whisked away for a weekend, someone has to be doing the whisking. Right?

Chick flicks, candle-light dinners and long walks on the beach may not be the first things that come to mind for a guy on the topic of romance, but many woman might be surprised how romantic a good man can be. Of course we like to hold our breath and puff out our chests to look strong, but despite our tough guy exteriors, women might be surprised to know that most men desire romance with the right woman — just not always the kind of romance women might have in mind.

Men like adventure and want to go out and do things together. Spending quality time and playing (get your mind out of the gutter) with their woman makes a guy feel close and loving and intimate; it offers an escape from the ordinary, a time to focus on each other — all things that women want from romance too. Right?

Why It’s Important For Guys To Act Like Men

With all the headlines about young men being confused about their sexual identity or masculinity, I think it’s time for men of God to rise up and model out authentic manhood. If you haven’t figured it out, there is an exploding subculture that is built on a foundation of accepting people who feel they cannot fit into the mainstream. Today’s culture, instead of being shaped by Jesus Christ, is being shaped by; hashtags, celebrity personalities, music, politics, do whatever you want, fill in the blank ________ that’s proving attractive to young adults.

Seems like every person has specific experiences and reasons for how their sexuality has developed. I still affirm to Scripture’s blueprint, which maintains that sexual identity except that of a heterosexual male or female is outside of God’s original intention and plan for human sexuality. The attack on manhood is on a steep trajectory and the message is clear that masculinity is a cultural cancer, unless you’re a woman pretending to be a man.

Ok, so in a world so confused with identity where do we start?

26 Of The Best Business Books I’ve Read

I’ve shared my daily reading list and have provided my book recommendations, but often times people ask me specifically which business books have impacted me the most.

Of course I’m not the authority on all the best business books out there, but I’ve been navigating the business world my entire professional life. So, yes I understand why people the gravitate towards the impact of a great book.

I’ve learned over the years, mostly the hard way, that diving into the right book at the right time can give someone a crucial advantage. So here you go, here are the 26 business books that have personally made a huge difference for me in the business space.

8 Tips On “How To Dad” From A Cheerios Commercial

Attended a CIO conference recently and one of the keynote speakers used the Peanut Butter Cheerios #HowToDad commercial to highlight leadership. Honestly, I’ve never tried Peanut Butter Cheerios but can totally appreciate how awesome this commercial is. Not in highlighting a product but how awesome dads are and that they do matter in today’s society despite a major de-emphasis on the role.

Here’s a bit of the background story of the commercial from the creators website.

Created by Tribal Worldwide Toronto, the socially-driven campaign features an upbeat online video that celebrates the insight that dads parent differently, and places Peanut Butter Cheerios at the heart of all the zany, funny and epic situations that kids get themselves into under dad’s watch. The video then drives viewers to HowToDad.ca for bite-sized sharable content that resonates with dads. Four 15-second preroll spots, widespread display advertising and targeted promoted social posts round out the program, which is all unified under the #HowToDad tagline. “It just made sense to declare Peanut Butter Cheerios as ‘The Official Cereal of Dadhood,’ because like great dads, Peanut Butter Cheerios lie somewhere in the intersection of awesome and responsible,” says Josh Stein, creative director, Tribal Worldwide – Toronto. “Dads are awesome and it’s awesome to be a dad. The new campaign creatively acknowledges that today, dads play a significant role in raising children, and celebrate their contribution.ⁱ

At Heartstone Journey, we know more and more dads are stepping up and experiencing the satisfaction and reward of taking a more active role in the lives of our kids…and dads should be celebrated! I love this commercial because if really does a great job at portraying the reality of life of a dad and family. I also want to give a huge shout out to Tribal Worldwide because they didn’t pick the idiot dad stereotype or the passive dad routine to be “funny”…they picked an authentic dad!

This commercial shows the simple ways dads are awesome and is a reminder that dads do matter and they have an impact on the relationships with their kids. Before reading on, click play, watch the commercial and you’ll see why the campaign is awesome.

Authentic Men Are Warriors Who Protect, Not Rape!

Why “Real Men” Are Romantics At Heart

Why It’s Important For Guys To Act Like Men

26 Of The Best Business Books I’ve Read

8 Tips On “How To Dad” From A Cheerios Commercial

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