I Can’t Wait with Tim Elmore

Mark Cole:

Hey. Welcome to the Maxwell Leadership Podcast. This is the podcast that adds value to you, you as a leader, So you and I can multiply value to others. My name is Mark Cole, and I love episodes like this because today Sitting in the studio with me is no stranger to you, no stranger to young people, and no stranger to the subject of your ship, and that is doctor Tim Elmore. Tim, I’m so glad that you’re here. Now you and our podcast family, unless You’re brand new. You know Tim because Tim has been on the podcast multiple times, and let me tell you why. And then we’ll get into hearing from Tim and get into a really important subject today.

Tim Elmore, in my opinion and in John Maxwell’s opinion, knows the voice, knows the ear, and knows the message for the next generation. And because of that, Tim, we have decided that we’re going to shape the leadership trajectory by focusing on the next generation. And it’s my pleasure, It’s my incredible privilege to help champion the vision of Tim Elmer. What is that vision? It’s to make an impact For every kid within the age of 2 to 22 now I know some of you 21 year olds out there listening, Tim said, can you just call me what? Yeah. If you’re in this age, we believe you hold the reins of transformation for the next generation. Yeah. And we wanna make you leaders. We wanna make you effective.

And, Tim, you’ve given your life to this.

Tim Elmore:

I have. I hope I’m doing a decent job,

Mark Cole:

And what I love about you, Tim, is whether you’re sitting in a in a studio like this with me, whether you’re standing on a stage with John Maxwell or On a different stage or standing before educators, standing before business leaders. You eat, live, sleep, breathe this. We were just talking just before The podcast recording started about your son, about him shaping the next thing. You live this at home. You live this at work. You live this in your books. You live this across the board. You believe the answer to leadership rest in the next generation.

Tim Elmore:

Yeah. I’ve often used the phrase, It’s better to build a fence at the top of the cliff than a hospital at the bottom. Yeah. Very often when we work with kids, it’s rescue them from drugs or this or that. Fact, almost every story we hear about kids on the news, it’s a negative story. Yep. Yep. But I’m thinking, man, if we can equip them before they make mistakes, We have a great future in front

Mark Cole:

of us. Yeah. So before we get too deep, podcast viewers listeners, if you’d like to download the bonus resource for this episode or Watch Tim and I interact on YouTube. You can do all that at maxwellpodcast.com/icantwait. Now listen up. That c a n t with no apostrophe, can’t wait. And when you get there, you’re going to see something that will change the family dynamic of how you and I are raising our children. So Tim is no stranger to us, cofounder, but you’re working on a book called Can’t Wait, And you just gotta tell me before I’m gonna ask you some questions on it.

Okay. But why another book, and why Can’t Wait Began to work, and, literally, you looked at me and you looked at our team and says, I can’t wait to get the truck out. So I’m pulling it. I can’t wait. Yeah. But listen. I wait to get the message out. Tell us just a little bit about the order book.

Tim Elmore:

A lot of the books I’ve written have been to the adult population just like Maxwell. You know, we’re reaching business leaders, parents, etcetera, But I have, been looking into so many stories that are not negative at all

Mark Cole:

Mhmm.

Tim Elmore:

About kids. They’re not showing them the on the front page of the paper, but they’re showing up as kids who found a way to solve problems and serve people. Wow. And so I thought instead of just defaulting to kids today, they’re gonna get in trouble. I just know they’re gonna get in trouble. I found kids that were, So and we’ll talk today about them, but they were solving problems that I thought, we need to start family conversations. We need to start conversations in the classroom. So the book has 52 stories, 1 a week for an entire year, that a mom and dad could read at mealtime, a teacher could use advisement period or a coach could do on the sidelines before a practice, but we’re thinking this could begin to change the way kids think

Mark Cole:

about Yeah.

Tim Elmore:

What I could do with my life.

Mark Cole:

So, those of you again that are familiar with Tim, you know he’s a Maxwell Fault leader. He’s worked with John. He started companies. He’s got an organization, growing leaders that we continue to champion that vision. But most recently, Tim wrote a book called A New Kind of Diversity, And it’s a book that I, as a leader of 4 generations I don’t have 5, Tim, but a leader of 4 well, I guess with John, but we don’t lead. Yeah. That’s right. Leads us.

We have 5 generations in our workforce if when you count, John. And what I will tell you is as a business leader, I rely on a new kind of diversity, not just as a great read, but as a textbook of how to bring multi generations, Generations that are separated by generations that are trying to work together with this workplace reality that there is a diversity that is on age, and you need to pick that book up. We’ll put it in the in the podcast, but let me tell you what I love about today. Tim’s written multiple books that helps me as a business leader, but today, He’s written a book that will help me as a family leader. Something as he’s just said will make a difference for me and what I’m trying to do with the Children and grandchildren that I’m raising. The book is called can’t I can’t wait, and here’s how you get it. ICantWaitBook.com. Some of them can’t wait for us to even talk about it.

Tim Elmore:

That’s right.

Mark Cole:

They wanna get you the book’s for you. You can’t wait. I can’t wait, no apostrophe, ICantWaitBook. Okay. So but this book’s a little different. Right, Tim? Mhmm. So this book is different. It’s different than any other work that you’ve done.

And you talked a little bit about it, but why and what inspired you to write the book?

Tim Elmore:

Well, I think it was that I was finding just as many, if not more, stories of kids that were doing great things that never made the news, that never Wow. Got talked about. And when I would hear people just whine about kids today, I would think, But you don’t know virtual. You don’t know Anne. You don’t know some of the kids that I’m finding as we work with thousands of schools. So I thought a resource might be helpful At bedtime, mealtime, classroom time, that would, change the narrative. You know, Mark, my theory is, the term generation gap is an old term. It was back when I was young.

It was the baby boomers that were new kids on the block, but, the gap has gotten wider today Because the screens in our life have gone from public to private. So when I was growing up, we had 1 screen in our house. It was in TV. That’s right. We all gathered around and watched I Love Lucy or Mary Tyler Moore or something like that, and we laughed together, talked together, we did it together. Today, think about your kids. Yeah. You’re all in a silo, you know, and Macy’s got her little world and you got your world and Right.

Bethany and Jonathan have their world, And sometimes I don’t even know what that world is, so I wanted a resource that would bring us together, and that’s the point of I can’t wait.

Mark Cole:

So I said this just a moment ago, but I wanna go back because Okay. You’ve spent a lot of your work to help corporations, corporate leaders like me, Connect generations are for a leader like me to understand 2, 3, 4 generations. But now you’re really working into making it Possible for us to understand how to raise my grandkid who is 18 months Yeah. 6 years old to 9 years old, And a senior in high school, talk a little bit about that and what you’re trying to accomplish with this book and that book.

Tim Elmore:

Yeah. Okay. Well, the 2 youngest generations on planet Earth right now are generation z, we’ve talked about them, and the alpha generation kids. These would be the youngest kids. Yeah. Your grand youngest grandkids. So elementary school all the way down to birth.

And, Mark, they have grown up in such a different time. It sounds cliche, but if if you’re 6 years old today, half your life has been a pandemic, and you never saw the whole face of that adult in front of you. So reading social cues, we gotta have caps catch them up. Academically, we gotta catch them up. But I think they’re loaded with potential Because they’re growing up with smart intel you know, artificial intelligence and smart devices, they’re poised to be able to change the world quicker than any youth generation in history Wow. But we’ve gotta get them ready. And I think sometimes survival, you know, we make it till Friday, and nobody gets hurt, and that’s the goal. What we gotta do is say, oh, no.

We made it till Friday, and 2 or 3 things happened this week with that my kids per my kids participated in that helped change their school campus or maybe the community around them.

Mark Cole:

What what I love about Tim, podcast listeners, podcast viewers, you’ve worked with kids for now over 40 years.

Tim Elmore:

Yeah.

Mark Cole:

Now get your head around that because, Tim, you Stand young people now more than you did then because you have kept your head in the game. Yeah. And so over 40 years, you’ve worked with kids, Yet their patterns have changed, and these kids are learning different. Let’s talk a little bit about how you help kids step into leadership.

Tim Elmore:

Yeah. So this is this This may be the most important part of the conversation. When I have looked at the kids that I’ve worked with over 40 years, there’s 4 common ways that they move from Merely a follower, which is nothing wrong with that, into they’re an influencer. They’re a leader. So the first and foremost part is the most obvious one. Some are gifted to lead. Yeah. You know, it’s 1 out of 10 maybe, not a lot, but they just take charge.

They just seem to have an intuition of what needs to happen to move this group forward. I think of our friend John Maxwell. Mhmm. I think John came out of the womb telling the nurse, I need a towel over here. I need a little Who’s gonna help me with it? Who’s gonna cut the cord? That was John. I mean, I’m being silly, but whatever group he’s in, whatever team he’s on, He tends to take charge. Yep. But that’s a small percentage of people like John.

Right. The second kind of leader would be what I call Some are situated to lead. So some are gifted to lead, some are situated. So I think every every one of us in this room, we got a few people in the room today, Our, our leaders but we we step into leadership one of 2 ways. We’re either a habitual leader or we’re a situational leader. Habitual leaders are the ones that lead out of habit. That’s 10 to 15% of the population. I’m a situational leader, and I’m the one that would say, I’m not really a great leader, But put me in the right situation, one that matches my passions, my strengths, my gifts, I kinda know what to do.

Wow. I’ve never taken a class on that, and I know what to do. I have intuition in that area. I’ve got influence in that area. I’ve got confidence in that area. Who haven’t we all heard about the kid that’s just a wallflower but then put him on the sound booth? Oh my gosh. Todd came alive. Yeah.

It’s because he found his situation. Some adult helped Todd find his situation. So my daughter, Bethany, is a great example. She’s she’s very laid back, very chill. Her favorite word in middle school was whatever, whatever, whatever. I mean, you know, that’s how I was I remember. Yes. Very chill.

But but I she heard me teach this, and 1 night, when she was in high school, she she said, dad, I’m I’m trying to find my situation, And my most fun conversations with my daughter, Bethany, once a year in college, she’d say, dad, I think I found my situation. And she had become an RA or she’d become this or that, but it fit who she was. She wasn’t trying to be John Maxwell Junior. Yep. She was being Bethany, The best, Bethany. But it’s when you find your situation and you just naturally flow. You’re not forcing anything. So I think one of our jobs as adults, Help those kids find their situation.

Wow. Yeah. So that’s number 2. Yep. Number 3, some are positioned to lead, Position to lead, and this would be the kid that would never have the audacity to think he or she could lead anything. But when you Call them out and tell them to step up. Here’s a badge. I I need you to do this.

Only then would they step up. So my friend and Former student Richard is a great example of this. I met Richard in San Diego when I was working with John in San Diego. He went to San Diego State University, very introverted, very quiet, Not a leader, but when I saw him talk to people, I thought, he’s so warm. When he actually speaks, he’s so good with people. Yeah. So I challenged him to lead a study group, a small group right away. Well, you would’ve thought I’d ask him to rob a bank.

He said, no. I will never do that. Never. Never. Never. And so I backed off and apologized, but I said, Richard, I know you don’t wanna lead a group, but would you at least be in a group? Well, I don’t know. I’m introverted. Richard, just go.

I think you’ll like it. What got him to go? Well, he loved the group. He didn’t say a word, but he just loved by December, BFF, all these people, my favorites, I love them. So by January that was fall semester. By January, I said, Richard, I know you don’t wanna lead a group, but but would you be an apprentice? Well, what’s an apprentice? Well, you’re just helping the leader. You’re making sure everybody knows what time you start and somebody brings snacks. Oh, I can do that. Well, you see where I’m going?

Mark Cole:

Yes. I do.

Tim Elmore:

So in the spring semester, there were 2 times the leader couldn’t make it, so the apprentice had to step up and step in. Richard was wonderful. In his own way, he led the group. By the next fall, 1 year after I first initially asked him, he was leading a small group. Beautiful. And by the time I left San Diego, Richard was leading all the small group leaders. Now if Richard were here today, he would say, I didn’t see it, but when doctor Tim asked me to do this, I didn’t think I could do it. So some of you listening, you know of a kid in your class, you know of a kid in your home.

They’re not gonna do it until you say, I see this. I need you to help me. Yep. And they will.

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Tim Elmore:

Okay. The 4th is my favorite mark. In fact, you’re gonna love it too. Okay. So some are gifted to lead. Some are positioned to lead. Some are situated to lead. The 4th one is I think some are summoned to

Mark Cole:

lead. Oh,

Tim Elmore:

man. And what I mean by this is the first emotion of this Type of calling is a negative emotion. They’re ticked off that something’s happening in the cafeteria, or they’re ticked off that Something’s happening in the world today maybe, and they’re mad. Whenever I see a mad kid, I go, good. Glad you’re mad because that shows me you’re not apathetic. Yep. And I’ll say, why don’t you do something? Well, I’m not a leader. I’m not actually a lead.

Just do something. Most of the time when kids do something, they give permission to so many other kids to join them. So someone to lead is they’re mad or sad about a situation. There’s no badge, no position, no title, But they step out and do something, and in the process, they go, o m g. This is awesome. So the story I love telling on this one is a former president of the United States and his backstory, Harry Truman. Yep. So Harry Truman led during the 20th century, Made probably the toughest decision any president made in the 20th century, to drop an atomic bomb Yep.

On Japan. Yep. But did you know when Harry was growing up as a kid, He probably could have been voted the most unlikely to lead anything. He was a shy kid, grew up on a farm in Missouri. He wore big thick glasses that looked like the bottom of Coca Cola bottles, and so he he kids made fun of him all the time. When he finally graduated school and went into college, His dad got very sick. In fact, they called him, and he had to come home. He was the only president that came home to help his dad that never finished college in the 20th century.

Never finished. Wow. But something happened to Harry Truman that changed the trajectory of his life. He signed up to fight in World War one. And while he was over in Europe in World War one as a soldier with a troop, The Germans started dropping something from the sky. Nobody knew quite what it was, but everybody was terrorized and they began to run and retreat. Just run scatter everywhere. Harry Truman had a horse fall over on top of him.

It was a miracle he didn’t die right then and there. But he squirmed up from under the horse, saw the rest of his men running in fear, and the shy young man yelled out at the top of his lungs, Stop. Get back here. We’ve not finished our mission. Well, I think everybody was so amazed that this shy kid was yelling at everybody stopped. And 1 by 1, they started returning, and they finished their mission that night. Harry Truman, when he went to bed that night, wrote in his journal and I’ve read his biography. He wrote in his journal, I learned 2 things about myself today.

Number 1, I have a little bit of courage. And number 2, I really like to lead.

Mark Cole:

Uh-huh.

Tim Elmore:

And from that point on, he was on a journey of leadership, ended up in the Oval Office. But if he was a kid, you would have thought, That kid will never lead a thing. He was summoned to lead by the bullets and bombs in World War one. I think there’s stuff today. We look around. Watch your kids, everybody. There’s stuff that’s summoning them to lead, and they’ll just get mad. Don’t let them just get mad.

Help them get busy with their anger and maybe do something positive with it.

Mark Cole:

Every time you come on the podcast, you give me a showstopper statement or a showstopper thought that I just wanna Stop and say, okay. Y’all handled it yourself. I’m gonna go apply some leadership. You just did that. A gifted a person gifted to lead, situated to lead, positioned to lead, and Summoned in to lead. Yeah. I just love that. Okay.

So let’s get back to this book. Okay. So what are some of your favorite stories in the book? You just said a presidential story, but

Tim Elmore:

just Yeah.

Mark Cole:

Talk a little bit about this.

Tim Elmore:

I love kids, and I’m gonna I maybe get a little emotional because, there’s 52 of these stories that just made me go, There’s hope for the future. Wow. So Virgil was the first story in the book. Virgil was 13 years old. He’s a little African American kid that lived in Dickinson, Texas. He’s playing video games with his friend, Kashan, who’s in another apartment in the complex, but they hear a loud noise outside their window At 2:30 AM, they’re playing video games. 8th grade. So they both run over to the window, and they see a storm’s coming in, but they both thought, it’s probably not that bad.

Well, it was that bad. It was hurricane Harvey back in 2017. Wow. So the next thing he knew, young Virgil, 8th grader, is up to his knees in water. It’s gushing into the apartment. Well, I love the fact that Virgil didn’t wait for a grown up to do something, Didn’t wait for permission from an adult to do something. He grabbed his phone. He grabbed his mama, and he grabbed his sister, And they ran upstairs to a 2nd story of the apartment complex to get away from the water.

That in itself, to me

Mark Cole:

I’m sure.

Tim Elmore:

Is an act of heroism. Yes. But it didn’t stop there. He gets up there. His phone rings. He’s got his smartphone with him. Yep. And it’s Kishan, his friend.

Virgil, we need help over here. We’re drowning. Once again, Virgil doesn’t wait for an adult to do something, doesn’t wait for permission, runs right back downstairs to his flooding apartment. He’s probably now waist high, I’m guessing. Grabs an air mattress that he slept on at night, And he uses it as a raft, and he paddles over. And he he saves, Kashan and his family, all of them. But you can imagine as he’s paddling back and forth 1 at a time, he hears the cries for help from other people in the apartment complex. He spends most of the night Paddling back and forth.

According to the police report, the next day you can read this or you can look it up. They say Virgil Smith saved 17 lives that night. Oh. As an 8th grade kid.

And he’s quiet. But, I just love the fact that he’s a leader. Yes. He’s And I he’s probably graduated high school now, but I’m just thinking, I want my kids to hear these stories because Virgil would be, You wouldn’t think he’s a leader. He’s as quiet. He didn’t he’s on football team. He didn’t say much. So that would be 1.

Let me do 1 more. Is that okay? Okay.

Mark Cole:

Please do.

Tim Elmore:

Please do. So, well, I have stories from now and history. So I don’t know if you know this, but Isaac Newton was a From now and history. So I don’t know if you know this, but Isaac Newton was a student, a college student. When he came up with his, law of gravity and laws of motion and, You know, the optics, everything, that was all, as a college student, because there was, excuse me, an epidemic or pandemic going on. It was the tail end of a pandemic. So we talk about quarantines.

Cambridge University sent everybody home in their own version of social distancing. While he’s at home Not doing assignments that professors gave him, he had time to work on calculus. He discovered calculus as a kid. Professor didn’t teach him. He came up with a course. Now some would say that was a curse, not a blessing, but that’s a whole another podcast. Yeah. That’s But anyway, all these things, he was a kid.

So this the book is laced with today’s stories, boys and girls, all colors, shapes, and sizes, but stories from history. Louis Braille went blind and, as a 15 year old kid, came up with a Braille system for reading for the blind. He was a teenager, but he thought this system we got right now is not good. 15 year old came up with a system we still use today. So you’ll get inspired. It’s just 52 stories, and then at at end of each chapter, Three discussion questions for dinner conversation.

Mark Cole:

Oh my.

Tim Elmore:

And then we put a link in there if you wanna watch a video on Virgil or Isaac, you can.

Mark Cole:

So So so I think I want you to go one more story about Anne, but but do do me a favor. I think you just said by the way, I can’t Waitbook.com. I can’t, no apostrophe, Waitbook .com for those of you that are already like, I gotta go get this. You said you give the story, you give 3 little question discussion items that you can have, and the best way to do that is to Start a dinner with the kind of the story, and then over dinner, have discussion.

Tim Elmore:

Yeah. So we beta tested this with a couple of families, And, 1 had teenagers and 1 had more elementary school kids. Both went well because the they they kinda love the story because that’s, Yep. It’s them in the story. Yep. But, you take turn to reading, so they took turn to reading, which kids kinda think that’s cool that they led the they led the family time, But then the questions often led to, can we watch that video? So they watched the video, and there’s videos for all 52. There’s video as well. Yeah.

But, Mark, here’s what I love. Sangram was one of the dads that that did this. Sangram said my daughter, who’s in 4th grade, When they beta tested 3 of them and they gave me a report, she she told me he she said, my daughter said give me that book. She read the rest of the stories She couldn’t wait. But I thought, well, that’s a good sign if they’re saying give me that book.

Mark Cole:

So so So will you double down on the story about

Tim Elmore:

Anne? Yeah. Anne’s story is one of the most amazing stories. Anne had a Facebook friend that lived in the Philippines and is in America. But as they’re chatting back and forth on Facebook, She said, how’s how’s your school going? How’s classes going? And her friend kinda looked down and said, not too well. And Anne goes, what do you mean not too well? You’re smarter than I am. And her friend said, well, I can’t get my homework done, so I’m failing a class. Why can’t you get your homework done? She lived in a place where they didn’t have electricity at night. So when the sun went down, it was dark, and she couldn’t finish her schoolwork.

Well, Anne got angry. She was summoned to lead. No badge. Summoned to lead. That’s ridiculous. Anne invented a flashlight that’s powered by body heat. So when you hold on to it, it lights up. Wow. And her friend could do her homework. And then she designed 1 that you could put on your head because her friend said, I can’t hold this right. So she came up with a way to and won a science award for coming up with this invention.

She’s now, think graduated college, but these stories get me excited, I’m thinking, are kids. And I think kids that read them are gonna go, I got an idea. I got an idea. So my goal is just to spark a brand new generation of leaders who might be ordinary kids who get summoned to lead.

Mark Cole:

So let’s talk a little bit about inspiring with Story. Why do you think power stories are so powerful today, and how is Gen z and the alpha gen responding to stories?

Tim Elmore:

Yeah. Well, They love them because I think kids today are screenagers. You know, they spend time on a screen. Yeah. And Instagram and TikTok and everything else, it’s just Images are the language of the 21st century, so stories are gonna resonate. Can I just say it this way? Pictures beat lectures every Every time. So I like pictures better than lectures. Yep.

So I think it’s just a way to start a conversation where a dad might go, I I don’t get I can’t connect with my teenager. Some of you listening are employers. You maybe you wanna read them with with young interns, so I don’t know. Mhmm. But, that’s why I feel like stories are gonna be the best way to launch a good conversation.

Mark Cole:

Yeah. You know, In podcast listeners, I I I make no bones about living out, vulnerably, my life, And, I have I have my I am privileged to be influencing my grandchildren on a daily basis right now, and I mean that as a privilege. Yeah. And what I’m watching is just last night, my number 2 grandson, he’s 6 years old. He’s just started 1st grade. And, he came home, and he said, G Paul. It’s what they call me. Don’t ask me why and where that name came from because it came from me, and that was the best I could come up with.

He said, g Paul, he said, Mi Mae told me something about that I could earn money by reading books. Right? Yeah. And, John talked about that. We’ve talked about it on this podcast multiple times. And he said, could I start reading to read books? Absolutely. I said, are you wanting some money? He said, no. I’m wanting to learn. Oh, wow.

And I said, so do I have to pay? He said, that would be nice. So I Yeah. He wants

Tim Elmore:

He’s doing yummy. He’s doing both.

Mark Cole:

Yeah. But every evening, we’re people of faith. You and podcast land probably have heard that multiple times too. And so every night, these kids are gathered around wanting me to read the next story in the bible. They’re wanting to now read as a 6 year old, which Macy, My senior in high school did the same thing. What I love, Tim, is is Maxwell leadership, growing leaders. Yeah. Tim Elmore, John Maxwell has never done a project like this.

Mhmm. And yet everything that we’ve ever said, podcast listeners, is teach your kids to read Yeah. Because that’s the gift that gives them keeps on giving. We’ve made Cliches out of leaders or readers. Yeah. We’ve we’ve done all of this, and yet here we are creating a book that We’ll give you the other thing that we’ve said multiple times, Tim. John says the best conversations happen around meals. Yeah.

What are you doing intentionally to ask questions? Well, here we are. We’ve given you a book now to where you can bring your kids around and have meaningful time around 1 dinner a week. Can you do 1 dinner a week? Yes. That’s right. Promise you, like Sangram’s kid Yeah. Our our kids gonna say, I wanna finish the rest of the book. Yeah. Can we have a longer dinner? Mhmm.

Yeah. And we’re living in a world right now to where they can’t wait for dinner to be done so they go get some more screen

Tim Elmore:

time. Yeah. It’s

Mark Cole:

so true. See this book bringing people back to the table Mhmm. And wanting to stay at the table. I’m so excited about this.

Tim Elmore:

You just triggered a thought real quick. Yep. This is the 1st generation of kids that doesn’t need adults to get information, so they are looking to screens instead of mom and dad. And very often, mom and dad are frustrated. Why can’t we I grew up talking to my mom and dad. Well, this will get him talking, and it’s face to face. So I’m just thinking, let’s seize the moment. Let’s take advantage of this.

Mark Cole:

And and I’m gonna talk to you about one more thing, and then we’ll talk about the holidays coming up. And we’ll we’ll, Sign off in just a couple of minutes. But, what I love, anytime I talk to somebody that really has a calling, they’re they’re almost this A summoned leader. And I think you’ve been summoned for the next generation, Tim. Doing my best to release you from The weight that Yeah. Of organizations and Yeah. Stuff so that you can do that. But when you cried, when you showed emotion here, There’s heart and soul that you’ve put into

Tim Elmore:

this book. Yeah.

Mark Cole:

And I think that’s gonna jump off the pages. I think it’s gonna leap off the pages. Talk a little bit about what is moving you to have so much emotion around this book.

Tim Elmore:

Yeah. Wow. I think it’s a couple of things. 1, I’ve already mentioned very briefly. When we invest in adults, we get a better adult, but they got a few more years left. We invest in a kid. They’ve got their whole lifetime left. Mhmm.

But here’s something else that I’m intrigued by. I remember seeing a circle, drawn, and it the circle is is identifying a cycle of realities. So tough times Lead to strong generations. Right? You get tough when you’re in a weight room of life. Strong generations lead to good times. Good times, unfortunately, lead to weak generations that lead to hard times. So I’m just thinking, what if we could take advantage of the moment? These are Difficult times for me. Post COVID, workplaces still not quite coming back.

I don’t know what’s going on. If we could build a strong generation of Children that see this time as a fitness center. It’s a fitness center for me socially, emotionally, intellectually, spiritually. Maybe we have Gen z grow up, and at 30, they’re looking back going, I’m glad we had that tough time. I’m way better than The millennials were you know? Or or whatever. Yep. So that’s my wish for the book. It’s just a weight to lift to get stronger in the in the end.

Mark Cole:

I’m gonna you something on this book. Now I I talk about books, try to every time because this podcast is about resourcing you so you can multiply value to others. I’ve never felt as passionate about what I’m getting ready to say as what I am gonna say, and that is this book’s a no brainer for you, ICantWaitBook.com. It’s a no brainer. You’re gonna go do that, and you’re gonna make a connection with your kids or maybe you’re at a stage in life like me, your grandkids, or maybe you’re in a stage like I was at one point with your nieces and nephews, kids that you have a connection with. And I know that’s gonna happen, but but, guys, we’re coming to a holiday season, to gift season. We’re coming to a book season to where we’re always looking for Some creative gift that nobody else has thought of. And I’m just gonna tell you, if you have somebody in your circle That has kids that they need to connect with, that needs a place to pour into the next generation.

Maybe it’s a friend with some kids. Maybe it’s a a child with some grandkids that you have. Maybe it’s somebody that’s just getting ready to have some kids. Do yourself a favor and don’t order just 1 of these books. Order multiple copies. In fact, I’m gonna challenge you to order 5, order 10, and put these Under trees of everyone in your circle of influence because the next generation needs to hear from us, and screens have replaced our voice. Yeah. And I’m just gonna challenge you.

Different than any other book, the next Generation is depending on you to give a book that will cause the current generation to connect with them. Yeah. And this is the answer to that. ICantWaitBook.com. You’ll be able to find the you’ll be able to find this in our show notes, by the way. We’ll give you some discounts if you’ll buy books in bulk, but we’re coming to holiday seasons, and I have just helped some of you fill your book list. Tim, talk to me as we kinda close. What changes do you think people’s gonna see when they buy this book and begin reading it and sharing it with the next generation?

Tim Elmore:

I think and hope that, the first change that will be generated is from Either hap apathy to hope or apathy to passion. As I study Gen z, it’s a bit of a hopeless generation. Even if there’s still hope, They just are a little bit jaded by so many things going wrong around the world. I will say this, though. In a universal study of global Gen z respondents, Generation z shows a higher and keener interest in leadership than the previous 3 generations at their age.

Mark Cole:

I believe this.

Tim Elmore:

Ain’t that cool? Because they look around at the mess, and they go, need to fix this mess, and I gotta solve problems for people. So I wanna seize the moment and say, while you’re interested, let’s do this. Yep. So I’m hoping that hope And that ideas come from it, and maybe we’ll have a cure for cancer from this book. Yeah. Who knows? Yeah. Maybe we’ll have a cure for, you know, AIDS. Maybe we’ll have An invention that’s gonna do something that we never dreamed could be done.

Mark Cole:

Well, just in the stories you shared, you shared, You shared a cure for a flooding family Yeah. Which was an air mattress.

Tim Elmore:

Mhmm. That’s right. You shared these That’s right.

Mark Cole:

You shared these solutions that are Common day, common people that chose to think beyond them. Yeah. And imagine a book laden with Examples of how to get our kids to think beyond their current environment, their survival, which is survival.

Mark Cole:

Yeah. And so I I’m looking forward to it, And, I I won’t I can’t wait till the book comes out for a a a month or 2 or 3 or 4 and people start reading the book and to have you back because I wanna tell the tell about the book again Yeah. And we’ll have some more stories of real life people that have changed because the I Can’t Wait book that we want you to be a part of. So go to the show notes, we’ll have that. I love to wrap our podcast with stories or comments From listeners because this we do this for you. And so today, I have a comment from Tony. He listened to the podcast 10 Stages of a Successful Dream. We’ll put that link in for that podcast in our show notes as well.

This is what he said. He said, thank you for laying out these stages. They were very helpful. I’ve accomplished many of the steps of my dreams starting a private Christian school. Congratulations, Tony. But But no one told me how hard it could be at times. Many times I tell people, be careful what you dream because the dream’s gonna be a lot of hard work. I feel you.

He said, be sure you want to do it no matter what because the dream will be a lot of work. I followed John. I followed you guys for a long Time. You always provide new insight and encourage us to keep pushing. Thank you. Tony, you need the book for your students in that Christian school. Hey. For Tim, thank you.

Have you we will have you back soon because we’re tied at the hip partnering to make a difference with the next generation. To all of you podcast viewers, listeners, Go make a difference with the next generation because trust me on this, the next generation deserves to be led well.