Franklin Taggart's Blog

When I look at the list of clients that I have worked with over the years, the most remarkable thing to see that they all have in common is that they all possess tremendous courage. Whether they are teachers, authors, artists, poets, designers, musicians, dancers, entrepreneurs, or any others of the hundreds of people I've worked with, their lives are shaped by the courage within them that won't settle for anything less than a path that they carve out for themselves. It is humbling to be in their presence. To them it doesn't feel all that significant; it's just something they are doing. They get embarrassed if I imply at all that they are in the least bit courageous. Courage in their minds is reserved for firefighters and skydivers, extreme skiers and daredevils. What they don't realize is that their courage sets them apart from a large majority of the rest of the world. The author who writes every day despite not knowing in the least whether what he's writing

Yesterday, My friend Jeff Finlin and I gave the pilot session of a new workshop called Making Your Own Way. In the last year my focus in coaching has largely become helping creative people to find direction, get things started and finished, and mostly to identify the real impact they are making with their work. Creative professionals frequently wonder to themselves and out loud just what the value of their work is. I know that's been a regular inner dialog for me. Some great discussions in yesterday's workshop helped to bring some clarity to the subject, and a comment in a message at church this morning also brought it home to me. Creative work matters for two huge reasons; it connects us on deeper levels and it feeds our soul. A big part of the workshop is about the distinction that I see between a person's gift and their talents. We talk about that often we lump the two into the same definition. I don't think that quite captures the essence of your gift. I've wr

There is such a wealth of information floating out here in internetland. I've run across another couple of podcasts that are doing it right. The first, Business Reimagined from Danny Iny and the awesome team at Mirasee(formerly Firepole Marketing) is creating a standard for podcasting that is inspiring and excellent in every way. I downloaded all of the available episodes and have been listening to them in the car every time I go somewhere. Great guests, including people like Randy Gage , Nancy Duarte , and my latest new favorite author, Taylor Pearson(The End of Jobs) share insights and tips in a bounteous stream. Several episodes have been played on repeat, most notably the interview that Danny did with Donald Miller of StoryBrand. Some of my friends familiar with the Christian publishing world will likely recognize the name of this author of books like Blue Like Jazz, and last year's Scary Close. Donald has created an exceptional framework for shaping your message in a va