deadly viper: character assassins (part 1)

i think Mike & Jud were sick of seeing so many leaders fall because of a lack of integrity, so they decided to write this book to try to help us all pursue integrity & character and keep from screwing up our lives.

For my intro of this book read this post.
One more word of intro though, from the deadly viper website:
"Deadly Viper is an initiative dedicated to beginning a strategic conversation on the issues of radical integrity and radical grace. Our focus is to develop leaders who will have intentional, transparent, and honest conversations about key character issues. Deadly Viper is a movement designed to help leaders finish strong and live a life with no regrets."

*Warning: these are simply my unfiltered takeaways from this book for my own personal growth. Hopefully you will benefit from them as well. (The authors should not be blamed for any wrong conclusions, misapplications, or stupid stuff i write!)

DEADLY VIPER: CHARACTER ASSASSINS
by Mike Foster & Jud Wilhite

Chapter 0 – Nunchucks, Warriors, and Master Po
- Most of these thoughts will be in my words & in bullet points (unless it's in quotes). [thoughts in brackets like these will be my orignal thoughs of course stimulated by reading this book.] but the book is SO well written & enjoyable that I want you all to have a taste of it... so here's a couple paragraphs from Chapter 0.

"The Deadly Vipers are some bad dudes who take great pleasure in what they do. They eat your kind for lunch and are skilled in the arts of annihilation, pain, and destruction. These ninja experts are working 25 hours a day, eight days a week to undo you. They don't rest. These forces of darkness are fully funded and well resourced. They possess the weapons, they’ve plotted the strategies, and they kick more tail before 7 a.m. than most of us will our entire lives.
And then there is little old us looking like schoolgirls with plaid skirts on, because we are unskilled and undisciplined in the area of character. We are weaklings with rail-skinny arms and toothpick legs. Too many of us think we can skate by on our business savvy, stellar successes, and our impressive ability to jive talk ourselves out of anything. But here's the deal; the Deadly Vipers aren't in the mood for small talk. There in the mood for spilling blood."
"Our goal with this little book is to help you be ready to face these brutal slayers. We want to turn you into warriors who are trained and ready for wherever the attacks may come from. Let's make this one truth crystal clear: the Character Assassins are on their way. For some of you, they are pressing a steely blade to your throat even now."

- “He who conquers himself is the greatest warrior." - Master Po
- I want character to naturally flow from me!
- Life = mistakes, grace, mistakes, more grace
- *[patrick's thought = all these deadly vipers doubly kill God's renown when leaders fall = 1) their effectiveness is lessened or even ended & 2) God's name is trashed.]
- Building character can't be done alone. We must train and fight together and watch each other's backs.
- We must go to battle for our friends when the deadly vipers attack! *risk my reputation for someone else. It's noble to go to the aid of a fallen leader. [who cares what they say about me]

Chapter 1 – Assassin of Character Creep
- this happens slowly, and a little bit at a time. He sneaks up on us. He is the silent assassin.
- *"The more senior my leadership, the less honest people are in my evaluation." [isn't that the truth!!]
- We can achieve "success by default", by being the last leader standing. [a high percentage simply won't be able to withstand this assassin over the long haul]
- **"Refrain from doing anything today that I would be uncomfortable reading about in the headlines tomorrow or seeing on the 11 o'clock news."

Chapter 2 – The Assassin of Zi Qi Qi Ren
* This assassin gets its name from a Chinese term meaning “self deception while deceiving others.”
- transparency and accountability are key! We must all give a few people the freedom to speak into my life. [all access!]
- *"Nobody is so smart that the counsel of others won't benefit them." [that is pimp!]
- reminder = "I won't always be rewarded for maintaining my character."

Chapter 3 – The Assassin of Amped Emotions
- am I in control of my emotions even when I'm under stress, etc.? - * "anger is a signal worth listening to."
- Identify the trigger points of my emotions & don't take myself too seriously."
- When I am on edge escape to a movie or something I enjoy.
- Be quick to forget wrongs by others (forgive!)


*OK, i've decided to split this into 2 posts. So, the rest of my takeaways will be in tomorrow's post - part 2. The final 4 assassins tomorrow & they are by far the most fun ones! The assassins of Headless Sprinting Chicken, Boom Chicka Wah Wah (guess what that one's all about), The Bling Bling Assassin, & High and Mighty Assassin.

So, make sure you check out the best half of the book on tomorrow's blog. In the meantime click here to buy the book for yourself. you won't regret it.