Brad Lomenick Moves from Catalyst Stage to Leadership Stage
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TLANTA — Depending on when you initially met Brad Lomenick, he could have been a cowpoke on a ranch. Or a consultant. Or with John Maxwell. Or with Catalyst. Seasons change — and so has Lomenick.
iDisciple sat down with Lomenick to dive into identity, calling, and assignment. Lomenick’s ongoing assignment is to “influence influencers,” a position he readily embraces. And he’s pretty good at spinning a tale.
Unlike other iDisciple Original pieces, Lomenick does not neatly fit into “My Life Changed When …” or “Behind the Pulpit.” He has a wide range of life experiences, so instead of trying to fit a square peg into a round hole, we are going to piecemeal Lomenick’s words of wisdom into several productions.
“[Barry Switzer] had the ability to close people so well because you felt like he was your uncle, or grandfather, or crazy cousin who was showing up for a family reunion.”
— Brad Lomenick
We’ll start at the beginning, in Bristow, Okla., best known as where Gene Autry once plied his trade as a telegrapher at the Frisco Depot in the 1920s. Lomenick’s father was an educator and also coached football in Bristow. Barry Switzer was among the college coaches who came to town on recruiting trips.
“My father was a football coach, and Switzer would come recruit football players,” Lomenick said. “Here’s what I loved about Barry Switzer: He knew my name, and he knew the other coach’s son, who was my age.
“He would say, ‘Brad, how you doing; how’s football practice; how’s school going; how’s that golf swing; what do your routes look like as a wide receiver?’ He remembered everything about me, as the son of a coach.”
And then there was the other high-profile coach, also trekking I-44 in search of football players. “Jimmy Johnson, arguably one of the great coaches of the NFL world, he was at Oklahoma State. He could not care less who I was. I was basically a distraction. ‘Get out of here kid; I’ve got players to sign, recruits to try to capture their attention.’ ”
Those interactions with two of the biggest names in college football left an indelible impression on Lomenick — leadership. “It was an interesting perspective on how coaches go about recruiting players. This is why Switzer was so good at the recruiting process.
“He walked into a living room and knew everything about that family before he showed up,” Lomeick said. “He had the ability to close people so well because you felt like he was your uncle, or grandfather, or crazy cousin who was showing up for a family reunion.”
Those early days of Lomenick rubbing elbows with Switzer, to his takeaways from Johnson, through his time with Catalyst helped hone Lomenick’s focus on leadership. He has refined it to a fine point, as some of Lomenick’s most popular speaking topics have a common thread:
• The Catalyst Leader — Essentials of Becoming a Change Maker
• H3 Leadership — Hungry, Humble, Hustle
• Generational Leadership and Transfer
• Understanding the Next Generation — How to Lead Young Leaders Today
• Teamwork and Organizational Effectiveness
• How to Become a Great Leader
• Building a Movement
• The Characteristics all Great Leaders Have in Common
Lomenick’s assignment to “influence influencers” gives him access to many of today’s leaders. We’re sure that during our video series that you, too, will be influenced by Lomenick’s calling.
Read more about Brad Lomenick on his website
Brad Lomenick on iDisciple
How Known Are You By You?
My System for Getting Things Done
10 Mid-Week Thoughts for Leaders
More from Brad Lomenick
