Jim Morris, puttin’ the Hip in LeadersHIP

Age: 34, married with two beautiful girls.
Occupation: Sports Marketing
Hometown: Athens, Alabama
Hobbies: Sports of any kind, studying the latest leadership principles being successfully implemented, and spending time with my girls.
Person I would most like to meet: Jesus Christ, the greatest leader to have ever walked the earth. A close second would be Ronald Reagan.
What’s in the MP3?: Grits, a christian rap group who has been featured in many Hollywood films including Bad Boys, in which their hit Ooh Ahh became an overnight success.
Favorite Movie: Godfather
Favorite Athletes: Shaun Alexander and DeMeco Ryans. Two guys who I am blessed to call friends and who teach me the principles of humility and sacrifice on a daily basis.
What I want to do before I die? Make a positive impact in as many lives as possible.

My Story
As you can see from the above biographical information I am a pretty diverse person. I love the University of Alabama, Ronald Reagan, rap music, mafia movies, Jesus and I want to make a positive impact on those around me. Some people probably think I’m a lunatic and thats OK with me. I’m on a mission and I hope I can be an encouragement for others to find their purpose in life.

I don’t want it to seem that I’m a person who is always in a good mood, strolling the streets pumping sunshine up everyone’s rear end. I’m not. I have my good days and bad days like everyone and I fight the same demons each and everyone of you do. But I’ve chosen to have a positive attitude, never letting the bad days and demons steal my joy. But it wasn’t always like this.

By the time I was 30 years old I had battled and defeated cancer twice. The physical affects of cancer are devestating and if that’s not enough it can be career devestating as well. Not only had I rebuilt a career once but was facing the obstacles of rebuilding a second time. I had questions. Why would God allow me to suffer through the sickness,treatments and life altering effects of cancer, not once but twice? Not soon after being told I was cancer free I got the answer to my question.

Through my battles with a deadly disease friends and family said they were encouraged when I was around them. No matter how bad their day was I was able to lift their spirits. Little did they know the reason I felt the need to make them feel good was because they were giving me a dose of the best medicine I could get, love and time. Realizing that I had made a positive difference in their lives answered the question I had voiced before? Now I finally knew why God allowed me to suffer through cancer.

Since that time I have made it a goal to be a positive influence in the lives of others. It hasn’t been an easy journey. I’ve sacrificed career advancement, financial improvement and vacations in this pursuit. During this process I have never needed for anything. The more I give the more I receive. I am truly a testament to the truth that you can’t out give God.

For the past 10 years I have been blessed to have befriended some of America’s top athletes. We share a common bond of education, faith and sports. In the past two years I have been serving as a mentor to a handful of NFL players and have received a far more blessing from them than I have been to them. I am amazed and blessed to have these great athletes call me a mentor.

It is my sincere desire that through my blog you will be encouraged to step out of your comfort zone and onto the end of the vine. For if you’re not at the end of the vine you shouldn’t expect the fruit. I also desire that you take on a leadership role, wherever you are on the chain of command or depth chart.

If you would like for me to speak to your club, organization, school or church or if you would like to contact me for any reason, email me at the link below.
leadershipgeneration@gmail.com