Mission

The word Areté is a Greek word that is commonly translated as “Virtue” but really is better thought of as:

Excellence in all things

Arete Hoops is a place for leaders who are on the Path of Excellence every single day. It is a Movement of like-minded people in pursuit of the highest aims.

Here are the standards we aspire to live out each and every day.

Our Purpose is to:

To build purpose driven leaders to live transformational lives of toughness, humility, and purpose to the glory of God.

Our Core Behaviors are:

• Humility – walk with a limp
• Purpose – Live intentionally
• Toughness – do hard things well

Our Core Convictions are:

• Grow perpetually
• Practice deliberately
• Speak Truthfully
• Give Thanks continuously
• Sweat the Small Stuff
• Simple isn’t Easy
• Coach in principles, study details
• Take the long view
• Own it
• Find the right restrictions
• Culture wins
• Fail Forward
• Culture Wins
• Tell the truth and live unoffended

Our definitions of Core Behaviors and Core Convictions are:

1. Grow perpetually

I want to be a leader who embraces a growth mindset and who views every situation (failure or success) as an opportunity to improve. You won’t get something that you don’t aim at, so I will keep my eyes on the prize because you never know what hangs in the balance. My team’s ceiling is always determined by the effectiveness of my leadership.

2. Practice Deliberately

I believe that success will come as a result of my uncommon commitment to deliberately working on my craft. Deliberate practice will stretch me beyond my current capabilities, it will mentally exhaust me, and it will give me continuous feedback.

3. Choose Excellence

As Aristotle said, “we are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” I believe that my habits are the sum of my daily choices: therefore I have a choice every single day to either choose the path of least resistance or to walk the path of excellence.

4. Do Hard Things

I believe that a comfortable life is not worth living. The ethos of my leadership should be defined by choosing the difficult path, not settling for the easy decision.Success is the doing, not the getting, in the trying, not only in the triumph. When presented with the choice, my transformational leadership will be dependent on my ability to embrace things that make me uncomfortable. Satisfaction comes from struggling well, and as a rule I will always move towards the things that scare me most.

5. Everything is Everything

I believe that everything I do matters. I believe that I will never make a single choice in my life in a vacuum. I know that every decision I make has a cumulative effect on the person I want to become. I believe that everything is everything because the summation of every single one of my choices will have an impact on the type of leader I will become in the future. I will choose to sweat the small stuff because I understand that the choice I make today will have a ripple effect (for better or worse) into the future.

6. Live Intentionally

A purpose driven life starts with intentionality because the unintentional life is not worth living. An intentional approach requires forethought, purpose, and a strong sense of direction. In contrast, the aimless life is ineffective and marked by passivity, timidity, and fear. An intentional life is characterized by courage, sacrifice, and initiative for others. Living with intention begins and ends with the realization of God’s grace and power as the driving force behind WHAT I do and WHY I do it. I know that Christ has made me his own so I forget what is behind and press on towards the prize of the upward call of Christ. Life is a race, a journey of a thousand steps. In order to run my race well, I will exercise self-control, intention, and purposefulness in all things. I will press on with discipline to keep my eyes on the prize so.

7. Walk with a Limp

Real leaders Eat Last and real leaders walk with a limp. To walk with a limp means to admit that change isn’t an event, but a process. It means being humble, flexible, and teachable. It means that my cup is never full, that everyone has something they can add, and I always have something more to learn. Sweep the sheds, pick up trash, and take notes.

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Here are a few great places to start exploring.