Lately, we’ve received many inquiries from other groups about “how to work with JoAnn and Grassroots America.” 

It’s really pretty simple:

Don’t lie.

Don’t steal other people’s stuff.

Don’t trash other grassroots conservatives from your social media sandbox. 

Since our Executive Director has been back out on the road speaking, we’ve had several requests for “Can you send me that funny thing JoAnn said again?” or “What was that Fleming rule of life again?”

She’s an extemporaneous speaker, so who knows? Here’s JoAnn’s updated Wit & Wisdom for Leading from the Front. 

You don’t have to blow out the other person’s light to let your own shine. Bernard Baruch

JoAnn’s Wit & Wisdom

 for Leading from the Front

updated 9.20.23

The battlefield is the mind. This is where satan (and his instruments) attempt to distract from your calling.  Keep your eyes on The Standard to run your race with wisdom, patience, perseverance, and the ability to ignore naysayers, chronic malcontents, toxic do-nothings, and vocal enemies who will only weigh you down.  Fix your mind. Keep it set.  Do not faint in your mind!  Hebrews 12:1-3

Noise and knowledge are different things. Wisdom speaks the right thing, at the right time, for the right reason.

The definition of “integrity” is the distance between what you say you believe and what you actually do about it.

Real LEADERS don’t care what haters think and say. Real leaders don’t ask permission to do the right thing, nor do they ask forgiveness for doing it.

Political groupies, who treat all elected Red Team members as rock gods and would never, ever dare to object to anything the Red Team does, are mirror images of the WOKE Left and every bit as dangerous to Liberty. Yep, I mean that.

The political gospel of unity demands that we accept, embrace, and reward all manner of infidelity to liberty principles. Thus, Freedom is murdered – not in one fatal blow – but by a thousand disloyal cuts.  

“You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks.” Winston Churchill

The people who “pay the freight” in sweat equity and sacrifice, make the rules. 

When folks are just bound and determined to act like the south end of a north bound mule – stand back and let ‘em.

Don’t waste time crying over anything that won’t cry over you.

Don’t trade squirts with a dumb, smelly skunk.  It wastes your time and makes you stink too. 

In negotiations, never play all your best cards at once.

When a decent, principled person is in the wrong – during a confrontation – leave them a back door to get out of and you will win a lasting ally. Humiliation, like a hammer, should never be the first “correction” tool you grab. 

If the mind is willing and the mission righteous, the courageous can go on and on without many things. 

Identify “walking” billboards. Deploy effectively.

Don’t waste time wishing for a better hand. Play the heck out of what you’ve got.

Don’t be duped by propaganda masquerading as “consensus building.” Some people love the idea of “unity” so much that they’ll doubt a calculator if enough “cool” people disagree with it.

Do good work. Without ceasing, nudge others to be better than they ever imagined.

Never simply check a box. Excellence does not live there.

Let your word be your word. Move Heaven and earth to keep promises. Just get it done.

Stop wasting time waiting for “fairness.”  Doing so assures mission fail.

Living for revenge rots your life and makes your days bitter. Know that every injustice will be made finally and completely right in God’s Courtroom, in His time.

People cannot do what they do not know. Set your standards high once you give your people the tools, the training, and consistent direction. Maintain those standards!

If you perpetually play ping-pong with indecisiveness, You. Are. Random. The safest place for you to be is Off. My. Lawn.

If you want help, define the problem in a one-pager by stating the problem; defining its urgency, and presenting a workable solution based on liberty principles, which are rooted in biblical values. If you can’t put what you want in writing, you aren’t ready to ask for help.

A person, a community, a state, a nation is defined by what it tolerates.

Party unity without accountability is like a bucket of water with a hole in it.

Never react in a way that harms your team’s interests. The scariest people are not those who can be baited into losing control, but the ones who cannot. Pick your fight. Fight smart. Fight to win.  

Thank God for every trial. Praise Him in spite of the pain. Trust Him in all things.

Save yourself extra trips around a hard mountain – learn the Lord’s tough lessons by doing things His Way – the first time.

Faith means do it afraid. Behind the seeming randomness of life is a God who is in control even when we are not.

Lasting success is not measured by the number of followers you have on social media, how many likes, shares or reposts. Lasting success comes from the difference you make in the life of a person each and every time you help them see and become what God uniquely created them to be.

Before you start your day and when you end it, make sure you possess the Right Light and The Only Compass.

Mind how you go. Don’t sit on the sidelines.