I woke up this morning to news I did not expect. “The Decision Fortress” hit #1 New Release in Christian Professional Growth on Amazon. I sat with that for a few minutes, trying to figure out how to respond. Part of me wanted to celebrate loudly. Part of me wanted to deflect and move on. Neither felt right. So I want to share what I actually thought, because I think it might be useful for you too.

The first thing that came to mind was a phrase from the book itself: “The work is the win.” I wrote that line in Chapter 18, and it came back to me at exactly the right moment. The phrase is a reminder that faithfulness is not measured by outcomes. It is measured by obedience. You lay bricks because laying bricks is what you were called to do, not because you are guaranteed a certain result.

When I started writing this book, I had no idea if anyone would read it. I wrote it because I had learned something painful and true, and I believed other leaders needed to hear it. The silence of God is not abandonment; it is promotion. Your big decisions are lagging indicators of thousands of small, unseen choices. You do not rise to the occasion; you sink to the level of your training. These were lessons I had to learn the hard way, and I wanted to pass them on.

So the #1 ranking is not really the win. The win was finishing the book. The win was the early mornings and the rewrites. The win was staying faithful when no one was reading. The win was the people who reached out to say a chapter helped them navigate a hard season. Those things happened before any ranking, and they would have been enough.

I think this applies to leadership more broadly. We are tempted to measure ourselves by the big moments, the promotions, the recognition, the visible victories. But Scripture measures differently. “Well done, good and faithful servant” is not about scale. It is about stewardship. Did you do what you were given to do? Did you stay the course when no one was watching?

If there is a takeaway here, it is this: do not wait for the outcome to validate the work. The work is the win. The daily discipline of showing up, telling the truth, governing yourself, and building people instead of just projects. That is the fortress. The recognition, if it comes, is just a lagging indicator of what you already built in the quiet.

Thank you to everyone who bought the book, shared it, or sent a note. You are the reason it reached #1, and I am genuinely grateful. If you have not picked it up yet, this week would be a great time. The book is available on Amazon, and your support helps it reach more leaders who need these principles. But whether you buy it or not, I hope this post reminds you: stay faithful in the small things. The fruit will come in its own time.

What is one area of your leadership where you need to remember that the work itself is the win?

If you would like to pick up a copy of the book you can find it on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Decision-Fortress-Constructing-Unshakeable-Leadership-ebook/dp/B0GD8NBB64