One of my favorite TV shows is “The West Wing”. The characters were so well defined and the scripts so well written. The President was played by Martin Sheen and one of his trademark lines was “what’s next?”. He’d say it when one crisis had been dealt with and he wanted to know what the next issue was to deal with.
I’m going to borrow the line to let you know where I’m headed next on my journey to train men.
I started writing this email primarily to learn how to write. I knew it was critical I put myself on an unbreakable schedule so I would be forced to not only work on the article but also deal with the fear of letting others see what I’d written. I’ve still got work to do but I’m comfortable enough to move on to what’s next.
To this point I’ve just been moving from one thing, on topic and one process to another but now I need a plan. A plan with a bigger dream than I’ve allowed myself to dream up to this point.
So I did what everybody does these days, I asked AI.
I wanted to see what AI could do if you gave it specific enough instructions. I told ChatGPT and Grok to review everything I’ve written, then added my overarching goal and told each to act as a brand and marketing manager and build a complete brand strategy. Including brand name, taglines, content organization and more. It took a few iterations to get it dialed in but it worked.
I wanted to share it with all of you first since you’ve been part of the journey from the beginning.
Here’s the short version of where I’m going! I’d love your feedback, input, and suggestions.
Dee
The Man Ahead
A brand strategy for Dee Lauderdale
Based on your choices, I’d build The Man Ahead as a trusted mentor platform for the next generation of men: grounded in enduring values, practical about everyday life, welcoming to men from different backgrounds, and ambitious about changing how men grow into adulthood.
Your long-term vision has three parts: a media brand that reaches millions, a teaching system that helps men develop, and a community where they can put those lessons into practice.
1. The refined brand positioning
THE BRAND
The Man Ahead
By Dee Lauderdale
THE TAGLINE
Become the man your future requires.
THE PROMISE
Practical wisdom, honest mentorship, and actionable lessons to help men build character, navigate adulthood, strengthen relationships, and live with purpose.
Why this direction?
It speaks to growth and direction.
“The Man Ahead” points young men toward the person they are becoming. It is forward-looking without suggesting they are broken or behind.
The name carries ambition, but the message remains practical: take the next right step, build a life of character, and become someone others can count on.
It supports a broad audience. Your faith can inform your principles and examples without requiring every piece of content to be explicitly religious.
Use your personal name prominently. People are ultimately building a relationship with you—your judgment, stories, experience, and voice. The Man Ahead gives that relationship a larger purpose.
2. The mentor who teaches, not just inspires
Don’t just tell men what a good man looks like. Teach them how to become one using four commitments:
Wisdom without the lecture
Share what you have learned, including your mistakes. Talk to young men as capable adults, not as problems that need fixing.
High standards without shame
Expect responsibility, courage, and effort. Make room for setbacks, uncertainty, and second chances.
Practical advice, not empty motivation
Every major lesson should give a man something to think about, practice, or change.
Growth through relationships
Encourage men to seek mentors, build friendships, learn from other generations, and help one another.
Your competitive space is not merely men’s self-improvement. It is character development and practical life mentorship for men.
3. Your five content pillars
01 — Character
The foundation of the platform.
Integrity, discipline, courage, humility, emotional maturity, personal responsibility, and keeping your word.
02 — Competence
Help men navigate adulthood with man skills.
Money management, work ethic, communication, decision-making, time management, health habits, and handling setbacks.
03 — Connection
Teach men to be good friends, partners, husbands, fathers, teammates, and colleagues.
04 — Contribution
Help men think beyond their immediate circumstances. Discover their purpose and direction
Career, ambition, identity, meaningful work, failure, values, and what it means to build a life worth being proud of.
05 — Conviction
Explore timeless principles, faith, service, leadership, and how to make sound decisions in a changing world.
Faith should remain an authentic thread throughout the platform, with dedicated content for those who want to explore it more deeply. You do not have to strip faith out to welcome a broad audience, and you do not need to make every piece of content a sermon.
Your signature teaching format: Dee’s Three’s
Retain and expand your existing Dee’s Three’s concept. It is distinctive to you and provides an easy way to make lessons memorable.
Each lesson follows the same pattern:
The principle: What does a man need to understand?
The story: Why does it matter in real life?
The three: What are three practical things he can do?
The challenge: What will he do differently this week?
This format works across a newsletter, short video, podcast, workshop, book, or curriculum
4. Turn the platform into a movement
Your long-term ambition is best served by three connected layers.
Layer 1: The media platform
Your website, weekly email, podcast, videos, and eventually a book. This is how men discover your ideas and begin to trust your voice.
Layer 2: The teaching system
A structured curriculum, workbook, workshops, and guided challenges. This is how men put your principles into practice.
Layer 3: The community
Mentoring groups, men’s gatherings, alumni, and trained facilitators. This is how the lessons spread beyond your direct reach.
Start with the media platform, pilot the teaching system with real groups, and build the community after you understand what helps participants most.
Design the curriculum so a coach, teacher, or mentor can eventually deliver it without you in the room. That is how The Man Ahead can reach more men than you could personally speak to.
Final brand framework
PLATFORM NAME
The Man Ahead
TAGLINE
Become the man your future requires.
CORE MESSAGE
Practical wisdom for building character, strengthening relationships, and living with purpose.
BRAND IDEA
The man ahead is the man you become through the choices, habits, relationships, and responsibilities you take seriously today.
The strategic advantage of The Man Ahead is its sense of direction. It gives the audience a future-focused identity while preserving your central message: growth over perfection, character over image, and practical action over empty motivation.
Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Ephesians 3:20
Man Skill
Have a plan
Work your plan
Plan for the unexpected
-Paul “Bear” Bryant