In this post I’d love to consider the heart of a leader.
Someone asked me recently what I primarily look for in the hiring of a staff position. I said, without reservation, first and foremost, I look for the heart. I want a heart which honors Christ more than self, […] Continue Reading…
I remember reading once that the can opener came almost 50 years after the tin can.
Wow, had you ever read that?
Here’s a way to discipline yourself to increase creativity on your team or in your organization…especially during times when money is tight.
When you are ready to make a purchase, ask yourself this question:
In my experience, many of the new ideas for our organization…and for my life…have come while I was doing something else.
Usually when we are working on planning a service it’s when the best ideas for a service develop…
Often when I’m working on a blog post, I get several new ideas for a blog post…
Look at most great inventions and they were discovered while doing something…many times while doing something totally unrelated to what was discovered…
That’s because…
About once a week, or sometimes more frequently, I get an email from someone who says they feel led to plant a church. They almost always have the same questions.
What do I do now? What’s my first step?
After answering dozens of times, I decided to put my thoughts in […] Continue Reading…
In 16 years as a pastor, I was a part of planting two successful churches. My most recent experience was in church revitalization, and we did experience some success there, but I still hear get questions about church planting.
The two questions I get asked most:
If you were planting another […] Continue Reading…
Do you want to grow as a leader? Do you want to keep growing?
One reason I write this blog is I want to help others grow. At the same time, I have to keep growing as a leader. The people who look to me for leadership need me to […] Continue Reading…
I’ve always been captivated by the friends of Job in the Bible.
You remember Job – the man of suffering. He suffered the loss of everything. He lost children, finances, health, and finally the respect of his wife.
Somewhere in the grief process his friends came to see him. You can […] Continue Reading…
The title is a little misleading. The only way I know of to avoid criticism as a leader –
Is to not be a leader.
Many in leadership positions default to what I call “The Safe Zone” to attempt avoiding criticism. (But it’s not really that safe.)
Here are 7 ways they […] Continue Reading…
When you allow someone to help you.
When you are in pain.
When you are in the midst of a trial.
When you are overwhelmed with more to do than you know how to do.
When you suffer loss.
When others offer to help you, let them help. And don’t be afraid to ask […] Continue Reading…
I remember an especially hard year as a leader. It was so bad several members of our staff had told me where I was letting them down. So much for having an “open door policy”. The next year I closed the door. 🙂
Not really, but this was a year […] Continue Reading…
There are some things in leadership I could almost say I despise. Those things are almost always the ways people misuse or even abuse their leadership power – or the way other people respond to any attempt at good leadership.
And I have probably been guilty of many of these […] Continue Reading…
In making a first impression the little things matter.
When a visitor shows up on one of our church campuses for the first time the little things matter. When a parent decides to trust us with the care of their children the little things matter. In the way we follow […] Continue Reading…
There are a lot of gray issues in leadership. So many times I simply don’t know what to do. I try to lead by consensus building, but even with the strongest teams there will always be decisions about which we just aren’t certain what is the best decision.
This is […] Continue Reading…
I recently posted about the things I miss from church planting serving in an established church. Church planting can be daunting, but the rewards from seeing people far from God get excited about Him makes all the efforts worthwhile.
After that post first appeared, a friend of mine, Tom Cheyney, […] Continue Reading…
