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Ron Edmondson

Is It Panic or Preparation?

By Faith, Family, Fear

Yesterday we made a decision to delay our youngest son’s flight home from Chicago until today, because of the threat of bad weather in Nashville. It was a hard call, because he had finished exams, he was ready to be home for Christmas, we miss him dearly, and I’ve already purchased bacon….

Here in Nashville the general talk was that we were on the verge of the next big ice storm. Schools closed early, grocery stores were packed, and games and activities were canceled or postponed. We’ve experienced ice storms in the past where everything was shut down, electricity goes out and motorists are stranded. Our area of the country has had it’s share of disasters in the past few years with floods, tornadoes and ice storms. I called Southwest twice. His flight, the last of the day, was already showing a delay of two hours. The two customer service agents I talked with (who were great BTW) both said the flight was subject to be cancelled and he would be bumped to the next day. They were offering free weather changes until the next day and their advice was to pick a flight after noon today. There were only three seats left on the afternoon flight.

With this information, for fear of losing a flight altogether, I pulled the trigger and decided to delay his trip home until today. As it turned out, the weather predicted never came, his normal flight arrived on schedule, and had I left things as they were he would have slept in his own bed last night.

I felt awful…but…

There is such a fine line between panic and preparation.

On one hand…

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3 Critical Aspects of Planning for Future Growth

By Business, Innovation, Leadership, Organizational Leadership, Team Leadership

The main battle for your organization’s long-term success doesn’t exist where you are…it exists where you are going…

Regardless of how great something may be now, this moment will pass. The successes created today will soon fade.

Take writing for example. Unless you are Rick Warren or a handful of others, the best selling authors have to continue to create new stuff to stay on the best sellers list for long. In the business world, the hottest products are only as hot as the next great update or until another “greater” product is introduced.

The fact is momentum dies. People lose interest. Motivation for what you are promoting fades. That’s more true now than ever before. If an organization wants to be successful over time, then it must be winning the battle for the future.

Here are three aspects or planning for future growth every organization must have:

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Developing Patience in Church Leadership

By Church, Culture, Devotional, Encouragement, Faith, Leadership

In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father David. In his twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of high places, Asherah poles and idols. 2 Chronicles 34:3 (Emphasis mine.)

I read this verse this morning and it spoke to me. I’m sure I’ve read it dozens of times, but today a new thought occurred to me while reading.

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Almost Isn’t Good Enough: Wayne Elsey’s New Book

By Church, Culture, Encouragement, Innovation, Leadership

As a leader, there are two qualities that really I value in other people, drive & selflessness. In most circles, these two words seem contradictory & rarely used in the same sentence. However, both of those words describe my good friend, Wayne Elsey. Wayne is the Founder & CEO of Soles4Souls. His drive has lead Soles4Souls to become one of the fastest growing non-profits in the country, but his attitude reflects total selflessness. A few months ago, I interviewed Wayne in my leadership series. You can read it HERE.

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Growing Service in Your Kids at Christmas

By Children, Church, Culture, Encouragement, Family, God, Parenting

Tim Elmore is an incredible leader. He has one of the best understandings of how to reach the next generation of anyone one I know. I recently had dinner with Tim and can attest to this man’s incredible heart for people. I’m blessed to have Tim share his thoughts with us here today as a guest post.

In our recent work with students, Growing Leaders has drawn some interesting conclusions. We have seen a shift take place among the young people in Generation Y. (The kids born in the 80s are different than the kids born since then.) The research is in a new book called: Generation iY: Our Last Chance to Save Their Future.

One of the shifts we’ve uncovered is that kids have moved from “activists” (who want to change the world) to “slack-tivists.” They still want to change the world — but sort of. They often don’t really want to work hard or make sacrifices. They’d rather sign a petition on a website, get a wristband and then return to a video game or YouTube. They’re more self-absorbed than their earlier counterparts. So, how do we grow a heart for service in our kids today?

Try this.

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5 Suggestions for Tennessee Titans Leadership Now

By Culture, Leadership, Organizational Leadership, Team Leadership

Driving back from Nashville yesterday I listened to sports talk radio. The subject was the same I have been hearing for weeks. Everyone wants to talk about what’s wrong with the Titans. Everyone has his or her own theory. As I said in a previous post, (Read it HERE) I am a not an avid sports fan. I love sports, I love watching sports, but I don’t memorize player’s names or keep up with many statistics, I just enjoy sports.

I do keep up with leadership however, and as I said in my previous post, I think the main issue for the Titans now is a leadership problem. When leadership is uncertain or unsettled, it will impact the entire team. That’s an organizational leadership principle, and it’s true because it deals with people, which mean you can see the principle at work in business, in churches, and on professional football teams.

So, as one who does understand the subject of organizational leadership, here are 5 leadership suggestions I offer the Tennessee Titans leadership:

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