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Ron Edmondson Leadership Blog

Packed with practical thoughts on leadership, church, and culture

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    God is Great, Lessons from Sierra Leone

    By Church, God, Missions

    When we were in Sierra Leone Africa earlier this summer we saw some of the most unique and beautiful beaches I have seen anywhere in the world. Interestingly, the people don’t seem to appreciate or enjoy the beauty they have right next to them as much as one would think they do. I can’t help but think if I had this beach in my backyard that I’d be on it frequently. We baptized people at the beach who lived a few hundred feet from the water yet had never been in it before.

    On one trip to the beach, as I stood mesmerized by the beauty of perfect blue skies, sand, ocean waves, boulder-sized rocks and mountains in the background, I couldn’t help but ask a pastor friend how it all formed in his mind. The rocks that line the ocean appear to have developed by volcanic activity. I ask him if he knew the make-up of the rocks and how they formed…and if he knew of any volcanoes in the vicinity.

    He looked at me with complete sincerity and said very simply, “God is great!”

    I was quickly humbled in my search for answers and reminded of a few truths:

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    August 22, 2010
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    Think You Have a Great Idea…Sleep On It

    By Business, Church Planting, Encouragement, Innovation, Leadership

    Think you have a great idea….sleep on it…

    If you read this blog regularly, surely you have learned that I’m a risk-taker by nature. I love to encourage big dreams and I want to be a catalyst for idea generation and innovative thought. I’m even a church planter!!! Talk about risk…

    In spite of that tendency in me to act quickly, I have learned one principle of leadership by personal experience…this is one of those wisdom learned by mistake kind of things…so listen closely…

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    August 20, 2010
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    40% of Professionals Ready to Quit Work

    By Business, Leadership

    According to a recent survey, 40 percent of professionals want to quit their job. I’m curious, is that higher than you would think? I’d love to know what percentage on our staff feels that way….(hopefully not that high!)

    As one who studies and writes about organizational health, these numbers frustrate me. What can be done to improve job satisfaction? I love the interview Brad Lomenick did recently with Tony Hsieh of Zappos about their corporate culture. Check it out HERE. Zappos appears to be a place people want to work and one that is remaining very profitable.

    According to the Nashville Business Journal, here is a list of reasons U.S. professionals cited for wanting to quit their jobs this year, accompanied by the percentage of respondents who cited the reason:

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    August 16, 2010
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    10 Reasons I Love Summer

    By Culture

    Do you like summer? Are you ready for the season to change? I am always ready for change and as a runner, it has been especially hot. As an optimist by nature, however, I decided it was best to reflect on the things I like about summer.

    Here are 10 reasons I love about summer:

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    August 14, 2010
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    John Wooden on What is True Success: Ted Video

    By Business, Church Planting, Culture, Leadership, Life Plan

    I love exploring Ted.com for exceptional videos. I don’t get to very often, but when I do, I find great stuff.

    Here’s one you should consider watching. It’s about 17 minutes long, and honestly he rambles at times, but you’ll get some great wisdom and reminders from a great man. Here’s John Wooden on the subject “What is True Success?”

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    August 14, 2010
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    What Does the Term Expert Mean?

    By Business, Change, Culture

    Someone used the term “expert” in regards to a person and social media recently. It sounded good at first, but then I started thinking. Is anyone really an “expert” in a field that is barely five years old and changes literally every day?

    One definition of the term expert reads: a person who has a comprehensive and authoritative knowledge of or skill in a particular area. I guess someone could qualify under that definition, but it also seems to me that as soon as one gains authoritative knowledge about the field of social media that everything changes. Everyone involved with social media must be in a constant learning mode.

    It does seem, however, that we are living in a day where the term expert is coined much faster than in days past.

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    August 12, 2010
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    Doodling Turns Into Masterpiece: Turning Random into Success

    By Business, Change, Church Planting, Innovation, Leadership

    This is a silly post with an important principle…

    The other day I was on a Skype call with missionaries from Costa Rica. I serve on their ministry board and this was a board meeting. As with most meetings, I get bored easily, so I began to doodle on a piece of paper in front of me. What started literally as doodling with no intended purpose turned into a masterpiece…as you can see from this picture.

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    August 12, 2010
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    Don’t Judge a Tweeter by a Single Tweet

    By Culture, Innovation

    One Tweet should never stand alone in determining the value of a Tweeter. With the rapid fire that most people Twitter 140 characters, the quick thoughts extended are not always a fair representation of the mind, heart and character of the person Tweeting.

    There are times I have Tweeted something I wish later I hadn’t. I have mistyped or misspelled a tweet numerous times. My auto-correct has finished words for me that were inappropriate. I have had trouble communicating what I wanted to say in such a small space.

    If you are going to follow me (or anyone) on Twitter. Here’s a quick reminder:

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    August 9, 2010
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    Advice When Nothing Is Going Right

    By Change, Encouragement, Innovation

    When it seems everything is a failure. Go for some small wins.

    Life has a way of bringing seasons into our life where nothing seems to go right. Often God uses those times to strengthen us, sometimes our own bad decisions bring those times, and many times those seasons come just as a part of living in a fallen world. During those seasons of life, a person may need to experience a little victory to rebuild his or her confidence.

    If everything in your life seems to be going wrong lately, find a few small things you do well and complete them. Everyone does something well. It will help rebuild your confidence and encourage you to take risks again towards the bigger wins.

    Are you in one of those seasons? Be faithful in a little and God will bless you with far more. What’s a small win you could accomplish today?

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    August 6, 2010
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    7 Reasons You Need Social Media as a Christian Leader

    By Business, Church, Church Planting, Culture, Leadership

    So maybe “need” is too strong of a word. Perhaps you can do everything I will suggest as reasons to be involved with social media without social media (Although I would question how well you can these days) but I don’t think anyone could argue social media is not a large part of our culture today. Because it is such an influence, today’s successful leaders, including those in the church, must figure out how to make it work for them and make their ministries even more successful.

    For me that currently means Twitter, Facebook and blogging. Not everyone has to do all three, but I have found them to each have unique benefits in my ministry.

    Here are 7 reasons you should be using social media:

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    August 5, 2010
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