I spent a day recently with a group of ministry friends and mentors, all of whom have been leading their organizations for a long time. In some cases over 20 years. We had a heartfelt, gut-wrenching conversation about the challenges…
Nobody likes a proud or arrogant leader. But leaders end up there sometimes without even realizing it. You set out for humility, but end up in a very different place. How would you know if it’s happening to you? Pride…
I am so not a rock star. And you may not be either. But as a leader I’m a communicator and that means that like you, I want to connect with the people I’m speaking to. On that note…ever feel…
One of the dreams of almost every leader is to see every person within an organization motivated by the same mission and vision. The reality is very few organizations—and very few churches—function that way. Most leaders have had an unsettling…
Are you a people pleaser? If you think you have no people-pleasing tendencies, just remember how you felt the last time someone criticized you. Not fun is it? Even those of us who don’t think we’re people pleasers feel the…
If you’re going to be effective in ministry, you have to become comfortable talking about money. Few church leaders I know are. Here Come the Bullets It’s been a struggle for me too. You take a few bullets when you…
So your church is growing or wants to grow. But what do you do when churched people show up? I recently wrote about the challenges and opportunities you face when unchurched people arrive. But what about transfer growth? That’s a…
Just because a church is growing doesn’t mean it’s filling up with unchurched people. How do you know you’re really making inroads with the unchurched? First, you can find out whether you are attracting transfer growth or truly unchurched people.…
It’s one of the most perplexing problems many leaders face. How do you handle a difficult team member? Want to make the problem worse? That’s easy. Imagine the difficult team member is a volunteer. Then what do you do? After…
Chances are this week you’re going to write something you hope people will read. An email to your volunteers A blog post for your organization Social media updates A note to parents Teasers outlining your next message series or big…
Do you have enough time to accomplish everything you want to get done? Almost everyone who’s asked that question answers “Not really.” The irony is that we all have exactly the same amount of time: 168 hours each week. And…
Confession: I really like technology. As a child of the 70s who remembers having to get up off the couch to change TV channels, I am in favour of anything that makes life more productive, more rewarding or more fun.…