Peter Drucker said, “Only three things happen naturally in an organization: friction, confusion, and underperforming. Everything else takes leadership.” Like a lot of his pithy statement, Drucker effectively captured the natural drift that occurs in organizations (and ministries) and the importance of leaders to rally people against the natural drifts. Just as a person does…
Vision
Links for Leaders 3/23/18
Having Your Smartphone Nearby Takes a Toll on Your Thinking—Kristen Duke, Adrian Ward, Ayelet Gneezy, and Maarten Bos “Put your phone away” has become a commonplace phrase that is just as often dismissed. Despite wanting to be in the moment, we often do everything within our power to the contrary. We take out our phones…
Links for Leaders 5/19/17
How can you be a man living on the E.D.G.E.? Dr. Greg Jackson explains in a recent blog post for the LifeWay Men blog. “Leaders, if you want to to have a healthy team environment, you must learn to control less and influence more. The differences are measured in the results of creating a healthy…
Links for Leaders 4/21/17
“Great leaders change us for the better. They see more in us than we see in ourselves, and they help us learn to see it too. They dream big and show us all the great things we can accomplish.” Travis Bradberry shares 12 habits of exceptional leaders. “Your competency will take you only as far…
Links for Leaders 2/24/17
“I have become increasingly aware of the value of short-term sprints in today’s life and work cycle. For all the talk of long-term perspective, there is value in breaking an all-day hike into a lot of small ‘sprints’ It’s like the old proverb, ‘How do you eat an elephant?…One bite at a time.’” Stephen Graves…
3 Mistakes Leaders Make When Starting a New Year
Here is a typical scene the week after Christmas… A leader gets some rest, feels rejuvenated, and the burden to lead the team better in the New Year starts to grow. The leader reads a book, favorites a dozen blogs, listens to some leadership training on a variety of topics, and is fired up for…
Links for Leaders 11/4/16
Being a bi-vocational pastor is becoming more and more common; in fact, I am a bi-vocational pastor. However, depending on the nature of your non-pastoral job, being a bi-vocational pastor can be challenging. Ron Edmondson has some wisdom in this area, and he shares 10 suggestions for bi-vocational pastors. “Context is usually crucial for the…
Links for Leaders 8/19/16
Sometimes, it can be difficult for young people to work alongside and properly respect their elders. However, it is important for young people to follow their elders with humility and to learn to lead from them. Here are seven ways young leaders succeed with elders, by Dan Rockwell. “What everyone wants is the very thing…
3 Shortcuts Leaders Should Never Take
In a culture that values instant everything and struggles waiting for anything, shortcuts are all the rave. Hack has even become a buzzword for taking shortcuts, maximizing time, and getting things done more quickly. “Hack your schedule.” “Hack your calendar.” “Hack your leadership meeting.” “Hack your life.” I am not against all hacking as some…
Five Thoughts on Leaders Being Poets and Plumbers
James March, professor emeritus at Stanford, is known for his research and thinking on organizational design and behavior. March believes that every skilled leader is both a poet and a plumber. The poet work of leadership includes articulating direction and formalizing cultural values, crystalizing beliefs with words and stories. The plumbing work of leadership includes…