No Dashboard Is Better Than a Wrong One
What’s worse: Driving a car with no gas gauge or driving one with a gauge that’s incorrect? The answer is obviously driving a car with an incorrect gas gauge is far worse. When there is no gas gauge or one you know does not work, you know not to trust it. You fill up more […]
Your Greatest Strength Can Be Your Greatest Weakness
Several years ago a leader I served under, a leader I respected, told me that my greatest strengths could also be my greatest weaknesses. He meant this as a word of both encouragement and caution. He was saying, “I don’t want you to lose what you are best at, but I don’t want those strengths […]
The Incomplete Counsel of “Keep Your Hands Off of Money and Women”
When I first went into a leadership role in church ministry, several wise, older men gave me words of caution like “Keep your hands off of money and women, son” or “Be careful with women and money.” They were not being sexist as if women were bad, nor were they advocating poverty as if money […]
4 Lessons from Studying Spurgeon
While I have not studied Charles Spurgeon as extensively as others, recently spending time in Spurgeon’s old stomping grounds led me to four thoughts: 1. God uses the nameless and ordinary. In 1850, a young, rough, and non-believing Charles Spurgeon walked into a Methodist church with questions about the Christian faith. On that Sunday there […]
4 Indications a Longing for Approval Is Hampering Your Leadership
Leaders who need to be liked hurt the teams they lead. In extensive research, Elena Botelho discovered that leaders who want to be perceived as nice to the detriment of being decisive hurt the organizations they lead. Jony Ive is the senior vice president of design at Apple and is known as the great design […]
One Leader on 5 Traits to Look for When Hiring/Promoting
There are many helpful hiring frameworks, tools that help a leader find the right people. For a long time, I (and many others) have used a version of the four C’s: Character, Competence, Chemistry, and Capacity. I enjoy reading and learning from what other leaders look for when they bring people onto their teams. In […]
Fighting with Ed Stetzer, Becoming Friends Again, and Lateral Leadership
I recently Skyped in for a class Ed Stetzer was teaching at Wheaton, where Ed teaches and serves as the Executive Director of the Billy Graham Center of Evangelism. Ed asked me a series of questions to kick off the discussion, and in one of those questions, he asked for my perspective on why we […]
4 Ways to Recognize the Drift from Confidence to Cockiness
While you have likely heard that there is a fine line between confidence and cockiness, the two are miles apart. Confidence and cockiness originate from very different places. For the Christian, confidence flows from humility, from knowing you are fully approved and qualified because of Christ and not because of your own merit. Cockiness comes […]
6 Questions You Should Be Asking Those You Lead
Great leaders ask great questions. Great leaders ask questions to learn but also to encourage those they lead to think strategically. Below are six questions leaders should be asking those they lead. They may not show up in a meeting agenda or on a questionnaire, but wise leaders are continually asking those they lead these […]
10 Differences between Cockiness and Confidence
You have heard it said that there is a thin line between confidence and cockiness, but the truth is they are miles apart. A cocky leader is not a leader with simply too much confidence; confidence and cockiness are very different traits all together. Here are ten differences between cockiness and confidence. 1. Confidence can […]