5 Indicators You Are an Isolated Leader
An isolated leader is a dangerous leader. An isolated leader won’t receive care and encouragement to continue leading, won’t receive necessary confrontation, will limit learning, and will lead in a way that is divorced from the people and from reality. How do you know if you are isolated leader? Here are five indications: 1. If […]
6 Reasons Isolated Leaders Are Dangerous Leaders
An isolated leader is a dangerous leader. The sting of criticism, the burden of the responsibilities, and the pace of leadership can nudge a leader towards isolation, but every step towards isolation is a step towards danger. Sadly, many leaders move towards isolation. They have taken the cliché “it’s lonely at the top” as justification […]
Stop Being a Cruel Leader
There is a type of leadership that is pseudo-compassionate and pseudo-caring. In other words, this type of leadership gives only the perception of being compassionate and caring, but the reality is that this type of leadership is neither. The type of leadership to which I am referring is leadership without feedback. Leadership without feedback may […]
6 Reasons You Should Say “Yes” When Asked to Lead in Your Church
As summer approaches, ministry leaders in many churches will spend time recruiting and training new leaders to serve in their church’s kids ministry, the youth ministry, and to lead groups and classes for adults. If you are approached and asked, here are six reasons you should say yes: 1. You will learn more deeply. If […]
The Importance of Falling Fast
When I lived in Cincinnati, I learned how to snow ski. Well, kind of. I am definitely not a great snow skier, not the guy who is boldly slashing through double black diamond courses (the most difficult), but I enjoyed skiing with Kaye and with friends. I fell a lot of times but never was […]
Jerry Seinfeld and 3 Reminders About Leadership
I recently listened to Daniel McGinn’s interview with Jerry Seinfeld on the HBR Ideacast (also published in the January/February issue of Harvard Business Review). In the interview, Jerry Seinfeld talked about how nine years was a magical number in terms of the length of the wildly popular Seinfeld show. He did not want to lose the […]
God Made a Farmer and a Ministry Leader
One of my favorite Super Bowl commercials in recent memory was this commercial by Ram Trucks, using Paul Harvey’s 1978 speech “God Made a Farmer.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMpZ0TGjbWE My grandfather was a farmer in Illinois. Though he passed away many years ago, my respect for him has not waned. He started farming at a young age, while […]
3 Indications of Really Bad Leadership
While David was the king who was a man after God’s own heart, his predecessor was a king after the people’s heart. God’s people, living in the land the Lord had graciously given them, wanted a king because every other nation had a king. They rejected God as their true King to trade Him for […]
Jim Collins, David, and How the Mighty Fall
One of the most popular business books in recent decades is Good to Great by Jim Collins. For a season, it was a must read for leaders and teams. Leaders continually referenced phrases from the book in attempts to teach lessons from the book or, in some cases, show off their biz chops and prowess. […]
3 Ways We Hate Sin in Others More Than in Ourselves
After David committed adultery and murder and the Lord regarded all of it as evil, the Lord sent a prophet named Nathan to confront David in his sin (2 Samuel 12). Like any good preacher, Nathan set up David with a killer illustration: “David, there were two men in a certain city. One was filthy […]