5 Ways to Reduce Time on Email
I recently shared a Harvard Business Review article bemoaning the inefficiency of email with my team. The article recounts the story of IBM’s initial intent with email and the surprising and disappointing results. Cal Newport wrote: In the early 1980s, IBM decided to deploy an internal email system. In typical careful IBM fashion, they began […]
3 Ways to Recover Enthusiasm for Your Current Role
Do you remember when you first took the role you are in? You walked in the first day excited to make a big impact, eager to learn, and ready to embrace challenges. You were filled with enthusiasm that trumped the struggles and the inherent discouragement that comes with being a leader. The inner enthusiasm breathes […]
4 Reasons I Believe “Hire Slowly, Fire Quickly”
If you are responsible for leading a group of people, you know how important building a team is. The people on the team form the culture and fulfill the mission you have embraced. Just as the flavor of soup changes with each ingredient, each new team member changes the collective flavor of a team. If […]
Stop Trying to Graduate from Leadership Basics
Vince Lombardi, the legendary football coach, famously gathered his Green Bay Packer team together as training camp opened in 1961, held a football, and declared, “Gentlemen, this is a football.” He was not speaking to scrubs who just entered the league but to a team who had made it to the NFL Championship the previous […]
5 Ways Insecurity Damages the Team
Insecurity can plague leaders because leaders are constantly evaluated and continually carry the burden of responsibilities. While it is natural for leaders to struggle with insecurity, leaders who live in insecurity bring great damage to the people they are supposed to be serving. While there are varying degrees of damage, insecurity leaves a wake of […]
Pain Motivates the Body to Act
“Pain is good. This is good, Eric.” I remember a friend of mine, who is a chiropractor, telling me that when I was sitting on his table in intense pain. I really wanted him to adjust me as quickly as possible to relieve the pain, but he wanted to talk to me about my health […]
The NBA Championship and How the Mighty Fall
In his business book, How the Mighty Fall, Jim Collins chronicles what causes great companies to crumble. The first stage is hubris. The dictionary defines hubris as excessive pride. When the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Golden State Warriors last night to win their first NBA championship behind monster performances from LeBron James and Kyrie Irving, […]
5 Thoughts on Leaders and Insecurity
I recently preached a sermon on the struggle and destruction of pride. Afterwards a man in the church joked with me that he “never, ever, ever struggles with pride because humility is something he has personally mastered.” Clearly our struggle with pride is real and consistent. In the same way, leaders often wrestle with insecurity […]
3 Reasons Leaders Are Made, Not Born
People have often asked, “Are leaders born or made?” This is not a new debate, not a new opening discussion question, and not a new title for an article or section in a book. Wise writers often hedge with a “surely both” response, noting that there are certainly God-given qualities in leaders and yet also […]
3 Savvy Ways to Bury a Church Event
When a church starts, typically the church focuses on doing a few things. But if a strategy for making disciples is not established, a church quickly drifts to complexity. When there is a clearly defined discipleship process, church leaders can focus resources, time, and energy on that which most helps people mature and develop. If […]