My Five Favorite Personal Productivity Tools
People often ask me what tools or systems I use to maximize productivity, to stay organized, or to complete tasks. My answer is typically perceived as underwhelming, as I don’t have a project management system (though I am not against them) and the tools I do use are a bit “old-school.” The five productivity tools […]
Three Indicators Your Meeting Should Have Been an Email
Last week I gave indicators that your email should have been a meeting. There are times when a push for efficiency via email backfires and actually creates more work. In those times, a meeting would have been more effective and more efficient. However… there are times when a meeting is really a waste of time. […]
Five Reasons a Team Lacks Joy
Being on a team that is filled with joy, passion, and purpose is invigorating. Being on a team where the collective soul lacks joy adversely impacts everyone. A joyless team harms the people on the team and those the team serves. Here are five common reasons joy eludes a team: 1. An unclear mission When […]
Four Ways to Adjust Your Leadership Style to Fit Your Team
Great leaders are servants of those they lead. Because each person on a leadership team is unique, wise leaders lead each person differently. Instead of insisting that every person adjust to the leader, great leaders adjust to those they lead. Here are four practical ways to adjust to those you lead: 1. Communication If you […]
Three Indicators Your Email Should Have Been a Meeting
Some meetings could have been an email, but some emails should be meetings. There are times that people, in attempts to handle things efficiently, resort to an email when a meeting would have been more effective. Just because communication is efficient does not mean it has been effective. Sometimes a longing for efficiency can lead […]
Five Reasons Leaders Must Constantly Clarify and Communicate Mission
Strong teams, ministries, and organizations are filled with a clear sense of mission. You won’t have a strong culture without a strong sense of mission. A healthy culture is cultivated, in part, by a clear sense of “here is what we are going to do together.” Jim Collins wrote that when an “organization has a […]
Four Huge Distractions in Meetings and How to Fight Them
Disengagement in meetings can quickly snowball. You have seen this. When a few people disengage in a meeting, others are soon to follow. One of the biggest culprits of disengagement in a meeting are distractions. Distractions can steer emotional energy, creative thinking, and collective wisdom away from the important matters being discussed. Here are four […]
Four Reasons Burnout Is More Prevalent in Ministry Leadership
I recently recorded another 5 Leadership Questions podcast on the subject of burnout. We talked about leadership, burnout, and caring for yourself. One of the questions was “Is burnout more prevalent in ministry leadership?” I believe burnout is more common in ministry leadership for multiple reasons: 1. The burden of ministry Serving others in ministry […]
Four Practical Ways to Avoid Burnout
After posting a blog called “Four Warning Signs You Are Approaching Burnout,” I heard from several friends and leaders who were struggling with burnout or felt they were headed in that direction. They wisely recognized warning signs in their lives and were committed to making adjustments. Self-leadership is critical. We must lead ourselves well, and […]
Five Types of Thinkers on Your Team
Aristotle made a classic overstatement by saying, “Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.” It isn’t. “After all, our hearts are more deceitful than anything else, and incurable—who can understand them?” (Jeremiah 17:9) Wisdom comes not from a futile attempt to understand our own hearts, but by fearing the Lord. The author of Proverbs […]