“How important is diversity on a team?” It is a common question I receive from leaders. “Very important” is my default response, and then I add an encouragement that “you should work towards being diverse as your context.” The caveat is important because I recognize that it has been easier for me to build ethnically…
Leadership
5 Ways Thinking “Work-Life Integration” Has Helped Me
In recent years some consultants and counselors have encouraged people to stop thinking “work-life balance” and start thinking “work-life integration.” While some say this is semantics, others believe the language represents a fundamental shift in thinking with “work-life balance” as a view of your life as having disparate parts (work and life) and “integration” as…
The Leader, Exercise, and 4 Ways to Keep Going
When I first heard, as a Christian, challenges to exercise those challenges were typically connected to taking care of the body the Lord has given, to stewarding well the one body the Lord has provided us in this life. When the apostle Paul challenged Timothy to train himself in godliness, he articulated that physical training…
3 Questions to Test Your Ambition
C.S. Lewis gave a graduation commencement speech to graduates at Kings College at the University of London. The students were graduating from a prestigious school with their whole lives in front of them, and Lewis talked to them about their ambitions. He knew many of them would land a great job and long to be…
Leaders and 3 Types of Stress
Right before Dr. John Townsend walked up to shred a guitar to some old Blink 182 songs with the band he has with his sons, I asked him if he was nervous. In a brief moment he talked to me about leaders and the three different types of stress we can face. Before I share…
3 Postures Leaders Don’t Need on Their Leadership Teams
Wise leaders long for their teams to be filled with people who assume the posture and attitude of servant, steward, equipper, and executor. As a result, the whole team benefits and the whole organization/ministry is healthier. But what postures do leaders not want and not need on their teams? Surely there are a plethora of…
10 Ways Leaders Shape Their Teams
The popular and often-quoted leadership axiom “speed of the leader, speed of the team” captures the reality that the leader of a group of people sets the tone and pace for the group. Of course, there are exceptions. There are times that gifted people with high integrity give themselves fully to their work despite their…
4 Reasons Leaders Need Large Blocks of Time
Calendars fill up quickly. If leaders don’t manage their calendars then their calendars will manage them. In my view, one of the most important decisions leaders makes is how to plan their work. Do they just react to what comes their way or do they proactively plan how they will lead and create? Meetings, emergencies,…
The Untruth of “There Is Truth in Every Criticism”
You have likely heard the cliché, “there is a grain of truth in every criticism.” It is usually offered to leaders as an encouragement to look for some truth in every criticism they face, to carefully evaluate themselves in the light of what someone has said about them, a decision they have made, or an…
Leaders and Smoking What You Sell
Drug dealers typically sell to others what they do not use. Lyrics have captured this: “to be a dope man you must qualify, don’t get high off your own supply.” Some believe this is smart and savvy, not only to avoid the damages of drugs but also to maximize profits. Others believe this is the…