Five Dangers of Only Looking at the Past
There are many leaders who are stuck in the past. While there are dangers in leading with only a view of the present or with only a view of the future, leading with your mind only rooted in the past is destructive. Here are five dangers with only looking at the past as you lead: […]
Four Ways Leaders Should Rebuke and Challenge
A leader recently asked me for counsel on “how to confront someone.” My response was, “How do you like to be confronted?” I answered the question with a question because all of us, at some point, need confrontation. If we believe that sanctification is a lifelong process and that the Lord uses community to mature […]
How to (Re)gain Your Leader’s Trust
If you attempt great things, you will experience moments of failure and disappointment. You will make mistakes. Your plans will not always go as they were mapped out to go. Life will mess with your best plans. As Mike Tyson once said, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” In some […]
Four Dangers of Only Looking at the Future
Last week, I blogged about three dangers of only looking at the present. Wise leaders lead and execute in the current day, learn from the past, and plan and prepare for the future. Leaders must be aware of three spheres of time; past, present, and future, and lead with a view of all three. Many […]
Three Ways to Redirect the Spotlight
C.S. Lewis wrote that pride is the great sin that we see in others but fail to see in our own lives. Augustine wrote that “pride is the commencement of all sin,” that is, the sin that leads to every other sin. The Scripture reminds us that pride disgusts the Lord and precedes our downfall: […]
5 Questions on Creating an Organizational Culture
I recently sat down with Todd Adkins and Barnabas Piper to discuss leadership and reading for the “Five Questions Leadership Podcast.” You should check out the podcast, which has skyrocketed on iTunes, for some great content. Here are the five questions we discussed about organizational culture, with a few notes I jotted down after each […]
Amazon, Values, and the People of God
The recent New York Times article outlining the culture at Amazon created quite a stir, even prompting CEO Jeff Bezos to respond and declare the article to be inaccurate. The article read very similarly to the biography on Bezos and Amazon. In both the book and the article, the culture at Amazon is painted as […]
Five Signs It Is Time to Give Up with a Critic
Leaders will have critics. The author Elbert Hubbard quipped, “Do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing, and you’ll never be criticized.” And while feedback is different from criticism, both can be helpful. Feedback is different from criticism in that it seeks to correct and restore rather than embarrass and destroy. Nevertheless, the Lord can and […]
You Are Micromanaging IF…
Sometimes when one claims to be enduring micromanagement from a leader, the person is actually experiencing good leadership. A good leader understands the skill and experience of each person on the team and adjusts the approach accordingly. Sometimes, because the person is new or unproven, good leadership means being more involved, giving more direction. However, […]
Stop Saying You Are Being Micromanaged IF…
In many cases, what is called “micromanagement” is really a wise leader giving direction to someone who has shown they still need direction. According to Ken Blanchard’s famous “situational leadership” model, a person who has not proven to be competent in a specific skill should receive “directing leadership” from the leader. Not to give direction […]