5 Big Lessons I Have Learned From a Long-Time Senior Pastor
In the last six months, I have been exposed to a plethora of Kenton-isms – statements Kenton Beshore employs to teach a point to me or to a group of pastors he is mentoring. Kenton served in one place, Mariners Church, for 40 years with 35 of those being as senior pastor. So when he […]
Church Leaders: Because Leadership Is Transferrable…
In the book The Leadership Code, Dave Ulrich and his coauthors articulate that as much as 70% of leadership is transferable from one context to another (the other 30% is specific to that context or industry). This means that the vast majority of what makes someone an effective leader in one context is transferable to […]
Buildings and Other Things That Leaders Shape … That Shape the Orgs They Lead
The great (and true) quote that “we shape our buildings and our buildings shape us” is credited to Winston Churchill. Other less insightful quotes are credited to him on the Internet as well, but this quote is really good because it is so true. As I shared in this post, leaders form their organizations by […]
10 Things Leaders Shape That Shape the Ministry/Organization (Part 1)
Winston Churchill is credited with the insightful quote, “we shape our buildings and our buildings shape us.” He was correct; the buildings we gather in shape the culture of those in the buildings. The statement can be applied to other influences as our ministries and organizations are shaped by more than the buildings we utilize. […]
Sunday was “National Student Pastor Preaching Day” and Why That’s Great
I was preaching the week after Christmas the first time I heard someone joke about the youth pastor preaching the week after Christmas. I was the student pastor. The person was joking that it was “national student pastor preaching Sunday” because many senior pastors take the week off and hand the responsibility to the student […]
4 Ways to Avoid Being a Distracted Leader
An effective leader is a focused leader. A distracted leader greatly limits his or her effectiveness. Instead of leveraging influence, intellect, and inspiration towards a great purpose, a distracted leader divides resources across a plethora of priorities. A distracted leader commonly diffuses attention and focus and chases too many goals. Distractions can come masked as […]
5 More Learnings From Serving the Church as I Go Back to the Church
As I have transitioned out of a role that served tens of thousands of churches a year and back to the local church, leaders have asked me what lessons I am taking with me. “What learnings from serving many churches are you taking with you as you go back to serving one church?” The first […]
3 Reasons Leaders Are Wise to Recognize Their Weaknesses
When a basketball player attempts to do too much on the court, the person is called a “ball hog” or chided for playing “hero ball.” Being a ball hog looks like not trusting your teammates, taking impossible shots instead of giving the ball to a teammate for a much easier one, and insisting that everything […]
A Story of Two Landscapers and One Reminder on Motivating Your Team
Two landscape architects woke up today and essentially performed the same job, executed the same tasks, and worked roughly the same hours. Let’s call these two landscape architects Joseph and Christopher. Joe works for a landscape company and spent his day at the homes of clients of the company, planting annuals and mulching beds in […]
3 Essentials in Christian Leadership Development
When I was a freshman in college, I served a local church as a youth pastor. I was growing in my faith and eager to pour into teenagers. The church was Southside Baptist Church and the pastor was Jerry Key. It was a small church with about 100 people and a handful of kids in […]