3 Downsides of Only Focusing on Your Upsides
On a recent Harvard Business Review podcast, Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, CEO of Hogan Assessments, expressed concern that the emphasis on strengths-based coaching may actually weaken leaders. According to Chamorro-Premuzic, despite the popularity of “focusing on your strengths,” there is no scientific evidence that suggests we should focus on our strengths and ignore our weaknesses. And while […]
The Biggest Hindrance to a Leader’s Growth
Sitting in an airport for a few hours can easily remind you that people struggle with self-awareness. There is the guy who does stretching exercises in a small and crowed space, the guy who talks extremely loud on his phone, and the person who lays down on the row of chairs without thinking others will […]
6 Questions You Should Be Asking Those You Lead
Great leaders ask great questions. Great leaders ask questions to learn but also to encourage those they lead to think strategically. Below are six questions leaders should be asking those they lead. They may not show up in a meeting agenda or on a questionnaire, but wise leaders are continually asking those they lead these […]
One Big Principle in Developing Leaders
One big principle in leadership development is to prepare people for their future roles, not their current roles. Ram Charan, in his work The Leadership Pipeline, identifies training people for their existing job instead of their next one as a major gap in most leadership development initiatives. People must be developed for the future, not […]
3 Common (yet Foolish) Excuses for Delaying Leadership Development
While leaders are responsible for future leadership, there is a constant temptation to delay developing others. If you are addicted to short-term results, it will be easy to delay developing others. After all, leadership development is deeply countercultural in an instant gratification culture. And while leaders intuitively know they are responsible to develop others, many […]
4 Warning Signs Your Church Isn’t Developing Leaders
If every believer is a minister, then clearly the role of a ministry leader is to prepare, not to perform.
3 Reasons Leading Volunteers Is a Great Test
I believe that leading volunteers is truly a great test of one’s leadership. In many ways, leading volunteers is the ultimate test of one’s ability to lead others. When I interview someone, I don’t only look for their work with “paid staff”; I pay close attention to their history leading volunteers. I have hired people […]
4 Essential Leadership Practices in Ministry
I recently spoke to a group of “emerging leaders,” and was asked to speak about essential leadership practices—areas of leadership where ministry leaders must continually focus. There are at least four essential leadership practices that transcend a role on a local church staff. Regardless of the ministry role, whether leading as senior pastor or in […]
3 Reasons You MUST Regularly Think About Succession
With the team I lead at LifeWay, I regularly discuss succession with those on my team. Props goes to Earl Roberson, the associate VP in our division, for encouraging me in this several years ago, setting the example, and operationalizing the practice with our team. We have discussions about who would be ready to move […]
Young Leaders, Believe in Your Church
Throughout history God has greatly used young leaders to challenge and lead His people, and the Scripture gives us the sense that a church should believe in young leaders. A church that does not believe in young leaders is a church that has drifted from our great history. Because of this, I have challenged churches […]