Church, Believe in Young Leaders

Churches often struggle with empowering younger leaders, with handing significant responsibility to the next generation. Yet the Scripture gives us the sense that a church should believe in young leaders. The apostle Paul encouraged Timothy to “Let no one despise your youth; instead, you should be an example to the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, […]

3 Reasons Some Churches Struggle to Empower Younger Leaders

Intuitively church folks know that their churches must empower younger leaders. Simply stated, if a church fails to engage new generations, the church will eventually die. Yet while people know a church must empower younger leaders, some churches struggle to do so. They struggle to hand significant responsibility to younger leaders, to empower younger leaders […]

3 Reasons Leaders Are Made, Not Born

People have often asked, “Are leaders born or made?” This is not a new debate, not a new opening discussion question, and not a new title for an article or section in a book. Wise writers often hedge with a “surely both” response, noting that there are certainly God-given qualities in leaders and yet also […]

10 Proverbs for Leaders

While the Bible is not a book about leadership (it is God’s self-disclosing story of His creation, pursuit, rescue, and restoration of a people for Himself), there are incredible nuggets of leadership wisdom within the Bible. Because our faith should impact every aspect of our lives, including our leadership, we find great truth within the […]

3 Shortcuts Leaders Should Never Take

In a culture that values instant everything and struggles waiting for anything, shortcuts are all the rave. Hack has even become a buzzword for taking shortcuts, maximizing time, and getting things done more quickly. “Hack your schedule.” “Hack your calendar.” “Hack your leadership meeting.” “Hack your life.” I am not against all hacking as some […]

Three Ways Millennials Make You a Better Leader

Some bemoan the inevitable—that millennials (those born between 1981 and 1996) are becoming a larger section of the workforce. If you Google “millennials and work,” a plethora of articles will show up. Some affirm traits in millennials that contribute to a healthy work environment: creativity, technological savvy, or altruism. Others point to millennials and express […]

What Makes A Great Leader? (An Interview With Author Dave Ulrich)

In my upcoming book with Kevin Peck on leadership development (Designed to Lead), we reference research and writing from Dave Ulrich. Dave is a professor of business at University of Michigan and partner and cofounder of The RBL Group. Dave has been ranked the #1 Management Educator & Guru by Business Week, selected by Fast […]

Three Reasons You Should Care for Your Team’s Self-Leadership

Dee Hock is the founder and former CEO of Visa International and has been an advocate of leaders investing significant time and energy in self-leadership. He has advised: If you seek to lead, invest at least 50% of your time leading yourself—your own purpose, ethics, principles, motivation, conduct. Invest at least 20% leading those with […]

Two Reasons Our Churches Aren’t Making Disciples

Today’s post is from my good friend Robby Gallaty. Robby is the senior pastor at Long Hollow Baptist Church. Every time we get together I walk away motivated and challenged about our mission of making disciples. The first act of obedience for a Christian after baptism is to make disciples. I believe the purpose for […]

Three Types of Friends Every Leader Needs

Some have lamented that leadership is lonely. The unique pressure and responsibilities that leaders face can push some leaders to isolation. But wise leaders reject the temptation to remove themselves from others. Great leaders know they need others for both encouragement and wisdom. Here are three types of friends that every leader needs: 1. A […]