If You Have to Choose Between Clarity and Creativity…
Clarity and creativity are both admirable qualities. People seek both when creating a resource, when delivering a message, when leading a team, and when designing ministry strategy. Authors, artists, song writers, communicators, ministry leaders, and a plethora of other people desire for their work to be both clear and creative. But if you have to […]
2 Reasons We Ignore Our Weaknesses Instead of Addressing Them
The common leadership counsel to focus on your strengths is wise, with one important caveat. Your weaknesses must be addressed and brought to an acceptable norm or they will overshadow your strengths. Yes, focus on your strengths, but your weaknesses cannot be so overwhelming as to debilitate your leadership credibility. In his book, The Leadership […]
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 Marks of Humility in Leadership
We tend to despise pride in others and we recognize its destructive power. The Scripture teaches us that pride goes before destruction and haughty eyes before a fall. We long to serve with leaders who are humble, and we are wise to walk in humility ourselves. But what does humility in leadership look like? Here […]
4 Types of Managers (and the Most Effective at Developing a Team)
Peter Drucker once stated that leaders are responsible for future leadership. In other words, one of the essential roles of a leader is to develop other leaders. Of course, not all leaders place a high value on investing in others, and even among those leaders who are committed to developing others, different approaches are utilized. […]
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 […]
2 Views on Hiring from Inside/Outside
A role is open on your team. Is your first inclination to hire from outside your organization or to hire from within? Most leaders have a default position on this issue, where their mind initially goes. They either tend to think first about hiring someone from within or they think first about what type of […]
6 Important Reminders for Leaders from Proverbs
The Bible is not a self-help book given to us to help us become better people, better leaders, or better at whatever it is we attempt. If it is about leadership, it is about God’s rule and reign and His relentless pursuit of people. At the same time, the Bible is incredibly practical and offers […]
2 Views on Hiring Friends
Should you hire a friend to work for you? If you are sitting among a group of leaders and that question is posed, you get a variety of responses, each with a heavy dose of passion. “Don’t hire anyone you can’t let go.” “Life is too short to serve alongside people you don’t like. So, […]
If You Are Not Faithful With Little…
Jesus taught “Whoever is faithful in very little is also faithful in much, and whoever is unrighteous in very little is also unrighteous in much” (Luke 16:10). The context of the passage is being generous with our Master’s money, but the principle can be applied to other areas of our lives as well. Here is how this […]