Five Questions on Reading and Leadership
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, with a few thoughts after each question. How important is reading for […]
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 Dangers of Only Looking at the Present
The present reality is a strong pull on leaders. When a leader wants to rise above the day and look to the future, the urgent can quickly pull a leader back to focusing on today. The problems and challenges of today threaten to stop leaders from looking to the future, and from learning from the […]
Five Ways to Critique Without Crushing
As a leader, you owe it to those you lead to offer them feedback. Without feedback, development is hampered, as people don’t know what actions to repeat and what actions to tweak. Giving encouragement and accolades is not something leaders dread, but offering feedback that could be perceived as critical is something many leaders struggle […]
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 […]
Getting Hired: 3 Lessons from My Wife
My wife, Kaye, is an awesome teacher. And I am not just saying that because she is my wife (objective evidence: she was “teacher of the year” when we lived in Cincinnati). She is super-encouraging, creative, and passionate about helping children learn and become who they were created to be. When we started having our […]