3 Reasons Student Pastors Make Great Senior Pastors
First Baptist Church in West Monroe (First West) is a great church that has served North Louisiana well for a long time. A year ago they asked their student pastor, Michael Wood, to serve as their senior pastor. Not only were the people convinced of his character, as they watched his life for several years, […]
Leaders—Go Forth and Die
Robert Quinn, a leadership professor at the University of Michigan, has joined others in pointing out that the origin of the word “leader” means to “go forth and die.” In his book Change the World, he writes: Leadership authors do not understand that leadership means “Go forth to die.” If they did understand it, they […]
3 Ways to Identify Your Ministry Convictions
Most church leaders will claim they have a conviction to develop leaders and a conviction for biblical community—to help people grow together in community. But it is one thing to say you have certain convictions and quite another to display those convictions in your everyday leadership. If something is a conviction in ministry, you cannot […]
Is There a “Leadership Code”?
James MacGregor Burns wrote, “Leadership is one of the most observed and least understood phenomena on earth.” So to better understand leadership, Dave Ulrich, Norm Smallwood, and Kate Sweetman set out to discover if there is a “leadership code” —a set of leadership characteristics that are transferable from one context to another. Perhaps you have heard […]
3 Reasons Pastors Should Read Leadership Books
Earlier this week, I wrote about some reasons pastors should reject leadership books. There are seasons in a church leader’s life when reading leadership books is a bad idea. If one’s devotional life is weak, Christian worldview is not firm, or compassion for people is waning, then church leaders should flee from leadership books. However, […]
3 Reasons Pastors Should Reject Leadership Books
There are two polar opposite views about church leaders adding “leadership and business books” to their reading diet. On one extreme, there are people who consider it unspiritual and ludicrous for a church leader to read a leadership book written from a perspective that is not distinctly Christian. After all, what does leading an organization […]
4 Words Leaders Must Say on a Regular Basis
Leaders are always communicating, even when they are not talking. But what words must a leader say on a regular basis? Here are four words leaders must use, not merely every now and then but continually. Over and over again. 1. Why Wise leaders constantly ask “why” and continually communicate the “why.” Wise leaders communicate […]
The 10 Commandments of Christian Leadership Development
When it comes to developing as a leader…specifically as a Christian leader, here are ten imperatives for development. Though not an exhaustive or infallible list, these challenges will help develop you as a leader. Follow first. Follow Jesus above all. Jesus is the One who transforms our character. If your love for Him grows cold, […]
A Challenge to Young Leaders
Earlier this week I pointed out that there are fewer leaders who meet the typical “leadership profile” for positions such as senior pastor. From a practical and purely demographic vantage point, there are fewer people in Generation X than the preceding Boomer generation, so there are currently less available leaders in the often sought-after 35-50 […]
3 Ways Leaders Can Maintain an Exercise Routine (And Why They Should)
I have not always exercised as I should. During my doctoral work and writing my first book, I packed on extra pounds as I didn’t exercise and ate a ton of carbs to keep writing late into the night. I felt sluggish, less engaged mentally, and more stressed. The Lord convicted me that I was […]