Matching Your Leadership Approach to the Organization’s Needs
In his book, The First 90 Days, Michael Watkins offers this framework as a tool to help leaders think through the phases of the organization or team the leader is entering. What I Appreciate About This Framework I love that the framework emphasizes the leader should (1) understand the context and (2) adjust leadership to […]
Three Ways a Disorganized Leader Holds Back a Team
One does not need to be overly gifted in administration to be a leader. Many have made the case that leadership and management are different from one another. Joseph Rost, in his work Leadership for the 21st Century, argues that both leadership and management are essential but distinct from one another. In his view, management […]
Four Imperatives for Wise Stewardship of Time
We only have a brief amount of time on this earth and a brief amount of time in the roles in which we are serving. All of us are interim leaders. We steward our responsibilities only for a brief and fleeting season. One day someone else will lead the teams we are leading. One day […]
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: […]
The Harm of Leadership Leapfrogging
New leaders are always in great demand. New opportunities and growth keeps the demand high, and sadly the supply is often low. We have, in many places, a leadership development problem. New opportunities and growth confront leaders with the constant need for more leaders. A new opportunity arises for your ministry and you look for […]
4 Tasks of a Senior Leader
My friend Steve Graves recently met with some of our leadership team and shared four tasks of a senior leader. I found his framework helpful and challenging, and in sharing it with you, I have added some of my own thoughts. So, here are the four tasks that every senior leader must be preoccupied with and […]
3 Things the Leader Must Not Delegate
Earlier this week, I wrote a quick post on the difference between delegating and dumping. I noted that delegating differs from dumping in that the leader is still available, still engaged with the heart, and deeply concerned with who receives the delegated responsibility. A wise leader delegates and an effective one delegates well. But there […]
Your Role Is Changing
I have heard that there was a time when you could enter a job and stay in the same role as long as you wanted. You could, if you desired, essentially perform the same tasks in the same way every day and every year. Supposedly, you could find an unchanging rhythm and live in it. […]
Naming Your Ministries and Programs
At some point most church leaders are going to sit in a room and discuss what to name a ministry or a program in their churches. For many churches the naming process is haphazard and unintentional, and the resulting hot mess of names only confirms the lack of coherent strategy in the church. To help […]