Leaders who bash their predecessors, either overtly or subtly, are speaking much louder about themselves than they are speaking about their predecessors. It is a common occurrence, sadly, in leadership. You have likely seen it. A new leader arrives and starts to speak poorly about the past, even about the leader of the past. Perhaps…
Pride
3 Warning Signs You Could Love Your Title More Than Your Task
In his famous work, City of God, Augustine penned this challenge: No one can be a good bishop if he loves his title and not his task. It is entirely possible for a ministry leader to love title more than task. Because we can make idols of anything, we can certainly make our titles the…
4 Signs of a Self-Centered Team Member
If you have been leading for any period of time you have learned the corrosive power of selfishness on a team. Instead of being committed to the mission of the ministry or organization, a selfish team member is obsessed with his or her own agenda. Selfish team members can’t bring unbiased wisdom to a discussion…
3 Reasons Gratitude Makes Leaders More Effective
Gary Vaynerchuck is a successful entrepreneur, author, and CEO of VaynerMedia. Among marketing professionals, he is known for his skill in social media marketing and brand building in the digital space. He is also known for tireless work ethic. He has frequently pointed to gratitude as his motivation. He wrote: Knowing that I was born…
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…
Links for Leaders 4/6/18
4 Ways to Be a Better Communicator and More Present in Conversations—Hayden Field Specificity is the key to unlock effective communication. The problem: Finding the right balance can be tricky. Too few specifics can mean sacrificing clarity, while too many can be seen as condescending. If you lean towards over-explaining, instead of assuming the other…
3 Warning Signs You Are Responding with Pride to a Leader’s Fall
People love to watch great and mighty buildings fall. We find it fascinating that a structure that took years to build can come down in a few seconds. Some arrive hours early for a scheduled implosion to get a good view of the devastating seconds when the building topples inward. Those who love to watch…
How Should We Respond When a Leader Implodes?
I was at lunch with a friend recently, processing the news of another fallen leader. While perhaps we are only more aware of the number of leaders falling because of our constant connectedness via social media and online news, it sure feels like an epidemic at times. Regardless of whether or not the reality of…
Why I Almost Didn’t Write the Book AND Why I Have Already Struggled to Promote It
I almost did not write the book How To Ruin Your Life because I was afraid people would assume I was piling on, leveraging the pain of others, and kicking good people while they were down. In my role at LifeWay, we had been through a painful season of seeing leaders we love disqualify themselves…
The Good and the Bad of Our Fascination with Implosions
We are fascinated with implosions, with buildings falling. People come from miles around to watch them topple, tune into live television, and watch replays in slow motion. A video of a bus blocking the implosion view of the Georgia Dome went viral in 2017. How dare a bus driver continue his daily routine and disturb…