Four Essentials to a Simple Ministry Strategy

As a football season is about to begin, imagine a head coach stands in front of the team he leads and, with great passion, declares, “Here is our strategy. We are going to win! We are about winning! Let’s go win!” The team breaks from the huddle with no idea how they will win. Practice […]

Four Mistakes Leaders Make When Handling Conflict

Conflict is going to happen. After sin entered the world through the disobedience of Adam and Eve, God told Eve that the relationship with her husband would no longer be perfect: “Your desire will be for your husband, yet he will rule over you” (Genesis 3:16). Scholars have pointed out that the same wording of […]

A Sobering Reality Leaders Must Recognize

Leaders have major impact on the teams and organizations they lead. Their leadership impacts the direction and the future. Their leadership attracts the type of people who will join the team, and greatly influences the culture. Even the expressions and mannerisms of leaders are often picked up by others throughout the organization. Leaders have a […]

Three Indicators Your Meeting Should Have Been an Email

Last week I gave indicators that your email should have been a meeting. There are times when a push for efficiency via email backfires and actually creates more work. In those times, a meeting would have been more effective and more efficient. However… there are times when a meeting is really a waste of time. […]

Five Reasons a Team Lacks Joy

Being on a team that is filled with joy, passion, and purpose is invigorating. Being on a team where the collective soul lacks joy adversely impacts everyone. A joyless team harms the people on the team and those the team serves. Here are five common reasons joy eludes a team: 1. An unclear mission When […]

Four Ways to Adjust Your Leadership Style to Fit Your Team

Great leaders are servants of those they lead. Because each person on a leadership team is unique, wise leaders lead each person differently. Instead of insisting that every person adjust to the leader, great leaders adjust to those they lead. Here are four practical ways to adjust to those you lead: 1. Communication If you […]

Five Reasons Leaders Must Constantly Clarify and Communicate Mission

Strong teams, ministries, and organizations are filled with a clear sense of mission. You won’t have a strong culture without a strong sense of mission. A healthy culture is cultivated, in part, by a clear sense of “here is what we are going to do together.” Jim Collins wrote that when an “organization has a […]

Two Key Communication Benefits From the “Buy-In Bullseye”

It is hard to overstate the importance of communication when unveiling a new initiative or introducing change. The communication of a change is as critical as the strategic thinking behind the change. The communication of a new initiative is often as important as the initiative itself. A leadership team may have an incredible strategy, but […]

Four Indications You Have an Untrustworthy Team Member

Bad company corrupts good character (1 Corinthians 15:33). An untrustworthy team member can spoil and corrupt the collective character of a team. One team member can adversely impact the whole, can adversely impact the culture of the team you lead. Here are four indicators of an untrustworthy team member: Negative about everyone else If the […]

You Are Wasting Your Weekly Staff Meeting If…

Most people struggle with meetings, unless they are leading them—and they think those are awesome! The truth is that meetings are important. Without meetings, teams can move in a plethora of directions, communication gaps can grow, and execution can suffer. But weekly meetings, if not led well, can be an absolute waste of time. And […]