Leadership

The Information Age has created something unique for our times: young leaders now have access to more information than ever before. However, this abundance and opportunity for education have led to what can be termed "great miseducation." Young leaders are highly informed but not fully formed, often lacking the wisdom, character, and learned experience essential for effective leadership. The need for genuine relationships has never been greater, and this open door presents a significant opportunity for the right people to step forward. But who are these right people?

Every single person on your team wants to work for a mission they care about, leaders they trust, with work that’s life-giving. Use the stages of organizational doubt as a framework to help your team stay engaged and believe in your church.

The problem with trust is that it isn't a one time initiative, but rather the outcome of ongoing behavior. The opportunity for every leader is that there are simple and consistent things you can do to build trust, and some of the most trust-building activities are things you can control.

Can you imagine if just one of the rowers decided to stop rowing and take a breather, or worse, dip their oar in the water while they rested? Any leader of a high-performing organization (and I hope you believe your church should be high-performing!) deserves to have a team that is fully aligned.

Getting to the finish line on making a decision can be exhausting and the wave that washes over us once resolve and resolution are reached is just peaceful enough to tempt us into believing that the hard work is done. In reality, we’ve simply finished the swim portion in the triathlon of leadership

One of the most important jobs of a leader is to stay encouraged. Discouragement drains energy, blocks vision, and gets passed on to those we lead, and because of that it is our responsibility to be in situations and with people who encourage us.

In 2012, my wife and I were trying to figure out where God was calling us to plant a church. Through a dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, we landed on a few things we were looking for in a city that we would move to, plant roots in and raise our family. We had this mentality that if we were going to love the people of our city, then we had to love our city. Meaning, if we hated things about our city, like the traffic, the growth, the lack of good restaurants, etc, then that would come out in our interaction with people. It would be very difficult to love the people of a city, if we hated the city.

Recently I’ve struggled to find the right approach to my time with the Lord each morning. It’s not been a matter of consistency, but rather impact on my walk vs. the routine of checking a box...

I read a whole lot of books in 2023. I won’t say how many because I don’t want to brag! A catchy slogan and goal for the new year might have been “Read MORE in ’24!” But an article in the Chicago Tribune by the Books Columnist John Warner challenged my thinking.

On a video call in 2020, with 17 lead pastors from Germany to Seattle, we processed key leadership roles pastors need to play during economic downturns, unemployment, and general crises.

When I imagine the church of the future and what is needed going forward, I keep coming back to this question from leadership expert Patrick Lencioni – Who will you be while you do what you do?