Character
Articles in this category focus on how a leader can refine and build their character in Christ and lead by example from a Holy life.
The Issue No One Will Hold You Accountable For
Tomorrow will have enough issues, and worry doesn’t solve things. Worry is almost always equated with the two “p’s”: provision and protection. Chronic worry is something you choose, but so is courage. Every day we should choose to put our trust in the Almighty a little bit more.
Alan Briggs
How to Help Someone Not Change
We have this funny idea that if we can make people see how angry we really are, then they’ll change. If we can make them feel our anger, then they’ll finally get the point and change. But it doesn’t work that way. Anger actually has the opposite effect to what we intend. Anger hardens; love, peace, and gentleness soften. Anger condemns; the Holy Spirit convicts.
Stephen Altrogge
Three Keys to Avoiding the Curve that Kills Good Leadership (and Leaders)
Leaders may be described as curving inward toward themselves and their own interests or curving outwards towards others. How do we achieve the convex shape of the leader who is “curved outward” toward those they lead and serve?
Scott Rodin
The Disciplines of a Healthy Leader
The healthy and disciplined leader realizes he’s already broken. In this brokenness, he can be whole if he allows himself to be.
Joseph Lalonde
Handling Our Blind Spots Well
What are your blind spots? How do you deal with them? Do you overlook them, or do you submit them to the Lord and ask other Christians to help you tackle these areas?
Stephen Vaughn
Find Joy in Everything
I realized at the funeral that I need to change my perspective. As the Bible clearly commands: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say rejoice” (Phil 4:4).
Rick James
The Role of Patience and Pain in Leadership
Looking around at the most relevant and cutting edge ideas about leadership today, I’m guessing these two ‒ patience and pain ‒ probably wouldn’t make the list..
Adrian Pei
Five Ways Leaders Lose Credibility
The most important leadership characteristic is credibility. Here are five common ways leaders lose their credibility.
Eric Geiger
Excuses, Excuses, Excuses
"What's the excuse this time?" So often our team embarks on a new initiative and partway in, we can already hear people beginning to frame excuses as to why it won't (and eventually doesn't) work. What if we got them all into the open beforehand?
Corey Olynik
Great Preacher = Great Leader? Not So Fast!
When a leader admits his or her weaknesses in front of an audience, I think to myself: “That’s great that you see that and can articulate it so well. But how will you follow that up? What kinds of steps will you take over the next few months and years in response to what you just shared with everyone? Are you sharing because you want admiration – or accountability?”
Adrian Pei
Life’s Greatest Challenges: Where Leaders are Made
We make our plans but they often go in much different ways. The key is how we respond to life’s challenges. Do we complain and moan? I often do. The challenge is to see beyond the circumstances and see the golden nuggets in the midst of our trials.
Joe Handley
The Danger of Possessiveness
In leadership, owning my own idea can be dangerous. If, as a leader, I place my value or my self-esteem on every idea I initiate, I will eventually become isolated from the valuable input of my team.
Jess MacCallum
7 Attributes of a Mature Leader
The best leaders I know are consistently getting better, but while all of that is true, you can often spot a mature leader. They share common attributes.
Ron Edmondson
What’s an “On the Level” Leader Worth?
It’s never too early or late to strengthen our commitment to becoming a God-honoring leader. Everyone impacted by our leadership, including us, will be so grateful we did.
Dan Lovaglia
3 Characteristics of a Kingdom Disciple
The primary calling of pastors and leaders in the Church is to lead people to become the type of disciples Christ has called them to be. And this means that ministry leaders must model what it means to be disciples.
Eric Geiger
3 Ways to Ensure Your Message Is Not Heard
The most important characteristic in effective communication and effective leadership is credibility. Just as people are unable to follow a leader they cannot believe or trust, a message will not be heard when it is delivered by someone who lacks credibility.
Eric Geiger
7 Actions For When You Can’t Respect the Leader
An individual can continue to grow even with a leader he or she cannot respect – sometimes even more. Here are seven actions I suggest when you don’t respect the leader.
Ron Edmondson
The Terrifying Danger of Falling off My Own Platform
There’s no shortage of answers, and in the wake of each pastoral scandal, all sorts of finger pointing ensues. Certainly, we could, and probably should, question our definitions of success or our defining ministry philosophies. My goal is much more meager.
Matt Rogers
Quiet Your Ego
It seems like a simple recipe. First, you quiet your ego. Then, you become a better learner. Finally, you emerge a better thinker. If you have ever witnessed a disaster being pulled from a smoking oven, you know that some recipes are more difficult to execute than others. The recipe for better thinking is one of those difficult recipes and ego is the spoiler.
Paul Metler
Rewards of Leadership
Rewards come in all shapes and fashions. David exhorts us that the greatest reward of leadership is being forced to frequently confront and admit our own shortcomings, constantly growing even as we are the catalysts for others to grow.
David Goodman