10 Keys for Compelling Teaching
Landmarks are signs that provide clear direction. They help us keep our bearings and move us down the right path. Craig shares ten up-close and personal ways to be a compelling teacher of God’s Word.
Craig Parro
Leaders
Craig Parro
Fostering an Environment of Collaboration
I’ve been in many church offices where I observe walled-off office after walled-off office. Collaboration is paramount to a healthy church culture. Even if you are the only paid staff member you still need to be collaborating internally on projects, creativity, and other things.
Joe Hoagland
The Most Under-Rated Word in the Life of Christian Leaders
I don’t know what condition you are in right now. I have read the studies about pastors, but more importantly I drink a lot of coffee with church leaders. Some of you are exhausted, discouraged and want to throw in the towel. Some of you are full of vision and bursting with excitement for what God is doing at this very moment. This may [...]
Alan Briggs
Single Tasking
Smartphones are indispensable for today’s leader, yet smartphones get us off track as well. On the plus side, multitasking is phenomenally enabled by those handhelds. However, focusing on one thing for an extended period, without electronic interruption, significantly impacts our results. Leaders must learn to balance multi-tasking and [...]
Corey Olynik
Can I Borrow Your Glasses?
Research provided by McKinsey’s Organizational Health Index suggests that one of the most important behaviors for effective leadership is “seeking different perspectives.” Why do leaders choose to “go it alone?” What are the mental roadblocks that prevent leaders from taking advantage of the value of different perspectives?
Paul Metler
Enjoying Silence?
In order to come to a place of silence and experience God’s presence, I have found it necessary to deal with the noise in my outer and inner life. I need to know how to allow that noise to either become a part of the background or to allow it to become transformational through the surfacing and dealing of those inner thoughts and [...]
Stephen Mayers
9 Traits of Excellent Church Leaders
If we strive to be excellent leaders, we must be intentional and passionate about serving Christ and His church ‒ moving forward, engaging culture. Leaders are born, but they can also be developed.
Matthew Fretwell
Is Your Leadership More Than Words?
If you want to be the kind of leader whose organization is on the cutting edge, stop asking for someone to give you an answer you already know. Great leaders have the courage to act!
Mike Mowery
The Prison of Familiarity
When was the last time you changed your opinion positively about a fellow-worker in your ministry team? I wonder if I miss important insights and challenges because I have stopped listening to certain colleagues. I may be stuck with outdated opinions of people. I’m imprisoned by my familiarity.
Ahadu Gebreamlak
Leading a March of Fools
The mood in the meeting tent was thick with anger, disbelief and frustration. Ten trained leaders were ready for action. Ten warriors were prepared for battle. Forty years of frustration was ready to be appeased and four decades of struggle and suffering was about to be assuaged. And now, this. The Jordan had been crossed. […]
Scott Rodin
When Sheep Bite
Members of flocks might wish shepherds were more sensitive to their needs. But the reality is, when shepherds find their sheep can bite like wolves, they easily become too defensive to act in their own best interests, let alone that of their flocks. This is true not only of pastors, but Christian leaders of all sorts.
David Goodman
Acknowledging God in Your Biblical Leadership
God doesn’t impose on any leader the need to acknowledge Him as the source of their leadership abilities or gratitude for placing them in that position.
James Bruyn
Skip What They Skip
The late, great Elmore Leonard (Get Shorty) was once asked why so many people like his novels. He answered, “I leave out the parts readers skip.” Wow. Don’t you wish more business speakers took that advice? Can you?
Corey Olynik
The Steward Leader as Pattern Maker
Steward leaders must understand the significant impact they have on their organizational culture. To help us think about that impact, consider the concept of fractals. Fractals are complex structures that originate in simplicity. One example is a fern, which appears to be a complex structure of countless shapes and patterns that are [...]
Scott Rodin
Hope in Heaviness
By checking in on the emotional health of her staff and creating spaces for celebration and hope in the midst of the heaviness, Ann stewards her relationships with her staff and their relationships with the patients they care for.
Kelsey McFaul
6 Tips to Writing the Perfect Job Description
The culture is the most important piece to the puzzle. It determines the style of person that will be successful in your organization. Once you define the culture, you need to do something that will attract them. The job description will give you a tool to do just that, if it is written well.
Fred Noble
When Leaders Act Like Kids, and Kids Act Like Leaders
Whether we know it or not, we adults (parents, educators, coaches, employers, aunts and uncles) are viewed by students as leaders. We are older and expected to be wiser than students. We must be careful of what we say and how we say it.
Tim Elmore
How to Preach to the Secular Age
Amid everything else Charles Taylor’s A Secular Age attempts to accomplish, at its base, it helps the spiritual leader see that our modern society has come to embrace “self-sufficient humanism.”
John Starke
A Simple but Incredible Way to Reach Your Community and Grow
Tom’s church tried a unique way of reaching out to their church’s community. We gave each of our members attending a loaf of bread and asked them to give the bread to someone in their neighborhood or community.
Thom S. Rainer
Let It Go
Most leaders I talk with are working too hard; they never shut it down. No wonder they run out of ideas.
Corey Olynik