Sometimes churches and organizations have a bad case of nearsightedness. They get so focused on the hear and now that they don't see their greatest opportunities on the horizon. I recently heard Gary Hamel describe it like this: "Organizations miss the future because...
Kirk Hanson, professor and executive director of the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, shares some great insight on the leader's achilles' heel. He says it is found when leaders: Believe they know it all Believe they are in charge Believe the rules don't apply to...
So I just ran across a tool that I think has some pretty cool potential for ministry, business, and media in general. It's called "Speaker Text" and it allows you to watch a video and a transcript of the video simultaneously. Not only that, you can jump to...
My small group has been studying the topic of Risk from Hebrews 11 for the past few weeks. Last Sunday night during our group meeting it was really encouraging to hear one member after another express their desire to step beyond just "playing it safe."...
One of the leadership books that has played a big role in businesses over the last few years is Jim Collins' book, Good to Great. What you may not be aware of is a similar book written by Thom Rainer several years ago called, Breakout Churches: Discover How to...
When I look at my personal growth journey, it's really easy to consider it from where I am today...this very moment. For example, one of my personal growth goals this year is in the area of writing. I've set my goal, mapped out a plan to reach it, and I've started...
Drowning! Maybe that's how you feel right now. Perhaps you're in the middle of a huge undertaking and you feel like you've bit off more than you can chew. We've all had those moments when we're living in the shadow of a mountain that's about to overtake us. In that...
Why would somebody work for you? And, if you're the leader, what does your team want and need from you? The employees in your organization come to work each day generally committed to do what the company needs them to do. Let's be honest, few people really want to...
In my last post I talked about "casual benchmarking" as one reason leaders make poor decisions. In their book, Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths, and Total Nonsense Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert Sutton observe that leaders often make poor decisions for a second reason:...