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Leaders Trust Their People

Posted by on September 17, 2014

Back in the day of top down leadership it was assumed that the leaders had all the answers and the rest of the organization’s role was to simply execute the plan. It still amazes me in this day of high collaboration that so many organizations still dramatically undervalue their front line workforce. Ken Blanchard literally wrote the book on this subject and his example of this one company is spot on:

“In spite of competitive wages and benefits and an overall positive assessment from employees, the plant was experiencing large spikes in people leaving every summer and management couldn’t figure out why.”

Categories: Delegation Leadership Development Staff Development | Comments Off on Leaders Trust Their People

How To Recover From Burnout

Posted by on September 15, 2014

For years I kept getting incredible results and it seemed that everything was moving forward in a positive direction. Then due to some difficult life situations I hit the wall and had a very difficult time finding my way out. If you are stuck and in a dark place this post by Carey Nieuwhof will be very helpful:

“I had never been through anything quite as deep, or frankly, personally frightening as my burnout 7 years ago. Burnout moves fatigue and the darkness from a place where it was in your control to place where you can simply no longer control either.”

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The Most Effective Leadership Habit

Posted by on September 11, 2014

I love the truth that the single most effective habit you can develop to help lead other people is the ability to lead yourself. This is so often overlooked and significantly undervalued. You cannot successfully pass on to others with credibility things you are not first living out yourself. John Maxwell hits another home run:

“Self-leadership is where credibility is established. It’s what makes your leadership appealing to others. Without self-leadership, a leader can’t make any progress or take anyone with him or her. Here I want to share just one of the ten questions on self-leadership that I answer in Good Leaders Ask Great Questions.“

Categories: Leadership Development Personal Leadership | Comments Off on The Most Effective Leadership Habit

Leaders Make The Hard Calls

Posted by on August 25, 2014

In this age of high collaboration and the use of teams we almost forget many times one person still has to make the call so everyone can move forward. It takes a character driven leader to value the opinions in the room and then still make a decision thats not popular with the group. John Maxwell uses a soccer gave to give us some advice:

“How do make good decisions in circumstances where the right choice is not perfectly clear and where so much is at stake? Let’s return to the analogy of the soccer referee for guidance. A good referee…

Categories: Leadership Development Pastoral Leadership | Comments Off on Leaders Make The Hard Calls

Speak Up Its Why You Are In The Room

Posted by on August 22, 2014

I can well remember the days of leadership when all the decisions were made at the top and the team was there merely to execute. Now it’s the other extreme where everyone on the team is expected to contribute to the outcome. If you have been invited to the meeting make a contribution to the conversation. Michael Hyatt gives us permission to lead:

“Are you waiting for someone to give you permission to lead, grow, or move in your organization? What if you already have all the permission you need?”

Categories: Staff Development Teamwork | Comments Off on Speak Up Its Why You Are In The Room

6 Ways To Lead Staff You Don't Like

Posted by on August 20, 2014

Sometimes leading a team can get real messy. Trying to mesh so may different personalities and perspectives in and of itself is extremely difficult. Beyond that there are those few people that are good at what they do but they are hard to like. Todd Akins has some helpful suggestions:

“Some of you will be deeply offended and leave this post right after the next sentence. While you should love everyone on your staff, it’s ok if you like some people more.”

Categories: Servant Leader Staff Development | Comments Off on 6 Ways To Lead Staff You Don't Like

7 Ways To Make Marriage Better

Posted by on August 18, 2014

I have seen far too many marriages fall apart after the children leave the home and two people no longer even know each other anymore. Marriage in many ways can get harder as the years go by and we have to be constantly learning how to be a better spouse. Ron Edmondson has some great insight:

“For years working with couples I would ask them how strong their marriage was on a scale of 1 to 10. I just wanted to see where they felt they were and how far apart they were from each other.”

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How To Effectively Delegate

Posted by on August 15, 2014

We all fight the battle over investing the time in others vs. just doing the work ourselves. Sometimes its just a control thing and we don’t want to let go. Nothing gives you more margin as a leader than learning how to delegate. John Maxwell drives home this point:

“When it comes to delegation, many employees identify with Wile E. Coyote. One moment they feel like they’re succeeding on the job, and then suddenly their supervisor drops a huge assignment on them, out of nowhere, offering little instruction on how to complete it.”

Categories: Delegation Leadership Development | Comments Off on How To Effectively Delegate

Leading People Who Are Different

Posted by on August 6, 2014

Leadership is not a one size fits all science. Situational leadership demands that we not only value the differences in the people on our team but we shift our leadership style to prioritize what they need on any given project. To do this consistently we need to apply the principles in Mark Miller’s post:

“Can you think of a challenging situation you faced as a leader and later you realized it was a blessing rather than a curse? Today’s question may fall into that category.“How do you lead a team with vastly different personalities?”

Categories: Leadership Development Pastoral Leadership Staff Development | Comments Off on Leading People Who Are Different

How To Handle Teenage Rebellion

Posted by on August 1, 2014

Parenting is extremely hard work that requires lots of patience and unconditional love. There is no stage of parenting that is more difficult that dealing with all the transitions during the teenage years. Its important to understand its just as hard for them as it is for you. Mark Merrill has some great insights that will be helpful:

“In 5 Reasons Why Your Teen is Rebelling, I shared with you underlying reasons your teen may be rebelling. Once you understand why they are rebelling, you’ll have a clearer picture of what you can do about it.”

Categories: Parenting | Comments Off on How To Handle Teenage Rebellion