Blog-Generated | Coaching Churches

It’s Time To Regain First Generation Faith

Posted by on January 8, 2019

Over the years I have served in many different churches. Some small and some very large. Some long term and a couple of church plants. As in any organization, the ability of leaders to maintain the vision and passion of the founders over time is an incredible challenge. This post by J.D. Greear is a must read for all church leaders:

“Many years ago at The Summit Church, there was a group of people who said, “Jesus and his mission will be first.” But here’s what happens: When churches like ours get big and “settled,” so to speak, they experience a natural inertia. Within a generation, they move from mission to maintenance. They go from being reckless in the mission to being comfortable in the institution.”

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Beware Of Emotional Affairs

Posted by on December 18, 2018

I warn you that some of you will think this post by TGC is over-reacting to the new realities of social media. After 30 plus years of dealing with broken marriages, especially with leaders in the ministry, I absolutely disagree. This content by Ellen Mary Dykas is spot on and the questions she asks are all extremely important:

“Josh had been at a new church for four months when Sara—his pastor’s wife—invited him to join their community group, which was a weekly gathering of both singles and married couples. Sara and her husband, Craig, wanted a group where married couples mentored singles.

Josh and Sara hit it off, and they discovered lots of common interests. Their conversation easily flowed during the fellowship time before the Bible study. Sara was surprised how much she missed Josh when he couldn’t attend. Josh realized that talking to Sara became the main reason he enjoyed the group. Not a big deal, it’s just talking.”

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5 Steps To Leading Through Personal Vision

Posted by on December 9, 2018

I was fortunate to attend one of Stephen Covey’s first seminars on 7 Habits. The one that changed my life was Habit 2, Beginning With The End In Mind. I realized then that if I did not take the time to define my core values and purpose in life, someone else was going to do it for me. This Forbes Coaches Council post is a great reminder for every leader:

“Have you ever worked for someone who wasn’t clear on who they were, what they stood for or where they were leading you? This can be very confusing and demotivating. Developing a personal vision statement is critical for leaders because it provides a framework for decision making and creates a road map to move forward with intention and purpose. It also motivates and inspires those they lead.”

Categories: Church Scattered Core Values | Comments Off on 5 Steps To Leading Through Personal Vision

Busyness Is Our Worst Addiction

Posted by on December 6, 2018

Every day we all ask ourselves How am I doing? Where you go to answer that question is critically important. We all need security and significance but if you have replaced real accomplishments in your life with just more activity, especially at work, then you are headed for a bad place. This Forbes post is worth the read:

“When you think of addiction, you probably think of drugs and alcohol. However, you can be addicted to anything. Addiction is being compulsively or physiologically dependent on something habit-forming. Do you know what most of us are addicted to? Being busy. Busy is habit-forming. People pride themselves on being busy, but busyness is an addiction that needs to be cured.”

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5 Ways Smart People Sabotage Their Success

Posted by on November 29, 2018

The ability to process information quickly and come up with successful solutions is a tremendous asset. However, in this ever increasing collaborative work environment this strength can become a weakness. We must find a way as leaders to bring our best to the organization but make sure we are developing other leaders in the process. This HBR post was excellent:

“Raw intelligence is undoubtedly a huge asset, but it isn’t everything. And sometimes, when intellectually gifted people don’t achieve as much as they’d like to, it’s because they’re subtly undermining themselves. If you’re in this situation, the good news is that when you understand these foibles you can turn them around. Here are five I’ve seen smart people particularly struggle with:”

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The Power Of Gratitude

Posted by on November 20, 2018

This is one of my favorite times of the year when we stop the crazy cycle just long enough to focus on all the things we are thankful for in life. I have found the ability to do this at the beginning of every day is the secret to maintaining my passion and drive in all that I do. Enjoy this post by Tami Forman and Happy Thanksgiving:

“November is the month when we focus on gratitude. For many of us that usually means family and friends. But, as I wrote last year, you can also be grateful for your work.

This month I’d like to talk about the power of gratitude at work. Expressing gratitude to your supervisors, colleagues, and clients can be a powerful tool for advancing your career. And it works at work for the same reason it works at home — it makes you behave in ways those around you will respond positively to.”

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Time Has Become The Enemy Of Good Leadership

Posted by on November 18, 2018

If I could change one word in the title of this great Forbes post it would be Activity has become the enemy instead of accomplishments instead of time. It goes all the way back to Quad III in Covey’s time matrix of everything that is urgent but not important. My two greatest weapons in this ongoing constant new inputs war are time blocking and closing inputs so that I can stay focused on the big rocks:

“The workplace has become a carnival of doing. Everyone is in a constant state of action. Look, over there! It’s people having a meeting to prepare for the meeting that is about a future meeting with a customer.

There is less and less time for reflection, pausing, ideation, or even good decision-making. Furthermore, this ‘always on’ mindset is affecting the manner in which we are leading people and initiatives.”

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The Fundamentals Of Leadership Still Haven't Changed

Posted by on November 7, 2018

As a follow-up to the previous post, I want to acknowledge the results of this HBR post are solid. The context of today’s work environment do require that leaders develop more strategic skills to navigate beyond heads down organizational efficiency. The one thing that never changes is your greatest challenge will always be to lead yourself first:

“Recently the Chief HR Officer for a healthcare firm asked us to identify the best new framework for leadership that she could use to train and develop a cadre of high potentials. The challenge, she said, was that these managers were highly proficient in their own disciplines such as finance, marketing, research, clinical care, and insurance reimbursement — and had demonstrated that they could manage people in these areas — but she needed them to be “bigger” leaders. What, she asked us, did the newest thinking about leadership development say they needed to learn to lead multiple functions, or influence whole segments of the organization, particularly in the rapidly changing world of healthcare?”

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The Top 5 Qualities Employees Want In A Leader

Posted by on November 5, 2018

Some things about leadership are dramatically changing and some never will. The external forces of disruption are forcing more strategic thinking than ever before just to survive. However, the basic character and competency qualities leaders must have actually become even more important. This Forbes post hits them all:

“The portrait of a great leader looks a little different to each of us. When we get down to it, though, many of the characteristics we expect of our leaders are fairly universal and timeless. When it comes to the employee-manager relationship, it turns out most of the workforce stands in agreement on some of the best qualities they want to see in the people they report to. Here are just a few of them.”

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The Role Of Management Has To Change In 5 Key Ways

Posted by on October 29, 2018

In the age of disruption we clearly don’t have the luxury of extra layers of management when we could simply empower front line staff more effectively. However, there is still a clear distinction between management and leadership within every organization. This HBR post to some degree blurs those lines but we must allow everyone on our teams to reach their potential:

“First, let’s fire all the managers” said Gary Hamel almost seven years ago in Harvard Business Review. “Think of the countless hours that team leaders, department heads, and vice presidents devote to supervising the work of others.”

Today, we believe that the problem in most organizations isn’t simply that management is inefficient, it’s that the role and purpose of a “manager” haven’t kept pace with what’s needed.

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