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Category Archive: Church Scattered

6 Ways To Make A Real Difference

Posted by on September 22, 2014

I learned very early in my corporate career that there had to be more to life than showing up for work, getting paid and going home. I had my family life and that was meaningful. I had my faith life and that was very rewarding. The big problem was all these parts were all segmented and not integrated. What was the overarching purpose of it all and how did it all work together? Cary Nieuwhof has another excellent post:

“So you want to make a difference—a bigger impact with your life. I echo that. Most leaders want that. I do.”

Categories: Core Values Leadership Development Personal Leadership Work Life Integration | Comments Off on 6 Ways To Make A Real Difference

Communicating With Your Wife

Posted by on September 19, 2014

This is one of those times that I am glad I am only writing the introduction to these posts and letting someone else drive the real content. I have made all of the mistakes in this post plus some but since this is the most important person in my life I want to keep learning and be a better husband. Mark Merrill is someone you should be following and he has some practical suggestions:

“Just when I think I’ve finally got it, I mess up and realize I still have a long way to go as a husband. But after 25 years with my awesome bride, I have learned a thing or two about how best to communicate with her.”

Categories: Marriage | Comments Off on Communicating With Your Wife

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.”

Categories: Margin | Comments Off on How To Recover From Burnout

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

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.”

Categories: Marriage | Comments Off on 7 Ways To Make Marriage Better

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

Restoring The Lost Years

Posted by on July 18, 2014

This post was at first a very painful reminder of all that I have lost. Then as I read it over and over again it was an encouraging reminder of the faithfulness of God throughout all of life and what I still have left. None of us would choose dark days but we now realize the lessons we learned through them come no other way. Great writing by Colin Smith:

“Money can be restored. Property can be restored—broken-down cars, stripped painting, old houses. Relationships can be restored. But one thing that can never be restored is time. Time flies and it does not return. Years pass and we never get them back.”

Categories: Personal Leadership Spiritual Growth | Comments Off on Restoring The Lost Years

7 Signs You're Insecure Leader

Posted by on June 30, 2014

After about the fourth job change and the same issues kept following me around I finally realized the real problem was me and not them. My character or the lack thereof had to be dealt with and my insecurities were killing me. Carey Nieuwhof has another excellent post:

“When you get to know leaders fairly well on a personal level, you realize that a surprising number admit to being insecure.

In fact, insecurity has been a battle for me over the years. I don’t know whether you ever completely overcome it, but understanding how it works and what to do about it can really help.”

Categories: Core Values Leadership Development Pastoral Leadership | Comments Off on 7 Signs You're Insecure Leader

Merging Leadership And Parenting

Posted by on June 27, 2014

It grieves me when I see great leaders everyday leave their leadership gifts at work and not effectively lead the people at home who matter most. If you max out your leadership gifts with your work team and not with your family shame on you. This is a great post by Mark Merrill:

“When our kids are young, we map out in our minds where we want their lives to go. We want them to be valedictorian and captain of the football team.”

Categories: Parenting | Comments Off on Merging Leadership And Parenting