Category: Leadership

How to Lead a Grandfathered-In Volunteer Team

Q: Now that you’re gonna be a grandfather, do you plan on making these types of puns in future post titles? [Suddenly-disgruntled blog reader, Monowi, Nebraska] A: Probably. (And please, call me “Pops.” Grandfather was...

What’s Your Lane?

On the team that I lead, we will occasionally revisit the topic of our “lanes:” Those things we’re currently doing that we love to do.Those things we’re currently doing that we no longer want to...

Give Your Team Permission to Call You Out

All of us have work habits that drive our co-workers crazy. Maybe you’re always five minutes late to a meeting. Perhaps it’s your incessant need to get things perfect before you get them published. Maybe...

Kill Your Admin.

Let’s be clear: no one is recommending homicide, bloodshed, permanently dispatching, offing, taking out, or issuing a one-way ticket to buying the farm. (Legal issues covered? Good. Let’s move on.) But whether you call that...

Stop Transacting. Start Relating.

A friend told me this story almost thirty years ago, and I’ve never forgotten it. She was a volunteer, in charge of an upcoming event at her church. In the early stages of planning, her...

How to Fire Yourself (part 2)

This is the second in a two-part series. Read part 1 here. 3. Know the difference between handoffs and hands-off. Once we’ve identified our successor, we don’t wish them godspeed as we race away from...

How to Fire Yourself (part 1)

If you lead in the local church – whether you’re full-time, part-time, paid, or volunteer – it’s time that you ask for your own resignation. Before you start penning that first “I’m outta here” draft,...

Ministry vs. The Machine

Good leaders ought to have a mix of people skills and administrative skills. The first is a non-negotiable, the second is a solid bonus. While administration can always be farmed out to a teammate who...

When You Hit Your Ceiling, Knock Out Some Walls.

It can be hard to climb the corporate ladder in the church world. Some would argue that you shouldn’t. After all, we’ve seen the lure and the defects of celebrity Christian culture. “Climbing a ladder”...

How To Lead Like A Bully (In Three Easy Steps)

The Old Testament story of Rehoboam is one of the most haunting in all of scripture. In it, we see a man who had the ability to unite Israel and rebuild his family’s legacy, but...

%d bloggers like this: