Introverts vs. extroverts. Does your church leadership team have both? Maybe you need to? Watch this: HT:  Churchm.ag

Well, that’s the title of Steven Arterburn’s newest book:  ”The Seven Minute Marriage Solution. I like Arterburn.  He usually writes solid stuff. But what’ interesting to me is that, along with the book (remember, the title is the SEVEN MINUTE marriage solution), they are also putting out a 30 day challenge. So… evidently, it will take me MORE than seven minutes to find the solution to my marriage? I did the math… and if the seven minute solution is prolonged over 30 days… it would only take me about 15 seconds a day! That’s spectacular! Actually,...

Scott Williams shares 20 things that you should stop doing right now… but first… one of my favorite videos of all time: 1. Stop placing your job above your family. 2. Stop doubting yourself. 3. Stop believing the lies. 4. Stop settling for second best. 5. Stop procrastinating. 6. Stop making excuses. 7. Stop standing paralyzed in awe of the success of others. 8. Stop tippy-toeing on that line of sin. 9. Stop being consumed with what other people think. 10. Stop waiting until tomorrow to do the things you can do today. Scott gives us ten more here. What do YOU need to stop...

Larry Osborne answers the question: I’M SURPRISED HOW OFTEN BOTH BUSINESS LEADERS AND PASTORS ASK ME ABOUT THE NUMBER OF HOURS THEY SHOULD EXPECT OUT OF A SALARIED STAFF MEMBER. The answer is a coin with two sides.On one side is what kind of work ethic can a leader realistically expect from the troops? On the other side is what kind of work ethic can Jesus rightfully expect from a Christian? Today I want to look at it from the leader’s point of view. In my next post we’ll look at it from the staff member’s point of view. TO BUSINESS AND MINISTRY LEADERS WHO ASK THE “HOW MANY HOURS”...

Today’s advice from Donald Miller: If you’re an extrovert, getting people to like you is simple: Stop talking so much. No seriously. Stop it. I know a lot of people who, out of nervousness or excitement think the best way to engage people is to talk them into utter submission. As if their endless words, jokes and anecdotes infused with Red Bull and hooked up to a V8 engine will fast-track them into the Connection Economy. What so many don’t realize is that the secret to building relationships isn’t in the words you say, but in the questions you ask. If you’re an introvert, the same truth...

Dan Rockwell offers this list of the top 12 reasons that leaders fail.  Take a look at the list.  How many fallen leaders do you know that failed because of something on this list?  Also… do some self-inspection  Are there things on this list that you need to watch out for personally? Neglecting culture. Culture building is job-one for all leaders. Lack of paranoia. The paranoid think about what could go wrong and make contingency plans. Bitterness, grudges, and resentment. People fail. Successful leaders allow fresh starts. Task rather than people focus. Accepting complexity. Lack of...

Mike Bonem writes:  When you hear “IQ,” you know what it refers to. And you’re probably familiar with EQ, which stands for emotional quotient or emotional intelligence. But what about LQ? It’s short for “laughter quotient.” It’s actually something that I made up, but I think it’s vitally important for you and your staff. I recently led a retreat for a group of ministry leaders. All came into the retreat feeling tired and stressed. One evening, we intentionally avoided any kind of formal learning agenda and instead played a couple of different games. We laughed and laughed, and that’s...

Thom Rainer today provides a list of things that scare church leaders: Procrastination. Fearful leaders put off tasks for fear that they cannot do them well. They are experts at passive-aggressive behavior. They can receive an assignment to do a task, then “conveniently” forget to do it. Over analysis. Fearful leaders want to over-analyze every situation in an attempt to eliminate risk. They never stop analyzing because they never eliminate the risk. An organization built around fear will have an excess of analysts and policy wonks. A bias against actions outside the status quo. The status quo is...

Does your productivity run in spurts? Mine does. And it’s not always at the time I want it to be. This graphic pretty much sums it up:   I’m a night owl… and some of my best work comes when I’m ready for bed. That’s frustrating. I’m slowly learning to be more productive early in the day… in fact… sometimes I can fit what seems to be a full day of work into the first couple hours of the day… when it’s quiet, and when I’m fresh. What’s your productivity graph look like? Read more...

As we mourn the death of Dallas Willard today, here is a recent short (15 minute) word of exhortation recorded by Dallas for all pastors and church leaders: