Casting vision is one of the greatest responsibilities of a leader. But what you do after the vision-casting is even more important. Most leaders move forward with one of two extremes. Some focus on empowerment, giving everyone the freedom to pursue the vision in their own unique ways. Others focus on alignment, ensuring that everyone is moving […]
Category: Leadership
The Graveyard of Good Ideas
We’ve all seen it before. The team meeting went exceptionally well and everyone is energized by ideas that could greatly improve the church. But just six months later, conversations about “What will happen when…” have degenerated into “What ever happened to…” The initiative that once had everyone excited eventually landed in the “graveyard of good […]
A Bottom-Up Approach to New Volunteer Teams
In building the leadership structure of any organization, we almost always take a top-down approach. A new church begins with the lead pastor and his or her vision. He then develops his core team. In time, those individuals hire people below them and the cycle continues, deepening the structure. Our natural instinct is to take […]
Box-Based Leadership
Some people are doers. They measure their days by tasks and are satisfied by the number of “things” they accomplished. They look to leadership for checkboxes to prioritize and attack. Others are dreamers. Their days are valued by the quality of the ideas they developed. They look to leadership for sandboxes — less defined opportunities […]
5 Ways To Make Faster Progress In Your Church
Constant progress is important to the long-term success of any organization. Progress builds momentum, generates excitement, and leads to growth as the vision is further accomplished. Unfortunately, churches have a bad reputation of making slow progress. Many leadership teams talk about it a lot more than they make it. So how can you ensure that […]
Stop Reading So Much
The offices of most church leaders are lined with bookshelves, reflective of the idea that leaders are readers. We love discovering new ideas and dreaming of what they could do for our churches. I am concerned, however, that the majority of those ideas never leave the written page to be implemented within our organizations. I […]
Stuck In A Funk?: An Interview with Tony Morgan
I had the chance to catch up with Tony Morgan regarding his latest book, Stuck In A Funk?. I highly recommend it. In this interview, Tony shares some great insights for leaders of churches in need of change. RYAN: Stuck in a Funk has been in the works for a couple of years. What inspired […]
Orange Conference: Sessions 4-7
The last day of Orange Conference was PACKED FULL of great content! Here are my notes from Perry Noble, Brad Lomenick, Doug Fields, Sherry Surratt, Heather Zempel, and Charles Jenkins. Feel free to steal and share! [A big thank you to Bethany Dukes for providing the notes to Perry Noble’s session!] PERRY NOBLE || 1 SAMUEL […]
Orange Conference: Sessions 2-3 & Breakouts
Here are my notes from Day 2 at Orange Conference 2013 with Andy Stanley, Doug Fields, Tom Shefchunas, Jim Wideman, John Acuff, and more. Enjoy! ANDY STANLEY || 7 GUIDELINES FOR COMMUNICATING SCRIPTURE 1. Choose one passage of Scripture and stay there Bring energy to the text. 2. Give people permission not to believe or […]
Orange Conference: Pre-Conference & Main Session 1
Orange Conference 2013 kicked off today and I have to say that I am pretty excited about it! If you’re not familiar, Orange is a family ministry strategy responsible for a huge paradigm shift in many churches. I highly recommend you read up on it. The organization behind it provides an incredible set of resources, […]