End with the beginning in mind

Leadership, Prioritizing

  In his book The Leadership Rock, Garris Elkins inverts the famous Stephen Covey phrase “begin with the end in mind” to “end with the beginning in mind.” The basic concept is that in order to end well, we must recapture the beginning– the original vision....
Practical help for leading change

Practical help for leading change

Leadership

When people have a clear goal in mind of where they’re trying to go, they often don’t realize how many factors are involved in whether that change will become a reality or not. If the change is something big, then it’s likely not something you’re doing by yourself....

Leading from the pulpit

Leadership

Most pastors don’t realize the power of their sermon and to what a great extent their sermon can provide leadership. Carl George once told me, “Tell me the stories you’ve used in your sermons in the last six months and I will tell you where your church is going.” He...

A visionary board report?

Leadership, Visionizing

I used my board report very strategically when I was a pastor. I would include all of the standard items: reporting on progress, celebrating successes, recognizing challenges. Then about three quarters of the way down the report, I’d slip in a throw-away line. I’d...

Common needs in coaching

Coaching, Leadership

I spend a lot of my time coaching, and I’ve realized that I’m almost always working to help the client accomplish one of these actions: Clarifying: Very often people need to clarify what they want to do. They need to see the big picture. Usually the vision is there,...