Leadership
Holistic Leadership Development
You want to develop leaders who will do what Jesus called us to do, leaders who can take the church forward into the 21st century. You look to the fields and see them, as Jesus does, ready for harvest — and you know that’s where your ministry needs to concentrate.
What’s needed is holistic leadership development — the kind of leadership development that comes from the harvest and leads people back into the harvest, resulting in subsequent generations of new believers and new leaders living as Jesus called us to live.
We can help you develop leaders the kind of leaders you need in a way that is both relational and intentional… and ultimately effective in helping your church accomplish its mission.
Hope Chest
When Janet and I were engaged, she wanted a hope chest. In typical entrepreneurial fashion, I built her one from scratch without plans. Plans might take too long, so I just started with some lumber and built as I went. It turned out beautifully—a pine hope chest, one...
Lesson #3: Don’t freak out
Note: See December 27 entry for back story. A third lesson learned from our Argentinean driver was this: Stay calm and don’t lose focus. He showed grace under pressure: continually on the speaker phone or talking with his wingman as he navigated the streets and...
Lesson #2: Strategic flexibility
Note: See December 27 entry for back story. The destination was incredibly clear: the international airport across the city. The destination never changed. But the pathways of seeking to get there varied wildly. Our driver did a fancy left turn and went through some...
Lesson #1: You need a wingman
Note: See December 27 entry for back story. One lesson I learned from my Argentinean driver was simply to team up. While Janet and I sat in the back, our driver brought along a helper in the passenger seat. His passenger basically acted as a wingman, dealing with...
Lessons from an Argentinean driver
“This is worst I have ever seen it. This traffic is the worst in my life.” These were the words of our very experienced driver as we tried to make our way across Buenos Aires to the international airport. Janet and I were celebrating our anniversary in Argentina...
Working alongside local non-profit groups
I have the following story from Rich Earl: In an effort to combine the power of coaching with a missional/incarnational approach to ministry, a fellow pastor and I have volunteered to provide free coaching services for a local non-profit group in our city. We are only...
The high jump
Where should we set the bar in training people to do ministry? It’s tempting to set the bar too high too fast. An athlete training for the high jump wouldn’t start with the bar seven feet high. He or she would start much lower and then work their way up with...
Coming alongside missional leaders as a coach
Below is a meditation on coaching missional leaders that I originally published in Christian Coaching Magazine. As I think back on it, the material seems even more relevant now. More and more of my coaching lately has involved coming alongside missional leaders. Over...
Roger’s processing
In the recovery community where I volunteer I was recently giving a brief presentation on dealing with our emotions, then we broke off into smaller groups to talk about how to apply the lesson. Roger (not his real name) was in my group. Roger is always quiet and...
Bring your team
I attended a conference recently where some people came as individuals and others came with teams from their churches. One group came with a team of seven people. Although they did some arguing along the way, they will go back with quite a bit of focused interaction...
Righteous desperation
Jesus hung out with those who had tried all the other options. These are people who, like King Solomon, have already tried every other way to fill the void… so they know God is the only answer. They have a righteous desperation. The early disciples often felt the same...
Working in isolation
Many leaders get road-blocked on their way to reaching their goals simply due to lack of connection with others. It sounds simple, but it’s essential—we need other people along the way with us. We need additional perspectives and fresh ideas. We need sounding boards...