Everybody needs friends. One of the most famous questions of the 12 posed by the Gallup Q12 Employee Engagement Survey is “I have a best friend at work.” Many challenged the question as irrelevant. Then, decades worth of research shows that employees with healthy social connections at work along with teams that possess a deep…

Many months ago in a Sunday service, my pastor said, “What we celebrate, we accelerate.” It was energizing to me then as I was working to launch some new ideas and I responded with a resounding, “YES!”  What about when you are not in the mood to celebrate? What about when everything that had  been…

You know those on your team could use a little “pick-me-up”, but you already have a full plate of things to do, decisions to be made and the host of emails in that inbox. Everything has changed and there really isn’t a way to get ahead of it. We are all simply wading through it…

Every ministry leader has some rough edges. Isolation, fear, or insecurity will keep those rough edges sharp. The alternative >> engaging people, tackling complexities, and navigating confusing dynamics. But it is messy when sharp edges collide. Tough situations smooth rough edges. Relationships shine a spotlight on our flaws. It’s necessary we face these (maybe even…

The word influence is thrown around often in leadership. We know that great leaders are influencers. As ministry leaders, we are hungry to learn how to influence as we lead others in accomplishing mission, to influence with integrity, to influence in a way that leaves a legacy. But what does influence actually mean? And –…

Ever had an energizing volunteer experience? One that fueled your passion. One that challenged you to become a better person. One filled with meaning and significance. What made that experience powerful? Research shows that for volunteers, the secret is doing something that they love with people they like.\ What they love… What does that volunteer…

Oh, how we like to avoid this topic. Especially in churches and faith-based organizations where we would like to believe conflict doesn’t happen. However, people are people everywhere. Feelings get hurt. People say things they don’t mean. Expectations are left unmet. Miscommunication creates confusion. In all these situations conflict happens – either under the surface…

Years in ministry and leadership has revealed to me the power of coaching! I used to think leadership was about giving people tools to lead change, offering methodologies, or creating plans. We are leaders. We have solutions. Right? While tools are necessary to solve problems, they may not always offer the best approach. When people…

This story in Luke 5 is a well-known one. The house was overflowing as the crowd tried to hear Jesus. These four men were carrying their friend on a mat. He was paralyzed. They desperately wanted to get him to Jesus. There seemed to be no way, but these friends would not be stopped. They…

Communication is more than language. It is all the meaning and expectations behind the language. Our personality and how we are wired influences the meaning we assign to words, the information we notice, what we talk about and most importantly the expectations we have of others in “good communication.” Earlier this week I was putting…