Issues in Church Leadership: Six Articles

Paul (and The Godfather) on Leading at Home

The Godfather trilogy gives us a glimpse of two very different husbands and fathers from the same family. Don (Vito) Corleone was married to the same woman and had children that adored him. Michael, his son, struggled in his marriage and with his family. His wife would rather have an abortion than bring another “one of his sons into the world.” Two telling scenes from The Godfather stand in contrast to one another. Keep reading

10 Leadership Statements That Often Come From A Heart Of Pride

We are all capable of pride. Some of us more than others.

Here’s what I’ve learned over the years — mostly from my own personal growth and experience.... Keep reading

Tortoise and Hare Principle in Organizational Leadership

There are certainly times an organization needs to sprint. Run like a hare.

There are also times the organization needs to slow the pace down to tortoise speed. Keep reading

10 Permissions a Great Leader Grants

Does your team have permission? Keep reading

9 Thoughts on Receiving and Responding to Criticism

Let me start off with a confession. I’m a critic. I’ve always (at least in my own mind) had the ability to recognize problems and faults. It took me a while to realize that if I didn’t squelch my critical nature, I would push people away. Being critical by nature, I don’t handle criticism very well.

So, the thoughts that follow have been practices that have helped me. The thoughts below regard personal criticism as well as criticism that relates to church ministry. Criticism should not really surprise us. We’ll all experience it. We should all learn to deal with it. Addressing criticism well is an important aspect for successful Christian ministry. Keep reading

3 Reasons a Leader Should Never Respond to Criticism in Anger 

Over the years in leadership, I have experienced my fair amount of criticism. When I was in business, it could come from employees, former employee, customer, supplier, or the public. When I served in political office, every vote seemed to bring critics from the opposing side. Now, after being in ministry for over a decade, I have learned that criticism comes from outside and inside the church.... I’ve watched as the way a leader receives criticism begins to shape the leader. I know young pastors, for example, who give up on a church because of a few very vocal critics. I know some politicians who grew so tired of the criticism that it just wasn’t worth it anymore. In fact, in my opinion, some of the best people never run because they don’t want to face the critics. Keep reading

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