Tag: Accountability

I’ve never been a good worrier. I have met people my whole life who could out-worry me and were frustrated I wasn’t as worried...

When a leader admits his or her weaknesses in front of an audience, I think to myself: “That’s great that you see that and can articulate it so well. But how will you follow that up? What kinds of steps will you take over the next few months and years in response to what you just shared with everyone? Are you sharing because you want admiration – or accountability?”

Another week passes, and another painful story about a prominent pastor surfaces. The details vary, but I’ve noticed one common theme. It seems that...

Leaders need people they can trust to give them honest feedback, however uncomfortable. Without such people, leaders will not see their blind spots. They will lose their humility. Their growth will be stunted.

What might coaching one of your staff look like? Even if you don’t see yourself becoming a coach as a main ministry, these skills are so useful in everyday life that I would encourage anyone, and especially leaders, to at least get basic coaching skills training.

Everybody can spot qualities of lousy leadership when is it directed at them. When the disciples were arguing about who was the greatest among them, Jesus said, “Let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? … But I am among you as the One who serves.” (Luke 22:26-27) Michael describes ten characteristics of lousy leaders, those who are not servant-leaders.

There are no straight lines when leading humans. Many times leaders find themselves having a hard time keeping others dedicated, driven and passionate in the process. What’s the best way to keep a team invested so we’re not left carrying the burden of all the work?

Hindsight may be 20/20, but wise leaders also use tools to keep sailing forward in the right direction. They may not have huge binoculars like a seaman, but they do have assessment tools to understand how leader development training is affecting their organization – if it causes a positive effect or a negative effect. Tom discusses the importance of evaluating the effectiveness of leader development events. He notes that discussing reactions, learning, behaviors, and results helps organizations to analyze the actual worth of training, thus holding the organization’s rudder to good stewardship and accountability standards.

Dogs are exuberant in their joy. They exhibit it when they see you coming. It never matters how long – it could be ten minutes or ten hours – their joy is just as exultant. They know their purpose is to share that joy with you. However, it’s easy to get to a place in life where you forget the joy that you first found in your role. To rediscover that joy, leaders may only need to take a step back, and find the purpose and vision that God designed in what we are doing. We can have exultant joy.