Leadership

When we wander too far from the basics, it's easy to get trapped in a never-ending cycle of bigger, better, and faster.  Bigger, better, and faster may be nice -- even necessary -- but they can also be draining.  Discouragement sets in when we realize we've lost sight of what's really important. Every leader needs to know what the basics are that provide for growth and effectiveness and then return to them periodically.  It's also one of the best gifts we can give those we lead.

We all hit speed bumps in the path of life or business or ministry.  An occasional bump is OK; when they come at you in rapid succession, it's easy to get discouraged. One way to remain positive when you find yourself in a season of testing or trial is this: change your focus.  It's too easy to focus on the speed bump and forget that there's an entire road ahead.  In fact, there's more than just the road ... there's landscape and scenery and other stuff to look at, too.

When I first started in ministry, one of the most beneficial things I did was to find a group of like-minded pastors to hang out with.  These guys became my sounding board and offered a unique form of group therapy.  It's a practice I've continued ever since. When we started our new church in San Diego in 2005, I found a group of church planters who were in various stages of starting their churches.  We were an interesting bunch: Assembly of God, Southern Baptist, Acts 29, and me.  What we found was this: we had more in common than we thought.  Our first children's tent was a gift from the Assemblies of God guy.  We shared leads, ideas, and marketing designs.  It was a ministry incubator. Too many guys in ministry don't take the time to network outside of their own church.  And it's a shame.  They lose the perspective…

"The most important first step for leaders in growing others is to place them in the soil of belief." -- Kevin Eikenberry, author and consultant, writing at KevinEikenberry.com

"Starbucks is not a coffee company that serves people. It is a people company that serves coffee, and human behavior is much more challenging to change than any muffin recipe or marketing strategy." -- Howard Schultz, founder of Starbucks, as quoted in BNET