LEADING THROUGH THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE OF ANXIETY, DEPRESSION, & SUICIDAL IDEATION
The Bermuda Triangle. A place of lore and fables regarding the vanishing of boats, airplanes, and humans. Here’s a description of the triangle from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association: “For decades, the Atlantic Ocean’s fabled Bermuda Triangle has...
LEADING FROM ALIGNMENT – EPISODE 104 SHOW NOTES
Retaining high-character, high-performing staff is one of the most difficult challenges facing leaders today. And yet with a thoughtful and consistent approach, staff longevity is doable. Unfortunately, A-players don’t grow on trees. In today’s pod, John & Jim...
WHEN IS IT TIME TO STOP?
Do you ever arrive at mid-afternoon on a work day, and feel like your brain has turned to jello? Your gray matter is sucking air and running on fumes? You feel this inner urge to slow down . . . but suffer guilt because of the pile of work on your desk? Several years...
LEADING FROM ALIGNMENT – EPISODE 103 SHOW NOTES
Building a strong, productive team is one of the hardest things a leader has to do. When hiring staff, it’s not unusual to operate in one of two extremes: We go totally with our gut and ignore objectivity . . . or we go totally with objectivity and ignore our gut....
NAVIGATING TRANSITIONS – PART 2
Jaime Hlavin joins us again today to wrap up her two part series on transition. Being in "the middle" is one of the more uncomfortable places to be in life. In today's post, Jaime once more poignantly unpacks a major transition she and her family are living through...
LEADING FROM ALIGNMENT – EPISODE 102 SHOW NOTES
Shooting stars are so cool to watch. Church history (and world history) is full of stories about talented people who started well and had great upside only to eventually crash and burn. “Are you the kind of leader who punishes people—overtly or subtly—for speaking up...
NAVIGATING TRANSITIONS – PART 1
Today we welcome back Jaime Hlavin to the Converge Coaching blog. Jaime has been on hiatus for approximately three months while she and her husband walked through a huge career transition. Today she chronicles part of that journey for us. Enjoy ~ John I’ve been on a...
LEADING FROM ALIGNMENT – EPISODE 101 SHOW NOTES
The most influential contributor to the growth of an organization is the growth of its leader. The leadership model that brought the church you lead to where it is now probably won’t get the church to where God wants it to go next. So how can a leader avoid becoming...
HOW TO BE PASSIONATE WITHOUT BEING RECKLESS
What drives you? Passion? Or adrenaline? Also called epinephrine, adrenaline is a crucial part of the body’s fight-or-flight response. In the right dose, it is a useful hormone. But over-exposure can be damaging to our health. A 2004 article by the Table Group points...
LEADING FROM ALIGNMENT – EPISODE 100 SHOW NOTES
Today we celebrate the 100th episode of Leading From Alignment! Since we launched the podcast two years ago, we've had over 16,000 listens and video through plays. Today, John and Jim interview three special guests, asking them to share their favorite episodes, the...
FINDING HEALTH IN THE MIDDLE
A while back, a good friend pointed out that while the majority of pastors overwork, a certain segment of pastors have swung to the other extreme. This segment apparently thinks working forty hours per week is overdoing it. For them, it seems to be too much. And I...
LEADING FROM ALIGNMENT – EPISODE 99 SHOW NOTES
Words . . . one of the most powerful forces for good in the organizations we serve. Unfortunately, one of the most powerful forces for not-so-good as well. Proverbs 18:21: “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” Proverbs...
HOW TO KNOW IF YOU’RE INSECURE (AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT)
Many leaders struggle with the demon of insecurity. (I’m using the word “demon” metaphorically, not literally.) King Saul was the crown prince of this particular character flaw. Chosen by God to be Israel’s first king, Saul had good looks, leadership skills, flashes...
LEADING FROM ALIGNMENT – EPISODE 98 SHOW NOTES
In 2015, more than 38% of pastors in the U.S. were bi-vocational. Almost every church has at least one bi-vocational leader on their team. Tim Diehl defines a bi-vocational pastor as a person who serves as a pastor in a church and also carries one or more other jobs...
THE PROBLEM WITH SHOOTING STAR LEADERS
Shooting stars are so cool to watch. They produce a bright streak of light in the sky, caused by the entry of a small meteoroid into the Earth’s atmosphere. Imagine laying on a beach during the summer at night, looking up at the sea of stars, and then all of a sudden,...
LEADING FROM ALIGNMENT – EPISODE 97 SHOW NOTES
In Episode 96 we mentioned a 2009 Barna report that stated the average church member expects their lead pastor to be great in sixteen competencies! And we’ve observed that some lead pastors expect the same out of themselves. If you ever want to grow sustainably, and...
ARE YOU BOTTLENECKING THE ORGANIZATION YOU LEAD?
The most influential contributor to the growth of an organization is the growth of its leader. When a leader stops growing, he/she limits the potential of the entity they lead. They become a bottleneck. The bottle-necking factor in most cases—business world or church...
LEADING FROM ALIGNMENT – EPISODE 96 SHOW NOTES
Digital church . . . friend or foe? Deep down most leaders are asking the questions, what is digital doing to the local church I lead? How is it helping? How is it hurting? Today’s episode will attempt to answer these questions at a high level. How is the digital...
THE AMAZING (AND SOMETIMES DEVASTING) POWER OF WORDS
Words . . . one of the most powerful forces for good in our world. Unfortunately, one of the most powerful forces for evil as well. The Bible says a lot about words. In the New International Version, 92 verses specifically mention the tongue; over 200 more reference...
LEADING FROM ALIGNMENT – EPISODE 95 SHOW NOTES
The COVID-19 pandemic and its associated quarantine radically impacted the way churches measure success. It’s turned historical metrics on their head. For many churches prior to the pandemic, the metric was ABC: Attendance, buildings, cash. COIVD has exposed our...
THE BIVOCATIONAL BALANCING ACT
In 2015, more than 38% of pastors in the U.S. were bi-vocational. Tim Diehl defines a bi-vocational pastor as a person who serves as a pastor in a church and also carries one or more other jobs in order to supplement his or her salary. This isn’t a new phenomenon. The...
LEADING FROM ALIGNMENT – EPISODE 94 SHOW NOTES
One of the hardest things to do for most lead pastors is to separate from work. Pivoting from their professional life to their private life. A Barna research study of 14,000 U.S. lead pastors, published in January 2017, reported that 37% of lead pastors are at medium...
HOW DIGITAL IS IMPACTING THE LOCAL CHURCH
Digital church . . . friend or foe? We talk with a lot of pastors, and a vast range of opinions exist on the subject of online/digital church vs. in-person/physical gatherings. Some leaders have fully bought into digital; others resent having to deal with it at all;...
LEADING FROM ALIGNMENT – EPISODE 93 SHOW NOTES
Leadership possesses the uncanny capacity to keep us busy with work that gets us off-mission. On today’s episode we’re going to talk about three practical ways to manage what God’s given us to do so one day we can hear, “well done, good and faithful servant.” 1...
IS YOUR TEAM ENGAGED?
Your team is the most important asset in the organization you lead. But that’s true only when they are engaged. In 2017, according to Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace report, only 15% of employees worldwide were engaged at work. By engaged, Gallup means...
LEADING FROM ALIGNMENT – EPISODE 92 SHOW NOTES
Welcome to Part 2 of our conversation on the subject Shaping the Culture You Need. You can craft an amazing vision, have a dynamic playbook, but only a healthy culture provides the fuel for that vision and playbook to become reality. Today’s pod unpacks a practical...
THE NEW METRICS
The COVID-19 pandemic and its associated quarantine radically impacted the way churches measure success. It’s turned historical metrics on their head. For many churches prior to the pandemic, the metric was ABC: Attendance, buildings, cash. The numbers that screamed...
LEADING FROM ALIGNMENT – EPISODE 91 SHOW NOTES
We spend a lot of time on the podcast talking about things we never learned in bible college or seminary. Today’s subject—shaping culture—is one of those things. Culture is fuel. You can craft an amazing vision, have a dynamic playbook, but only a healthy culture...
THE ART OF PIVOTING
One of the hardest things to do for most lead pastors is to separate from work. Pivoting from their professional life to their private life. I know this from personal experience. I had to work really hard as a lead pastor to shut off work once I entered our home....
LEADING FROM ALIGNMENT – EPISODE 90 SHOW NOTES
Pareto Principle: a prediction that 80% of effects come from 20% of causes. 80% of work is completed by 20% of your team 80% of sales come from 20% of your clients 80% of your complaints come from 20% of your customers Today we unpack another principle found in...