THE MENTAL & EMOTIONAL HEALTH OF PASTORS
Last week’s news of Jarrid Wilson’s suicide rocked the Christian world. Many posts have been posted, many blogs have been blogged, many opinions have been opined. Some of those posts, blogs, and opinions have been tinged with compassion and grief . . . others with...
LEADING THROUGH OUR LIMITS
Today we welcome Jaime Hlavin to the Converge Coaching writing team! Jaime is married to Aaron, who serves as a lead pastor. She's the mother of two beautiful girls . . and a terrific writer. She will be writing posts on a variety of subjects, including content...
HELPING YOUR TEAM CRUSH GOALS WITHOUT CRUSHING THEMSELVES
Is it possible for you to lead your team to amazing levels of production? Yes. Can you get that done without grinding them into a fine powder? For sure. The big question is: how? How can I get my team to crush their goals without crushing themselves? Unmercifully...
WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU FEEL STUCK
A couple of months ago, Laura and I helped our son Nathan and daughter-in-law Klar move into their first house. I was freshly reminded of the stress moving into a new home places on people: the boxes, the planning, the long hours painting and cleaning, and the overall...
HOW TO KEEP YOURSELF IN THE RACE
Have you ever wondered, “Do I really have what it takes?” Ever felt a gnawing sense of inadequacy, a creeping fear that you’re ill-equipped, and not up to the challenge your calling presents? Do you occasionally hear the lying whispers of the devil? “You’re a fraud!”...
CHARISMA? OR CHARACTER?
Have you ever noticed that our culture attaches itself to charismatic personalities like seagulls on a bag of French fries? Our national obsession with charisma has a long history. Recently I was thinking back to the 1980s (yes I’m aging). Ronald Reagan, Lech Walesa...
3 WAYS TO UNCORK BOTTLENECKS IN THE ORGANIZATION YOU LEAD
The most influential contributor to the growth of an organization is the growth of its leaders. When a leader stops growing, he/she limits the growth of the entity they lead. They become a bottleneck. A recent survey of business people from both large and small...
4 WAYS TO TAKE CONTROL OF OUR TONGUE
I like to play golf. Golf isn’t super-exciting. In fact, it’s kinda boring. But hitting a little ball hard with a club can be therapeutic. I'm a below average golfer. Golfers at a below average level use mulligans occasionally. If you’ve never played golf, you might...
5 PRACTICAL HACKS TO 5 SURPRISING STRESSORS PASTORS FACE
If you’ve answered the divine call to pastoral ministry, you’ve signed up for both a fulfilling and stressful journey. In last week’s post 5 Surprising Stressors Pastors Face we outlined some major contributors to the stress load pastors experience: Difficulty...
FIVE SURPRISING STRESSORS PASTORS FACE
The older I get, the faster time seems to go. It marches on unabated. 2019 is half over . . . can you believe that? I’m looking forward with great optimism to the second half of 2019. I think most pastors anticipate the second half of the year with optimism, and hold...
TELLING ANGER WHERE TO GO
We live in an increasingly angry world. If you don’t believe me, drive during rush hour in any major city in the U.S. Or watch cable news for thirty minutes. You’ll be convinced. Anger is a human emotion common to all of us. It says: “You’ve taken something from me,...
THE SIMPLE YET AMAZING POWER OF ALIGNMENT 3.0
Ever felt out of sorts as a leader? Ever felt overwhelmed by everything (or everyone) coming at you because you’re leading the charge? Ever wondered if you have what it takes to hang in there and keep fighting the good fight? Welcome to leadership. Nobody said leading...
SEVEN STEPS TO PERSONAL ALIGNMENT: PART 2
Healthy leadership . . . so many books written. So much great information to process. But in many ways, healthy leadership is all about alignment. In a post last week, I introduced the concept of personal alignment and how it impacts us professionally. Being...
SEVEN STEPS TO PERSONAL ALIGNMENT: PART 1
Healthy leadership is all about alignment. A groundbreaking 2017 report from Barna Institute, studying 14,000 Protestant lead pastors in the United States, revealed some alarming statistics: 37% of lead pastors are at medium to high risk of burnout 40% are not...
5 EMOTIONS OF A TWO-TIME PAPA
2 days ago, we welcomed our second granddaughter into the world! What a beautiful bundle of joy she is! Can I confess something to you? As her arrival drew near, this question crossed my mind: is it possible to love our second granddaughter as much as we love our...
PURSUING UNCOMMITTED PEOPLE . . . AND WHY YOU SHOULDN’T
One of the biggest mistakes I made as a young lead pastor was spending too much time trying to get uncommitted people to be committed. I would do breakfasts, lunches, and coffees trying to convince the unfaithful fringe to become faithful. And in doing so, I largely...
4 SECRETS TO BEATING DISCOURAGEMENT
Discouragement is universal to leadership. Every leader, no matter how seasoned or successful, faces moments of despair. “Can I get through this challenge?” “When is this tough stretch going to be over?” “Am I the right guy/gal for the job?” These kinds of questions...
5 MUST-ASK QUESTIONS WHEN CONSIDERING A TRANSITION
“John, I can’t take the pressure anymore . . . I’m thinking about resigning.” You’d be surprised how often those words or some variation of them travel across the cellular airwaves to me each month. Lead pastors who feel desperate, tired, emotionally beat up, out of...
HOW TO BE PASSIONATE ABOUT YOUR CALLING WITHOUT BEING DRIVEN
What drives you? Passion? Or adrenaline? Passion is an intense desire or enthusiasm for something. Adrenaline is a hormone secreted by the adrenal glands, especially in conditions of stress, increasing rates of blood circulation, breathing, and preparing muscles for...
WHY PASTORS RESIST REST
I am fed up. According to an extensive Barna research study of 14,000 U.S. lead pastors, published in January 2017, 37% of lead pastors are at medium to high risk of burnout. A whopping 66% say they have no deep friendships. 40% are not energized by ministry work....
3 REASONS GREAT LEADERS NEVER STOP LEARNING
Are you teachable? Really? It’s critical for a leader to answer this question honestly, because the level of our teachability determines our level of lead-ability. When you’re experiencing momentum in ministry or business, it’s easy to start believing you are the...
4 THINGS TO DO WHEN YOUR CALLING GETS TOUGH
“God I’m doing everything you’ve called me to do—why are things so hard right now?” Ever thought that? Told God that? I have. And I know I'm not alone. The other day I had breakfast with a friend who has an amazing calling on his life. God is using him and his wife in...
6 WAYS TO NAVIGATE DIFFICULT CONVERSATIONS
If you want to lead well for a long time—you have to figure out how to handle difficult conversations. In last week’s post, Leadership & Difficult People we stated that longevity in ministry requires pastors to occasionally make tough people-decisions, and from...
LEADERSHIP & DIFFICULT PEOPLE
Difficult people go to church. I wish it wasn't true . . . but sadly, it is. Not all people who go to church are difficult. The vast majority are not. But the few who are can make life miserable for a leader. I graduated from Oral Roberts University a starry-eyed...
THE POWER OF “NO”
Do you ever struggle saying with “no”? In his 2014 book—The Power of No—James Altucher writes: “How many times have you had to say ‘no’ only to have it cause anguish, arguments, and anxiety? Even the hours, days, and months before you say no you are filled with...
3 WAYS TO STAY FOCUSED ON YOUR ASSIGNMENT
Assignment is such a critical word for a leader. 2 Chronicles 23:6 says “… all the other men are to guard what the Lord has assigned to them.” The apostle Paul said at the end of His life: “I’ve finished my race.” One of the biggest challenges a leader wrestles with...
3 WARNINGS EVERY LEADER SHOULD HEED ABOUT WORK-WEEK LENGTH
What is the ideal work-week length? In 1900, the Ford Motor Company commissioned a series of tests to determine how long a workweek should be to optimize productivity. Ford discovered the “sweet spot” was forty hours per week. Sara Robinson, in her article Bring Back...
ONE OF THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES FACING EVERY LEADER (AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT)
“Healthy leaders know how to separate what they do from who they are.” ~ Carey Nieuwhof That one-liner hit me right between the eyes earlier this week. Been going through a challenging stretch of late where it’s been a struggle to separate those two things. I’m...
3 IDEAS TO NAVIGATE DIFFICULT CONVERSATIONS
Have you ever been in a meeting where people were talking (and maybe even shouting), but no one was communicating? I recently sat through one of those . . . it was ninety minutes of sheer torture. Multiple people talking over each other, not listening to each other,...
2 MUST-DO BEHAVIORS THAT HELP US BUILD FRIENDSHIPS
Every relationship in our life—both present and future—carries with it a degree of risk. If risk-free friendships you seek, find yourself more and more isolated you will. (Written in Yoda-speak) In our increasingly lonely society, I wonder if one way we try to...