May 14, 2024 | Difficult people, Leadership, Ministry Leader, Pastor
Conflict . . . for most leaders, the bane of their existence. Something to be postponed instead of embraced. And yet, a leader’s unwillingness to embrace conflict is one of the most limiting factors in his or her leadership journey. In today’s episode John and Jim...
Apr 25, 2024 | Difficult people, Leadership, Ministry Leader, Pastor
Difficult people go to church. I wish it wasn’t true . . . but sadly, it is. Not all people who go to church are difficult. In fact, the majority are not. But those who can make life miserable for a leader. I graduated from Oral Roberts University a...
Mar 5, 2024 | Calling, Difficult people, Leadership, Ministry Leader, Pastor
Today we bring Craig Owens back to the mic for Part 1 of our conversation around his newest book, When Sheep Bite. If you are a pastor, you have been “bitten” by more than one of those you lead. And when that happens, it can be hard to manage. In today’s episode we...
Oct 19, 2023 | Communication, Difficult people, Leadership, Ministry Leader, Pastor
If you want to lead well for a long time—and be respected by those you lead—you must figure out how to handle difficult conversations. If you don’t . . . you put a cap on your how many people God can trust you to lead well. During the month of October, we honor...
Mar 7, 2023 | Abuse, Difficult people, Emotional Health, Leadership, Mental Health, Ministry Leader, Pastor
We’re currently in a series of pods on mental and emotional health. We’ve talked about becoming our own best friend; telling our anger where to go. Today we’ll focus on the subject of protecting ourselves from people whose mission in life is to hurt us. You can...
Sep 27, 2022 | Criticism, Difficult people, Leadership, Ministry Leader, Pastor, Podcast
No matter how great a leader you are, there will always be a few parishioners who don’t like you and feel it’s their calling to criticize you. In part two of their conversation, John & Jim unpack two more behaviors that help leaders when those they lead attack...