When Is the Right Time for Strategic Planning?
Susan Beaumont says strategic plans are meant to guide stable organizations through long periods of adaptation. In seasons of disruption and disorientation, other leadership approaches…
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Episode 71: “Recalibrating the Church” featuring Scott Cormode
Why is change so difficult for churches? In this episode we speak with Scott Cormode about how church leaders can break free of common myths that cloud our thinking about change and how to embrace processes that sow the seeds of meaningful innovation.
5 Simple Ways to Grow New Leaders
Ann Michel of the Lewis Center suggests ways churches can breathe life into stagnant leadership structures by employing simple organic approaches to leadership development. The…
Effective Leaders Know When to Take Risks and When to Exercise Restraint
Larry Buxton says some leaders are naturally risk-inclined, others risk-adverse. In a recent book on the leadership of King David, he suggests that effective leaders…
4 Ways to Measure if Your Ministry Is Working
In changing times standard measures of a congregation’s health may not tell the whole story. Naomi Annandale suggests a need to expand and adjust our…
Top Leading Ideas Articles of 2020
Each December we take a look at the most popular Leading Ideas articles of the year and give our readers a second chance to glean…
What Does Strong Leadership Look Like?
A strong leader is often defined as one who uses authority to gain influence and advantage. John Matthews, Kristina Gutiérrez, and Ross Peterson point to…
12 Practices to Cultivate Humble Leadership
The best leaders understand the importance of humble servanthood. But what practical measures can a leader take to demonstrate genuine humility? David Horner offers 12…
Leading Like Moses: 4 Ways to Know What to Delegate
Micah Fries and Jeremy Maxfield say that delegation is a critical skill that improves a leader’s focus, multiplies impact, and develops the capacity of others.…
8 Factors that Make You a More Influential Leader
A leader needs influence to move a community in the right direction. Eight key factors can help you gain and keep influence writes F. Douglas…
How to Keep Your Leadership Pipeline Full
How can you make sure your church will have the new leaders it needs? Ken Willard and Kelly Brown consider how succession planning, a process…
5 Essential Practices of a Hero-Making Leader
Dave Ferguson and Warren Bird say that effective leaders focus less on being the hero themselves and more on making other people heroes in God’s…
Good Communication Requires More Than Just Sharing Information
Trying to improve communication by sharing more and more information is likely to backfire, according to Ryan Hartwig and Warren Bird. Effective communication is aimed…
Finding Our New Normal
This season of change calls for a new leadership stance. Susan Beaumont outlines five practices that can help you lead more effectively as you discover…
Communicating in a Crisis
Church consultant Mike Bonem says leaders need to step up their communication in this season of anxiety and uncertainty. It is important to be transparent,…
Episode 54: “The Adept Church” featuring F. Douglas Powe Jr.
Is your church caught between a rock and a hard place? In this episode we speak with F. Douglas Powe Jr. about his new book, The Adept Church, and what churches can do to move toward a more interactive way of connecting with others. Dr. Powe is director of the Lewis Center for Church Leadership and holds the James C. Logan Chair in Evangelism (an E. Stanley Jones Professorship) at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC.
The Adept Church: Navigating Between a Rock and a Hard Place
Learn how to determine your church’s best way forward! How can you help your congregation take an honest look at challenges in their church? And…
6 Leadership Practices that Enhance Involvement and Collaboration
Are you leading in a way that inspires, invites, and engages others? Katie Carson Phillips outlines six basic leadership practices that support greater collaboration and…
4 Ways to Multiply Disciples the Way Jesus Did
Dave Ferguson and Warren Bird explain that for our ministries to have a truly exponential impact, we need to be mentoring, developing, and multiplying disciples.…
3 Ways to Lead More Collaboratively
Justin Irving and Mark Strauss write that collaboration is an important factor contributing to effective leadership. Leading with humility, celebrating the contributions of others, and…
5 Disciplines of Teams that Thrive
Ryan Hartwig and Warren Bird studied leadership teams in more than 2,500 churches to discover the distinctive features of thriving teams. They found that the…
7 Ways to Lead When the Way Ahead Is Unclear
Susan Beaumont explains that saying, “I don’t know” is not a sign of weakness in a leader. It is an honest acknowledgment that more learning…
What to Do When Volunteers Quit
Deborah Ike says people step away from volunteer positions for various reasons. But regardless of the cause, they need to know the church continues to…
Meet with a Purpose
Leadership Consultant Mike Bonem suggests strategies for making meetings more productive. The first step is to be clear about the purpose for convening a meeting.…
4 Ways to Lead Effectively When Expectations Change
Lewis Center Director Doug Powe explains that church leaders today are forced to lead amid constantly changing expectations. He outlines a four-step process to help…
3 Strategies for Leading Beyond Your Blind Spots
Lewis Center Director Doug Powe says we all have characteristics that others recognize but we can’t quite see in ourselves. Effective leaders see past these…
7 Characteristics of Humble Confident Leaders
Confidence is important for leaders, but according to Kay Kotan and Phil Schroeder, confidence can easily tilt toward arrogance. They outline seven characteristics, such as…
Fruitful Leaders Ask Questions
The paradigm of “leader as expert” doesn’t work in a world where the questions keep changing and old answers no longer apply. Daniel Cash and…
5 Ways to Overcome Common Obstacles to Change
Leading change is challenging. It requires that leaders surmount a barrage in internal and external obstacles. Daniel Cash and William Griffith outline strategies for getting…
New Possibilities are All around You
Churches often see their circumstance through the lens of scarcity and fail to recognize assets and opportunities within their grasp. Joe Daniels and Christie Latona…