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…
Browsing: Leadership Best Practices
Articles
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…
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…
Leading When You Don’t Know the Way
Consultant Susan Beaumont says church leaders need a different set of skills in ambiguous, disorienting periods of transition. In such seasons of change leaders must…
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…
9 Ways Leaders Can Respond to Conflict Constructively
Leaders need to understand the emotional dimensions of conflict and minimize the inevitable anxiety and systematic stress. In a book published the year before his…
7 Mindset Shifts that Can Reshape Your Church’s Future
To reshape the future of your church you must set aside old assumptions, fears, and stereotypes and embrace new experiences and methods. In the new…
50 Ways to Multiply Your Church’s Leadership Capacity
This free 50 Ways resource provides strategies to identify and support new leaders and build and maintain effective ministry teams. Make it easy for new…
How to Grow the Leaders Your Church Needs to Thrive
Michael Kurtz describes a simple but profound leadership development formula in which each leader is responsible for mentoring new leaders and creating the expectation that…
3 Leadership Principles from Archbishop Tutu
Lewis Center Director Doug Powe learned through firsthand experience working with Desmond Tutu the key principles of the archbishop’s leadership effectiveness. Powe says Archbishop Tutu was…
Leaders Learn to Work with Difficult People
When confronted with a difficult person, do you try to work around them or just complain behind their back? Lewis Center staffer Ann Michel says…
3 Actions Churches Should Take in Light of #MeToo
Phill Martin, a clergy coach and an executive with the National Association of Church Business Administrators, says churches should take proactive steps to protect against…
Choose Your Hills Wisely
Jim Cowart says it’s important to stay focused on the right objectives. Instead of being content with what is, taking on too much, or choosing…
Episode 21: “The Greatest One Minute Manager of All Time” featuring Ken Blanchard
How can we lead like Jesus? In this episode, thought leader Dr. Ken Blanchard shares insights with Lewis Center Director Douglas Powe about being a servant leader.
3 Key Questions for Evaluating Ministry Possibilities
Aaron M. Bouwens says too many churches make decisions based on the popularity and charisma of a plan’s proponents. He says congregations can make better…
Episode 16: “Women and the Power Dynamics of Leadership” featuring Susan Beaumont
Why do women leaders sometimes struggle with using their power and influence? Listen as Lewis Center Associate Director Ann Michel speaks with church consultant Susan Beaumont about how women leaders can learn to use power constructively in leadership relationships.
6 Ways to Know If Your Church is Overstaffed
Ann Michel of the Lewis Center staff outlines six questions that can help reveal whether a particular staff role is likely to be fruitful or…