In my previous blog post, I discussed the most dominant organizational structure of our time: Vertical Leadership. This structure, I argued, has served its function well: It gets things done. But today, many in the business world are moving away from this model of leadership in favor of a new way of organizing: Horizontal Leadership. […]
Overflow Leadership, Part 1
I live in Omaha, NE where it seems we are always about a year behind any national trends. When some new wave hits us here in the Midwest, it?s old news to my friends in California. Sometimes, I feel like the church functions like us Midwesterners ? like trend-followers. More and more, it seems like […]
Communication That Sticks
A few years ago I read an incredibly helpful book by Chip & Dan Heath titled Made to Stick. They suggest six qualities that make ideas ?sticky.? Simplicity ? Like proverbs that are simple, but also profound. Not just sound bites. Unexpectedness ? Using the element of surprise to capture an audience?s attention. Breaking their […]
Are You an Influencer at Work?
In my last blog post, How to Beat Procrastiholism, I argued that, primarily, we should think of work as something we are instead of something we do. We sometimes try to derive meaning from our work instead of realizing that work has meaning because we have meaning. The worker gives work value, not the other […]
The Trouble with Techniques
Our instinct as leaders is to find ways to do things that are productive and, hopefully, predictable. This is understandable and often helpful. But there is a technique mindset that can move us into an orientation in which we fail to pay attention to God?s guidance. Listen to some thoughts on this from Marva Dawn: […]
God With Us
For the past few months I’ve been thinking a lot about the interaction between God and Moses at the burning bush. The story is really incredible on a number of levels, but I’ve been lingering on a few words. Then the Lord said, “I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; […]
How Do You Balance Work & Rest?
A while back, a pastor wrote me and asked for a little help with finding rest and balance in his busy ministry life. I wrote him back a letter something like this. (I think this could help Christian leaders in other settings as well) ?Thank you for asking about cultivating healthier rhythms of rest and […]
