Qualifications for Leadership

Establishing criteria for leadership appears to be a growing trend in many congregations. The obvious theory behind this movement is that leaders should model the behavior expected of others within the organization. Modeling continues to be one of the most powerful,...

Executive Coaching

Over the years, many different methods of attaining personal growth have surfaced, such as counseling, consulting, training, teaching, apprenticeships, seminars, therapy and mentoring. These methods have proven effective in varying degrees, but all are helpful for...

Churches Going ‘Deep’

There’s a popular children’s Vacation Bible School song called “Deep and Wide.” To make singing it more fun, a brief “hmnnn” can substituted for either the word “deep” or “wide” at the appropriate point in...

At-risk clergy

Is your pastor at risk of burnout? Over the last few years, I have participated in the Pulpit and Pew Project, funded by the Lilly Foundation and administered through Duke University. This group was formed to study the status of pastoral leadership in America and to...

Dynamics of Leadership

No one leads all of the time. Throughout the course of a day, nearly everyone has moments of leading and moments of following. In this column, I identity what separates leaders from followers by identifying three items available only to leaders. First of all, leaders...