Notes For Pastors Who Lead
Honest, practical writing on pastoral health, building a team, and leading a church that grows without grinding you down — the same ground I walk with the pastors I coach.
The Lie I Kept Telling Myself
I used to tell myself a lie: I just need more help. I said it in my head on long weeks, and if I'm honest, I said it out loud to the people closest to me more than once.
Over the years God has confronted me with what was really going on. I had all the helpers I needed...
The Gap No One Warns You About
You can't just keep increasing your leadership responsibility without also increasing your emotional resilience. Those two have to grow together in order for your leadership to be sustainable. If they don't — if responsibility climbs and resilience stays flat — the we...
The Assumption That's Quietly Costing You
What if one of your assumptions about how to be effective is actually working against you?
Here's the one I want to put on the table: competition. Not the healthy kind that sharpens a team, but the quiet, low-grade version that lives inside most of us — th...
The Beach Moved
It's really easy to drift.
Picture yourself swimming in the ocean on a perfect day. The sun is out, the water's just right, and you're having the time of your life. Then you turn to look back at the shore — and the beach has moved. You didn't feel it happen. You weren't doing anyth...
One of the most daunting aspects of leadership is the continual challenge to keep the vision clear and hot.
If you’re a pastor, you know exactly what I mean. Every week you’re caring for people, preparing messages, solving problems, developing staff, overseeing budgets, and making hundreds of decis...
Why clarity should come before action
Leaders love momentum.
Give us an opportunity, open a door, and we’re ready to sprint. We don’t like waiting. We don’t like uncertainty. We want to make something happen.
I’ve done it more times than I can count.
The problem isn’t that we’re moving. The prob...
We often think courage is something we’re either born with or we’re not.
But after years of leading people, coaching pastors, and navigating difficult decisions myself, I’ve become convinced that courage usually isn’t the problem.
Avoidance is.
Most of us know what we need to do. We simply don’t ...
The Fastest Way to Unlock Your Possibilities
If you look at the leaders you admire most—the ones who make you feel seen, heard, and valued—you’ll notice something they all share:
They are fully present.
They’re not rushing ahead to the next task.
They’re not replaying yesterday’s conversation.
...
Not all mistakes are created equal.
As a mission-minded leader, you know risk comes with the territory. You’re building something that doesn’t exist yet. You’re stepping into uncharted waters, trying to multiply good in the world—and in that process, you’re going to mess up.
The question isn’t if ...
Enemies of Excellence #3: Avoiding Burnout
We’ve been talking about the Enemies of Excellence—the pitfalls that can derail our best efforts and keep us from bringing our God-given dreams to life. In this third installment, let’s look at burnout. It often creeps in when we get so consumed with achie...
Recently, while working on a ministry project at a coffee shop, I ordered a 12-ounce light-iced coffee with cream and two Stevia. Pretty simple. Except it came out with way too much cream. I noticed right away, but I didn’t say anything. Instead I grabbed the coffee when they called it out, went ba...
