Why You Shouldn’t Show Individual Staff Salaries

The Secret to Ending Church Conflict

I’m often asked if the church budget should show individual staff salaries and without hesitation I always say, “NO, not on your life!” Here’s why. First showing all the salaries encourages mediocrity. Why? Because the same mindset that publishes individual salaries also wants to give across the board raises, which is always a horrible thing […]

5 Questions to Discover If You Honor the People God Loves

do you honor the people God loves?

We talk a lot about honor in our culture in regards to public service and acts of bravery.  But why don’t we speak more about honoring one another in daily life? Think about it.  How do people perceive you?  And in regards to church, does your congregation honor every precious child of God? I feel […]

Asking Advice? Lookin’ Good!

Do You Have the Courage to Lead?

We don’t normally do this, but since the Harvard Business Review “Daily Stat” blog has been broken for over three months, instead of just posting a link, we’re reproducing a GREAT mini-post here. Asking for Advice Makes You Seem More Competent Most people assume that asking for advice will make others think poorly of them. […]

Spending Time Mentoring Staff

How to Effectively Lead a Staff

Spending time mentoring staff is one of the most important things a pastor can do. When I suggest to a person I’m coaching that he needs to spend more time mentoring or training his staff, he usually asks, “What does that look like?” Here’s my response. First, you should see yourself as the head coach of a ball […]

All Good Things Must Come to an End

The Missing Piece to Spiritual Maturity

Many of you know that for the past two decades I have been obsessed with offshore billfishing. It’s impossible to give justice to a description of the feeling one gets when a 400-pound blue marlin is coming toward your bait. You see the fin, then the bill, then the crash as the Blue attacks the […]

How to Undermine Church Leadership in One Easy Step

This won't happen again

The church had done all the hard work of building a solid foundation. They identified their mission, vision, and values and they developed both membership and leadership covenants. It looked like they were ready to move to the next steps of growth. Enter the nominating committee. There were several leadership positions that needed to be filled, but […]