Leadership

We all want our jobs to get better. And according to research, autonomy (the ability to govern oneself) is one of the higher predictors of job satisfaction – especially in creative or problem solving jobs. When people have more control over their schedules, deadlines and work-hours, it can have a significant affect on your stress.…

Growing up, I never really had any “enemies.” Sure, I got into a few scraps; but, I never had people who hated me. For the most part, I tried to value people even if they were a bit strange – & share my opinion with humility. So you could imagine how weird it was when…

Young pastors are always asking me the question: “How do you find the time to do everything? You write sermons & blogs; video scripts & tweets; and then, somehow amidst all of this, you find the time to lead an organization?! How do you do it?” Truth be told: there are many days when I…

Every time my wife and I go to a wedding, we always chuckle a bit watching all the single people frolic to and fro.  Actually, chuckle isn’t the word.  We laugh and shout, “Suckas!” and think smugly: “Man, it’s great to be done with that season of our lives.” Don’t get me wrong:  Young love…

Did you know that the average American church stops growing after its founding pastor leaves? To be specific, most churches go into a permanent plateau between years 17-21 years old. After this, the average church generally only grows by a measly 1% a year. And usually, 80% of this 1% is transfer growth – not…

Back in the old days, I remember subscribing to a “sermon-tape of the month” club from my favorite preachers.  I’d write out a check (or money-order) for a 12 month subscription; and, every month I’d get the odd little cassette in the mail. Sure, you could purchase those sermon tape-binders if you happened to be…

“What are the most common vocations for psychopaths?” – a question that research psychologist Dr. Kevin Dutton recently sought to answer with his nation-wide “Great British Psychopath Survey.”[1]  After having people rate themselves with a standardized psychopathy test, he had them give employment details.  Strangely, “Clergy” ranked 8th most likely profession for psychopaths! Honestly, this…

Economists are saying that, at the current rate, Millennials will become the “poorest” generation in the last 80 years.  Annie Lowry of the NY Times recently wrote that, “The average net worth of someone 29 to 37 has fallen 21 percent since 1983; the average net worth of someone 56 to 64 has more than…

As we continue our series on the mistakes of rookie leaders, we’ve talked about how I underestimated spiritual warfare, or how I idealized that promotion, authority and resources would make my life simpler and happier.  And if you’ve missed these lessons, go and read part one and part two now.  But before I start with…

In the last few years alone, Substance has gotten over 40 of our interns and church leaders into their first full-time ministry positions.  Many of them get nervous about making mistakes; thus, they often ask me: “What are some of the most common rookie mistakes that new pastors and full-time ministers make?”  So, in this…