In our last post, Understanding Healthy Boundaries, we looked at the definition, value and importance of personal boundaries. We noted that personal boundaries are limits that help us honor our values, priorities, and our truest and most authentic selves. Without strong boundaries you may be overly vulnerable to criticism or insults from others, you may struggle to manage your feelings... Continue Reading
Boundaries are thought of in many different ways. A moat around a castle, an impermeable wall, an immovable fence, or limits we place on someone’s influence in our life are just a few. Boundaries are often thought of as mean, punitive, and controlling. But these ideas are rooted in a misunderstanding of exactly what healthy boundaries are and what... Continue Reading
In our last post, Now Is The Time For Radical Self-Care we introduced the concept of “radical self-care” for church leaders. A vitally important subset of radical self-care is “soul care,” especially for the church leader. What is soul care? Soul care is the nurturing your inner spiritual life, your soul. Then what is “radical soul care?” Radical soul care... Continue Reading
Hurt people, hurt people, and pastors and ministers are getting hurt in record numbers. Increasingly church leaders are confronted with unhealthy and even toxic people within their flock. Further, church leaders live with constant stress and are often running on empty. At times we need reminding that taking care of ourselves is not selfish, but prudent. Parker Palmer wisely observed,... Continue Reading
Surveys and interviews with pastors confirm we are in an unprecedented age of conflict within our churches. Being equipped to peace keep and resolve conflict is now a vital skill for all church leaders. Ken Sande offers help in his book, Resolving Everyday Conflict, he shares the 7 A’s of biblical confession and reconciliation. Sande contends that too many people... Continue Reading
In the 1950’s Einar Haugen coined the term “code-switching” to describe the practice of moving between multiple languages during interactions. The Harvard Business Review defined the term saying: “Broadly, code-switching involves adjusting one’s style of speech, appearance, behavior and expression in ways that will optimize the comfort of others in exchange for fair treatment, quality service and employment opportunities.” This is a... Continue Reading
Today’s church leaders are facing greater polarization and threats to church unity over an increasing number of arguable issues. In the midst of this discord, it is helpful to remember that there are really only three possibilities with any argument. This observation was made by John Stuart Mill and stated in 1859 in his treatise “On Liberty.” It was written... Continue Reading
I’ve written before about the importance of church leaders having a high level of Emotional Intelligence, or EQ, and I always have my eye out for good examples. A key aspect of EQ is self-awareness. Specifically, the ability to identify your own response to a situation, see yourself as others see you, and then change your behavior accordingly. Recently I... Continue Reading
We’ve all been there: You email someone providing them with information or asking for an appointment or input and you get no reply. Anyone who has every worked with me will tell you this is one of my pet peeves. What Happens When You Don’t Reply To An Email I admit it, I find such unresponsiveness very frustrating. Here’s why.... Continue Reading
As we noted in our previous posts on the onboarding process, if church leaders want to compete for talent and keep it, they need to create an onboarding process that is exceptional. But, according to Gallup surveys, the fact that only 12% of employees strongly agree their company or organization does a good job in onboarding new employees reveals there’s a... Continue Reading
In last week’s post we examined the three elements that every new employee wants to see included in their onboarding experience. In this article we provide a series of practical steps to ensure the process is comprehensive and effective. In Gallup’s experience, the following strategies can help supervisors/managers create a holistic onboarding experience that includes the people, learning and process... Continue Reading
I’ve written before about the importance of an intentional onboarding and orientation process for new church staff. In this article we share the three common elements that new employees want in an onboarding experience, according to research by the Gallup Organization. The onboarding process is about fulfilling the promises you made during the recruitment process as well as preparing the... Continue Reading
Jim is a Church Organizational Leadership and Management Coach, Consultant and Trainer. Throughout his career Jim has demonstrated a passion for showing Pastors and Ministers how to use organizational tools for church and personal growth and health.
More About Jim“For I may be absent in body, but I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see how well ordered you are and the strength of your faith in Christ.” Colossians 2:5