Tag Archives: support

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Belaying Leadership

Whenever I think of winters in Michigan, I think of the great times I’ve had ice climbing. From the guys to the weather to the climbing, everything falls into place perfectly.

We leave early in the morning and drive for hours. We arrive at our cabin and unpack. Then we decide whether or not to hit a climb the first day.

Leadership is a lot like belaying an ice climber

Image by Freddy Bahena

Most days we choose to get in at least a couple of hours of climbing. One person is climbing, another person is belaying the climber.

What Is Belaying?

Belaying is a term often used in ice climbing or rock climbing. When someone is belaying another climber, they’re the one holding another person’s life in their hands.

The climber has a rope attached to their harness. This is usually done through a figure 8 knot. The person belaying the climber has a belay device attached to their harness and the climbing rope runs through the belay device.  Read more...

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How To Build Courage

Do you remember the classic movie Wizard Of Oz with Judy Garland as Dorothy? There was another character in the movie. He was played by Bert Lahr. This character was the Cowardly Lion.

The Cowardly Lion was scared of everything. Something goes BUMP! and he would jump. He was a true ‘fraidy cat. He’d failed to build courage in his life.

Learn how to build your courage

Image by Evan Rummel

You don’t want to be like the Cowardly Lion, do you? Instead, I bet you want to have courage. Lots of courage.

Courage to stand up for what is right. Courage to choose to be fair and just. And courage to live out your faith.

Courage doesn’t come easily. Courage requires hard work. But you can do it. You can build courage.  Read more...

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How To Overcome Self-Doubt

Your mind is lying to you...

One of the things I’ve battled with throughout my life has been self-doubt. I doubt that I’m good enough. I doubt people like me. And I doubt I make an impact on the world.

No one has told me any of those things. Yet my mind replays those thoughts on an almost daily basis.

You can overcome self-doubt

Image by Evan Rummel

Self-doubt mocks me. It tells me I’m never going to be anything. Some days, I believe it. Other days I battle back and overcome the self-doubt I face.

But what does it take to overcome self-doubt? Let’s take a look.

Keep reading to get your free download on how to implement the information discussed in this article. There’s a free Overcoming Self-Doubt Checklist at the end that will help you take the steps to become more confident.

Why Self-Doubt Is Crippling

As you already know, self-doubt cripples you. When you don’t believe in yourself, you have a hard time taking action.  Read more...

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Leadership Lessons From Running A Half Marathon At 3AM

Why I Ran A Half Marathon At 3AM

Many months ago, my pastor came up with a crazy idea: Let’s run a half marathon! (For those of you who don’t know, a half marathon is 13.1 miles. That’s a long distance to go by foot.) That sounds crazy enough on its own. The next thing he said was: at 3 AM.

Wait… What? Did I just hear Pastor Ben right? He wants me to run a half marathon early in the morning? Well, he had. And I tentatively agreed.

half marathon leadership lessons

There was no firm commitment on my part. I think I said: I think I could do that.

Over the next couple of months, we did a couple of preparation runs. We started out at a 6 or 7 miler. Our last run together was 10 miles. That was two weeks before the half marathon.

I was cautious. I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to accomplish the whole distance.  Read more...

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How To Deal With A Leadership Transition

One thing in life is guaranteed. Things will change.

We grow older. We move away. We get married. Life changes.

Leadership changes as well. There are times when a leader shifts position or moves away from the organization completely. When this happens, we need to know how to deal with a leadership transition.

Image by Dave Huth

Image by Dave Huth

Our church has experienced quite a bit of leadership transition over the past couple of years. We believed our senior pastor was transitioning to a new role and our assistant pastor was going to step in and fill the lead pastor position. Things changed and this didn’t happen.

Then our youth pastor, whom I’ve served as a youth leader for over 10 years, stepped down. He transitioned into a full-time music minister and head of the Wednesday night services. And now he’s moved into a position of lead pastor at another church.  Read more...