Month: January 2021

7 THINGS EVERY LEADER SHOULD BE PREPARING FOR NOW

Creating Quality Experiences

7 THINGS EVERY LEADER SHOULD BE PREPARING FOR NOW

While you’re probably amazed you’ve (almost) survived 2020 as a leader, if you’re thinking ahead like most leaders, you realize 2021 is just around the corner.

How on earth do you plan in an environment like this?

While no one knows the future, that doesn’t mean you can’t prepare.

And while I have no greater insight into the future than you do, here are 7 things I’m planning around as 2021 approaches. I’ll also share a short action step with each insight.

2020 hasn’t turned out how anyone thought it would, and wise leaders won’t be quick to assume that 2021 will be any better, as much as we’d all love it to be.

I really hope this helps. Note: While the first three feel negative (and we’ve all had enough negative), please don’t skip them. There is hope.

Here’s the promise: Leaders who prepare to lead in the real world tend to find greater success than leaders who prepare for an ideal world that doesn’t exist.

With that in mind, here are 7 things every leader should be preparing for now as 2021 approaches.

1. Uncertainty

Being a recovering control freak myself, I love predictability. Right now, nothing is really predictable.

Leading through uncertainty—in this case, prolonged uncertainty—requires a whole new skill set.

If you want to position yourself to lead well in the midst of uncertainty, develop your agility and flexibility.

Those two attributes will help you respond as things continue to change.

If you’re wondering how to become more agile and flexible as a leader and organization, this will help.

2. Instability

Uncertainty is one thing. It removes your ability to see what’s ahead and around.

Instability is different. Instability means that the present circumstances are volatile and unsteady. They just keep changing all the time.

Think about the return to church for most leaders. Most church leaders thought people would surge back to in-person worship. That hasn’t happened.

And now most church leaders who have reopened for physical gatherings find themselves caught in the trap of having inadequate resources to do both online and in-person services well. Worse, you’re trying to figure out where everyone went.

One of the best ways to lead through instability is to pour more resources into what’s gaining traction and removing resources from what isn’t.

The best way to create future momentum is to pour resources into anything that’s producing current momentum. That’s why restaurants are beefing up takeout and drive-thrus, Hollywood is releasing direct to your devices, gyms are moving to outdoor classes and churches are investing more and more in online experiences.

In an unstable environment, when you find momentum, fuel it. And keep experimenting.

3. Economic Strangeness

I wanted to call this economic ‘volatility,’ but that would be too charitable.

The economy right now is just, well, strange. It’s been a very uneven year. The poor have gotten poorer, the rich have become richer.

People are spending like there’s no tomorrow on luxury goods and real estate and also saving money at historic highs, while others on the lower end of the socioeconomic spectrum go broke.

Downtown cores are seeing commercial real estate vacancies soar, and the stock market is soaring to record heights. while whole sectors of the economy are on the verge of disappearing.

Who knows what’s going to happen next? And the US Presidential election just throws an extra measure of unpredictability into the mix.

My thought? We need to prepare for a season of deep savings and deep charity.

In 2021, organizations with good cash reserves will have the buffer both to keep going and to keep giving.

If you’re curious, I’ve asked many leaders on my Leadership Podcast what a decent cash reserve is, and the consensus is three to six months of expenses in the bank.

You can’t give what you don’t have.

4. Opportunity

In the midst of all of this is opportunity.

Great innovation is born out of great crisis.

Crisis is an accelerator, and many of the changes we’ve seen (the emerge of the home as the new hub for fitness, schooling, work, shopping, entertainment and church) were coming anyway, they just got here faster.

The very obstacle you’re fearing might be the greatest opportunity you’re facing. It all depends on how you look at it.

As Bobby Gruenewald shared at the Online Church Engagement Summit, YouVersion, the free bible app, was born out of his frustration of wishing he could read the Bible more when he was on the road (or in line at the TSA). 443 million downloads later, history is changed because of his solution to that problem. You can watch the ninety minute Summit on demand for free here.

So, what are you seeing? Obstacle or opportunity? The future belongs to those who find the opportunity.

5. Model Reboot

Along with finding the opportunity comes rebooting your model.

The longer the uncertainty and volatility continue, the more outdated your previous model as an organization becomes.

Long before the pandemic, the existing church model of in-person attendance in buildings was showing signs of ineffectiveness. You can look at this 2018 church trends post for more on that.

The crisis is accelerating both your opportunities and your need to change.

If there’s ever been a moment to rethink how you do what you do, it’s now.

Now more than ever, churches that love their model more than their mission will die.

6. Staff Reallocation

My guess is your staff and volunteers are positioned to lead in the old reality not the new reality that’s emerged.

But as what we all thought might be a temporary blip becomes a protracted crisis, it’s probably time to rethink how you allocate your staff. The half time ‘tech guy’ isn’t going to get you into the future. Nor is the tack on of  ‘website and social media’ to someone’s already full-time job description.

One way to think through the model reboot and staffing allocations is to ask yourself, “If we were launching today, what would we do?” Then go do it.

In a prolonged crisis, every organization that will prevail is acting like a start-up. So, act like a start-up.

7. Deeper Personal Reserves

I realize posts like this can blow up your life and make your already insufferably long to-do list longer. And many of you don’t even have the energy to think about doing this right now.

I get it.

I saved the most important until last, but the best thing you can do is deepen your personal reserves for the season ahead.

Maybe you’re thinking that time off will heal you (at Christmas, in February…whenever). I doubt it.

Time off won’t heal you when the problem is how you spend time on. When every day grinds you into the dust with long hours, you won’t make it to vacation.

The cure for an unsustainable pace is to create a sustainable pace.

For me, that means mastering the art of saying no, clearing my calendar, deciding to quit doing the things that aren’t working and building in margin to the every day.

If you think you can’t afford to do that, you’re wrong. You can’t afford not to do that.

Having burned out years ago, I know the pain burnout causes.

So here’s to deepening your personal reserves. (This will help). If you have deep reserves, tackling everything else in this post becomes not just easier, but doable.

Cheering for you.

Original article appears here. 

Read more Ministry blogs at MinistryJobs.com/blog

Carey Nieuwhof is a former lawyer and founding pastor of Connexus Church. He’s the author of several best-selling books, including his latest, Didn’t See It Coming, and speaks to leaders around the world about leadership, change and personal growth.

The Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast and Carey’s blog at www.CareyNieuwhof.com are accessed by millions of leaders each year.

Looking for a new position? Stop by MinistryJobs.com and have a look at the jobs that are available! Ministry jobs are hard to come by and job hunting is no fun. We help ministry job seekers find their ideal role in their next ministry – for free! More than 6 million search for a job every day. Be found! Looking to list a job or an open position? We help churches and organizations get job openings in front of potential candidates. We have several plans and packages available. Today is the day!

Seven Heartfelt Prayers by Pastors for Their Churches in 2021

Seven Heartfelt Prayers by Pastors for Their Churches in 2021

Seven Heartfelt Prayers by Pastors for Their Churches in 2021

I could begin this article with another cliché about 2020, but I won’t.

Pastors are ready to move forward. Church members are ready to move forward. Indeed, it’s time to move forward.

In that light, I asked pastors a simple question on social media: “What are your prayers for your church for 2021?” I received hundreds of responses, but the answers were amazingly consistent. Here are the top seven prayers in order of frequency:

  • Unity in the church. Many pastors noted that 2020 has not only been a time of stress, it has been a time of stress resulting in disunity and bickering. Masks or no masks? Gather or not gather? Social distance or not? Many of the members took their complaints to social media.  I wish we could devise a rule that requires members to spend twice as much time in the Bible as they do on Facebook. We might have revival.
  • Embracing the community. It has truly been heartwarming to see so many pastors have renewed conviction to be a gospel presence in their neighborhoods. These pastors are now praying that their church as a whole reach and minister to the community. Your church address is no accident. Your church was placed in your community to be a gospel presence.
  • More evangelism. One pastor put it this way, “I am not praying for our church to do more evangelism; I am praying for our church to do any evangelism.” Another pastor marveled at how far so many churches have strayed from the priority of sharing the gospel. “We have become so busy doing good things,” a pastor noted, “that we have neglected the best things.
  • Embracing change. A number of pastors prayed that their church members will embrace change more readily in 2021. They realize the urgency of the moment. Business as usual will result in decline or even the death of the church. Many of these pastors have experienced worship wars and other conflicts. They know major change must take place, so they are praying it will come without major conflict.
  • Eradication of COVID.  Very few of us really expected the pandemic to last this long at this level of intensity. COVID has taken its toll on our health, on our emotions, on our marriages and families, on our businesses, and on our churches. Like all of us, pastors are ready for the pandemic to get under control.
  • Return of church members. “I want us all to be back together again,” a Michigan pastor commented. “I really miss a lot of my church members.” Though these pastors are realistic and know not everyone will return, they are ready for as many as possible to gather again in the worship services, groups, and ministries.
  • Elimination of the unnecessary activities. “One of the positive consequences of the pandemic,” a Florida pastor shared on social media, “is that we were able to see we really didn’t have to have all the programs, activities, and meetings we had. It’s my prayer that we will continue to refine our ministries and eliminate all the busyness that really did not make a difference.”

Thank you, pastors. You are on the front lines of ministry. You deserve our gratitude and not our criticisms. We pray with you for these seven prayers and many more you expressed.

Original article appears here. 

Thom S. Rainer is the founder and CEO of Church Answers, an online community and resource for church leaders. Prior to founding Church Answers, Rainer served as president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources. 

Looking for a new position? Stop by MinistryJobs.com and have a look at the jobs that are available! Ministry jobs are hard to come by and job hunting is no fun. We help ministry job seekers find their ideal role in their next ministry – for free! More than 6 million search for a job every day. Be found! Looking to list a job or an open position? We help churches and organizations get job openings in front of potential candidates. We have several plans and packages available. Today is the day!

Read more Ministry blogs at MinistryJobs.com/blog

3 Priorities for Every Pastor in 2021 Despite All the Uncertainty

3 Priorities for Every Pastor in 2021 Despite All the Uncertainty

3 Priorities for Every Pastor in 2021 Despite All the Uncertainty

As we get closer to the last page of the chapter that is entitled, 2020, you may be feeling discouragement, exhaustion, and you may even feel a little at a loss when you think about what to prioritize in 2021.

You may even be at a point where you feel like you don’t have enough energy to tackle this next hill. You’re trying to plan, but you don’t know what to plan for. Everything just seems out of sorts. The budget? Attendance? Discipleship? Programs?

I get it. There is a lot of uncertainty for anyone who leads a church, an organization, a business, or really anything.

And when you combine uncertainty with discouragement and exhaustion, you’re set up for despair and overwhelm. Why? Because when you’re discouraged and exhausted, it’s really hard to plan. It’s really hard to focus. It’s really hard to think clearly.

But allow me to encourage you today. Let me do some of the thinking for you. In this article, I want to give you 3 priorities you can count on for next year despite all the uncertainty.

3 Priorities for Every Pastor in 2021 Despite All the Uncertainty

1. Preach and teach the Scriptures

That’s right. This is your first priority. And the good news? This is what you do best. This is one of the reasons you’re a part of the Rookie Preacher community — you want to always keep learning just as if you were still a rookie in this.

So preach and teach the Scriptures. Do it with vigor. With passion. Do it with care. With dedication.

Now, let me be clear… The way this happens may need to change as I’m sure it already has for you. You may be preaching and teaching to people in person and you may be preaching and teaching to people through a camera. You may even be doing both at the same time in some venues.

But no matter the medium of delivery, preaching and teaching the Scriptures, this needs to be priority number 1 for every pastor in 2021.

In addition to preaching on Sundays, you may decide to:

  • Start a blog and teach the Scriptures through that
  • Start an email list and send weekly encouragement to people who want to receive it (or utilize your church email list and do this through there)
  • Dig into the power of email automation, set up a few week-long devotionals, and then utilize social media advertising that is targeted to your community and reach people through inviting them to subscribe to that email devotion (then invite them to watch or attend a service or read your blog or all of that)
  • Start a weekly show on YouTube or through a podcast where you teach on topics that people in your community and in your church are curious about
  • Go live on social media more often for Scripture and prayer
  • Start a book club where you and a small group of people read books together and discuss them either in person or virtually
  • Take a sermon series and re-work it into a book

No matter what kinds of things you do specifically, my point remains: the number one priority every pastor needs to have in 2021 is to preach and teach the Scriptures. The medium might change, but the message is still about good news for today.

The number one priority every pastor needs to have in 2021 is to preach and teach the Scriptures.

2. Disciple people to become disciple makers

This is the mission of your church, right? So don’t overthink it. Make this a priority.

And to be honest, this really is number one because it encompasses the goal of preaching and teaching people the Scriptures — to make disciples. But I have separated them because I want to give special emphasis to both.

If you and I have learned anything from 2020, it’s that small groups are still as vital as ever to the mission of the church.

Jesus’ model for making disciples who make disciples still works and is still the way to go. And the good news? If it has to, this can happen in a virtual environment through Zoom or Google Meet or whatever other platform your groups ministry chooses.

One action item, though, to make sure your groups ministry is keeping the main focus of making disciples as the target is asking this question:

Is our groups ministry challenging our people like Jesus challenged His disciples?

In my mind, the groups ministry must be a place where every person is known and loved (which gets at the heart of pastoral care done through the body of Christ) and every person is challenged to put their faith in action through obedience (which gets at the heart of discipleship).

Typically, if either one of these things is lacking, it’s the latter.

You may find that something needs to change. Maybe it’s just a tweak in the curriculum you send your leaders or maybe it’s a matter of emphasizing these two priorities to each of your group leaders once again through a phone call, a one-on-one meeting, or a leaders meeting.

3. Develop leaders for now and the future

Throughout this past year, you’ve likely witnessed some people walk away and some people step up.

Let me encourage you, friend: run with those who are ready to run. The people who have stepped up should be getting more of your attention versus the people who have walked away.

This is what Jesus did. The people who followed Him closest, His disciples, got the majority of His attention. The crowds got some. And there were a select few within the group of the twelve who got the most attention.

So who are those people who have stepped up over the past year? Write down their names. How many of them have been equipped and been given some leadership opportunities?

There are many approaches to leadership development you can take and the specifics will look different depending on what stage they are in development-wise. The important thing, though, is for each ministry to have a plan for leadership development and for that plan to work in conjunction and as a part of a church-wide leadership development approach.

If you’re not familiar with our content around developing a leadership pipeline, I highly recommend you check that out.

3 Priorities for 2021

So, before you put together a ton of plans for 2021, be sure that you prioritize these three things:

  1. Preach and teach the Scriptures
  2. Disciple people to become disciple makers
  3. Develop leaders for now and the future

Which of these is hardest for you? Easiest?

Original article appears here. 

Brandon Kelley is the co-founder of Rookie Preacher and the author of Preaching Sticky Sermons and Crucified to Life. He serves as the Lead Pastor of First Church of Christ in Bluffton, IN. He also writes at BrandonKelley.org. You can follow him @BrandonKelley_. Watch his sermons here.

Looking for a new position? Stop by MinistryJobs.com and have a look at the jobs that are available! Ministry jobs are hard to come by and job hunting is no fun. We help ministry job seekers find their ideal role in their next ministry – for free! More than 6 million search for a job every day. Be found! Looking to list a job or an open position? We help churches and organizations get job openings in front of potential candidates. We have several plans and packages available. Today is the day!

Read more Ministry blogs at MinistryJobs.com/blog

One Verse for Your Church in 2021

One Verse for Your Church in 2021

One Verse for Your Church in 2021

I didn’t realize what I had started on the second Sunday of 2019. 

I had heard in passing about a church that read the same verse at the end of their worship service for an entire year. At the time, it sounded like a good idea. The idea that there would be a consistent message throughout the entire year, and maybe, some people might actually memorize it, was appealing to me.

At the time, I prayerfully read through some of the verses that were heavy on my heart. I picked Matthew 9:35-38. Okay, it wasn’t just one verse, but it was one passage. You may recognize verse 36 and 37: “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. He said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is great, but the workers are few.’” (NLT)

Our church started reading that passage at the end of every worship service in 2019. And we haven’t stopped. We are closing in on 2 years and we have no plans to stop. 

What I didn’t know was the impact of those few verses. It has slowly shifted our eyes to see the confused and helpless souls around us. Those verses have led us to a new vision for our church. Those verses have shifted our strategy as church.

I didn’t realize what I had started that Sunday in 2019, but God knew. And God’s Word has greatly impacted our church in ways I didn’t see coming.

As you look to 2021, think about the possibility of one verse or one passage for your church. Here are a few ideas to help you think through what that verse may be:

  • What direction is God leading your church in 2021?
  • What is one way that your church can impact the community around you?
  • Is there a verse that is overflowing from your heart right now?
  • What verse have you seen that has been impactful in your church in the past?

God’s Word is living, breathing, and active. Let the people in your church see the power of letting God’s Word consistently permeate into their collective hearts. God might use it beyond what you can ask or think.

Article appears here.

Jess Rainer is the co-founder of Rainer Publishing. As co-author of “The Millennials”, Jess provides insights into the next generation of leaders. To read more from Jess, click here. 

Looking for a new position? Stop by MinistryJobs.com and have a look at the jobs that are available! Ministry jobs are hard to come by and job hunting is no fun. We help ministry job seekers find their ideal role in their next ministry – for free! More than 6 million search for a job every day. Be found! Looking to list a job or an open position? We help churches and organizations get job openings in front of potential candidates. We have several plans and packages available. Today is the day!

Read more Ministry blogs at MinistryJobs.com/blog

Why You Should Lower Your Expectations for 2021 Starting Now

Why You Should Lower Your Expectations for 2021 Starting Now

Why You Should Lower Your Expectations for 2021 Starting Now

You’re so anxious to get 2020 over with. I get it. I feel that too.

It would be amazing if somebody returned everything to some semblance of normalcy right about now, wouldn’t it?

Sitting here in December 2020 at the end of a long year, it’s tempting to paint 2021 as a relief to all our problems.

Trust me, I feel the urge to do that too. Deeply.

But, that would be a mistake.

For some leaders, it would be a fatal one. Either because it could take you out or your organization down…or both.

Before you dismiss the post, or quickly move on to something else more ‘positive,’ let me drop some promises in (which is actually the point of this post: To help you make it through the end of 2021 and well beyond).

Lowering your expectations for 2021 now will lead to greater joy, a far more resilient organization and a much healthier you later.

As they say, the secret to happiness is low expectations. One of the reasons you’re so frustrated and exhausted right now is because you expected things would be better.

Humans do that. Christmas is disappointing because your picture of how your family will behave is different from how they actually behave.

The frustration you feel with your team emerges from the gap between the ideal person you thought you hired and the real person you actually hired.

Lowering your expectations increases both your resilience and your happiness almost every time.

Here are 5 ways that lowering your expectations for 2021 is a really good idea.

1. The Shut Down Happened Overnight. The Reopening Will Be Far More Gradual And Intermittent.

It’s slowly dawning on most of us that there may not be a reopening ‘day’ or season where everyone floods back in and everything is at it was.

For most organizations, the shut down happened overnight. You were open for business as usual March 9th 2020, and were shut down completely or radically impacted by March 15th.

It’s easy to imagine that the reopening would happen exactly the same way.

There’s incredible news with a vaccine on the way, but both the roll out and its impact on the spread of COVID-19 is going to take a while.

While nobody wants it, we’ll likely have months ahead of the virus surging and retreating, and with that, regulations that move you in and out of degrees of lockdown.

The restrictions themselves will take a while to lift completely.

Government regulations are one thing. Human behaviour is quite another.

It might take a while longer for most people to feel comfortable being in crowded public spaces, and some of the pattern changes people have adopted during COVID will likely be permanent.

I think the metaphor of having green light, yellow light and red light people is sound.

Green light people are those who will rush back and be perfectly comfortable.

Yellow light people will be more cautious for months or maybe longer.

And red light people, made so either by disposition or medical condition, might change how they operate in the public sphere for a much longer time.

Simply realizing that this will be a longer, gradual process will help you plan for a longer, gradual re-entry and make you more effective as a result.

2. Normal Is Being Redefined As We Speak

You long for normal. I long for normal.

I also understand everyone is oh-so-tired of hearing about “the new normal.”

So, what can you actually expect?

Emerging out of the pandemic, in all likelihood, won’t be the return to normal you hope for.

That’s because normal is being redefined as we speak.

The longer the current crisis goes on, the longer temporary habits become permanent ones.

We will eventually settle into some kind of normalcy, and that’s likely to have a strange and unpredictable mix of familiar and new patterns.

So sure, people will return to live events.  Schools, gyms, restaurant and churches will one day be open without restrictions. (Cheer now).

And to be sure, offices will reopen and traffic jams will happen and people will vacation and airplanes and resorts will operate at capacity again.

But don’t miss the nuance underneath all this.

Will company offices return to exactly where they were pre-pandemic? There is zero indication that’s going to happen. Of course, some offices will reopen as they used to be, but most will change their patterns. As this Harvard survey shows,  remote work will, in all likelihood, become much more prevalent than it was pre-COVID. Many companies have already downsized and hundreds of thousands (perhaps millions?) of people have already sold their homes and moved to more remote places now where they can easily work from home.

It will be interesting to see what happens with shopping (more home delivery?), school (more homeschooling?), fitness (fewer gym memberships now that people bought their own Peleton?) entertainment (are direct-to-home movie releases more of the future after 2021?). Will in-person church attendance take months or years to go back to pre-pandemic levels?

So post-pandemic, whenever we get there, will definitely feel more normal than things do today. But normal will have shifted. And even a 10-30% variation in patterns is massive disruption and something every leader needs to plan for starting now.

3. The Biggest Certainty Is Unpredictability

Every leader longs for certainty. I do. But even long before the crisis hit, you didn’t really have certainty.

What you had was some form of predictability.  The crisis, of course, took that away.

The unpredictability and uncertainty are likely to continue for a while longer. Months for sure. Perhaps longer.

A good way to look at 2020 is that it helped build some skills that are essential in unpredictable times: Agility, flexibility and the ability to move fast and change again.

Those will likely be even more important in the future.

The last few decades are filled with companies, organizations and churches that died because things changed and they didn’t.

When the autopsy is done on those organizations, you usually discover they lacked not only the vision to see that change was necessary, but the flexibility and agility needed to change.

You’re developing agility and flexibility as a result of everything you’ve been through. Keep developing them, and don’t let those muscles atrophy.

4. An Unhealthy Rhythm Now Means You Might Not Make It To Then

I recently asked over 75,000 leaders (over email….you can sign up here to join my list) what they’re struggling with. By far, the #1 challenge is exhaustion: Their exhaustion and the fatigue of their teams.

The thing I’m most worried about for leaders who see 2021 as a panacea, or a finish line of sorts, is that they’re not going to make it into 2022. (I explain more on that in point 5, below.)

Imagining that 2021 is going to give you rest is kind of like thinking you’ll be fine after the tornado, only realizing too late that you now have to rebuild everything.

Yes, things will eventually be better. No, we’re not there yet.

Finding a healthy rhythm during the crisis is essential to being okay after the crisis.

In the same way that so many leaders looked to time off to save them during 2020, only to discover that a week or two off didn’t solve anything, looking to 2021 to save you will just be an exercise in disappointment.

Time off won’t save you from an unsustainable pace when the problem is how you spend your time on.

And if 2021 won’t bring instant relief, it’s critical for you to find a sustainable pace now.

I have a lot of free resources on how to manage your time, energy and priorities to stay healthy, and I have a session in the free 2021 Church Leader Toolkit if you want to learn more (non-church leaders are welcome to the Toolkit as well).

Time off isn’t going to heal this one. How you spend your time on is.

5. The Greatest Leaders Confront The Brutal Facts (But Never Lose Hope)

Let’s finish up by going back to what Jim Collins calls Stockdale Paradox, one of the principles that a lot of leaders talked about early on in the crisis.

As you may remember, Jim Stockdale was an American Vise Admiral captured and imprisoned during the Vietnam War. He was held and tortured for seven years.

Stockdale said the first people to die in captivity were the optimists, who kept thinking things would get better quickly and they’d be released. “They died of a broken heart,” Stockdale said.

Instead, Stockdale argued, the key to survival was to combine realism and hope.  In Stockdale’s words:

“This is a very important lesson. You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end–-which you can never afford to lose–-with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.”

That, essentially, is your job in crisis leadership. The greatest leaders confront the brutal facts but never lose hope.

And sadly for you and me, the crisis and instability will soon drag into their second year.

You will prevail in the end, but there’s some brutal stuff you and I need to get through before things get better.

Crisis leadership falls apart when leaders embrace the extremes: Pessimists only see the real, and naive optimists only see the ideal.

When you embrace both, you discover true leadership. You’ll also emerge out of the crisis stronger and into a much stronger tomorrow.

Original article appeared here. 

Carey Nieuwhof is a former lawyer and founding pastor of Connexus Church. He’s the author of several best-selling books, including his latest, Didn’t See It Coming, and speaks to leaders around the world about leadership, change and personal growth.

The Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast and Carey’s blog at www.CareyNieuwhof.com are accessed by millions of leaders each year.

Looking for a new position? Stop by MinistryJobs.com and have a look at the jobs that are available! Ministry jobs are hard to come by and job hunting is no fun. We help ministry job seekers find their ideal role in their next ministry – for free! More than 6 million search for a job every day. Be found! Looking to list a job or an open position? We help churches and organizations get job openings in front of potential candidates. We have several plans and packages available. Today is the day!

 

Read more Ministry blogs at MinistryJobs.com/blog