Category Archives: The EH Leader

2016 EH Leadership Conference Now Available on Video

Our annual Emotionally Healthy Leadership Conference is the most comprehensive immersion experience we offer for pastors and leaders who want to implement EHS into their churches. I believe this past year, in particular, was our best to date. To keep this conference at the highest possible quality, we limit the number of participants to 350 people. (Many others, of course, participate via Live Streaming.) Yet thanks to modern technology, we can now make available the entire 2016 Conference to any person in the world who has access to a computer! So for the next 7 days, the 2016 EH Leadership Conference is available on digital download for $49.99. That is 50% off the regular $99.99 price. This 2016 EHL Conference download pack includes: All 8 EHL Conference Sessions Jesus’ Upside Down Spirituality Leadership that Goes Back to Go Forward Differentiation Applied: Climb the Ladder of Integrity Developing Mature Organizational Culture and Teams Slowing Down. Read more.

Emotionally Healthy Vacations

Vacations offer a unique opportunity to integrate and apply our theology. But like all areas of discipleship (e.g. relationships, sexuality, work, singleness, marriage, retirement, money), this requires intentionality. Otherwise, we fall into the pattern of doing vacations like our family of origin or the wider culture. Each of us comes into vacations differently. Some of us, for example, have small children, aging parents, a special needs child, or severe financial constraints. Moreover, each of us has a specific temperament, personality, and set of passions. Last year, I wrote a blog entitled Turning Your Vacations into Sabbaticals, applying the principles of weekly Sabbaths to our vacations. Here I want to offer you five words, or principles, that have helped Geri and I structure our “vacations” each year: Prayer. This is so obvious that we easily miss it! Take time to be still before the Lord and listen (Ps 37:7). You may be surprised. Thoughtfulness. Wise. Read more.

You Know You are a Perfectionist When…

Pursuing excellence in our leadership is a good thing. Perfectionism is not. Perfectionism, that refusal to accept a standard short of perfection, is the shadow side of excellence – undermining the best of who we are, limiting our ability to love, and damaging our leadership of others. How do I know? I know perfectionism so well in myself. Part of what makes us human is our imperfections and mistakes. Only God is perfect. At times I wonder if the church, in our desire to reach the world for Jesus, has hired a Pharaoh of perfectionism to help us. Sadly, many of us don’t need an external slave driver. We carry our own internal Pharaoh who drives us not to accept flaws and blemishes in our performance. The following are my top 10 signs that God uses to stop me when I fall into the sin of perfectionism: I am anxious – a lot. I. Read more.

Jesus: The Relaxed Leader

One reason to regularly meditate on the life of Jesus is his modeling of mature, Spirit-filled leadership. We see this, for example, in his response to the massive defection of his followers after his bread of life sermon: “Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went with him” (John 6:66). Jesus’ brothers panicked. He had lost thousands of followers and the movement appeared to be on the verge of extinction. They urged him to get to Jerusalem as soon as possible and regain momentum, to make an impression. “Do something. You’re losing everyone – leaders, crowds, disciples. Even we have our doubts!” Jesus, however, remained relaxed. This passage powerfully speaks to me because of how many times I have led out of anxiety and fear, especially in situations where it appeared momentum was waning. Jesus offers us 5 keys to becoming a relaxed leader: 1. Remember the sovereignty of. Read more.

Your Shadow and Your Leadership

The challenge for us as leaders is the self-awareness to discern how our shadow impacts the way we lead– e.g. decision-making, strategic planning, team building, ways we deal with conflict, and transitions. When I first wrote The Emotionally Healthy Leader, I was acutely aware that readers wanted the last four chapters of the book first, i.e. what I call the outer life, the immediate practical helps to improve their leadership. The problem is that all our leadership tasks are informed by who we are, i.e. our inner life. For this reason, the first half of the book is dedicated to unpacking those core issues. And the first inner life issue every leader must confront is his or her shadow. Why? Everyone has a shadow. Shadows are those untamed emotions and behaviors that lie, largely unconscious, beneath the surface of our lives that constitute the damaged versions of who we are. They may be sinful;. Read more.

New EH Leader Podcast: Clean Fighting in the Church

Nobody likes conflict. Nonetheless, conflict is a very real part of every leader’s ministry. Yet the illusion that “sweeping disagreements under the rug” is to follow Jesus continues to be one of the most destructive myths alive in the church today. We try to fix tension as quickly as possible. Like radioactive waste from a nuclear power plant, if not contained, we fear it might unleash terrible damage. In this podcast, Pete talks about how God intends every conflict to be a disciple-making and culture-shaping opportunity – both for us and those we serve. But it is not easy, revealing our level of self-awareness, our family of origin dynamics, and the depth of our loving union / identity in Christ. Listen in as Pete and Rich conclude with an example of Rich resolving a tension with another staff member, and how the tool, “Clean Fighting,” is regularly utilized to grow people up in maturity. Read more.

NEW E-BOOK

LeaderSHIFT: 8 Pivotal Breakthroughs of Emotionally Healthy Leaders

LeaderShift eBook

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