Tag Archives: Emotionally healthy leader

Four Unhealthy Commandments of Church Leadership

As I have been finishing the final small edits of The Emotionally Healthy Leader (Zondervan, July, 2015), I have been reminded again of how deeply in our bones many of us carry the following four deadly, faulty beliefs: 1. It’s Not a Success Unless It’s Bigger and Better Most of us have been taught to measure success by external markers. And let’s be clear—numbers aren’t all bad. In fact, quantifying ministry impact with numbers is actually biblical. But let’s also be clear that there is a wrong way to deal with numbers. When we use numbers to compare ourselves or to boast of our size, we cross a line. The problem isn’t that we count, it’s that we have so fully embraced the world’s dictum that bigger is better that numbers have become the only thing we count. What we miss in all this counting is the value Scripture places on internal markers as. Read more.

Implementing EHS in Your Church

Emotionally Healthy Spirituality (EHS) is a paradigm that ultimately informs every area of a church, ministry, or organization. And so the one question that continually emerges in our work with leaders is: “How do I bring EHS into our church—and then how do I keep it there!?” There are a variety of tools, books, conferences, and curriculums for leaders who want to teach and train their people in emotionally healthy spirituality. Three tools in particular are essential to becoming a transformed EHS church: The EHS Course, EH Skills 2.0, and The Emotionally Healthy Leader. The Three Core Tools The EHS Course. This eight-week spiritual formation course provides a foundational overview of the EHS paradigm for your church or ministry. It includes reading Emotionally Healthy Spirituality and learning to cultivate a rhythm of meeting with Jesus twice a day using Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day: A Forty Day Journey with the Daily Office. Daily. Read more.

UnHealthy Leadership and the 4 Destructive Commandments of Contemporary Church Culture

In this month’s conversation between Rich Villodas and Pete Scazzero they discuss Pete’s upcoming book Emotionally Healthy Leader. Pete shares the 4 Characteristics of Emotionally UnHealthy Leaders and the 4 Destructive Commandments of Contemporary Church Culture. Click play below to watch the video and get ready to take notes as you watch this deeply challenging conversation between Rich and Pete. To download or subscribe to the podcast go iTunes.

Ten Principles for Exercising Power and Wise Boundaries

I have been working hard in these months writing The Emotionally Healthy Leader (Zondervan, 2015). The following is a sidebar from a chapter on power and wise boundaries that I trust you will enjoy: Do an honest inventory of the power God has granted you. To be faithful we need to be profoundly aware of the various sources of power God has granted us. We are at risk to use it poorly if we ignore or minimize our power. Unresolved family of origin dynamics that are buried alive resurface when joined with power. The workplace and church are key places where our triggers and “hot buttons” will emerge. Enlist wise counsel to monitor dual relationships. Mentors, therapists, wise elders and mature friends give us perspective and counsel. It is critical we know our limits and defer to others discernment. Watch for early warning signs of danger. People change. We change. The church changes. What works now may not work. Read more.

Face Your Shadow

Everyone has a shadow. Shadows are those untamed emotions and behaviors. They may be sinful; they may simply be weaknesses. Most importantly, they lie concealed just beneath the surface of our more proper selves. They may erupt in judgmental perfectionism, outbursts of anger, jealousy, resentments, lusts, greed, or murderous tendencies. At other times, they emerge through our need to rescue people, our seemingly endless need to be noticed, our inability to stop working, our isolation, or our rigidity. Our shadows are the damaged versions of who we are. They are the behaviors we use to protect ourselves from actually changing. We keep them hidden because they make us feel so vulnerable. Churches and organizations can develop a “shadow mission.” We want to reach people for Jesus Christ. That is good. The shadow of that is: “We are here to grow our numbers.” Many of us have wonderful public gifts in speaking and mobilizing people.. Read more.

6 Questions for 2014

These six questions come from a longer list Bobb Biehl sent me to consider as I enter into 2014. I found them helpful as I prayerfully considered them in my time with God the last couple of days. I treated them as part of my Midday and Morning Prayer. Take 2 minutes being still before the Lord, listening. Prayerfully, with journal in hand, sit with the following questions: 1. What might GOD IN HEAVEN want us to do in 2014? 2. What is our SINGLE WORD FOCUS for 2014? 3. What 3 MEASURABLE PRIORITIES should we accomplish in 2014? Of the three, which is our NUMBER ONE PRIORITY? 4. What is our NUMBER ONE ROADBLOCK as we face 2014? 5. What was our single GREATEST UNEXPECTED SUCCESS of 2014? How can we take FULL ADVANTAGE of this unexpected success? 6. What are the 3 THINGS we could do in the NEXT 90 DAYS to make a 50% DIFFERENCE in where we end 2014? After you finish, take a deep breath, offering. Read more.

NEW E-BOOK

LeaderSHIFT: 8 Pivotal Breakthroughs of Emotionally Healthy Leaders

LeaderShift eBook

Personal Assessment

How Emotionally Healthy Are You?
Take a free 15 minute personal assessment now!