The Nonprofit Entrepreneur as a new model for church leadership! February 26, 2016 The Friday Forum today is about… Is Church One Big Blame Game? The church is thought of as a community of faith on a spiritual journey together. It’s considered to be a safe place where grace abounds and people support each other rather than judge each other. The pastor is the spiritual leader, however how often does the pastor blame others for situations the pastor has... Read more
No, that’s not a typo. We can’t unite until we untie ourselves. We are so highly bound in our leadership roles and responsibilities that we really can’t lead. Here are some ways that I’ve observed leaders (including myself) being bound: Insecurity – Our self-doubt limits God’s work within and through us. Limiting ourselves limits God. Doubting ourselves doubts God. Minimizing our self-worth minimizes God. Humility and insecurity are worlds apart. Arrogance – We are so wrapped up in ourselves that there’s no... Read more
The Nonprofit Entrepreneur: A New Way of Thinking About Church Leadership The tendency to claim God as an ally for our partisan value and ends is the source of all religious fanaticism. – Reinhold Niebuhr Is the massive exodus from the church due to the dumbing down over the years? What are ways we have dumbed down, and is the trend reversible? The statistics show that all the major denominations are losing members at an alarming rate. There’s little if... Read more
February 12, 2016 The Friday Forum today is about… Integrity…or Lack of Integrity Integrity – or the lack of – There are lots of reasons that integrity is good for a community. Do we reinstate a leader when there’s been a lack of integrity? Integrity is good for business, according to Dr. David Gruder, the author of The New IQ*. Please comment below. Hugh Ballou The Transformational Leadership Strategist TM Read about me on Forbes (c) 2016 Hugh Ballou. All rights... Read more
Being angry and trying to get even with someone is counterproductive to getting ahead. – Hugh Ballou There’s buzz about equality within government, the church and charities, and in business, creating a culture of mediocrity, attempting to make everyone equal – or the same. Here’s the dictionary definition of “equality”: ______________________ e·qual·i·ty əˈkwälədē/ noun 1. the state of being equal, especially in status, rights, and opportunities. ◦ MATHEMATICS a symbolic expression of the fact that two quantities are equal; an... Read more
Please reframe the male gender in the language, and focus on this classic book about how our thinking drives our results. “The outer conditions of a person’s life will always be found to be harmoniously related to his inner state…Men do not attract that which they want, but that which they are.” ― James Allen, As a Man Thinketh* “As he thinks, so he is; as he continues to think, so he remains.” ― James Allen, As a Man Thinketh* In a... Read more
January 29, 2016 The Friday Forum today is about… Conflict – Leaders, especially clergy, shy away from conflict, making it worse. When I was doing research for a magazine article on conflict, I interviewed many experienced leaders on the topic, including William Willimon when he was Methodist Bishop of the North Alabama Annual Conference. He flat out told me that pastors move away from conflict when, in fact, they should be dealing with it promptly and directly. He went... Read more
Some people live their lives to the level of their dreams, while others live life to the level of their wounds. – Dr. David Gruder, Organizational Psychologist In his daily meditation, Richard Rohr refers to our broken vision of God’s grace. “Psychologically, humans tend to operate out of a worldview of fear and scarcity rather than trust and abundance. This stingy, calculating worldview makes both grace and mercy unimaginable and difficult to experience.”* He goes on to talk about how... Read more
“If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail!” ― Benjamin Franklin Planning is a key part of every success. I meet leaders almost every day who don’t have a strategy and are implementing tactics in the absence of an overall strategy. I continue to observe leaders who compromise the success of the organization they lead. The primary deficiency is the lack of a plan. Without a plan, stakeholders and organization members don’t know how to engage. Without a plan, leaders set up the... Read more
January 22, 2016 The Friday Forum today is about… Business – Is the church or nonprofit a business? What happens when we don’t use business principles to run the organization? This blog is titled “The Nonprofit Entrepreneur” because I am an advocate for installing business principles into the culture and processes of charities. I’m not sure that everyone agrees. Several years ago, the United Methodist Church launched an initiative called “Vital Congregations,” in which there were measurement standards for... Read more
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