One of my all-time favorite book titles is “Failing Forward” by John Maxwell. It captures one of my basic values, that failure can be a very good thing. In fact, most of the really important things I’ve learned came as a result of really big messes I got myself into.
Continue reading "Don't Fail To Play" »
We had a fun (and harrowing!) webinar tonight in which we shared some of our favorite web tools. (Harrowing because the three of us were passing control of the presentation back and forth --- and showing live websites. Never did either of those things before. Ahh!) Anyhoo...it was a pretty awesome evening. And we're following it up (as promised) with a quick summary, a link to the sites we talked about, and an invitation to YOU to share your favorite web tools.
Continue reading "It's Your Turn!" »
Get ready to TIVO "Dancing With The Stars" this week...because you're invited to join us this Tuesday evening, October 28, at 7:00 p.m. CST (5:00 p.m. Pacific, 8:00 p.m. Eastern) for a free webinar! The team at A Renewal Enterprise will be exploring several of our favorite online tools. As the world of the internet continues to expand, the ability for organizations to access useful, powerful and fun web tools online is growing as well. Bring your questions, your curiosity, and YOUR suggestions for best web tools. Let's pool our knowledge and experience, and learn together about how to better use the tools that are available to us. Click on this link to reserve your Webinar seat today or copy & paste this web address in your browser: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/935094471
Continue reading "Making The Web Work For You" »
This morning on my way home from teaching a class on leadership to a group of pastors-in-training I talked to a good friend who is having an unfortunate season. Some of the issues are related to work; most are home-based. Funny thing, though: This normally positive, purposeful, passionate leader was seeing everything through this rotten lens. So even the good stuff in this leader's life and work looked bad.
Continue reading "7 Tips For Staying Positive" »
We're in the middle of an economic meltdown. No question about it. Everybody's feeling nervous. Vulnerable. Unsure what tomorrow holds. How are you responding? What are you doing to help the people in your organization cope - thrive, even - in the middle of it all?
Here are a couple of ideas:
Continue reading "6 Things To Do In A Downturn" »
When I give presentations about the need to flatten hierarchies and create more participative organizations, I always let my listeners know right up front that I have never done well, personally, in organizations that don't value the input of every member - from the C.E.O. to the newest hire. In fact, I tell them, I've been fired for insubordination three times in my life!
Those of you who know me won't be surprised by that at all, I know.
But, even as a young whipper snapper (all three times happened before I was 25 years old), I believed that everybody has something to offer. And I have come to believe that organizations that function that way have a much higher chance of succeeding in an increasingly complex and competitive context.
More and more, the evidence supports that.
Continue reading "What Is Flat In Your Organization?" »