ARE:A Renewal Enterprise

The Great Surprise!

A Renewal Enterprise works with organizations of all types and sizes. But we have a special passion for helping faith-based groups make the shift to more lifegiving and effective ways of working together. ARE is offering two free downloadable resources for use by church leaders during the upcoming Easter season: An article called "The Great Surprise" written by Kelly Fryer and an accompanying study guide. Click on the links below to get a copy of: 

Who Needs A Sadist?!

Our friend Rochelle, the Right Now coach, is encouraging her friends and clients to "do work that matters right now!" Awesome, right?! Well, this week Rochelle posted 8 rules for writing fiction by Kurt Vonnegut on her Facebook page. Rule #6 is this:

Be a sadist. Now matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them -- in order that the reader may see what they are made of.

Which got us thinking: What are you made of? When really awful things happen to you, how do you respond? 

Think You Don't Need A Brand? Think Again.

It's one thing for Apple or Nike to have a "brand," right? But what about your business, nonprofit organization, or church? Why do you need a brand? Well, here's the reality: You already have a brand whether you know it or not. The question is: What is your brand saying to people??

Do You Help Others Play Well Together?

Do you play well with others? There are a lot of voices today encouraging you to ask yourself this question. HR expert, Susan M., says "accomplishing work is largely about the relationships you develop." Citing Toyota as a current example, the folks at Working With Others warn that not playing well with others can kill your brand. And Steve R. at All Things Workplace argues pretty convincingly that in terms of professional success, it's more important than anything else, including intelligence, abilities or performance. We wouldn't disagree.

When it comes to leadership in an organization, however, we think there's an even more important question:

 Do you help others play well together?

Sure It's Random But We'll Take It

Talk about working playfully! One of our teammates, Jennifer Robinson, was at her local Kansas City coffee shop yesterday when a TV crew stopped by. They were interviewing people about the competition that has been sparked among area towns by Google, which is looking for a site to start a pilot project that will bring a 100x faster internet connection. Jenn was at the coffee shop working on her laptop, writing an ARE study guide to accompany an article on doing what matters that we'll be publishing in a national magazine next month. Not only did Jenn make the nightly news on the local NBC station yesterday, so did our new book, The Future Starts Now. The cover of the book appears in a screen shot at the very end of this story. Sure, it's random. And it's only about 4 seconds long. But, hey, we made the news! We made the news! We'll take it. Click here to watch the story: Overland Park Courts Google

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Our Pain is Your Gain

We've had some technical difficulties with the first workshop in our new ONLINE SERIES: Essential 21st Century Leadership Practices. The folks who signed up are being very patient with us, though. And we are ready for a do-over!

The first webinar is finished and ready for viewing. It's available at The Renewable Organization "ning" site. The brand new study guide to accompany it is there, too, and ready for download. And we have rescheduled the first online chat for next week, Tuesday, March 9th. 

What this means for you is that you have one more (last!) chance to sign up to get all three workshops in this online series.

Click here for more information and/or to register today.

How are you telling your story?

 Happy Birthday, Chicago! 

Incorporated on March 4, 1837, today is the 173rd birthday of one of the world's most remarkable – and one of the nation's largest – cities. 

One of the local papers in Chicago is "celebrating" today with a photo montage of memorable and notorious moments. The truth is, we had to stop looking about half way through the show. While there are a few pics showing the city's good side, most of the photos in this montage highlight the bad and the ugly: mobsters, murderers, and mayhem. 

Really, guys?

What's The Big Idea?

Are you feeling the stress of this recession in your organization yet? We are. 

At Harvard Business School three researchers have completed a study of how companies have responded to previous economic downturns in order to help those of us who are trying to make our way through this current mess. They discovered that only 9% of all companies came out of previous recessions stronger and more vibrant. Here's how they did it.