April 2nd, 2013 
alandanielson Most people, pastors and laypeople alike, become disappointed with their church. It’s inevitable. People are flawed and since churches are made up of people, churches are flawed. If we’re not careful, though, this disappointment can turn into discouragement, frustration and anger. So if disappointment is inevitable, how do we avoid the awful emotional turmoil that [...]
March 26th, 2013 alandanielson Recently I had a church consultant say something most pleasant while simultaneously disturbing to me: “Alan, you really have that ’nice guy factor’. Not a lot of senior pastors have that.” I deeply appreciated the compliment, but I was saddened by the follow-up statement that few senior pastors are nice guys. After processing my friends sentiment for a few [...]
March 20th, 2013 alandanielson Yesterday I wrote about the differences between micromanagement and macromanagement from a senior leader’s perspective. Now I’d like to write a note to those who are not in senior leadership and feel like you’re being micromanaged. It’s vital that you never confuse micromanagement with macromanagement! When I was a youth pastor my senior pastor once came [...]
March 19th, 2013 alandanielson Many supporting pastors at churches (I.e. Youth pastors, small-group pastors, worship pastors, children’s pastors, etc.) Get discouraged by their senior pastor’s micromanagement. Some people like to be micromanaged, because they don’t want to be accused of thinking too far outside the box or pushing the limits. So micromanagement fits them because someone comes along side [...]
December 12th, 2012 alandanielson I’ve been a pastor for over 20 years and even now there are days when I’m tempted to quit. To be completely honest, I had one of those days recently. I’ve often been asked how I’ve been able to stick with it for so long. The short answer is that I’ve been able to sustain [...]
Posted in Character, Leadership, Spiritual Growth 
Tags: difficult people, discouraged, discouraging, ministers, pastors 
5 Comments » September 10th, 2012 alandanielson The worst thing pastors can do is NOT be themselves!! Forgive me in advance for using language that some might find offensive, but let’s face it, people have built-in crap detectors. Some have better detectors than others, but everyone has one. The ONE thing crap detectors sniff out faster than anything else is in-authenticity. Ways pastors [...]
June 27th, 2012 alandanielson Having worked at large churches and consulted churches of all sizes, I’ve become more and more aware of a particular word over the last few years: metrics. Generally speaking, metrics are the numbers that an organization tracks. Common church metrics are things like attendance, offering, small group participation, baptisms and membership. Regardless of the metrics each [...]
May 8th, 2012 alandanielson Last week I wrote about the 4 stages people go through as they become more generous (you can read that post here). I also noted how the local church is uniquely positioned to help people move through all four stages. Other organizations can help people move through some of the stages, but I believe only [...]
May 3rd, 2012 alandanielson In my experience, there is no better place than the local church to teach people how to become fully-generous. The reason for this is that the church is uniquely positioned to help move people through, what I call, the 4 stages of generosity. As you read the rest of this post, go ahead and ask [...]
March 1st, 2012 alandanielson Originally posted 08-12-2010. Reposted 03-01-2012. ——————————————————- Something readers of my Triple-Threat Leadership eBook have noted is related to conflict. They’ve noted that, more often than not, conflict occurs between people on opposite sides of the leadership style spectrum. Here are some things people think about those who are their leadership-style-opposites: Supporters think that Achievers are too competitive and [...]
Posted in Leadership Tags: Conflict at work, Dealing with Conflict, Triple-Threat Leadership No Comments »
