Online Articles

Is Your Mission Statement Helpful?

Mission statements. Most organizations have one. Few groups use theirs regularly. This article is not anti-mission-statement. Rather, it suggests a helpful distinction between statements of mission on the one hand and core purpose statements on the other. Brief. Compelling. Yawn-Proof. A statement... Read more

Humility, Mediocrity, and Leadership

In his recently published book, The Better Pastor , Patrick Lencioni presents a short fable on how leadership principles can help pastors “think about their ‘jobs’ a little differently.” Essentially, he is boldly inviting priests, and lay leaders by extension, to improve their ability to lead... Read more

Leadership Teams and the Soil of Evangelization

Experience in the garden teaches us that the strongest of plants cannot flourish if the soil is poor. The wise gardener tends to his soil carefully, in order to prepare the necessary environment in which plants can thrive and bear fruit. By analogy, the same is true in evangelization. When a... Read more

Vulnerability and Boldness: Twin Keys to Leadership

If you want to be an effective Catholic leader, part of a passionate team that bears lots of fruit in a parish, diocese, or other Catholic organization, then you must be vulnerable and you must be bold. Wait a minute – those are two qualities you might not expect to see paired up. Many would say... Read more

How Confusion May Be Hindering your Communication

Teach them to observe all that I have commanded you. Jesus couldn’t have made it much clearer. Without being organizationally healthy, a leadership team—regardless of its specific purpose—will struggle to communicate in clear and Christ-like ways. De-Babel Your Team In the Tower of Babel account we... Read more

Pope Francis And Conflict

For leaders in the Church today Pope Francis can sometimes be an enigma. A sort of cottage industry of journalists and bloggers has flourished in the wake of this prolific and often spontaneous Pope. Recently I read a speech he delivered to the Eucharistic Youth Movement in Italy last August. His... Read more

Peace on Earth; and with my Vendor

I’ll be direct and blunt. You didn’t keep your commitment to me. Can we make peace before Christmas? This was the essence of an email I sent this morning, out of a desire to hold a potential vendor who happens to also be a friend accountable, and for the sake of peace in time for Christmas. It was... Read more

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