I want things done well. We should think through the details, ask good questions, anticipate problems, and produce something we can be proud of.

But I also want us to move. I want forward motion.

And those two desires are often in tension with each other.

If we wait until everything is perfect, we may never make progress. The opportunity may pass. Momentum may disappear. Someone else may solve the problem while we are still discussing it.

On the other hand, if all we care about is progress, we can make a lot of needless mistakes. We can frustrate people, waste resources, and eventually injure our credibility.

Leadership requires learning to live somewhere between two extremes.

I’ve made plenty of mistakes on both sides.

There have been times I moved too quickly. I saw where I thought we needed to go and wanted to get there yesterday. In hindsight, another conversation, another opinion, or a little more patience would have saved us trouble.

And there have been other times when I waited too long. I wanted more information, everyone to be comfortable and every question answered.

Meanwhile, we weren’t moving.

After a lot of years in leadership, I’ve learned a few things about balancing perfect and progress.

Know what actually has to be perfect.

Some things deserve extra caution.

For example, if the decision involves integrity, safety, significant financial risk, or something difficult to reverse, slow down. Ask more questions. Get wise counsel.

Not every decision deserves the same amount of deliberation. One of the mistakes leaders make is treating every decision as if it carries the same weight.

It doesn’t.

Determine what is good enough to move forward.

Granted, this can be difficult for perfectionists; sometimes 80 percent of the information is enough. Sometimes the plan is strong enough to begin. In fact, the next step will actually teach you more than another month of meetings ever could.

There comes a point when additional planning isn’t improving the decision. It is simply postponing it.

Leave room to adjust.

One reason we can move without having everything perfect is because most decisions aren’t permanent.

We can learn, adjust and improve as we go.

In reality, some things can only be learned once you start doing them.

I’ve often found that the final product looks different from what I originally envisioned. That doesn’t necessarily mean the original idea was wrong. It often means other people made it better along the way.

Listen to the people closest to the work.

One safeguard against unnecessary mistakes is involving the people who will actually have to implement the decision.

I’m a big believer in empowering people rather than controlling them. Give people the destination. Explain the why. Then let capable people help determine how we get there.

They will see things you don’t see and may keep your desire for progress from creating problems you never anticipated.

Accept that mistakes are part of progress.

This may be the hardest one.

If you are going to lead change, try new things, or empower people, some things simply won’t work.

The goal isn’t to create an organization where nobody ever fails. If people are afraid to make a mistake, eventually they will become afraid to make a decision.

The goal is to create a culture where we learn quickly, take responsibility, make corrections, and keep moving.

Of course, this is not permission for sloppy leadership.

Excellence still matters. Preparation matters. Details matter. Of course, even more – people matter.

But perfection can become an excuse for inactivity. And progress without wisdom can become recklessness.

One of the continuing challenges of leadership is knowing the difference.

Perhaps the question isn’t – Is this perfect? Maybe the better question is – Is this wise enough, strong enough, and ready enough for us to take the next step?

Because very little we lead will ever be perfect. But we can keep making progress.

The post Balancing Perfect and Progress as a Leader appeared first on Ron Edmondson.

I’ve learned this one repeatedly in leadership.

• You can tell people you want honesty.
• Your team can hear, “My door is always open.”
• You can say, “I want you to push back on my ideas.”

But people eventually stop listening to what you say about transparency and start watching how you respond when they actually practice it.

And your response teaches them what is safe to say next time.

• If someone brings you bad news and you immediately become defensive, they’ll remember.
• When someone questions an idea and you make them pay for it later, they’ll remember.
• If someone admits a mistake and your first response is anger rather than curiosity, they’ll remember.
• Someone disagrees with you and suddenly they find themselves outside the inner circle, everyone else will remember too.

People are always learning the unwritten rules of an organization.

And one of the biggest unwritten rules is – How much truth can the leader handle?

Leaders rarely get more transparency than they can emotionally handle.

The higher you rise in leadership, the easier it becomes for people to tell you what they think you want to hear. That’s dangerous.

You need someone willing to say:

• “I think we’re missing something.”
• “People aren’t understanding what you think they’re understanding.”
• “That decision is creating a problem.”
• “I don’t think the team is with us yet.”
• “You didn’t handle that very well.”
• Or even, “I think you’re wrong.”

Those conversations aren’t always enjoyable. But they are incredibly valuable.

I want to surround myself with people smarter than me in areas where I’m weak. But having smart people around the table doesn’t help much if they are afraid to tell me what they actually think.

A leader can unintentionally train good people to remain silent.

React strongly enough a few times and people will begin editing themselves.

• They’ll soften the bad news.
• You’ll see them avoid sensitive subjects.
• They’ll wait until the decision has already failed before telling you they had concerns.

Eventually, the leader may conclude, “Everyone seems to agree with me.”

Maybe.

Or maybe everyone has simply learned that disagreement isn’t worth the cost. That’s not trust. And it certainly isn’t a healthy team.

Trust develops over time as people watch what we do with what they give us.

They are asking questions we may never hear:

• Can I tell you the truth?
• Is it okay to admit I don’t know?
• Can I disagree without damaging our relationship?
• If I make a mistake will I be defined by it?
• Can I tell you something you don’t want to hear?
• Will you listen before you react?

Every response provides an answer.

This doesn’t mean leaders can never be disappointed, challenge poor performance, correct someone, or make hard decisions.

Leadership requires all of those. Transparency doesn’t eliminate accountability.

Healthy accountability and emotional unpredictability are very different things.

People should know where the boundaries are. They should understand expectations. They should know there are consequences for certain decisions.

What they shouldn’t have to wonder is which version of the leader is going to show up when they tell the truth.

Consistency creates safety. Safety encourages transparency. Transparency builds trust.

And trust is one of the most valuable forms of currency a leader possesses.

One of the best questions a leader can regularly ask is – What have my reactions taught people they can safely tell me?

The answer may reveal more about the culture you’re creating than anything written in your organization’s values statement.

If you want greater transparency from the people you lead, don’t start by asking them to talk more.

Start by examining how you respond when they do.

The post The Way People Expect a Leader to Respond appeared first on Ron Edmondson.

You don’t know what you don’t know. Be okay with that.

When I was in my twenties, I had more confidence than experience. I had ideas about leadership, marriage, and life. Some were good. Others needed a few years – and a few mistakes – to mature.

You don’t have to have an answer every time someone asks a question. It’s okay to say, I don’t know, but I’ll find out. That’s better than pretending you know something you haven’t yet learned.

Listen to people who have been where you haven’t. Ask questions before deciding their way is wrong. You may eventually change how things are done – and I hope you do where change is needed, but first understand what you’re changing and why.

And don’t be afraid to make a mistake. Own it. Learn from it. Ask for help when you need it. That’s how experience is gained.

Being young isn’t a liability.

You bring energy, courage, and ideas the rest of us need. But those gifts grow stronger when you’re willing to learn from someone else’s experience.

You don’t need to pretend you know everything to make a difference. Stay teachable. Keep growing.

And give God room to show you what you can’t see yet.

The post Dear Younger Version of Me: You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know appeared first on Ron Edmondson.

That’s such a great leadership verse.

Leadership comes with a lot of noise.

The more you lead, the more opinions you will hear. Some will be helpful. Some will be painful. Some will be well-informed. Others will come from people who don’t really understand what you are trying to accomplish.

And some people seem to have developed criticism into a spiritual gift.

A good leader listens.

I have learned through the years that even my critics can teach me something. Sometimes they see something I’ve missed. Sometimes their criticism exposes a blind spot in my leadership. Sometimes I simply need to humble myself and admit they are right.

So, look straight ahead does not mean stop listening.

It means don’t let every voice determine your direction.

There is a difference.

One of the quickest ways for a leader to lose effectiveness is to spend more time responding to critics than pursuing the mission.

• You start changing direction with every complaint.
• Second-guessing decisions you have already prayed through becomes a habit.
• You devote enormous emotional energy to people who may never be satisfied anyway.

Eventually, the loudest voices become more influential than the clearest vision.

That’s dangerous.

Proverbs says, Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you.

The next verse make the picture even stronger – Mark out a straight path for your feet; stay on the safe path.

For a leader, that means keeping the purpose in front of you.

• Why are we here?
• What has God called us to do?
• Where are we trying to go?
• What matters most in this season?

Those questions have to stay louder than the noise around you.

Certainly, invite wise counsel. Listen to people who have earned your trust. Stay humble enough to change your mind when you need to. If several healthy voices are telling you the same thing, pay attention.

But once you have prayed, listened, sought wisdom and have clarity about where God is leading, you cannot allow the hypercritical to set the agenda.

• There will always be someone who doesn’t like the direction.
• Someone will always prefer the way things used to be.
• There will always be someone who thinks you should be addressing something other than what you are addressing.

Leadership requires enough humility to listen – and enough conviction to keep moving.

• You don’t have to answer every criticism.
• Every argument doesn’t need your attention.
• You don’t have to chase every distraction.

Sometimes the most faithful thing a leader can do is keep looking straight ahead.

Listen well.

Learn what you can.

Make adjustments when wisdom requires them.

But keep the mission in front of you.

When you know where God has called you to go, don’t let the noise beside you keep you from what He has placed before you.

The post Look Straight Ahead – A Biblical Leadership Principle appeared first on Ron Edmondson.

Some ideas are good. Others simply aren’t. Some seem brilliant for about 24 hours and then I’m really glad I didn’t act on them.

But when an idea sticks – especially a big one – I’ve developed a fairly predictable process for what happens next.

I’m not suggesting this is the only way to lead an idea from thought to implementation. It is simply what leadership often looks like for me.

Let it live in my heart and mind for a while.

I rarely want to act on a big idea the moment I have it. I need some time to think about it, pray about it, question it and see if it continues to stir something in me.

I rarely share it with anyone at this point – and usually share it with Cheryl first. She’s a good listener.

Some ideas get stronger with time. Others quietly disappear – which is usually a good thing.

Test it against the mission and current priorities.

A good idea isn’t necessarily the right idea.

Before consuming organizational energy, I want to ask whether this actually helps us accomplish our mission and whether this is the right season to pursue it. Every yes to something new eventually requires saying no – or at least not now – to something else.

Assemble some sharp people.

I don’t want to develop big ideas alone.

I want people around the table who think differently than I do, understand areas I don’t understand, and aren’t afraid to tell me what I’m missing.

The goal isn’t to find people who will agree with the idea. It’s to find people who can make the idea better.

Pitch the vision – and especially the why.

I want people to understand more than what I’m thinking.

They need to know why I think it matters. The why is often more important than the idea itself.

The clearer the why becomes, the easier it is for other leaders to begin imagining possibilities I haven’t considered.

Make clear whether I’m processing or assigning.

This is especially important for idea-generating leaders.

Sometimes I’m simply thinking out loud. I’m not asking anyone to put it on a project list or start building a strategy.

I’ve learned that when you’re the senior leader, people don’t always know the difference.

So I try to tell them – and I invite questions for when I’m not clear.

Stir conversations that stretch us.

Good ideas should create good questions.

• What could this look like?
• How would this force us to change in other areas?
• What are we currently doing that would get in the way?
• How much is it going to cost?
• If it were successful – what’s the overall win?
• Is that win worth the cost?

You don’t have to answer all of these – and you may have other, better questions, but questions are your friend in ideation.

Sometimes the questions take us somewhere completely different – and better – than my original idea.

Invite pushback.

I want people to tell me what I don’t see.

We don’t have the resources. The timing is wrong. We’re already doing too much. This doesn’t solve the problem you think it solves.

Or perhaps simply – This isn’t a very good idea.

If people can’t challenge an idea before a decision is made, don’t be surprised when they aren’t fully committed after the decision is made.

Decide to act or not.

Eventually discussion has to become direction.

Not every idea survives the process. That’s part of the process.

But once we’ve decided we’re moving forward, we need clarity that we’re actually moving forward.

Empower the people closest to the work.

If the idea is moving forward, this is where I want to hand off as much as possible.

My role may have been to see the opportunity or cast the initial vision. That doesn’t mean I’m the best person to develop the strategy.

Give good people a clear destination, appropriate authority and the freedom to figure out how to get there.

Get out of the way – but don’t disappear.

Empowerment isn’t abandonment.

I want to stay close enough to encourage, remove barriers, answer questions and help when needed.

But I don’t want the team constantly looking over its shoulder wondering whether they’re doing it exactly the way I would have done it.

If that’s required, I haven’t really empowered them.

Expect the finished product to look different.

In the end, the idea rarely looks exactly like what I first pictured.

That’s usually a sign that other good leaders were involved.

They saw things I didn’t see. They solved problems differently. They added their creativity, experience and perspective.

And ultimately, that’s the goal.

Leadership isn’t getting everyone to execute my idea exactly as I imagined it.

It’s taking an idea, putting it in the hands of good people, allowing them to make it better, and together moving the organization closer to accomplishing its mission.

The post How I Process Ideas – And I Have a Lot of Them appeared first on Ron Edmondson.

Every leader gets frustrated.

People disappoint you. Plans change. Decisions take longer than they should. Someone fails to follow through. Progress stalls. You see a problem clearly, but others don’t seem to see it yet.

Frustration is part of leadership.

The issue isn’t whether you’ll experience frustration. The issue is what you do with it.

Unprocessed frustration eventually leaks somewhere.

• It comes out in your tone.
• It shows up in a meeting.
• You become impatient with people who aren’t actually the source of the problem.
• You make a decision too quickly.
• Or you start assuming motives that may not even be there.

And over time, frustration that isn’t processed well can turn into cynicism.

Healthy leaders learn to slow frustration down long enough to learn from it.

Ask yourself:

• What is really frustrating me here? Sometimes the presenting issue isn’t the real issue.
• Is this a people problem, a system problem, or simply an expectation problem?
• What part of this belongs to me? Good leaders are willing to own their contribution.
• Who needs to hear this—and who doesn’t? Not everyone needs access to every frustration you carry.
• What response would actually make this better?

Some of my best leadership ideas have started as frustrations.

Something isn’t working. It could be better. Something needs to change.

Frustration can reveal a problem worth solving.

But frustration is a terrible leader.

Process it. Pray through it. Talk it through with the right people. Learn whatever it is trying to teach you.

Then lead from clarity rather than emotion.

Your team may never know how many frustrations you process before they reach the room.

That’s not weakness.

That’s leadership.

The post Process Frustration as a Leader – Determines Strength of Leadership appeared first on Ron Edmondson.

I’ve been the guest preacher in a lot of churches through the years. I’ve also been the pastor who invited someone else to preach.

Being on both sides has taught me something – When you are the guest preacher, you are a guest.

That sounds obvious, but it should shape how you approach the opportunity.

Someone has trusted you with their pulpit and their people. For that day, you’ve been given influence, but it is extended influence. The pastor and church will still be there after you leave.

So, here are a few things I think every guest preacher should consider:

Honor the pastor.

Acknowledge the person who invited you. Say good things about him. Encourage their leadership and encourage the church to support them.

You don’t have to be flattering or insincere, but you should leave people thinking more highly of their pastor – not more highly of you.

Honor the church.

Every church has a culture and traditions. Respect them.

That can include everything from how you dress to which Bible translation you use. You aren’t there to prove your preferences are better.

Ask good questions before you arrive.

I usually want to know things such as:

• When should I arrive?
• What Bible translation do people normally hear?
• What should I wear?
• Who should I look for when I arrive?
• How much time do I have?
• How should I end the message? Am I leading into a song, prayer, invitation, or something else?
• Where should I go and what should I do when I finish?

Those may seem like little things, but little things matter.

Don’t unnecessarily create controversy.

Certainly preach the truth. But if you’re considering addressing something you know could be especially controversial in that church, talk with the pastor first.

Remember – You get to leave. The pastor has to live with what you leave behind.

Don’t create a mess someone else has to clean up.

Honor the time you were given.

If they give you 30 minutes, don’t preach 45 because you felt led.

Part of honoring the invitation is honoring the schedule.

Be careful with humor.

Humor can help people connect with you. It can also go badly when you don’t know the room and the people – and they don’t know you.

Never get a laugh at the expense of the pastor, the church, someone in the congregation, or a group of people.

And finally –

Don’t try to be the hero.

You weren’t invited to show the church what they’ve been missing.

You were invited to serve them.

Preach Jesus. Encourage the people. Honor the pastor. Respect the church.

And when you leave, hopefully you’ve made the pastor’s job a little easier – not harder.

What else would you add?

The post A Few Suggestions Before You Share Someone’s Pulpit Time appeared first on Ron Edmondson.

Most leaders say they want their church or organization to grow.

Then growth happens.

And suddenly there are problems.

People don’t know everyone anymore. Communication gets harder. The pastor or leader can’t be everywhere, know everything, or give everyone the same amount of time they once could.

Systems that worked beautifully for 100 people start breaking at 300. What worked at 500 may become completely inadequate at 1,000.

Growth has a way of exposing holes.

And creating tension.

That doesn’t necessarily mean something is wrong. Sometimes it means something is growing.

A few realities I’ve observed in growing churches and organizations:

Not everyone will know everything – or everyone.

There was a time when information traveled naturally. Everybody knew what was happening because everybody talked to everybody.

Growth changes that.

Communication has to become more intentional. You have to repeat yourself more than you think you should. And even then, someone will say, “I never heard about that.”

The leader’s time gets stretched.

This may be one of the hardest adjustments.

As an organization grows, the leader becomes less personally accessible. That doesn’t mean the leader should become distant or uncaring. It means the leader has to increasingly invest through other leaders.

If everything still requires the senior leader’s involvement, growth will eventually stop at the leader’s capacity.

Growth stretches every system you have.

Scheduling. Communication. Follow-up. Facilities. Staffing. Decision-making.

Growth discovers weaknesses you didn’t know existed.

I’ve often said you usually don’t know what systems are inadequate until you actually need them.

By the way, growth creates an incredible opportunity for good leaders.

And managers. Yea, that’s right – managers are needed too! Especially in growing organizations.

Growing organizations desperately need people who think in systems.

They need managers who aren’t intimidated by growth – people who see chaos and start building processes, who recognize recurring problems and develop solutions, and who can bring order without killing momentum.

Those people are often under appreciated in visionary organizations. They shouldn’t be.

Vision may help create growth. Good leadership and good systems help steward it.

So, when growth starts creating problems, don’t immediately assume the growth is the problem.

Some problems need to be fixed.

Others are simply telling you – What got you here won’t be enough to take you where you’re going next.

The post Growth Creates Problems. That’s Not Always a Problem. appeared first on Ron Edmondson.

Understanding which one you have can save you – and the people you lead – a great deal of frustration.

Actual authority means the final authority ultimately rests with you. You may delegate decisions to others, seek counsel, or share leadership, but at the end of the day, you have the right and responsibility to decide.

Extended authority is different. Someone who possesses the actual authority has entrusted some of their authority to you.

That is a gift. It should be received with gratitude and shepherded carefully. But it is still extended authority. Ultimately, the person who granted it retains the right to define its boundaries.

I learned this lesson years ago.

I was being considered for the CEO position of a company that had been founded and was still owned by one married couple. They wanted to step away from the day-to-day leadership for a season and pursue some other interests.

I spent several days with their team learning the company, asking questions, and imagining possibilities.

By the time I left, my notebook was already filled with ideas. I love the organization, felt welcomed by the leadership team, and was reasonably certain I would be moving forward as a final candidate.

Then came to question. Questions are powerful tools for discernment.

On the drive to the airport, the wife turned around and asked me what I still consider one of the best leadership questions I have ever been asked –

“If we disappear for five years and come back, are we going to recognize the place?”

I thought for a moment.

Then I answered something like, “I hope not. I would hope you would come back and see a completely different company. There are so many things we could build and so many opportunities we could pursue in five years.”

Almost immediately, I knew that was not the answer they were hoping to hear.

And I didn’t get the job.

Looking back, the question revealed something important.

They were prepared to extend significant authority to the new CEO, but they were not giving away actual authority.

It was still their company.

There was nothing wrong with what they wanted. There was nothing necessarily wrong with what I wanted either.

We simply understood the authority of the position differently.

That distinction matters in organizations, churches, businesses, nonprofits, and even families.

A leader may say, “You own this,” when what they really mean is, “You own this as long as you lead it within the boundaries I have established.”

Again, that is not necessarily unhealthy.

The problem comes when no one understands the arrangement.

If you are extending authority to someone, be clear about what they can change without your permission. What decisions truly belong to them and what things are non-negotiable? At what point do you intend to step back in?

And if you are receiving authority, ask similar questions.

• Do I have actual authority here – or has someone else’s authority simply been extended to me?
• What decisions am I free to make?
• How much change does the person with actual authority really want?
• Which decisions still require approval?
• What outcomes am I responsible for but unable to control?

One of the greatest sources of leadership frustration occurs when someone believes they have actual authority but later discovers they were only operating with extended authority.

Another occurs when senior leaders say they are delegating authority while continuing to make every meaningful decision themselves.

Neither actual authority nor extended authority is automatically better.

Different situations call for different arrangements. But everyone needs to know which one they are operating under.

Because clarity about authority creates freedom. Confusion about authority eventually creates conflict.

The post Actual Versus Extended Authority – Which Do You Have? appeared first on Ron Edmondson.

Maybe that comes from having attended thousands of them through the years. Some meetings have moved organizations forward, developed leaders, solved problems, and generated incredible ideas. Others have made me wonder how many years of our collective lives we could get back.

Meetings are necessary in every healthy church or organization. Yet simply putting people in a room – or on a Zoom call – doesn’t mean something productive is going to happen.

Good meetings require intentionality.

So, if you lead meetings, here are 10 strong opinions I have developed through the years.

1. If all the decisions are already determined, don’t call a meeting. Send me an email.

And make it a well-written one.

People quickly figure out when their input isn’t really wanted. Calling people together to create the appearance of collaboration when the decision has already been made only frustrates the team.

Sometimes leaders need to make the decision. That’s leadership. Just communicate it clearly and let everyone get back to work.

2. When the meeting is scheduled when people are naturally hungry, feed us.

And pay for it.

Food isn’t necessary for every meeting, of course. But if you’re scheduling through lunch or dinner – in a required attendance – recognize that people have normal human needs.

Hungry people aren’t usually your most creative people.

Plus, sharing a meal can occasionally accomplish as much for team chemistry as the meeting itself.

3. Where there is no agenda, what exactly are we doing here?

If we are simply meeting because the meeting has always been on the calendar, maybe the calendar needs to change.

Every meeting should have a reason for existing. Participants should know why they are there and what we’re hoping to accomplish.

Otherwise, cancel it. You’ll become more popular immediately.

4. If every new idea is going to be shot down, would skeet shooting be a better use of our time?

Nothing kills creativity faster than knowing every suggestion will immediately be met with all the reasons it won’t work.

Certainly, not every idea is a good one. Wisdom requires evaluating ideas carefully.

However, brainstorming and evaluating shouldn’t always happen simultaneously.

Give ideas a little oxygen before you start shooting at them.

5. When the meeting flows the exact same way every time, won’t someone eventually get bored?

Creative people especially need some variety.

Routine can be helpful because people know what to expect. Predictability, however, can eventually cause people to mentally check out.

Change the room occasionally. Ask someone different to lead a portion of the meeting.

Start with a problem instead of announcements.

Small adjustments can awaken new energy.

6. If we’re only going to talk about something but never do anything about it, shouldn’t we call this a social event?

Conversation matters, but meetings should usually move toward action.

At some point, somebody needs to do something.

Assign responsibility. Establish a next step.

Set a deadline when appropriate.

Progress is one of the best ways to make people believe the next meeting is worth attending.

7. When one person dominates all the conversation, let’s skip the meeting and schedule a speech.

The loudest person in the room isn’t necessarily the person with the best idea.

Strong leaders learn how to draw other voices into the conversation. Some of your wisest team members may need an invitation before they speak.

Ask them what they think.

Then give them enough silence to answer.

8. If everyone is invited, nothing may get accomplished today. Let’s have a party instead.

More people don’t automatically produce better decisions.

Invite the people who need to contribute, learn, decide, or implement. Release everyone else to do what you’ve empowered them to do.

Large gatherings can be wonderful for celebration and communication.

Smaller groups are often better for solving problems.

9. When it is past time for most people to go home, let’s postpone the rest.

You’ve probably lost our full attention anyway.

Fatigue rarely produces our wisest thinking. A leader may still be energized about the subject while everyone else has mentally left the building.

Watch the room.

Respect people’s time enough to know when you’re finished.

10. If no one is taking notes, will we even remember any of this tomorrow?

Someone should capture the important decisions, action steps, assignments, and deadlines.

Otherwise, the next meeting may become a repeat of the last one.

Documentation doesn’t have to be complicated. A simple summary of what we decided, who owns what, and what happens next can save hours of confusion.

Then send it quickly while everyone still remembers what happened.

Better Meetings Are a Leadership Issue

I’m not opposed to meetings.

In fact, I think meetings are vital to healthy churches and organizations. Some of the best decisions I’ve been part of have come from the right people sitting around a table, asking good questions, challenging assumptions, listening to one another, and determining what to do next.

Poor meetings drain energy. Great meetings create momentum.

Before you schedule the next one, ask a few questions –

• Why are we meeting?
• Who really needs to be there?
• What decision needs to be made?
• Which conversations need to happen?
• What should be different when we leave?

If you can’t answer those questions, you may not need a meeting yet.

But when you do call one, make it worth people’s time. Their time is one of the most valuable resources they’ve entrusted to your leadership.

The post Ten Candid Opinions About Meetings appeared first on Ron Edmondson.