Ron Edmondson

JUNE 2, 2011

Here is a huge leadership lid I have witnessed firsthand. In fact, it’s one that has crippled my leadership in years past. (I wrote a post about one of those times HERE ). Here’s the lid: Your ability to respond under stress, to criticism and to failure will determine the height of leadership you can sustain or achieve. You can make excuses all you want, but the one who claims to be the leader: Must keep standing when everyone else is “sitting the next one out&#.

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Leadership Stress Course Examples 58

Ron Edmondson

JUNE 23, 2011

Let’s face it…going to the gym can be brutal on the ego… Recently Cheryl and I moved downtown. It was an intentional life change (You can read about it HERE.) Part of that move involved changing gyms. I now workout on the campus of our local university, Austin Peay State University. I love the facility. I’m a huge supporter of our local school.

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Ron Edmondson

JUNE 7, 2011

This is a guest post by David Santistevan. He is a Worship Leader, Young Adult Pastor, and Blogger. You can read his blog and follow him on Twitter and Facebook. David speaks from the heart of a younger leader trying to follow someone else’s leadership…someone else’s dream. Have you ever been there? I thought it was a perspective worth sharing.

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Learning-by-Doing Follow-up Advice Influence 57

Ron Edmondson

JUNE 21, 2011

Mark Sanborn , CSP, CPAE is president of Sanborn & Associates, Inc., an idea studio for leadership development and remarkable performance. He is an award-winning speaker and the author of the bestselling books, The Fred Factor: How Passion In Your Work and Life Can Turn the Ordinary Into the Extraordinary , You Don’t Need a Title to be a Leader: How Anyone Anywhere Can Make a Positive Difference and The Encore Effect: How to Achieve Remarkable Performance in Anything You Do.

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Books Leadership Learning-by-Doing Collins 57

Ron Edmondson

JUNE 19, 2011

I love being a dad. I really do. It’s one of my favorite things about life. Here are 12 reasons: I get to cheer from the sidelines… I get to see my legacy live through others… I get to keep growing so they can watch me grow… I get to watch boys become men… I get to share wisdom and experience… I get to be two boy’s biggest fan… I get to share stories with others about my boys… I get to receive encouragement to stay young-minded… I get t

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Ron Edmondson

JUNE 14, 2011

I had a man tell me once, in a church where I was serving as interim pastor, “Son, we don’t need no fancy ideas around here. We like being a small church.&# I soon learned he represented the feelings of the church as a whole. They were satisfied with not growing or reaching new people. I didn’t last there long. There’s nothing wrong with being a small church.

Organization 56

Organization Resistance Comparison Delegation 56

Ron Edmondson

JUNE 3, 2011

I’m giving away five copies of Andy Andrew’s “The Final Summit&#. I love the writings of Andy Andrews. Andy may be one of the best communicators of our day. He’s funny, clever, and a master storyteller. If you read Andrew’s New York Times bestseller “The Traveler’s Gift&# , then you’ll love “The Final Summit&#.

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Books Storytelling Travel Participative 56

Ron Edmondson

JUNE 6, 2011

I’ve seen so many potentially great leaders waste opportunities because they wait for the perfect scenario before to develop as a leader… Here’s a word to those who need to hear it… You may not enjoy where you are currently in life or work… You may not yet be in your dream job… You may not respect the leader you are supposed to follow… You may not plan to stay in your current work location… You may not enjoy the people with whom you work… You

Development 54

Development Follow-up Creativity Planning 54

Ron Edmondson

JUNE 15, 2011

Over the next few months, I’ll be interviewing some great business leaders. They may or may not be leading Christian companies, but they will be high-level leaders in successful organizations. I think there are helpful things to learn for us in the church world from those leading outside the church. I begin with Mark Schoenwald, President and Chief Executive Officer at Thomas Nelson.

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CEO Chief Executive Officer Learning-by-Doing Delegation 53

Ron Edmondson

JUNE 29, 2011

A danger exists in completing the routine tasks you have to do… Routine assignments at work…. Routines in relationships… Routines in physical activities… Routines in daily quiet times… Routines in weekly calendaring… I call it the danger of the mundane… The things we always do, things that we do everyday, as good as those things may be, can become so routine that they begin to be seen as more of a drag than a pleasure.

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Delegation How To Budgeting Creativity 51

Ron Edmondson

JUNE 8, 2011

I suspect if you are in a growing church, that you and your staff feel stretched to accomplish all there is to do. You have probably said aloud that you are “understaffed&#. I know, because it is part of being a growing church… and I’ve said it many times. In any organization, growth brings stress to systems and structure. Growth in staffing needs will always outpace growth in cash flow.

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How To Stress Delegation Finance 51

Ron Edmondson

JUNE 10, 2011

I received email feedback the other day from someone who attends our church. Not having grown up attending church very often, but now wanting to learn the Bible and about the things of God, the woman thanked us for being a “ church for dummies “ (That’s her term…not mine…) I laughed at first when I saw her comment and wondered how I should receive the remark, but then she explained that she used to leave church more confused than when she arrived.

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Maturity Follow-up Process Video 50

Ron Edmondson

JUNE 23, 2011

In my experience, many of the new ideas for our organization…and for my life…have come while I was doing something else. Usually when we are working on planning a service it’s when the best ideas for a service develop… Often when I’m working on a blog post, I get several new ideas for a blog post… Look at most great inventions and they were discovered while doing something…many times while doing something totally unrelated to what was discovered… T

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Blog Innovation Organization Planning 50

Ron Edmondson

JUNE 20, 2011

People can hide a lot of pain… Many times what we can see is not all there is to see. You see the happy couple that seems to have it all together… But you don’t see the pain they carry from a divorce of the past… You see the sweet family with three beautiful children… But you don’t see the heart that breaks because of past miscarriages… You see the successful business owner… But you don’t see the failures that came before things began to turn

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Succession 50

Ron Edmondson

JUNE 16, 2011

We moved downtown… Earlier this year, Cheryl and I sold the house where we raised our boys and purchased a condominium in the downtown area of our city. We have a river view. It’s an open floor plan. Everything we do is on one level, plus we have an upstairs living space for the boys when they come home. We walk downtown almost every night.

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Motivation Energy Planning Career 50

Ron Edmondson

JUNE 14, 2011

I don’t do marriage counseling very often these days. I have a master’s in counseling and spent a few years almost exclusively doing counseling, but the size of the church and my role leading and developing the staff takes more of my time now. As a pastor, knowing that my opportunity is limited in offering on-going counseling, I have learned that it is important to assess the health of the marriage early in the counseling process if I have any hopes of making progress.

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Tips Process Development 49

Ron Edmondson

JUNE 30, 2011

Whenever I was in business, I once owned of a small manufacturing company. Most of my time was spent in an office or on the road somewhere, but when I had time I loved to hang out in the factory, especially when delivery trucks dropped off merchandise. For me it meant that we were receiving materials, we could make something, and then we could bill someone.

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Leadership Merchandising Cost Blog 47

Ron Edmondson

JUNE 4, 2011

God loves a cheerful giver… Listen to this Forbes magazine interview of Warren Buffett’s sister. She makes a lot of sense…even for some of us who don’t have billions to give away… Who is the most giving person you know? Related posts: Free Fridays: Giving Away Stuff Christians Like Book. Free Fridays: The Go-Giver Book Giveaway.

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Edmondson Magazine Books 47

Ron Edmondson

JUNE 11, 2011

Another week has come and nearly gone… It felt like a normal, almost typical week… At times it seemed so scattered and chaotic at times that I wondered if I had accomplished anything. That’s “normal&# … I decided to look back at my calendar to see what I had actually done. Here are some highlights from a “typical&# pastor’s week: Renewed the vows of a pastor friend’s 40th anniversary.

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Mentor Report Project Blog 47

Ron Edmondson

JUNE 29, 2011

Make sure you have at least one person in your life… …Who is willing to say the hard things you don’t want to hear but need to hear… Someone you trust… Someone who knows you… Someone with wisdom… Someone who loves you… Willing to tell you the truth… It could save you, your marriage, and possibly your life… Do you have someone like that in your life?

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Planning 46

Ron Edmondson

JUNE 20, 2011

Leading an organization is just like driving a car… Okay, it’s not exactly like that, but leading an organization is hard work, regardless of the size of the organization or even the strength of a team. It is often difficult to think through all the issues that the leader should be considering. I have found it helpful at times to compare organizational health and success to other things I may understand even more; things I do everyday.

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Organization Brainstorming Learning-by-Doing Travel 46

Ron Edmondson

JUNE 13, 2011

Related posts: The No Guarantee Principle. Bad Leadership. How Personal Should Leadership Be?

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Leadership How To 65

Ron Edmondson

JUNE 6, 2011

Okay, let me be honest…I’m not sure the title of this post is theologically sound. I don’t know if we can “break God’s heart”. His heart appears fairly strong to me. He carries the weight of the world on His shoulders, so I’m assuming He can handle most anything we throw His way. I did want you to read the post though, and I do think there is an illustration here that is important for us to consider.

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How To 46

Ron Edmondson

JUNE 5, 2011

I consistently encounter people who are desperate for friendships. They feel completely alone. I understand. I’ve been there in several seasons of my life and, as an Introvert, I’ve often felt left on the sidelines while others enjoyed the party. Here is my best suggestion if you feel all alone: If you want more friends, be a friend…. If you want more connections, connect with someone….

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How To Planning 43

Ron Edmondson

JUNE 28, 2011

Bad leadership is bad leadership. It’s usually easy to recognize. It’s easier, however, to hide bad leadership in an organization, which isn’t growing. (I wrote recently that it’s easy to keep an organization small. Read that post HERE.). The larger an organization becomes and the more growth, which occurs, the more bad leadership becomes apparent.

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Organization Delegation Leadership Development Project 43

Ron Edmondson

JUNE 2, 2011

This is National Barefoot Week (which I know brings smiles to some of my hippie-friend pastors on the West Coast). In short, it’s a one week where thousands of people across the country are partnering with Soles4Souls to raise awareness & support for the nearly 1.5 billion people around the world that don’t have adequate footwear. Founded by my friend, Wayne Elsey (whom I interviewed HERE) , Soles4Souls has worked hard to provide over 14 million pairs of shoes in over 125 countries since 20

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Project Books 42

Ron Edmondson

JUNE 9, 2011

There is a special moment of worship that happens occasionally where I sense so strongly the presence of God that all the troubles of the world disappear. I don’t have a care in the world except the glory of God. I call it a sacred place…for a sacred moment… It doesn’t last long, but it lasts long enough that it changes me in that moment!

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Planning 41

Ron Edmondson

JUNE 28, 2011

Here’s a quick tip I’ve had to use many times in life… When I can’t find the courage to do the thing I know I need to do… Instead of trying to muster the courage… I often need to renew or grow my passion for the thing that needs doing… It’s a bigger picture approach… Dave Ramsey says that if you want to get out of debt that you have to “ Get angry about it.&#.

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Tips Stress Examples Organization 41

Ron Edmondson

JUNE 4, 2011

For several weeks of Scripture memory, I’m walking through what’s been referred to as “The Roman Road&# ; a comprehensive look at what it means to be a follower of Christ through the book of Romans. You can see last week’s HERE. (It’s important to go with this weeks!). Here is this week’s memory verse: Will you commit this verse to memory this week?

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Reference Commitment Books 41

Ron Edmondson

JUNE 25, 2011

Don’t seek it only from people just like you. Look for people… Who are different… Who have different experiences. Who are a little further down the road… Don’t limit yourself to learning from people like you… Who are you learning from who isn’t like you? Related posts: Reminders When Seeking Wisdom. Costa Rica Report, Part 5 (Seeking Wisdom).

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Advice Report 40

Ron Edmondson

JUNE 11, 2011

This week we continue looking at The Roman Road, as it has been called, a brief walk through the book of Romans, that when combined, can help a person process through what it means to be saved; to be a follower of Christ. If you missed any of these, go back to LAST WEEK and follow back from there. Here is this week’s memory verse: What thoughts come to mind when you read this verse?

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Process Books 40

Ron Edmondson

JUNE 22, 2011

About once a month, someone shares a story with me that’s big. I get stories all the time, but I’m talking about the kind of story that makes your jaw flop open when you hear it…that kind of big story. I’ve quit being surprised when it happens, but I’m usually surprised that it’s happening to the person telling me the story.

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Morale 39

Ron Edmondson

JUNE 16, 2011

Southern Baptist this week in their annual convention voted to reject Zondervan’s new version of the NIV Bible, called “Today’s New Internation Version&# or TNIV. Citing the gender neutralizing changes, such as saying “parent&# instead of “father&# , among other changes, the convention voting decisively to state their objection to the new version.

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Objective 39

Ron Edmondson

JUNE 19, 2011

I’ve always admired the president’s commitment as a father. Watch his four minute Father’s Day address and his view on what makes a great father. Related posts: President Obama’s Father’s Day Challenge. Catholic Church, Notre Dame, and President Obama. President Obama: Looking Like a President.

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Commitment 39

Ron Edmondson

JUNE 14, 2011

The last two years have been a season of change in my life. I’ve experienced a change of perspective as we’ve transitioned into being empty nesters and I’ve experienced a change of passion in terms of where I see God wanting me to invest my energies. At 47 years of age, I have learned enough to know there are things I wish I had known earlier in life.

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Advertising Audience Energy Planning 38

Ron Edmondson

JUNE 22, 2011

We’ve got some excellent interns around Grace this summer. Interns help us do something new. We treat them as staff members, so this gives us additional summer staff to accomplish projects we couldn’t do otherwise. This year there are some special projects we are working on, as we prepare for fall. Additionally, allow us to invest in some young leaders, hoping to learn from us this summer.

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Sharpe Learning-by-Doing Follow-up Project 36

Ron Edmondson

JUNE 18, 2011

I realize it’s not a modern song, and the graphics may seem cheesy, perhaps even the song to some, but I raised my boys on this song. Well, I didn’t actually raise them with it, but it did have a huge impact on my heart. Music always speaks to me and this songs lyrics challenged my fathering when I was a young father. This song captured the essence of who I wanted to be as a dad.

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