Our list of books, blogs, emails & thought leaders all around developing the next generation.

You’re first ministry role didn’t work out. Five things this does NOT mean.

Here are five traits that we see smart leaders of Gen Z doing that are helpful to cross the generational gap. (and yes, I’m cringing…I’ve been guilty of not doing all of these…hey, we’re all still learning here).

How do we find and keep young 20 somethings on our team? What does Gen-Z need in a boss? We asked these questions of a 25 year old leader whom we can all learn

Sometimes it doesn’t take three hundred words to make an excellent point. Recently at a Masterclass in Cincinnati we were discussing how to understand young leaders/GenZ/twenty somethings and high school pastor Mike Shelley had the perfect answer.

Begin by dividing the columns into six-month increments: the first 6 months, months 7-12, and the 2nd year (months13-24). Brainstorm the individual skills a resident should acquire. This is especially beneficial to do together with other staff members on your team. Have them each write tasks on post-it notes.

You envisioned your church, you got the funding, you launched, you recruited, you interviewed (several times!), you onboarded, you invested, you coached, you prayed, consulted, …and that resident STILL didn’t work out.

It’s that time of year again! In ministry, the holidays can result in weariness with busy schedules and juggling expectations at home, yet, it’s the prime time in which people in the community often explore the Church and who Jesus is. How can we best serve others and help them meet Jesus if we, ourselves, are running on empty? The reality is, we can’t!

Brittany Crimmel is a 20-something Production Manager at Saddleback Church’s Lake Forest Campus in southern CA. As an impressive as that might be, it’s really her passion to grow, helping others meet Jesus all along the way that is inspiring, especially as you take a closer look into the path that got her where she is today and what the future might hold 5 or 10 years from now.

Seth Godin calls these the REAL SKILLS for today’s workers.

We agree and it’s the basis of our coaching conversations.

Linchpin behaviors…we all have them. Helping young leaders get early and simple wins and develop a small amount of discipline may in fact land them in the place you’d love to see them get to. Focus on the behavior before the behavior.

Stef Rowe LMHC offers up eight areas to consider assessing for the Whole Person before going to professional counseling.

This conversation is for leaders who are at great churches who have a history and legacy and want to add women to an all-male team. Senior Pastor Mark Chitwood joins, Teaching Pastor and Elder, Stef Rowe to tell the Stonebridge story of adding women to their preaching schedule and elder board.

It’s always good to remember that we were all a younger generation once.

Getting fired from a job is often seen as a negative experience, but for young people in their early 20s, it may not be such a bad thing after all. While it may initially feel like a setback, there are plenty of experts who would say otherwise.

Becky Ykema talks about considerations every senior leader must consider when adding female leaders for the first time to their team. And Dave Miller discovers how bad he is at some of this.

It’s that time of year…spring-ish…heading towards Easter and their internship or leadership residency is coming to a close in just a few months. It’s time to make an offer for full-time ministry for them to join your team. Is this a finish line or a starting line? It’s both! And we should honor both of those milestones in this new leader's life.

While we get asked to do summer-long or year-long engagements, we have chosen to let those go and focus on two years. We get asked by churches as well as candidates about the two-year thing.

“I can’t do it. I can’t keep up. Will this ever slow down? Maybe ministry isn’t for me,” began a coaching conversation I recently had. I’ve had a version of this conversation many times as a coach. And I admit I’ve had it many times in my head with myself, too!

Continual feedback loops rooted in relationships are the best source of feedback. But we still need the official review and here’s why.