Effective listening is a learned skill; it doesn’t come naturally for most people. The following are some practical steps you can take to become a better listener. Continue Reading »

Few people are good at listening. In our last Letter, we began to look at some of the reasons why this is so. Here are more barriers to effective listening: Continue Reading »

Few people are good at listening. In our last Letter, we began to look at some of the reasons why this is so. Here are more barriers to effective listening: Continue Reading »

There are three levels of listening; each is characterized by certain behaviors that affect listening effectiveness. Level 1 has the highest potential for understanding, retention and effective communication; level 3 has the lowest. Continue Reading »

All My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, (Jam. 1:19)

Listening is one of the most important of all leadership skills. The wise leader will be able to declare the words of Elihu:

I waited while you spoke, I listened to your reasoning; while you were searching for words, I gave you my full attention… (Job 32:11-12) Continue Reading »

All leaders can improve in their leadership. In our previous Letter, we saw that we can help our leaders improve by overcoming the barrier between leaders and followers, by being realistic in our expectations of them, and by striving to understand them. Continue Reading »

At some point, most followers complain about their leaders. Some of the most common complaints are:

Everything does not depend upon the leader. If our churches and Christian ministries are to be healthy, every member must take responsibility for the whole, functioning actively and thoughtfully. Continue Reading »

If our churches and Christian ministries are to be healthy, every member must take responsibility for the whole, functioning actively and thoughtfully. Our last two Letters examined the first five out of eleven characteristics of effective followers. We saw that healthy followers obey, encourage, take responsibility, give advice and counsel, and challenge when necessary. The next three characteristics:

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For our churches and Christian ministries to be healthy, every member must take responsibility for the whole; every member must function actively and thoughtfully.

Our last Letter began to study eleven characteristics of effective followers. We saw that healthy followers obey, encourage and take responsibility. Here are the next two characteristics:

Continue Reading »