by Clarence E. Stowers | Feb 23, 2008 | Empowerment, Leadership
8. WAITING UNTIL THERE IS A PROBLEM TO PROVIDE FEEDBACK. 
As a pastor, I understand the importance of encouraging others. It empowers others to reach their fullest potential.
Furthermore, it motivates them to want to go the extra mile. Because I can fall victim to the tyranny of the urgent, sometimes I’m encouragement-challenged. Moreover, since I am results oriented, my tendency is to only speak up when expectations aren’t met. Experience has taught me that this can create a culture of fear. I need to discipline myself to encourage my staff, leaders, and members more. As Tom Peters has said, "Reward excellent failures. Punish mediocre successes."
by Clarence E. Stowers | Feb 22, 2008 | Leadership
9. STAYING TOO BUSY. I’ve too often made the mistake of
assuming that since I’m busy I’m adding
value. 
It’s very possible to be
constantly busy and be completely ineffective. By the way, email can be
the biggest trap of all. If I wanted to, I could spend every hour of
every day processing email and getting absolutely nothing accomplished. It has been said, "never mistake motion for progress." Throughout the day we must stop and ourselves, "is what I’m doing adding value to others or helping me reach my destiny?" If so, keep doing what you’re doing. If not…well, you know what to do.
by Clarence E. Stowers | Feb 21, 2008 | Empowerment, Leadership
Leadership Guru, John Maxwell is known for saying: “Everything rises &
falls on leadership.” 
Even though I’ve
been in various leadership roles for about 20 years now, I’m still learning
what it takes to be a good leader. Because
of that, I feel awkward trying to tell other leaders how to lead because I’m
still trying to figure it out myself.
With that in mind, I’ve decided to take a different spin with this post. With the help of some friends, I’ve compiled
a list of the "10 Dumbest Leadership Mistakes I’ve Made."
In other words, rather than sharing all of the enlightening leadership principles
I’ve discovered through the years, Over the next 10 days, I’m going to confess
all the dumb mistakes I’ve made.
If you are fascinated by grown men baring their souls and confessing their
deepest, darkest secrets, then you may want to consider sharing some of your
mistakes.
OK, HERE WE GO:
10. SPENDING TOO MUCH TIME ON THE DETAILS RATHER THAN THE DREAMS.
Check out Genesis 11:31-32. Terah intended to go to
Canaan. Instead he stopped in Haran. He got stuck there for 205 years.
Then he died. Why? Was it disobedience? Did he lose sight of God’s
vision? Did he just get too comfortable? Did he settle for less than
God’s best? When I get too focused on responding to the urgent, I lose
sight of the big picture. And, frankly, my tendency is to settle into a
routine that’s very comfortable but doesn’t accomplish the full mission
God has for my life and my ministry.
by Clarence E. Stowers | Feb 20, 2008 | Events, Worship
Can you believe that Easter is only four and a half weeks away? Man, crazy, isn’t it? As I’m sure is the case with many of you, we are well underway preparing and getting ready to host one of the greatest ministry opportunities of the year.
This year we are planning three services (we normally do 2). We are also shooting out a direct mail piece that will hit thousands of homes in targeted areas. As of today, we’ve proofed and finalized the artwork. These direct mail pieces have been very successful over the last few years in drawing out first time guests. We generally target prospects (people who’ve attended our services and/or outreach events), and people living in the near western suburbs of Chicago. Even though the majority of our growth happens via word of mouth, direct mail has proven to be a great piece in introducing people to “The Hill.”
I’ll share more details on the series we’re launching later. Man, I can’t wait!
So what about you? Those of you in church ministry….What is YOUR church doing to prepare for Easter? I’d LOVE to hear YOUR ideas! Comment away!
by Clarence E. Stowers | Feb 20, 2008 | Book Reviews, Communication, Preaching
In case you haven’t noticed, I have the book, Made to Stick, by Chip Heath and Dan Heath on my "Books I’m Currently Reading" list. I’ve started and stopped, started and stopped and started and stopped. Hate that!
But now, I’ve started AGAIN and have not stopped. (And don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t stopping because the book was bad or boring. Actually, quite the opposite. I wanted to devote some solid time to reading through the entire book instead of trying to fit it in little by little.)
So with that said, let me say LOUD and CLEAR that this is a book that EVERY preacher/communicator/pastor/teacher/leader/CEO/marketer/and anyone else who has a message that they believe needs to STICK with people, should read!
The book examines why some ideas seem to STICK and SURVIVE and others don’t. The authors expound on these six principles of sticky ideas throughout the book:
Simplicity – Creating ideas that are both simple and profound.
Unexpectedness – We need to violate people’s expectations. For our idea to endure, we must generate interest and curiosity.
Concreteness – Ideas must be explained in terms of human actions and sensory information. We tend to gravitate towards ambiguous to the point of being meaningless. People remember concrete ideas and data. Abstraction makes it harder to understand an idea and to remember it.
Credibility – Sticky ideas have to carry their own credentials. We need to find ways to help people test our ideas for themselves.
Emotions – People will care about our ideas when we help them feel something.
Stories – Hearing stories help motivate people to act on our ideas.
As a pastor, I understand the importance of encouraging others. It empowers others to reach their fullest potential. 
