The best projects are the ones that have a big vision, great impact, tough challenges and stretches everything you have learned to date. The A Group has recently launched a website that meets all of that criteria and then some: MinistryMatters.com . Ministry Matters started as a vision of Audrey Kidd, COO of The United Methodist Publishing House. Audrey wanted to bring UMPH’s vast collection of reference, scholarly, practical and inspirational content along with blogs, articles, video and audio together in a true community-focused destination. The vision was clear and so were the challenges: how to integrate UMPH’s multiple legacy databases and systems with a dynamic, user-friendly and social media-rich interface. That’s where The A Group comes in. From the site’s name selection, branding, user interface development, back end content management system and finally database integration, our design and programming teams work side-by-side UMPH’s content and IT departments in creating…

The wrong person in your staff can cause you not only headaches, but a bad hire can be the difference between amazing growth and a church split or even an early retirement from the ministry. Not long ago I went to dinner with a friend who shared with me what could’ve been a staffing nightmare. A charismatic personality and a winning smile, had my friend convinced that this man was the right person for a key position in his church. There were red flags, however. First, our candidate seemed very eager to leave his job. He put his house on the market before he even got an official offer from my friend’s church. He began looking for a house in the new city right away. Things were moving fast–too fast indeed. But thanks to a new HR policy my friend’s church had put in place a few months prior, he…

I used to think that contracts, or agreements were a sign of distrust and as long as I trusted the person or organization I was dealing with, they were not necessary. After all, early in my business career, I dealt exclusively with churches and ministries. Boy, I was wrong! So wrong. And I had to learn the hard way. When it comes to putting your resources on the line for a person or organization, you cannot be too careful in protecting your assets. You can lose everything if a big project falls through or if it’s not financed. No matter where you are in your career or business development, good contracts are critical to your success. Here’s a few reasons why: A contract holds you and the other party accountable to a set of expectations and deliverables. No matter how many discussions you had about the project or how many…

Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them. William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night I understand where Shakespeare is coming from even though I’m not sure anyone is truly born great. But the last part of that sentence has always caught my attention: some have greatness thrust upon them. Sometimes a strong leader guides us into new opportunities. Other times a wise leader guides us through difficult situations. But in each of those cases, the quality and heart of true leadership is forged out of either the crucibles of opportunity or crisis. As I look back in my own life and weigh in my own leadership style, I am coming to the realization that I am probably a better leader during crisis than I am during the season of opportunity. I’m not sure it’s complacency or content, but I find myself staying too long in the…

Nothing says summer more than the right shoes. Recently, men’s casual shoes options have grow beyond flip flops and boat shoes. But if you’re going to sport some sweet summer footwear you should keep a few dos and don’ts in mind. Dos: Clean your feet. Cut your toenails. I know it’s obvious, but it needs to be said. I’ve seen some of your feet. If you’re gutsy, go a step further and have a pedicure. Your feet and those who look at it will thank you. Have more than one pair of flip flops Pair sockless dress shoes with jeans or even shorts. This is a bold move and for the fashion forward. You can’t be timid and pull this off. Have fun with bold colors Don’t: Wear your ratty flip flops to work. When in doubt don’t wear it. Wear socks with your sandals (even if you’re European, this…

The best way to get out of a bad situation is by never getting into one in the first place. I have been fortunate to have avoided some very bad relationships over the years. These have been both personal (crazy girlfriend) as well as professional (bad business partner). In retrospect, there were signs along the way that have helped me walk away before it was too late. Here are the types of people you should avoid like the plague. The Jerk. I remember having dinner with a potential business partner. He was trying hard to court me by having dinner at a very expensive restaurant. Our server made a mistake with this man’s appetizer. Suddenly, the cordial and fun individual sitting across from me turned into a tyrant, throwing a hissy fit over lettuce instead of spinach. The poor waiter apologized profusely and remedied the situation almost immediately. But that…

Sometimes we need goals that have nothing to do with our careers, financial future or performance.  From time to time I find myself focusing on seemingly inconsequential, somewhat irrelevant goals that from a glance can be seen as a distraction from some of the critical parts of life. For me these usually are fitness goals: run a marathon, have my personal record on a race, do a certain number of pull ups or drop to single digits in my body fat (if you know how much I love to eat, you’d know that’s almost an impossibility). So why bother with them, you might ask.  Here’s what these goals do for me. Forced disciplined. I’m a disciplined person by nature, but when I’m focusing on a fitness goal I get in a whole new level of commitment.  Interestingly, that discipline spills over other areas of my life including professional and relational.…

I’m not a Mavericks or a Lakers’ fan. This post is not about basketball, but about character. Yesterday, Lakers center Andrew Bynum was ejected in the fourth quarter of Game 4 of the Western Conference Semifinals sweep by Dallas after a dirty foul on Dallas Mavericks reserve guard J.J. Barea. With the Mavericks winning 98-68, Barea drove to the basket and put up a floater. Bynum entered the lane and delivered a hard elbow to Barea’s ribs.  Barea landed hard on the ground as the referee immediately called a flagrant foul and threw Bynum out of the game. You can watch it in the video below. It was so bad that ESPN announcer, Mike Tirico said “And that is one of the biggest bush league things I’ve ever seen! That is terrible!“. Interestingly, Bynum had just come off a two-game suspension for another flagrant foul. Here what Mr. Bynum’s behavior…

Sunday is mother’s day. Somehow my boys, 16 and 12 still rely on dad to make sure mom has a good day. So as I was thinking of how to make the day more special for their mom, and my wife, I decided to share them with you. First I got a hold of a great book from best selling author, Dr. Meg Meeker “10 Habits of a Happy Mother.” Dr. Meeker is a Pediatrician, mother and best-selling author of six books. She is the country’s leading authority on parenting, teens and children’s health. I even thought about buying one for my mother as well until I realized that she doesn’t read English and the book is not available in Portuguese. (You can win a free copy today by stopping by Dr. Meeker’s blog www.megmeekermd.com ). But beyond the book gift, I also thought of some more personal ways to…

We all have thought about quitting our jobs because we just can’t take the pressure, the abuse or both, and life is miserable. Some of us have actually done it. Several times. I remember lying in bed years ago and thinking of the different scenarios on how to quit my job. I was planning the perfect way to finally let my boss know what I really thought of him. But for the majority of us who walk away from a job because of frustration, we seldom quit because of ideological, organizational or even monetary issues. The truth is that we don’t quit our job; we quit our boss. Before you walk in and give notice along with a piece of your mind, consider this: Incompetent people don’t last. In most organizations incompetence only lasts for a while. Granted, some places have a higher tolerance for poor performance than others, but…