Buy this album now

August 11th, 2009 by bradlomenick in Misc. 2 Comments

My good friend David Hodges is releasing a brand new EP today on itunes. It is great. I just bought it. Go buy it now.

The title of the album is “The Rising.” Believe me, you’ll love the album. TODAY is the release date.

David is a grammy award winning artist, songwriter, and musician. He has earned great respect in the music community over the last couple of years. He was a founding member of the band Evanescence, and has written for Kelly Clarkson’s multi-platinum album, “Because Of You” and Celine Dion’s “This Time”. He is currently touring and performing with Chris Daughtry, another friend he has written hit singles for on the album “What About Now”. Hodges recently worked with Celine Dion on her latest album “Taking Chances” and continues to write and collaborate with today’s leading artists, including David Archuleta.

David is a great friend and doing amazing work in the music industry. As a community, I am asking everyone who is part of this small tribe we have created here to support his great work and encouraging you to invest $3.99 on iTunes today and be one of the reasons his music climbs the charts and more people are exposed to his talent. Check it out, buy it and let me know what you think.

role of a board of directors

August 6th, 2009 by bradlomenick in Misc. 2 Comments

Many of us deal with a board of directors, especially in the non profit arena. I serve on a couple of boards for ministries I am involved with. Being on a board can be a great experience, both for the board member and for the executive director/president. It can also be incredibly frustrating and taxing, especially to the leader in charge of the organization.

So thought I would provide a few points here on the role of a board. This is based on some thoughts recently from Leroy Barber, the President of Mission Year. Leroy has served on a number of boards and has lots of experience, both serving on boards and working for boards.

So what is the ultimate responsibility of a board of directors? Again, specifically as it relates to non profit charities or ministries, there are a handful of very important things:

1. Give, get, or get off- give money, go get some money, or get off the bus.

2. One employee, one customer- sole focus of the board is the role and responsibility of the executive director. Don’t mess with the rest of the organization. It’s not the role of the board.

3. Health and stability- take care of your executive director and make sure they are healthy and stable. Their sense of well being is your responsibility.

4. Carry the vision- own the vision of the organization. It can’t just be owned by the visionary or founder.

5. Stay in your strengths- make sure the board members are operating in their areas of strength. In their areas of interest and focus. Not just serving on a committee just for the committee’s sake.

6. Replace yourself- find other potential board members who can take your place. Succession and legacy are critical.

Hanging with friends in chicago

August 6th, 2009 by bradlomenick in Misc. No Comments

Great time in Chicago with some great friends, including Darren Whitehead, Jon Tyson, Gabe Lyons, Mike Foster, Catherine Rohr, and many others.

Loved hearing from Bill Hybels earlier this morning. Such a passionate leader and incredible communicator.

If you are here at Leadership Summit, let me know.

A Job or a Responsibility?

August 5th, 2009 by bradlomenick in Leadership Rules,Misc. 5 Comments

I am currently reading Jim Collin’s book How the Mighty Fall. A must read for any leader. A must read for any employee.

Collins lays out five principles for why the mighty fall, based on research done by his amazing team in their Boulder, CO research “bunker.” His second principle on why the mighty fall is “the undisciplined pursuit of more.” In this chapter, he talks at length about making sure you have the right people on your team, which is crucial to making sure you are staying on track and disciplined as an organization.

As he writes, “any exceptional enterprise depends first and foremost upon having self-managed and self-motivated people- the #1 ingredient for a culture of discipline…. If you have the right people, who accept responsibility, you don’t need to have a lot of senseless rules and mindless bureaucracy….. When bureaucratic roles erode an ethic of freedom and responsibility within a framework of core values and demanding standards, you’ve become infected with the disease of mediocrity.”

Wow. The right people on the team vs. the wrong people on the team. And as Collins states, a notable distinction between the wrong person and the right person is the way they view their role in the organization. The wrong person sees their role as a “job,” while the right person sees their role as a set of “responsibilities.” It is not about your job title, but more about your personal sense of ownership.

“I’m the one person ultimately responsible for X and Y. When I look to the left, to the right, to the front, in back, there is no one ultimately responsible but me. And I accept that responsibility.”

This is what you want your key people saying. A crucial ingredient to creating a culture of discipline within your organization.

Interview with Kay Warren

August 5th, 2009 by bradlomenick in Misc. No Comments

Check out the latest edition of the Catalyst Podcast, featuring an interview with Kay Warren, author, philanthropist, and co-founder of Saddleback Church with her husband Rick Warren. Kay talks about the importance of adoption and our role in caring for orphans, both as individuals and as the global Church.

You can listen on the Catalyst website or download from itunes.

This is an incredibly important issue, and one that Church leaders should be aware of and leading on. Please help us get the word out about this interview. Post a link to the interview on your blog, facebook page, twitter page, and email a link out to your friends.

Are you reflecting?

August 4th, 2009 by bradlomenick in Misc. 1 Comment

As leaders, it’s not always just about what we are doing right now and will be doing later today, tomorrow, or next week, or next year. We have to be equally mindful of what IS happening, what WILL happen, and what HAS happened. Past is equally important to the future, both for our own sense of achievement, as well as our teams. Our role requires that we take time to stop and reflect on where we’ve been.

About remembering. Reflecting. Taking moments to pause and be grateful. Reminiscing. Celebrating.

We forget this in business. But we know it’s true in our families and our friendships. Pictures are the ultimate tangible expression of reflection and remembering. You hear it all the time- “the whole house burned, but everyone is safe, and we got all of our pictures out….. the storm destroyed our home, but we were able to grab the family album.” We understand the power of remembering.

Creating vision for the future is a key part of leadership, but truly casting vision isn’t only about what is YET to come. Correctly casting vision is also about remembering and reflecting on what has happened in the past.

Are you cultivating this kind of culture for your team or organization?

New Hillsong album available Tuesday

August 3rd, 2009 by bradlomenick in Misc. 1 Comment

Faith+Hope+Love

The brand new Faith+Hope+Love album from Hillsong releases tomorrow (Tuesday). Go on itunes and buy it first thing tomorrow.

I’ve been listening to it non-stop for the last week. This is the latest LIVE recording from the incredibly talented Hillsong team, including Joel Houston, Brooke Ligertwood, Darlene Zschech, Reuben Morgan, and the entire band.

It was recorded live earlier this year in March at the Sydney Entertainment Center.

Powerful, powerful songs.

Hand Me Downs

August 3rd, 2009 by bradlomenick in Misc. 2 Comments

If you are a younger brother (or sister) like I am, you know what hand me downs are- the clothes, toys, school supplies, furniture, shoes, or vehicles that were passed down from the oldest sibling to the younger siblings.

The jeans were usually a couple of years old, the toys were not necessarily the popular ones, shoes were slightly stained and worn, and vehicles had maybe a dent or two. But as the younger sibling, you had no choice.

Nobody ever “asks” for hand me downs, but it is part of the fabric of a family. It was, and is, just the way it is. Part of the family “mentoring” system and a constant in the family trees over the generations. No big deal, unless you are the person getting the hand me down. It’s not something you choose. You have no choice if you are the younger sibling.

How much of what we do with our businesses, churches, non profits and organizations is just simply a “hand me down” from those who have come before us? We hand down “average,” we hand down complacency, we hand down cynicism, we hand down bad habits- without even knowing it many times.

And the ones receiving it most of the time have no “choice” in whether to implement, just like the younger sibling in a family. They have to receive it. It becomes part of the fabric of a business, and then carries on from generation to generation, lingering way longer than someone ever intended.

But doesn’t have to be. It’s up to you to make sure you hand down the things you want to last.