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6 Reasons Why You Need to Blog, Pt 2

In my last post I talked about the first three reasons why you need to blog. Here are the other three:

4. Blogging is a great way to connect with like-minded people
Blogging is another form of social media. When social media works right it is a tool to help one human being connect with another. I’ve met some really great people because of this blog. And I hope to meet many more. I’ve helped a few of them, and some of them have helped me. It’s a great experience. We all want to connect. It’s a drive sown into the threads of our inner being. Blogging is one way to help bring us together in ways that might not otherwise be possible.

5. The discipline of writing will make you a better writer
Looking at my first few posts helped me to really appreciate how far I’ve come as a writer. I’m no William Shakespeare (my lab partner in Marine Biology junior year, not the other guy) but I do alright. I’m getting better and better all the time. Blogging is a big part of that.

6. Putting your ideas in writing clarifies what you do
Writing, by its very nature, promotes clarity. Some of the best ideas I’ve ever had have been refined and perfected on this blog. As they pour from my brain to my fingertips, to the keyboard they get shaped into something even better than had they stayed in my head. Even if there weren’t another living should who benefited from my experience of exposition here, I have. And sometimes, that’s enough.

If you’d like to test the waters of blogging I’d love to help. I’m always open to accepting guest post right here. Click here for more info.

Even if you don’t decide to start a blog, that’s OK. I hope you’ll find some avenue to get your ideas out there to people who need and want to hear them. They are out there. And it’s easier than ever to find them.

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BOOK REVIEW: “The Eric Trap”

A few week’s ago I got an advance copy of The Eric Trap: 5 Things Every Leader Has to Get Right. It’s a collective work written by some of my favorite guys in ministry right now. I was eager to get a sneak peek and find out if the book was as good as I hoped it would be. Here’s a snapshot of what I found.

What I Liked

The premise of the book is solid. It tells the story of Eric Newman, a Kids’ Pastor in a middle-sized church whose leadership has come to a head. During the course of his journey (a la Patrick Lencioni) he (and we) learn the 5 things every leader has to get right. Interlaced throughout the fable is commentary and testimony from other Kidmin pastors who share how these principles have played out in their ministries.

I’m into the whole using-a-fable-to-illustrate-important-truths thing. It seems to be very en vogue right now (not to be confused with the ’90s R & B group) in the best possible way. I love someone has FINALLY done this for Children’s Ministry. The 5 things outlined in the book (delegation, leadership under authority, active parental involvement, measuring success, and ordering your priorities) are transferable to other areas of leadership, be it in the church or some other organization.

What I Wish Was Different

There wasn’t too much I didn’t like about this book. I think it would have been better organized and more helpful had it been split into two sections: one dealing solely with the fable; the other dealing with the extraction of the principles and testimonies from other Kidmin Leaders in the trenches.

The only other thing I would change would be to make this available in digital formats like Kindle and iBook.

Overall Impressions

If you’re a guy or gal whose wanting to lead at a healthier, stronger, and more sustainable pace then I’d say go to Amazon.com and order The Eric Trap Today. Doesn’t matter if you’re in Children’s Ministry or not. Doesn’t matter if you even like kids or not. If you’re a leader who wants to be worth following then there’s something in this book for you.

How to Win a Free Copy

I’ve got two free copies of The Eric Trap I’m giving away this week. Here’s how to win one:

1. Tweet the following: @JeffMcClung is giving away a free copy of “The Eric Trap” here: http://wp.me/pUu38-1qn #kidmin #cmconnect #fammin

2. Leave a comment on this post with your favorite breakfast cereal and why you love it.

That’s it. The contest goes from now till Friday, April 27, 2012. On Saturday the 28th I’ll announce a winner here on the blog.

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6 Reasons Why You Need to Blog, Pt 1

I’ve been blogging for almost 2 years now and, while I don’t have a Justin Bieber-sized following (more like his second cousin, twice removed on his mother’s side, Esteban Bieber) it’s been a pretty cool thing.

Going in to it I was pretty nervous. Nervous my writing wouldn’t be good enough. Worried nobody would read it. Worried I’d run out of things to say after the first three posts I had already pre-written. But here we are, almost two years later.

So blogging’s been good for me but why should you, or anyone else for that matter, blog? Here’s 6 reasons why we, the occupants of the interweb, need YOU to blog:

1. Everyone is a 10 in some area
Don’t laugh at that. It’s true! Regardless of what you’re not good at, I can say without a doubt (having never even met) I KNOW you are a 10 in a least 1 area of your life. It may seem frivolous to some but it’s not. It’s important and has value. And we need you to share it with us. We, the collective participants of the human race, need what you have to offer. There is a pocket of our collective being that can benefit from what you have to offer, if only you will make the time to give.

2. You have something to share
Besides what you’re good at, you also have unique experiences and insights people need to hear. You’ve seen things I’ll never be able to see. You’ve done things I may never have the opportunity to do. And you’ve seen and done them all with your unique personality and history. You’re life experience add to the substance of the grander human design. You help us see what we otherwise might have missed and need to see.

3. You know something I don’t
Through your experiences, using your particular outlook and set of skills, you’ve learned. Oh sure, we all have useless stuff in our head’s like how much a stamp costs, why radio shack asks for your phone number when you buy a set of batteries, and how many licks it takes to get to the Tootsie roll center of a Tootsie pop (3). But you also have other factoids just floating around, waiting to be applied. Somebody out there needs to know what you know.

I’ll share the other three reasons in my next post. Stay tuned!

They are out there. And it’s easier than ever to find them.

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Leaders Worth Following

1 David mustered the men who were with him and appointed over them commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds. 2 David sent out his troops, a third under the command of Joab, a third under Joab’s brother Abishai son of Zeruiah, and a third under Ittai the Gittite. The king told the troops, “I myself will surely march out with you.”

3 But the men said, “You must not go out; if we are forced to flee, they won’t care about us. Even if half of us die, they won’t care; but you are worth ten thousand of us. It would be better now for you to give us support from the city.”

4 The king answered, “I will do whatever seems best to you.”

So the king stood beside the gate while all his men marched out in units of hundreds and of thousands. – 2 Samuel 18:1-4 (NIV)

The kind of leaders worth following know when to give advice and when to follow it. They know when to make a decision and when to let someone else make it.

You can’t be good at everything, but you can find lots of skilled people. Together you can do work that matters, the stuff of legend, if you can learn when to lead and when to let THEM lead.

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