Deanna Doss Shrodes

The PF Women Team at our Annual Team Retreat  ~ 2018 Today on Seth Godin's blog, he said: It's tempting to decide to make a profit first, then invest in training, people, facilities, promotion, customer service and most of all, doing important work. In general, though, it goes the other way. Yes, it does. If you are waiting to make a profit before you do these things, in my experience you're  not going to make a profit. So many organizations, ministries and churches are struggling with financial issues. I know your pain. As anyone who follows our story knows, our ministry was in a ton of debt four years ago when I came on as director.  Since that time, we've gotten out of debt and turned a profit every year.  God has done amazing things through out team, for which we give Him the glory! I find that what Seth is saying here is absolutely true, with one disclaimer. For Christian leaders, spiritual disciplines must always be first. Before we started i...

This year at the Stronger Conference, a young minister stopped me as I was walking out of the room at the conclusion of a workshop and she said, "I want to tell you something..." (I was all ears.) She said, "Do you notice how many of the speakers this weekend are saying, "Now, I'm just being transparent when I tell you..." or "I'm just keepin' it real..." I nodded yes. In fact, I mentioned that I was one of those speakers. I think I probably said a few times in both my keynote message and my workshop that I was just "keepin' it real." After I affirmed that yes, I had noticed that -- she said, "Do you know why they have to do that? They do it...and you do it, because so many people don't keep it real. So many in leadership aren't transparent, Deanna. That's why all these people speaking here feel an urge to declare their transparency.." I let her know that usually when I say, "I'm just kee...

Sometimes in leadership, we've gotta put proverbial blinders on. It is so easy to get off track by looking around us. This will almost always slow us down. I'm a detail person and I can get distracted super easy.  Before I know it, I'm behind in my goals because I'm looking at something other than the objective. I often have to remind myself to snap out of looking around and run full steam ahead for the win. It's going to take every ounce of energy you have as a leader to accomplish big things.  We can lose the race by broken focus. Remember when Chad le Clos lost to Michael Phelps after famously turning his head to look in the middle of the race? Oh my lands, what an awful mistake. I think of that a lot in regard to leadership. What are we stopping to look at that we really don't have time to look at if we want to stay on our game? Leader friend...put those blinders on and run toward your goal with all your might!  Run like you are on fire! Run like y...

Are you a leader in need of a lift in your spirit, fresh ideas or a change of pace? Get up and walk outside!  This is so powerful, it's no joke. Getting outdoors changes everything for me. I'm a homebody, which few would guess because I'm on the road so often. My favorite thing is curling up with a book in total silence or perhaps with a bit of light classical or monk music in the background. (Yes, I am serious. I often work or relax to monk music...stuff like this .)  But, as happy as the indoors can make me, there is absolutely nothing that brings a boost like going outside. Fresh air impacts our lives in such a great way. Research shows that spending time in fresh air increases energy in 90% of people. Whenever I'm lacking energy, this is one of my main go-to's. I'm at a place right now where I'm reminding myself that it mustn't be a go-to just in times of severe stress, but it needs to be an every day thing, as regular as brushing my teeth. I ...

 No one would ever guess what happened to me this weekend in Jacksonville, Florida...so I'm going to tell you. :) As I was preaching at the Fearless Tour at New Hope Assembly of God this weekend,  I got choked up, literally. For probably 2-3 minutes I coughed profusely and greatly struggled. Then I drank some water and kept preaching. Everyone was gracious to give me a few moments to get my bearings. If you were there, you'll remember it! What no one realized at the time was that I swallowed a bug that flew right in while I was preaching! So disgusting! I said nothing because I was at a point in the sermon where I was really connecting and I knew if I said, "I swallowed a bug," everyone would either laugh profusely or be really concerned, or start feeling sorry for me.  And at that point whey wouldn't be thinking about the message anymore, but the fact that I had just swallowed a bug. They would then imagine what it would be like, and feel grossed out which...

Recently on our family cruise my husband and I were waiting in a long line for the breakfast buffet. I began to get rather frustrated with the people in line. They were moving as slow as molasses. I’ve never tested how fast molasses really moves, but you know….  What   irked me was that this line as long as an anaconda did not have to stay that way!   People moved in slow motion as they reached for a grapefruit or selected a box of cereal. They seemed to be giving serious thought to selecting a sausage. I wanted to scream, “What’s wrong with you people? It’s sausage. This doesn’t require an executive decision. Grab and move! Grab and move!” I quipped to my husband, “For a person who is on the move, this line that is not on the move but could very easily be is rather frustrating.” He gently said back to me, “Babe, you’re not supposed to be on the move this week. This isn’t the week to rush anywhere. Just relax.” I will admit that was hard advice although ...

THRIVE 2016 is now over and what a time it was! I am trying to be a better leader in the area of what to do AFTER an event that I lead.  For most of my years in leadership and ministry, I would scarcely celebrate or focus at all on what just happened and would go bolting head first into the next event at 500 miles an hour. A few years ago I asked myself why. There was an urgency to get things done and get busy on the next thing. BUT, I realized I was doing myself and my team a disservice by racing into the next thing without celebrating the last thing. This season is particularly challenging because I am leaving in two weeks with members of our team for Africa for 16 days. I feel an urgency to race ahead but I am holding myself back from doing that. Here are five things I've found it's important to do: 1) Celebrate I have observed that Pentecostals in particular seem to be not-so-good at this. I think part of it is the admonition that is banged into all of our h...

1) People are the way they are for a reason. 2) People are where they are for a reason. These are two principles you can count on. Some people may disagree with me and say, "But what about grace and mercy? Doesn't that have an affect on the way people are or where they are?" I've taken that into account with these two principles.  Regarding #1............ Watch others closely and you will discover why people are the way they are. Particularly if you observe their passion, you will find out. For instance, I'm really passionate about leadership health. Anyone who talks to me for more than about five minutes about leadership will find that out. Dig deeper and you'll discover that my parents were/are both leaders in the church whose marriage crumbled in dysfunction. That affected me in a big way and now leadership health is something I'm relentless about. I want leaders to be healthy personally, behind closed doors so that they...

"I'm about to say something..." my assistant Erika said apprehensively, as if to warn me of something I didn't want to hear. What followed was something she thought I needed to hear for my own good. She was right, but I would have been fine with her telling me long before this conversation we had last week. "You could have already told me that! Why didn't you speak up sooner?" I said. She was relieved. After letting her know I was grateful for the input and was going to change things, I became concerned that maybe there was a deeper issue. I thought maybe Erika thought she couldn't tell me the things I need to hear. So I brought it up again later saying, "Did you not think you could tell me that?" She said she did feel that she could tell me things like this without a problem, but she appreciated the conversation. Andy Stanley says that leaders who don’t listen will eventually be surrounded by people who have nothing to say. I be...

My assistant Erika was talking to me one day and said: "I've learned something about you. You lead from a very deep well."  Her comment gave me pause for thought and  I recognized  a few things I do on a regular basis regarding this that might help someone. Stay Thirsty Effective leaders have a thirst for knowledge, wisdom, and improvement. Not a day goes by when I'm not pursuing these three things. It comes in the form of books, podcasts, classes and personal conversation. It's not by happenstance, but by a relentless pursuit. Each day I receive various insights that fill me, however my favorite times are those when I receive so much that it's like a Big Gulp. Those times would be occasions like spending a few hours or a day with a trusted mentor, or attending a leadership conference. Resist the Urge to Rest in What You Know and What You Do A leader can become so knowledgeable on a subject they think they know every...

“Avoid meetings, if you can…they are a waste of time.”  I’ve heard some prominent leaders say this. Some people are part of the school of thought that meetings have little value, failing to produce anything significant. My experience with meetings is that they are a key factor of success over my years of leadership. My pattern as a leader has always been to clearly establish a purpose for meetings and make sure initiatives are developed before we adjourn. Then, I inspect what I expect over the coming weeks and months. When I became leader of the current team I serve with, it became clear we would need some new guidelines to have successful meetings and make the reaching of our goals a reality.   I was thankful when Joy Conley, one of our team members, shared the idea of  "Group Norms" with us. Group Norms are the four rules of every meeting that Joy utilizes in her teacher meetings at the public school where she serves a teacher trainer. We tried Group Norms and...

"I'm sorry I dropped the ball, but I've got something going on..." I've heard this excuse too many times to count in leadership. And here's a question I have to anyone who offers this up as a reason for not fulfilling a responsibility... When don't you have something going on? There will never be a time when you don't have at least one challenge in your life. I look at every  person on the leadership team I serve with and I can name something big (and stressful) that each one of them has going on. It could be a financial hardship, a son or daughter getting married, a grandchild on the way, an illness, a church conflict, a marriage issue or a myriad of other things. Every time I get up to preach I could truthfully say, "Bear with me folks, I have _________________ going on." But I don't.  Leaders who desire to produce over the long haul need to come to terms with the reality that they will ALWAYS have something going on. And ...

“What is the fascination with Donald Trump?   I don’t get it.   I’m stumped about what people – especially Christians, see in him, and why so many are following him.” I see a variation of this statement on Facebook at least once a day.    Donald Trump isn’t my candidate.   My choice has already dropped out . This post isn't about my choice for president , for quite f rankly I'm undecided .    Many say it's going to come down to the lesser of two evils, come November 8. I don't believe that. I believe what we will eventually be faced with is the evil of two lessers. But I digress... The goal of this post is to not to promote anyone. I want to share my thoughts on the fascination factor as well as give those who preach, as well as anyone who communicates publicly -- something to think about.  I'm a firm believer, we can learn something from every person and every conversation. The le ssons from Trump are rich, pun intended....