Deanna Doss Shrodes

"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...

Yep, this is me. :) When I was in Bible College music students were required to do juries where we would perform for two or three music professors and receive a grade. I love playing and singing and have done it since I was four years old. But I but dreaded juries. The reason for my disdain was my lack of skill with music theory.  Theory doesn't come naturally to me, but playing by ear is something as natural to me as breathing. Although I've taken lessons over the course of my life, the majority of what I know was learned by ear and watching other musicians and gleaning from them. My earliest experience with learning to play the piano consisted of listening to 33 records of groups like the Happy Goodman Family. Soon I could go up and down the keyboard with ease, but not by looking at a piece of music. This isn't exactly the skill set needed to do a music jury in college.  I will never forget what happened to me during one of those dreaded juries. I came...

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...

These aren't my only thoughts of course, but a few random ones I had yesterday while on a flight and took time to jot down. 1) I'm really glad I made it to this point. Some people despise growing older but these days my prevailing thought is, "I've made it to this point!!!" From a young age, I had a sense that time was running out.  Even as a child I felt an urgency that there was a small window of time to make a difference in the world. On my Grandma's porch, she had a sign that said, "Only one life twill soon be past. Only what's done for Christ will last." I try to live every year like it's my last. I make a big deal over my goals (I call them 'Investments') every year. If some people knew they had a year to live, they would quit their job, take all their money and travel the world and relax. Not me. I'll be working hard on many things until the day I go to heaven, whenever that is. 2) I've stopped having anxiety ov...

  Dustin moved out on Sunday night. I always expected I would break down and sob when this happened. Instead, I was too preoccupied with the tasks at hand, to have a meltdown. I'm sure Dustin was grateful. Since there was only a day to get the room ready for Lexi and Brody to move in, I had to get busy. Everyone knows how much I adore Dustin. Not that I don't adore all my kids, for I do! However, everyone remarks about how much Dustin and I are alike and it's true.  We are both INFJ's. Musicians. Poets. Preachers. Writers. We both crave quiet spaces and places. Being away from noise. Out in the woods. Books. We are hard working people. (Neither of us can stand laziness.) We both go to the wall for what we believe. We'd die for it. We're both deeply introspective introverts. We interact with people when we need to in order to lead. Because we can't help but lead. It's in our blood. In our bones. We came out of the womb ...

“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...

Twenty-nine years ago today. We were just babies. Seriously, Larry was a teen.  This is not a cliche. Not a pat answer. Not just something I feel I have to say just because I'm a Christian. Or a minister, or a pastor's wife myself. It's my life experience. And it's reality. So take it for what it's worth from a person who is celebrating 29 years of marriage, today. This is the number one thing that has helped me more than anything in my marriage. It's prayer. Specifically, joining with someone else in fervent - warfare prayer. It's important to pray with your spouse but I also believe it's important for a woman to have a Godly female friend who understands what is at stake, to stand in the gap with you and intercede.  Matthew 18:19 says:   "Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. "  There is power in agreement. The...