4 Barriers to Successful Planning & How to Overcome Them

There are several keys to successful planning and one of the first is to be aware of some of the major barriers that will trip you up.   Fear of Change—Apprehension about stepping out into the unknown will limit your creativity and send you down the path of least...

The Value of Thoughtful Masonic Reflection

In her 2013 annual Christmas message, Queen Elizabeth II said this on the value of stepping back and reflecting: “We all need to get the balance right between action and reflection. With so many distractions, it is easy to forget to pause and take stock. Be it through...

The Wisdom of MWB Dwight L Smith

In February 1963, Past Grand Master of Indiana Dwight L. Smith published an essay entitled Whither Are We Traveling? He begins by declaring there is no shortage of Masonic leaders complaining of lodge membership falling off or poor attendance at lodge meetings. He...

The Masonic Leader’s Mindset

Exploring mindset is one of the crucial areas in leadership training. Your attitude towards leadership will determine how effective you are as a leader. It is essential to ask yourself if you are leading for the right reasons, what goals you hope to achieve, and if...

The Work of the Tools – Guest Post by Brother James Hailey

      "My sincere hope is that in the end others will find reflection on my life as a worthy endeavor and will conclude that there was something about how I treated them and lived my life--that the tools worked for me and I worked the tools"The purpose of this essay...

A Mason Develops Daily

Dr. John Maxwell in his book, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, describes in the Law of Process, that becoming a leader cannot be accomplished by attending an event, a seminar or workshop. A leader develops himself by the deliberate practice of leadership...

Lodge (is) Education

I know I’ve written about this before, expressed my opinion in workshops many times, and one day I was so frustrated I wrote (and never published) a “Lodge Education Manifesto.” I have read various old Masonic publications going back to before the turn of the century...

A Look At 500 years of Masonic Words

This morning I was reading a blog post from Seth Godin, marketing guru, thought producer, writer, and a great innovator. Seth displayed a graph from Google's Ngram Viewer. The Ngram Viewer lets you find and visualize how words and phrases have developed and been used...

A New Mason Encounters a Group of Past Masters

Sean was excited. It was the night of his lodge meeting, and it would be the first time he would be attending after being made a Master Mason in the latest Grand Master’s One Day Class. He stopped at a window in the hallway of his office building and looked out at the...

Be Remarkable – You Won’t Be Ignored!

Yesterday was Steve Martin’s 75th birthday. Happy belated birthday Steve! His comedy routine with the arrow through his head has always been one of my favorites. It’s spontaneous, wacky, and makes you wonder what’s coming next. The anticipation of what's coming is...

Thoughts on Being Good Masonic Citizen

As the unrest, the protests, and the seemingly endless display of divisive rhetoric and behavior envelop us all, I have been asking myself, “what should our behavior be as Masons in response?” I have read the words of men whom I know to be Masons suggesting that I...

Zoomasonry – “Could this be real life or just a fantasy?”

      Bob Clark glanced at the clock and noticed it was time to begin his usual preparation for lodge tonight. He chuckled to himself that “usual” won’t entirely be usual tonight. He and his wife, Joanne, were on a cruise ship headed for an island in...

Are You Ready for a “Great Masonic Reset?”

A couple of weeks ago I asked the question whether your lodge would reset to a new normal when the conditions allow it to meet again. If you missed the post you can read it here. After I wrote the post, I began to think about how the pandemic has changed me, and as a...

Will Your Lodge Reset to a New Normal?

  It is refreshing to see during this time of crisis lodges using whatever means to connect with their Brethren.  They are not only using conventional means such as phone calls and letters but also holding meet-ups and meaningful lodge education using the various...

There Are No Designs on the Trestle Board!

  The title of this post is a phrase we all have heard before. This announcement made by one causes others to join in, confusion occurs, and those involved wander around as if lost in a foreign land. Finally, an authoritative voice asks what’s going on and is...

5 Rules for Attending a Lodge Inspection

    Let’s be honest. If you have been in the Fraternity any length of time, you like I have probably attended a lot of lodge inspections. So when inspection season rolls around, you may say to yourself, “I don’t think I’ll go to any inspections this year,...

Will We Be Better Leaders in 2020?

  With just a day before the end of the year I’m sure there are a great number of people who are busy making their New Year’s resolutions. I would suppose that a lot of lists contain the normal pledges; lose weight, stop smoking, exercise more, etc. Studies have...

What If You Went To Church & The Minister Didn’t Talk About God?

  A young minister began preparing his first sermon. It was Monday, and he was full of confidence that he would be able to craft a message that would impress the congregation. It was his first church, and he was eager to be accepted as their new spiritual leader....

Can You Hear Me Now? – How to Make Your Lodge Communications Effective

  You have just spent the better part of a week soliciting (begging for) articles for the lodge newsletter, editing the articles, formatting, printing, addressing and mailing. The next day you run into one of your lodge’s young members and ask him, “How did you...

Does Your Lodge Have a Vision for a “Moon Shot?”

  On May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy announced before a special joint session of Congress the dramatic and ambitious goal of sending an American safely to the Moon before the end of the decade. A number of political factors affected Kennedy's decision and...

How’s Your Planning Going?

Several weeks ago, I presented a timeline for planning your next Masonic year. I’m just checking in to see if you have started. If you missed the article or need to refresh your memory here it is. I was thinking this morning that the process of planning needs to...

I Can’t, I Just Don’t Have the Time

It’s Monday, my lodge meets tonight, I should go… I can’t, I just don’t have the time I wonder how the're doing, if my old buddy Gene still comes, I should call somebody… I can’t, I just don’t have the time I was Master in 1991, I had put in my time, I could have...

Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Moe, Please Show Me the Way To Go

  Can you imagine jumping in your car and starting a family vacation trip and not know where you are going? With gas prices now close to $3 a gallon the trip will get expensive, real quick. Also besides draining your pocketbook, your family will quickly become...

I dreamed I attended my Masonic Funeral – It wasn’t a dream, it was a Nightmare!

I woke up in a cold sweat. I had been dreaming, and while I don’t normally remember the details of my dreams, this time, the details were quite vivid. I had died, and my beloved Masonic Brothers had gathered to conduct my Masonic funeral service. As I looked around...

Your Lodge’s Worst Leadership Enemy

You.   Effective leaders do these things – Assess themselves and determine what they are good at and not good at Determine what about themselves to improve and what leadership areas to rely on others to take the lead Assume they don’t know everything and listen...

The Wisdom of MWB Dwight L Smith

In February 1963, Past Grand Master of Indiana Dwight L. Smith published an essay entitled Whither Are We Traveling? He begins by declaring there is no shortage of Masonic leaders complaining of...

read more

The Masonic Leader’s Mindset

Exploring mindset is one of the crucial areas in leadership training. Your attitude towards leadership will determine how effective you are as a leader. It is essential to ask yourself if you are...

read more

A Mason Develops Daily

Dr. John Maxwell in his book, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, describes in the Law of Process, that becoming a leader cannot be accomplished by attending an event, a seminar or workshop. A...

read more

Lodge (is) Education

I know I’ve written about this before, expressed my opinion in workshops many times, and one day I was so frustrated I wrote (and never published) a “Lodge Education Manifesto.” I have read various...

read more

A Look At 500 years of Masonic Words

This morning I was reading a blog post from Seth Godin, marketing guru, thought producer, writer, and a great innovator. Seth displayed a graph from Google's Ngram Viewer. The Ngram Viewer lets you...

read more

Thoughts on Being Good Masonic Citizen

As the unrest, the protests, and the seemingly endless display of divisive rhetoric and behavior envelop us all, I have been asking myself, “what should our behavior be as Masons in response?” I...

read more

Will Your Lodge Reset to a New Normal?

  It is refreshing to see during this time of crisis lodges using whatever means to connect with their Brethren.  They are not only using conventional means such as phone calls and letters but...

read more

Mike Clevenger, PM, New England Lodge #4

Mike Clevenger is the originator and facilitator for Masons Lead Better, a personal and leadership development program initiated by the Grand Lodge of Ohio in 2015.

He is a founding partner of the John Maxwell Team an international organization of coaches, trainers and speakers founded by Dr. John C. Maxwell and also a founding partner of The Deeper Path Team founded by Kary Oberbrunner, an international group of coaches who help individuals find their true passion in life and create a path to achieve it. Mike has served on the Shriners Leadership Development Team since 2005.

Over the past twenty years, Mike has been delivering the message to the Masonic Fraternity of the value of personal leadership development and the power of creating an organizational culture of effective leaders.

Mike is a Past Master of New England Lodge No. 4, F&AM Worthington, Ohio, Past Potentate of Aladdin Shriners in Columbus, Ohio, a member of the York and Scottish Rite bodies, Order of Eastern Star and a senior DeMolay. He has been married to his wife Luanne for 46 years and has a son Wade, who lives in Annapolis Maryland with his lady Chelsea and their daughter Etta Shea.

Contact Mike: mike@masonsleadbetter.com.

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Why I do this…

I enjoy creating for others an atmosphere of leadership learning that improves the individual, inspires creative thinking, and produces outstanding, imaginative leaders for Masonic organizations.

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