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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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.