This whole month, our team has focused on Pastor Appreciation Month. From sponsoring a local pastor date night here in Houston, to rolling out new resources for church leaders, to creating a touching thank you video that has gone viral (you can watch & share it here), we've been busy thinking about "How can we really and truly thank and help equip church leaders out there?" I'm honored to work on a team with this heartbeat.

These are some of my favorite articles from this week. What are yours?

10 Things Mentally Strong People Won't Do by Travis Bradberry via Forbes

The more I interview ministry candidates, the more I value and look for emotional intelligence, or mental strength. It's a vital trait to look for in all your staff members, and it results in a healthy, drama-free staff culture. But it's easy to overlook or miss it. Especially when interviewing for your team, pay attention to these 10 characteristics that Travis Bradberry lists.

Why Innovation And Imitation Aren't Mutually Exclusive by Ryan Holmes via Fast Company

Imitation isn't just the highest form of admiration, but sometimes it is actually smart. This fascinating article by Ryan Holmes is written primary about social media and tech companies, but it reminded me of one of our core values here at Vanderbloemen, Constant Improvement. We don't need to create everything from scratch--we should always have the mindset of building upon and improving what has come before.

How To Send Brilliant Emails At Work by Geoffrey James via Inc.

Ever feel like you get too many emails or spend too much of your day filtering through your inbox? Me, too. Guess what? So does everyone. And yet we all continue to send unnecessary emails. This quick, practical read by Geoffrey James has some great guidelines to help you write better (and less) emails. Implement them on your team to minimize the inbox clutter and boost your productivity.

6 Strategies For Telling Your Church Staff "No" by Jeff Gilmer via Vanderbloemen Search Group

I loved this insightful post from my colleague Jeff Gilmer. Leaders often struggle to be both firm and graceful when having to deny a request or idea of a staff member. Especially if you're a new leader, this is an important skill to hone now, because it never gets any easier. Jeff offers six practical, intentional strategies for how to say "no" that will have a big impact on your team.

What are you reading this week? Share your thoughts with me in the comments.