The BlunderBus

Yes folks, this is quite literally the ultimate Blunder Bus journey. After travelling thousands of kilometres around Australia, talking to some of the finest leaders in the land, the time has come to park the bus.

So this episode is a bit special. I've invited Leigh Hatcher, one of Australia's most respected  experienced journalists (he even has his own Wikipedia entry!) to chat to me about the whole Blunder Bus journey. Leigh asks me about why I started doing this podcast in the first place, why I've decided to 'park the bus' and what I've learnt on the journey.

I share about one of my greatest leadership blunders, the moment when two people who were closest to me came to me, entirely separately from each other, and told me what a lousy leader I was. And they were right! It remains one of the most pivotal moments in my leadership development. So much of my fascination with failure comes from this moment, and it shapes so much about what I believe about leadership now.

Thanks for being on the journey with me. It's been so much fun. I'm really grateful to all the guests who jumped on the bus and shared so vulnerably about their leadership failure. I sincerely hope the podcast has been a blessing to you. If you want to give me any feedback, send an email to me  here: [email protected]

And who knows? Maybe we'll cross paths some time in the future....on The Blunder Bus.

If you would like to talk to Ed about Pastoral Supervision, visit the website here
Or you can email Ed at [email protected]
I'd love if you would rate and review this podcast
And thanks for being on the journey on The Blunder Bus!

Kylie Butler was previously the Managing Director of Christian Coaching Institute (CCI) prior to CCI combining with Arrow in 2022. She is now the Executive Leaders Program Director and Coaching Director for Arrow Australia. 

And she is an Enneagram Three! For those who are unfamiliar with Enneagram, it's a tool with an ancient background that helps you understand your core motivations in life and leadership. 'Threes' make great leaders! They love achievement, loving being seen as successful and get lots of stuff done. Who wouldn't want to be a 'Three'? (It's possible that I am one too...)

But there is a downside. 'Threes' are image conscious people, and Kylie speaks very honestly about the experience of having people who worked closely with her say, "We don't really know who you are?"

Ironically, Kylie is incredibly vulnerable about her struggle to be a person of vulnerability. She outlines her journey from self-awareness to changed behaviour, and the conscious choice she has made to put down the mask and be a person of honesty and self-disclosure.

By the way, we mention a great book by Henry Cloud called Integrity, which is used as a foundational text in the Arrow Leadership programme.

If you would like to talk to Ed about Pastoral Supervision, visit the website here
Or you can email Ed at [email protected]
I'd love if you would rate and review this podcast
And thanks for being on the journey on The Blunder Bus!

What do Christian leaders do when the church goes wrong? Megan Powell du Toit is a pastor, editor, writer, preacher, teacher, speaker, podcaster, poet, perhaps best known for co-hosting the podcast With All Due Respect (one of the finest podcasts in the southern hemisphere not specifically about leadership failure and not recorded on a bus!)

Megan reflects on how we can create Christian community in which power is safe, and how we can deal with the issues of systemic and cultural power. We also touch on how we think about this issue from a historical perspective, which for Megan is quite a personal issue.

If you would like to talk to Ed about Pastoral Supervision, visit the website here
Or you can email Ed at [email protected]
I'd love if you would rate and review this podcast
And thanks for being on the journey on The Blunder Bus!

Peter Mayrick is Director of Partners in Ministry and the Centre for Ministry Development. Previously he was involved in the leadership of  (a now very famous!) pharmaceutical company. Peter's passion is leadership development, and he is a great advocate for excellence in delegation.

And yet, here he is on The Blunder Bus! Peter shares how he thought what he was doing was developing a coaching mindset, and a coaching culture in his organisation, only to find that his key report hadn't noticed. It's a real 'ouch' moment!

At the heart of Peter's story is the issue of trust; of trusting people enough to listen to them and find out what they need to grow in their work (which may be very different from what we might think they need).

If you would like to develop your ability to reflect on your work and ministry, why not have a chat with me about Pastoral Supervision? Contact me at [email protected]  or go to the Generation Leadership website.

Don't forget to rate, review and subscribe to The Blunder Bus! See you again soon.

If you would like to talk to Ed about Pastoral Supervision, visit the website here
Or you can email Ed at [email protected]
I'd love if you would rate and review this podcast
And thanks for being on the journey on The Blunder Bus!

Tim O'Neill is Director of Exponential Australia and also heads up A2A (the Acts 2 Alliance)  network of churches. With his wife Sharon, he also leads Tailrace Community Church, a church that they planted 27 years ago.

In this episode, Tim brings his 'prophetic gift of hindsight' onto The Blunder Bus, to talk about a great episode of leadership failure. Tim talks about the critical issue of developing culture (in this case, in a church planting situation). Totally without realising it, Tim made a leadership decision which led to a 'Values Clash' in the church, with different groups of people valuing different expressions of church life, in a way which almost tore the church apart.

Tim mentions some other great insights along the way. He talks about his ability to 'Fail Forward'! And he also references some great resources on developing values and culture. Check out 'Built To Last' by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras (a leadership classic!) and 'The Advantage' by Patrick Lencioni.

If you would like to develop your ability to reflect on your work and ministry, why not have a chat with me about Pastoral Supervision? Contact me at [email protected]  or go to the Generation Leadership website.

Don't forget to rate, review and subscribe to The Blunder Bus! See you again soon.

If you would like to talk to Ed about Pastoral Supervision, visit the website here
Or you can email Ed at [email protected]
I'd love if you would rate and review this podcast
And thanks for being on the journey on The Blunder Bus!

Liam Glover has been the Executive Director of the Arrow Australia Leadership Program for ten years. He is passionate about raising up leaders for churches and Christian organisations. And Liam has a 'busy brain'! Or to be more precise, he has ADHD.

Liam shares what this has meant for him in leadership and the impact that it has in the way he leads. He talks about the challenges of focusing on just one thing, and how hard it can be to regulate that. And the time when he realised his ADHD was causing him to be just a little too fast and forceful in meetings.

I love Liam's description of himself as being like Doug the Dog from the movie 'Up', always ready to leap into chasing a squirrel! And I love Liam's very practical thoughts on strategies he uses to regulate his mental behavior. Key for him are exercise and spiritual disciplines (which he does super early in the morning!) You can read Liam's own reflections on The Potential of an ADHD Leader in his blog article.

Liam also talks about how vital it is to have people in your life to help you to reflect on what you are doing. If you would like to develop your ability to reflect on your work and ministry, why not have a chat with me about Pastoral Supervision? Contact me at [email protected]  or go to the Generation Leadership website.

Don't forget to rate, review and subscribe to The Blunder Bus! See you again soon.

If you would like to talk to Ed about Pastoral Supervision, visit the website here
Or you can email Ed at [email protected]
I'd love if you would rate and review this podcast
And thanks for being on the journey on The Blunder Bus!

Karina Kreminski is Co-Director of Neighbourhood Matters, based in Sydney's Surry Hills, and proudly claims to be a leaf-blower hater and flâneuse.  On this episode she shares her reflections on her role as pastor, and on how she became 'program-based' as opposed to being people focused.

It's a wide ranging conversation; we talk about the importance of building trust, the issues of the mega-church model and the potential for the pastor's role to be de-humanising for those who are in it.

And Karina shares about how she has developed a greater ability for reflection in recent times, and the profound effect that working with an external person (in her case, a spiritual director), had on her.

If you would like to develop your ability to reflect on your work and ministry, why not have a chat with me about Pastoral Supervision? Contact me at [email protected]  or go to the Generation Leadership website.

Don't forget to rate, review and subscribe to The Blunder Bus! See you again soon.

If you would like to talk to Ed about Pastoral Supervision, visit the website here
Or you can email Ed at [email protected]
I'd love if you would rate and review this podcast
And thanks for being on the journey on The Blunder Bus!

Cath Tallack has been the Emerging Leaders Program Director with Arrow Australia since 2017. She began pastoral ministry at Gateway Baptist Church as the Children’s Pastor in 2009 and moved into the role as Generations Pastor (overseeing kids, youth and young adults as well as leadership development of the church).

In 'Doing It All' Cath shares very vulnerably about a recent experience of burn-out, which she describes as coming from her (understandable!) desire to do excellently in all the roles of her life - national leader, church member, disciple of Jesus, partner, mother and daughter. Cath was pulling it off, until it became painfully apparent that actually, she couldn't do it all. Or not as much of it as she was doing. Or not at the same pace.

The issues that Cath raises are very common and very complex, especially for young women in leadership. She describes finding the 'Self Forgiving Space', the place where you allow yourself some slack to not do everything perfectly or at high speed. And she has some great advice on how to manage stress - 'Add water everyday!'

Cath references a book by Alicia Britt Chole called 'The Sacred Slow: A Holy Departure From Fast Faith' which has been really helpful to her. You can get it at Koorong or on Kindle

If you would like to develop your ability to reflect on your work and ministry, why not have a chat with me about Pastoral Supervision? Contact me at [email protected]  or go to the Generation Leadership website.

Don't forget to rate, review and subscribe to The Blunder Bus! See you again soon.

If you would like to talk to Ed about Pastoral Supervision, visit the website here
Or you can email Ed at [email protected]
I'd love if you would rate and review this podcast
And thanks for being on the journey on The Blunder Bus!

Why does failure make us feel so anxious? Often it's because we can remember experiences in the past which scarred us, and even now as adults, continue to have an impact. Today the Blunder Bus travels to Sydney's inner west, where Dr Silvia Fragiacomo shares an experience from primary school that left a mark for decades to come.

You've  probably worked out by now that the magic secret when it comes to failure is the ability to reflect on mistakes and learn. And that’s what I do in my work as a Pastoral Supervisor which I do through my business, Generation Leadership.

If you are looking for a Pastoral Supervisor to help you reflect on your work and ministry practice, I currently have some openings. So go to my website to find out more

I’d love to work with you and provide a safe space to reflect on what you are currently doing, and what you can learn. Check it out!

If you would like to talk to Ed about Pastoral Supervision, visit the website here
Or you can email Ed at [email protected]
I'd love if you would rate and review this podcast
And thanks for being on the journey on The Blunder Bus!

Marbz Dias is the National Church Relations Manager for Baptist World Aid. Coming from a Filipino background, Marbz knows personally what it's like to live in a society that is deeply scarred by the impact of a culturally insensitive colonial past.
So settle back and listen as Marbz shares with us how he made exactly that same mistake, in his dealings with an Indigenous church leader here in Australia. Marbz shares how he realised that he was bringing his own agenda into a conversation with an Indigenous leader, and failed to respect and understand their culture. 
Ouch! But he definitely gets full marks for honesty and vulnerability!

You’ve probably worked out by now that the magic secret when it comes to failure is the ability to reflect on mistakes and learn. And that’s what I do in my work as a Pastoral Supervisor which I do through my business, Generation Leadership.

If you are looking for a Pastoral Supervisor to help you reflect on your work and ministry practice, I currently have some openings. So go to my website to find out more

I’d love to work with you and provide a safe space to reflect on what you are currently doing, and what you can learn. Check it out!

If you would like to talk to Ed about Pastoral Supervision, visit the website here
Or you can email Ed at [email protected]
I'd love if you would rate and review this podcast
And thanks for being on the journey on The Blunder Bus!