I've had a few challenging ministry experiences both as a volunteer and as a staff member. Long hours with little to show for it led to disillusionment and burnout. I've always been a problem-solver and business-minded, so I set out to discover how to leverage business principles to help ministry leaders achieve their vision in a healthy and sustainable manner. This led me to work for an international consulting firm and a Fortune 500 company doing consulting, project management, and risk management. I led teams, managed tight deadlines and budgets, developed project plans, gave countless presentations, and honed my observation skills. I learned from successful executives, devoured books on leadership and management, attended conferences, and listened to hours of podcasts on similar topics. Those experiences helped me learn how to leverage business principles to achieve a big vision when you combine them with a heart for ministry. The concepts of effective time management, meeting preparation and facilitation, project management, financial stewardship, mitigating risk, leading teams, and much more are all completely applicable to leading a thriving church. For more info, please visit www.deborahike.com. Please note: I got married in Dec 2014 and changed my last name from Wipf to Ike.
