Vice President & Senior Consultant

Dave Marks serves as Vice President and Senior Consultant at The Center Consulting Group, bringing over 35 years of church ministry experience, including 23 years as a senior pastor. He holds an M.S. in Organizational Leadership and a D.Min. in Leadership. Dave partners with church and nonprofit leaders to resolve conflict and restore relationships, build high-performing teams, analyze and strengthen organizational culture, and educate and train staff and volunteers. Dave is passionate about coaching others towards organizational and leadership health, and refining systems and processes for sustainable growth. His holistic approach integrates strategic planning, leadership development, and organizational diagnostics to help ministries thrive in every season. An avid follower of NASCAR and Indy Racing, Dave brings the same passion and precision from the racetrack to every consulting engagement. Contact Dave.

VIDEOS

Culture: 5 Traits That Set Healthy Churches & Their Leaders Apart [VIDEO]

A lot of churches struggle with momentum, leadership, and morale. Here are 5 traits that consistently set the healthiest churches and their leaders apart, and how you can build them into your own ministry.

Trust: 4 Steps to Rebuild Damaged Trust [VIDEO]

Rebuilding damaged trust is not impossible, but it does require diligence. Here are four steps to rebuild damaged trust.

Planning allows you to take a chaotic state, narrow it down, and turn it into momentum and energy toward your goal. Here is how.

Gaslighting: How to Identify It & Take Back Control [VIDEO]

Gaslighting may seem like a newer term, but it originated in a 1944 movie where a man deliberately convinced his wife that she was insane so that he could steal her family’s treasure. Here are the different ways people gaslight others and five steps to help you take back control if it is happening to you.

Meeting Effectiveness: 4 Different Types of Meetings & Why It Matters [VIDEO]

Have you ever been sitting in a meeting wondering why you are there? This feeling is common and often happens because the meeting type was not communicated. Here are four meeting types and why it’s important to communicate the type before starting a meeting.

Group Decision-Making: How to Build Consensus & Ensure You Are Change-Ready

Changes often bring conflict. But you can save yourself a lot of headaches by building consensus before you implement a decision. Here’s how to build consensus and how to determine if you are ready to implement the change.

Hiring: 4 Attributes to Look For & the Biggest Mistakes to Avoid

Every time you hire, you are either creating a crisis or an opportunity. Here are four attributes to look for in a candidate and the biggest mistakes to avoid to increase the likelihood of a successful hire.

Conflict: Stop Reacting and Start Responding [VIDEO]

In conflict, many people would agree with the phrase, “Stop reacting and start responding!” But most leaders don't know how to actually do that. Here are three concepts to help you stop reacting to conflict and start responding appropriately.

Candor: How to Balance Truth with Care [VIDEO]

Speaking with candor is easier said than done. People can either speak so directly that they forget how it will affect the other person, or they are so compassionate that the meaning of the feedback is lost. Here are helpful tips for balancing both care and confrontation when giving candor and how to receive it well.

Conflict in organizations and relationships is inevitable. But you have the option to make it valuable by learning to fight right instead of letting it become toxic and destructive. Here are four elements in learning how to fight right.

Leadership: 4 Keys to Monitoring & Managing Organizational Health [VIDEO]

It is hard to manage what you don’t monitor. To be a smart leader, you must pay attention to the gauges of organizational health that let you know if you are navigating correctly. Here are four keys to monitoring organizational health.

BLOG POSTS

6 Strategies for Leading Effectively During a Crisis

How to Eliminate Ambiguity to Reduce Conflict

How to Resolve Conflict with a Win-Win Every Time

Leadership Skills: How to Respond (Not React) to Conflict

Leadership Skills: Becoming a High EQ Leader - One Trait at a Time

Leadership Skills: Diffusing Conflict through Perceptual Positioning

Leadership Skills: Reading the Behaviors on Your Team

PANEL DISCUSSIONS

The Most Important Traits of Effective Leaders [VIDEO]

Everyone wants to know that magic formula for what makes a great leader. Listen as our experienced consultants discuss traits of effective leaders, obstacles that can hinder their success, and how targeted coaching can be used to develop leaders.

Emerging Trends in the Church [VIDEO]

Our consultants discuss the emerging trends in churches including balancing the hybrid church, declining attendance but growing community, engaging Gen Z and integrating generations, and the slowing of evangelistic growth.

Why You Should Start Planning for Succession Now [VIDEO]

There are 10,000 people turning 65 every day in the U.S. This means there are leaders from every type of organization who will eventually need to hand over the reins of leadership to their successor. Here’s why some leaders avoid succession planning, when you should start, and how to do it successfully.

Trust Is Declining: Here’s How to Rebuild It [VIDEO]

Trust in many forms of authority has been deeply eroding. Listen as our consultants discuss the state of trust today, how leaders should approach the lack of trust, and how to begin rebuilding it.

How to Handle Stress & Burnout at Work [VIDEO]

Stress is a silent epidemic that has a measurable negative impact. Listen as our experienced consultants discuss how stress expresses itself and what leaders can do to address it.

How Emotional Intelligence Enhances Leadership [VIDEO]

We have seen many leaders fail or not reach their potential because they could not relate well to others. This is often referred to as lacking emotional intelligence or EQ. Here’s how to strengthen your EQ.

How to Attract & Retain Employees [VIDEO]

40% of employees are at least somewhat likely to leave their current job in the next 3–6 months. Here are the most important things you can do to attract and retain top talent.

Managing Conflict in the Workplace [VIDEO]

Conflict feels like it is everywhere right now, and many leaders are spending an excessive amount of time resolving conflict among their staff and customers. Listen as our consultants talk about the conflict trends they are seeing and how to best manage conflict in the workplace.

Cultivating a Positive Culture [VIDEO]

One thing that sets a great organization apart from an average one is culture. Culture influences employee retention, talent attraction, and organizational resilience. Listen as our experienced consultants discuss tips for cultivating a positive culture in your organization.

ARTICLES

BOOKS