Authentic Life & Leadership
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Most recent blog post…
The Uncomfortable Trade Off Between Being Liked and Being Successful
I have never met anyone who doesn’t want to be liked. Most people I’ve met also want to be successful. (Believe it or not, a few have admitted they could care less about success.) Many of us want both. But what if the pursuit of one compromises the other? What if the...
How to Love Where You Land
When I first began to openly share my deepest struggles, there was an immediate effort on the part of a few people to stop me. For example, when I shared from a stage that I struggled -- and sometimes still struggle -- with clinical depression, or that I take...
The Perfection Trap
When I was younger, I fantasized about having the perfect family. Then I grew up and knocked myself out trying to have one. I have been married for thirty-five years. I believe marriage is about two people out-serving and out-forgiving each other. But for many years...
Are You a Pain Reliever, a Dismisser or a One-Upper?
People tend to think that whatever has happened to them is the worst because it’s what they’ve experienced personally. It's common to hear people attempt to "one up" people when it comes to pain... "You think you have it bad? My child was killed by a drunk...
Invite Deanna to speak at your next event!
Deanna is invited to return and speak at many of the same places time and again because the result has been an overwhelmingly positive experience with lives changed, and people encouraged.
BIO
Dr. Deanna Shrodes
Dr. Deanna Doss Shrodes is an author, speaker, and leadership mentor known for helping women lead with courage, integrity, and deep faith. Her work has been featured by CBS News, People Magazine, The New Yorker, Woman’s World, GOD TV, and HuffPost. She holds a Master’s in Ministerial Leadership and a Doctor of Ministry from Southeastern University, where she also serves as an adjunct professor.
Dr. Shrodes currently serves as Women’s Ministries Director for the Pen Florida District of the Assemblies of God and leads the Stronger Leadership Network, where she mentors pastors and leaders through coaching, spiritual formation, and leadership development. The author of five books and a contributing writer to five others, her most recent work, Uncommon Answers, was released by Chosen Books (a division of Baker Publishing Group) in April 2025.
Known for a warm pastoral presence and practical, thoughtful teaching, Dr. Shrodes speaks at conferences, churches, and leadership gatherings on spiritual formation, prayer, women in leadership, discernment in decision-making, and cultivating healthy ministry cultures.
She is married to her college sweetheart, Larry. Together they have three grown children and five grandchildren.
Areas of Focus:
Spiritual formation & prayer
The work of the Holy Spirit
Leadership development
Women in leadership
Mentoring and calling
Healthy ministry culture
Leadership transitions
Marriage and ministry life
Become Your Most Authentic Self
Free E-Book
Are you tired of being who and what others expect you to be, instead of who God created you to be?
If you find the pressure of other people's expectations exhausting and you are ready to be the authentic YOU that you were always meant to be, Deanna would like to gift you with an ebook, 29 Ways to Become Your Most Authentic Self.
It's time to break free and finally live according to your divine design!
