By: Cathy Glei on February 28, 2024
“It is not racial differences that have led to unequal treatment but the persistence of social inequalities in societies with a commitment to equality that has led many to view such inequalities as eradicable, and hence natural, and to place people into different racial categories. Race did not give birth to racism. Racism gave birth…
By: Mathieu Yuill on February 28, 2024
Have you ever found yourself puzzled by discussions on race feeling like they’re going nowhere? It’s a sentiment many share, and Kenan Malik, a prominent thinker who delves into society’s complex issues, sheds light on a crucial aspect often overlooked. He suggests that our conversations about race are incomplete without also addressing class[1]. Imagine them…
By: Kim Sanford on February 26, 2024
Kenan Malik, writing from a distinctly British perspective, seeks to put our current social and political issues into their historical context. He effectively takes his readers on a journey to understand the history of racism and how it has gotten us to where we are.[1] In his own words, “One theme of this book is…
By: John Fehlen on February 26, 2024
I have been to the Holy Land of Israel nine times. I started touring there when I was in my mid-20’s and my most recent trip was leading 40+ people on what was called “Moses to The Messiah” – a journey beginning in Egypt, then crossing the Sinai desert, up into the Wadi Rum of…
By: Jonita Fair-Payton on February 23, 2024
I started this Doctoral journey being very intentional about connecting the assigned readings to my NPO. There were a few books where it was a bit challenging to relate them to my research but in most cases I was able to find a point of connection. Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking, Fast and Slow was one of…
By: Dinka Utomo on February 23, 2024
“God’s sovereign searching of our hearts, and then His call to leadership, are awesome to behold. And they make a person very humble.” -Marcus Warner and Jim Wilder- Allow me to start this article by reciting a poem entitled “The Pastor”: If he/she is young, he/she is considered to lack experience But if his/her…
By: Todd E Henley on February 22, 2024
JESUS AND RARE LEADERSHIP In John chapter 8, the religious teachers show great disrespect to Jesus and those in the synagogue by interrupting Jesus’ teaching and bringing in a woman in front of the crowd who was caught in adultery.1 But Jesus is a RARE leader. According to Marcus Warner and Jim Wilder, RARE means:…
By: Adam Harris on February 22, 2024
For a little over a year, I’ve been meeting with a leadership coach, thanks to our assignments and reading Mining for Gold.[i] The person I currently meet with is retired from running several companies and spends much of his time coaching others and speaking at leadership conferences, which is where I met him. He is…
By: Cathy Glei on February 22, 2024
Several years ago, when teaching Kindergarten, I hosted Patio Nights before the start of each school year. In the August heat, families enjoyed popsicles, met other families in our classroom community and best of all my incoming K students would come so we could begin getting to know one another, see their lockers, and go…
By: Jenny Dooley on February 20, 2024
Rare Leadership: 4 Uncommon Habits for Increasing Trust, Joy, and Engagement in the People You Lead, by Marcus Warner and Jim Wilder is a timely read. I’ve been researching a variety of models as I begin designing platforms to develop relational connections for ministry leaders with the goal of supporting their social-emotional and spiritual well-being.…
By: Kim Sanford on February 19, 2024
I first heard the term EQ or Emotional Intelligence about 15 years ago. I was hooked from the start. The deeper I went into learning about EQ the more it changed my perspective in myriad ways. It’s no surprise, then, that emotional health and maturity is a cornerstone of my NPO project. It also seems…
By: John Fehlen on February 19, 2024
Today, as I write this blog, I recall Dr. Jason Clark mentioning a book that he is in the process of writing about pain and leadership. On the Zoom call, I said, somewhat in jest, yet also quite seriously, “Hustle up on writing that book Dr. Clark because I need it for my NPO.” I…
By: Dinka Utomo on February 15, 2024
We must struggle toward choosing one plan over another, not because it is the right one, but because it is the best one we can come up with -Joseph Bentley and Michael Toth- Cases of domestic violence in our country have shown an increasing number in recent years. In 2023 data, around 18,138 women…
By: Adam Harris on February 15, 2024
It’s not often that my graduate work overlaps with my 7th grader’s homework, but it did this week! While helping my oldest make sense of his English assignment I could see a pretty clear connection between this week’s reading, Exploring Wicked Problems, and my son’s reading material. He had to find main ideas and supporting…
By: Cathy Glei on February 15, 2024
“In order to find what the problems are one must drill down to the level of individual cases: people who are sexually assaulted and those who do the assaulting both have problems, an unemployed person does have a problem, a binge-drinker who cannot stay sober through a weekend has a problem. But when you collapse…
By: Jonita Fair-Payton on February 15, 2024
“Every wicked problem is a discrepancy between a present state, and a future, more desirable state.”[1] So Wicked This week’s reading could not have been more timely for me. I faced the most wicked problem that I could have imagined. In my role as Interim CEO, I have been tasked with making leadership decisions that…
By: Todd E Henley on February 14, 2024
MY NPO “Critical thinking is the art of analyzing and evaluating thought processes with a view to improving them.”1 Three results of a well-cultivated critical thinker: She raises vital questions and problems, formulating them clearly and precisely She thinks open mindedly within alternative systems of thought She is scrupulously careful not to misrepresent or distort…
By: Jenny Dooley on February 14, 2024
Better Together I like solving problems. Unless they’re mathematical! Those problems are best managed by someone more qualified. Actually, there are quite a few problems which I do not have the expertise to tackle and it would be foolish and potentially dangerous to attempt to do so on my own. However, that does not relieve…
By: Mathieu Yuill on February 14, 2024
I had a conversation the other day with a friend of mine who had just been promoted to the position of principle in an elementary school (in my area, that means Kindergarten to grade 8). She had previously served as a vice-principle and before that a teacher in various elementary grades. Only a week in…
By: Kim Sanford on February 13, 2024
Parenting. There is perhaps no better example of living life on autopilot, trudging along in survival mode, foolishly trying the same solutions to problems but hoping for miraculously different results. I guess we’ve all been there. I certainly saw parenting problems on every single page of Joseph Bentley’s book Exploring Wicked Problems: What They Are…
