By: Shawn Cramer on February 17, 2021
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.” – Mark Twain Malcolm X to Mecca. Diedrich Bonhoeffer to Harlem. And Frederick Douglass to Ireland.…
By: Greg Reich on February 16, 2021
Like many others, I have always been fascinated by the stars. It is a nightly ritual to gaze into the night sky when I lock up our home for the day. As a youngster I was raised in the country on a small ranch at the base of Mount Jumbo outside of Missoula Montana. It…
By: Jer Swigart on February 15, 2021
Two days after Adolf Hitler was democratically elected to serve as the chancellor of Germany, Bonhoeffer, then twenty-six, gave a radio address entitled, “The Young Generation’s Concept of Leadership.” The speech was part history, part philosophy, and part theology and dealt with the fundamental problems of leadership by a Führer.[1] “Before he could finish, the…
By: Shawn Cramer on February 15, 2021
Never underestimate the redemptive impact of a small act of creative empowerment. No one person can take credit for the formation of the world-changer that is Frederick Douglass, but he (like us) was a result of both his antifragility and the benevolence of others with power. Allow me to showcase a few vignettes. In childhood,…
By: Chris Pollock on February 11, 2021
Love can be the cause of a universe of pain. Dorothy Day, in her book The Long Loneliness, speaks of her life of love, with intimate detail. The men in her life, her faith, social justice and her child are beautiful stories of true love in her life. In her stories of love, her stories…
By: John McLarty on February 11, 2021
What about those times when a leader needs to lead immediately and authoritatively? For all of the attraction many may have toward collaborative and affiliative, somewhat “backstage” styles of leadership as Simon Walker might describe, there are occasions when a more “commanding” style of leadership is necessary. For those in the military, this is probably…
By: Chris Pollock on February 10, 2021
Dorothy Day referred to her work in ‘The Long Loneliness’ as a memoir, not an autobiography. Writing a memoir and presenting it to the world must take some courage. Honesty has impact. Dorothy Day’s honesty, in her memoir, is enough to have an impact. ‘“You ask me what I’d like to be remembered for –…
By: Greg Reich on February 9, 2021
“The past cannot change what is to come. The work that you do each and every day is the only true way to improve and prepare yourself for what is to come. You cannot change the past, and you can influence the future only by what you do today.”[1] (A part of a preseason team…
By: Jer Swigart on February 8, 2021
A theological prodigy who achieved his doctorate at the age of twenty-one, young Bonhoeffer found himself in a bit of holding pattern. To qualify for ordination in the Lutheran Church, he had to be twenty-five. To bide his time, he pursued lectureships and pastorates abroad. It was in these immersions into Barcelona and Rome that…
By: Darcy Hansen on February 8, 2021
Mussolini’s years in leadership found him to be an able diplomat. In 1923, some Greeks murdered an Italian general and three soldiers over Graeco-Albanian concerns. Italy gave Greece an ultimatum; war was imminent. Greece ultimately conceded to Italy’s terms and war was averted. But the nearness of the possibility of war alarmed Mussolini, causing him…
By: Greg Reich on February 4, 2021
It is not uncommon for leaders to display their credentials, tout their educational pedigrees as well as their personal accomplishments. In some cases, it may be required and advisable. I find it assuring and almost comforting when visiting my rheumatologist’s office, and see his multiple degrees hanging on his wall. It assures me that he…
By: John McLarty on February 3, 2021
Doris Kearns Goodwin’s “Leadership in Turbulent Times” is the story of four US American presidents. Each begins with his upbringing and earliest recognition of leadership abilities, then shifts to formative life experiences that shaped his leadership, and finally a description of a major leadership challenge that would define his presidency. Theodore Roosevelt assumed the presidency…
By: Jer Swigart on February 3, 2021
Two realities seem as evident and disastrous today as in the time of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Idolatrous Religion & Racism. The former is an experience of religion built upon arrogant orthodoxy that centers performance and piety as the means by which God’s attention and affection can be seduced. The latter is a set of behaviors that…
By: Darcy Hansen on February 1, 2021
In 1922, Italy’s government and King were powerless to bring about change for the struggling nation. With a general strike from populous looming, the might of Mussolini and his followers rose to the occasion. On October 27, 1922, the Fascist March on Rome was met with zero opposition from the Italian Army or police. Rome…
By: Shawn Cramer on February 1, 2021
…as imagination bodies forth, The forms of things unknown, the poet’s pen, Turns them to shapes and gives to airy nothing A local habitation and a name.” Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, vi.14-17 Effective leaders stoke the imagination. Anytime we move beyond, in our mind’s eye, where we are now, that’s imaginative. The imagination should…
By: Chris Pollock on January 28, 2021
Jail. So, with that word, once read and, just let it sit in your mind for a second or two, look at it there, what comes to mind? Now, say it out loud. Close your eyes and think about who comes to mind? How do you feel about the word, the idea? I’m not comfortable…
By: John McLarty on January 28, 2021
Abraham Lincoln was elected the 16th President of the United States in part because the election of 1860 was a four-man race. With the Democrats divided over Stephen Douglas and John Breckenridge, and a Constitutional Union Party candidate on a ballot, the Republican Lincoln was able to carry the northern states and receive the most…
By: Darcy Hansen on January 27, 2021
From an early age, Mussolini was tossed into the deep end of the political pool. His father supplied the water from Socialist journals and the local newspaper; Mussolini had little choice but to dogpaddle his way along. By the age of 19, Mussolini began to come into his own understanding of politics and philosophy. He…
By: Greg Reich on January 26, 2021
Our perspective is often skewed by the circumstances of life until something happens that helps us see beyond our current perspective into something beyond ourselves. Have you ever questioned your presumptions about failure? How we perceive failure is critical to being an effective leader. John Maxwell points out that we often look at failure through…
By: Shawn Cramer on January 25, 2021
Allow this reflection on the onset of journeying with Frederick Douglass to be the opening line of a sonata. I’ll introduce a theme in its simplest form here only to be revisited, experimented with, hidden, transposed, modified, and returned to at the conclusion. The thread of melody that plays throughout the life of Frederick Douglass…
