By: Tim Clark on January 22, 2024
I’ve always felt comfortable leading. From early in my life, I could naturally envision a preferred future, could see obstacles to that future, and then rally others around overcoming challenges to accomplishing that vision. I’ve been professionally serving in some form of leadership for over 35 years, and along the way I picked up a…
By: Ryan Thorson on January 22, 2024
I found Meyers and Land’s book on Overcoming Barriers and Threshold concepts very insightful. It provided language and a framework for understanding different threshold moments in my own learning and education and how I can walk alongside others to support them in their learning and process as well. It was a good reminder that learning…
By: Jennifer Vernam on January 22, 2024
A Call to Action In my organization, we have historically been led by a Catholic order of Sisters. Just over 10 years ago, that group of They developed a booklet that we refer to as Hopes and Aspirations. Offered as a gift, it was a collection of guidance for future leaders. It is filled with…
By: Kally Elliott on January 22, 2024
The world is changing and fast. We’ve been reading about some of these changes, especially when it comes to the world of AI. In her blog post, Eve Poole writes, “Whether or not – and when – the robots will take over is a moot point.”[1] It’s happening. With the pace of my personal and…
By: Travis Vaughn on January 22, 2024
When Pulitzer-winning novelist Cormac McCarthy was asked by leaders at the Santa Fe Institute[1] to help “spruce up” their mission statement, McCarthy took what they handed him and promptly “wadded it up and pitched it in the trash.”[2] He then proceeded to develop a mission statement for SFI in a way that only he could.…
By: Jeff Styer on January 22, 2024
I picked up and began to read Overcoming Barriers to Student Understanding[1] and came across the concept of “Threshold Concept”[2] I began to wonder what threshold concepts I or my department teach. I am an assistant professor of social work at a small Christian liberal arts university located in the corn fields of Central Ohio. …
By: Jennifer Eckert on January 19, 2024
When I think about shiny, rich yellow gold, the mountains of Montana come to mind, especially the Garnet Mountain range that surrounds a tiny ghost town about 18 miles outside Missoula. This once hustling and bustling late 19th-century community now sits quiet and contained, locking history inside herself. To what and whom is her legacy?…
By: Akwese on January 19, 2024
In Tom Camacho’s “Mining for Gold,” he shares his own journey of what I call leading whole, which is leading from a deep belief that who you are, as you are, is complete, whole, and lacking nothing. It sounds easy enough but unfortunately, it isn’t. Camacho talks about this challenge we face regarding believing the…
By: Jana Dluehosh on January 18, 2024
“The Creation of Adam” by Michelangelo “The concept of the Divine Spark has captivated the human imagination for centuries, transcending cultural and religious boundaries to illuminate the profound essence that resides within each individual. Rooted in various spiritual traditions, philosophical teachings, and mystical experiences, the Divine Spark represents a source of divine energy or consciousness…
By: Kari on January 18, 2024
Perched on the edge of the produce stand, the red caught my eye. As I picked it up, I could smell the berries through the packaging. Strawberries, one of my favorite fruits, are rarely seen in my city in North Africa. When they are available, the quality is questionable, and the price tag is extortionate.…
By: Julie O'Hara on January 18, 2024
Tom Camacho’s Mining for Gold took me on a journey. I rode the twin rails of “Julie as a Leader” and “Julie as Human.” These rails were connected by the crossties (sleepers for our friends in the UK) of insights, a-has, and when-will-I-learns from the book. The trip included stops at Unpleasant Memories, Joyful Discoveries,…
By: Chad Warren on January 18, 2024
When I saw the cover of “Mining for Gold” by Tom Camacho, my mind raced back several years to when my wife and I binged a reality TV show called “Gold Rush,” which follows crews mining for gold in the Yukon Territory. By the end of the second season, we were experts ready to set…
By: Erica Briggs on January 18, 2024
From the title of this week’s reading, I expected to learn how to coach Kingdom leaders. Although, Camacho speaks to this, what I gleaned from Mining for Gold was much different. It affirmed my belief that I’m designed to thrive, not just survive. He confirmed that stunted growth is a result of an empty cup…
By: Scott Dickie on January 18, 2024
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a double-edged sword, a technological marvel that Eve Poole beautifully encapsulates in her insights. Let’s embark on a journey through the positives and negatives of AI, guided by Poole’s wisdom. The Positives: 1. Amplifying Human Potential: Eve Poole eloquently articulates the positive potential of AI, stating, “AI has the potential to…
By: Christy Liner on January 18, 2024
In 2017, our family answered the call to become a foster family. We embarked on the journey with high hopes, unrealistic expectations of adoption, and a desire to be the difference for at least one child. As we entered into foster care, we quickly realized our support network was quite thin and that we were…
By: Elysse Burns on January 18, 2024
There is nothing I love more than being part of the birth of an idea and seeing it come to fruition. However, I find that if I’m not careful, I can easily focus more on the task at hand rather than its substance and the people involved. One of the best pieces of advice I…
By: Ryan Thorson on January 18, 2024
This past summer we spent some time with family in Eastern Oregon. On one of our days together we went to an old mining town where gold is still being dredged from the bottom of the river to this day. At the visitor center, there were large tubs of sediment and sand where anyone could…
By: Daren Jaime on January 18, 2024
Just this week the Dallas Cowboys were sent home packing from the NFL Playoffs. Down 27-0 in arguably the worst first-half playoff performance in team history with the half winding down and Dallas seconds away from being shut out the Cowboys have time for one more play. The home crowd is hopeful, many on their…
By: Nancy Blackman on January 18, 2024
The title Mining for Gold is such an appropriate phrase for the coaching process because a coach isn’t panning on the surface but hoping that the coachee is willing to dig deep for the gold within them. The gold is already there because God put it there. They just need to find it and come…
By: Jenny Dooley on January 18, 2024
I am a bit chagrined to admit that I haven’t given AI much thought. I am not the most technologically minded person. I find the concepts of AI hard to grasp. My understanding is limited to what I have been exposed to through our reading last semester, the very helpful Zoom session last week with…
