By: Diane Tuttle on February 21, 2024
I had a hard time getting started on this blog. It is not that I didn’t read or like Failure of Nerve by Edwin Freidman. On the contrary, it was one of the most thought provoking and compelling books that I have read in a long time. My problem was winnowing everything into what were…
By: Jennifer Eckert on February 21, 2024
Introduction Courageous leadership requires grit, humility, and perseverance. It isn’t for the faint of heart and is one of my favorite leadership qualities to study, perhaps because my own courage ebbs and flows sometimes. In his book, Failure of Nerve, author Edwin Friedman utilizes the tried-and-true Bowen Family Systems Model and applies it to organizations.…
By: Erica Briggs on February 21, 2024
It’s been over ten years now since I served at Metanoia Community Development Corporation. I started as Director of Elementary Leadership program just after coming back to the United States from South Korea. I’d spent a year teaching at a Christian school in Incheon, and wanted to continue working in a faith based environment. The…
By: Chris Blackman on February 21, 2024
Thirty years ago, I was promoted to be the CEO of a seafood distribution company based out of Reno, Nevada. It was a big promotion and one I was ready to take on. There was a corporate umbrella over it, which owned 3 other branches over two states. There was one man who owned the…
By: Ryan Thorson on February 21, 2024
Hi. My name is Ryan and I’m a people pleaser. Its been less than one day since I tried to please someone else without evaluating my own values, needs or limits. I’ve been in recovery for some time now, constantly attempting to regulate my desire to help others (introducing me, a “2” on the enneagram)…
By: Chad Warren on February 21, 2024
The interim pastor told me they behaved similarly to emotionally abused victims he had counseled many times before. Most of the staff and many in the congregation acted like families he had seen where dad had a bad anger problem; when he lost his temper, he became emotionally and verbally abusive. Abused by whom? Their…
By: Graham English on February 21, 2024
When I read A Failure of Nerve, by Edwin Friedman, I thought I was only going to write on pastoral leadership. However, the book struck a more personal nerve for me. Two and a half years ago Wendy and I made a decision that would alter our lives significantly. We moved my mom and…
By: Pam Lau on February 21, 2024
“In the same way, our character–including our relational and emotional skills–is built around those habits, and our good character and relational skills show up before we even think about them.”[1] Ravi Zacharias charged: serious sexual misconduct going back years in his ministry. Jim Baker swindled millions of dollars from his followers. What about Jimmy Swaggart? Or…
By: Russell Chun on February 21, 2024
快速和缓慢思考的阴阳 加入欢乐 – The Yin and Yang of fast and slow thinking Plus Enter JOY (Mandarin) Introduction Part 1 – What my peers are saying Part 2 – Uncommon Habits, in my NPO Epilogue – Where is Joy? Introduction – Daniel Kahneman’s System 1 and System 2 thinking. Kahneman’s describes System 1 as fast, automatic,…
By: Shela Sullivan on February 21, 2024
In my reading this week, I learned that the author criticizes the dominant leadership models that rely on data, empathy, and quick fixes. He argues that these models are based on a fallacy of empathy that mixes up feeling and thinking, and reactivity and responsibility. He proposes a different leadership approach that is based on…
By: Nancy Blackman on February 20, 2024
December 23, 1888 Was he too emotional, trying too hard, not asking the right questions, or living in an either/or mindset? In my research of creative communities, I’m learning how artists and writers from the past have shaped creativity for the present. Vincent van Gogh is an artist I stumbled upon, or maybe…
By: Adam Cheney on February 20, 2024
We were stuck on a treadmill that just kept gaining in speed and increasing in incline. I do not even know how long my wife and I were on that treadmill, months, years, a decade probably. We knew adopting kids would be hard. Yet, we had no idea what we were really getting into. We…
By: Glyn Barrett on February 20, 2024
“A Failure of Nerve Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix” by Edwin H Friedman is compelling, especially the comparisons between the old and new world orientations, summarised at the end of chapter one[1]. The author’s juxtaposition of the two worlds provides an accurate analogy for the goal of a leader when guiding an…
By: Kally Elliott on February 19, 2024
Taylor Swift for president 2024! Hear me out. T-Swift is a RARE leader. And, as the mother of a twelve-year-old daughter who is hungry for women role models, I endorse my daughter’s obsession with Taylor Swift. According to authors, Marcus Warner and Jim Wilder, a RARE leader has “emotional intelligence” or EQ. Their thesis in…
By: Tim Clark on February 19, 2024
I honestly couldn’t tell you how many hours of church leadership conferences and trainings I’ve listened to live, and online…. and on DVD, CD, and, yes, even cassette tapes. I do know that for nearly 40 years I’ve had thousands of hours of exposure to the best church leaders alive. However, I can tell you…
By: Jeff Styer on February 19, 2024
Life is all about perspective, how each person sees and understands something. Have you read or heard the Indian parable about the six blind men and the elephant? James Baldwin retells the story, The Blind Men and the Elephant. In the short story he describes six blind men’s encounter with an elephant. As each blind…
By: Noel Liemam on February 18, 2024
About three years ago, I had an uncle (I will call him Steve) that I knew very well that had a stroke. Since then, he decided to confine himself to his home even though he could be mobile with the aid of his wheelchair. His wife is now staying home taking care of him full-time.…
By: Joel Zantingh on February 16, 2024
Two years ago, I started consulting with churches and mission organizations. The one church asked me to become their Interim Pastor, but my gut instinct told me I could simply offer to be their Transitional Coach for 10 hours a week, and rely on the gifted staff team they had, and get them just as…
By: Akwese on February 16, 2024
There are many ways to view leadership, and various types, models, methods, and frameworks have been created to help us explore our understanding of it. When it comes to developing a theology of leadership, it seems as though what’s often being explored is the model of servant leadership or some variation of it. Jesus…
By: Julie O'Hara on February 15, 2024
We began the dive just in time to catch some slack water between the tides. It wasn’t very long before my buddy approached and knelt right in front of me in the cold, green water. Behind him, the kelp leaned and swayed in the increasing current. He looked me in the eye and made a…