By: Nicole Richardson on December 1, 2022
“Truth will set you free”; “Speak the truth in love”; “Speak truth to power”; These three well known phrases are the foundation of the book, Transparency: How Leaders Create a Culture of Candor. Transparency is made up of three essays written by Warren Bennis, Daniel Goleman, James O’Toole. Their goal is to encourage leaders to…
By: Andy Hale on November 30, 2022
The murder of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor at the hands of police officers in 2020 was just the tip of the iceberg. In the first eight months of 2020, Police in the U.S. killed 164 Black people. [1] Moreover, Black and Brown Americans have been saying for decades that the police are prejudiced and inequitable towards…
By: Eric Basye on November 29, 2022
The author of “Speaking Truth to Power”, James O’Toole, received his Doctorate in Social Anthropology from Oxford University and spent much of his career teaching, researching, and writing in the areas of leadership, ethics, and corporate culture. While he wrote many books, in 1965, his book Vanguard Management was named “one of the best business…
By: Kayli Hillebrand on November 29, 2022
James O’Toole has been a distinguished voice in the areas of business ethics and leadership for nearly three decades. With several books under this authorship and a resume that includes several roles served in federal leadership, O’Toole not only has classical education but a wealth of experiential learning. A Social Anthropologist by training, O’Toole addresses…
By: Michael Simmons on November 29, 2022
The phrase “speaking truth to power” originated from a pamphlet, Speak Truth to Power: a Quaker Search for an Alternative to Violence, published by the American Friends Service Committee in 1955. The pamphlet promoted love over hate, and preferred peace to the rising tensions of the Cold War.[1] James O’Toole adapts this phrases and ethos for organizational…
By: Jean de Dieu Ndahiriwe on November 29, 2022
Steele’s book Shame: How America’s Past Sins Have Polarized Our Country is well-written and thought-provoking; it has brought me to reflect on many issues in our global community today. As a person born right in the war zone, I continue to wonder about the role of those of faith in the political arena, but as…
By: Alana Hayes on November 28, 2022
Introduction What is an undefended leader? An undefended leader is someone who has put in the work as well as has experience so that their gut reaction to any situation they are faced with is the correct response. The leader should act as a guide in their known to individuals that do not know the…
By: Jenny Steinbrenner Hale on November 27, 2022
The term “smithing” indicates a process whereby a material is shaped, molded, formed, and improved over time. This is exactly the idea behind Eve Poole’s book entitled, Leadersmithing, Revealing the Trade Secrets of Leadership. In her opinion, strong leaders are shaped, molded, formed and improved over time, growing into their potential as stronger and more…
By: Mary Kamau on November 27, 2022
As I read two books, “Maps of Meaning” and “The Psychological Significance of The Biblical Stories” by Jordan B Peterson, a psychologist, I must admit that I was conflicted. I found myself in a defensive posture and wondering whether Peterson was equating Jesus, the Creator of all things to a mythological hero.[1][2] Time, travel, and…
By: Laura Fleetwood on November 27, 2022
Imagine my dismay when I sat down to write this blog post and realized I read the wrong book for the week’s assignment. I was prepared to write about Tempered Resilience by Tod Boslinger only to discover I actually needed to read Leadersmithing by Eve Poole. After a few choice words and a very late night, I…
By: Alana Hayes on November 26, 2022
Kahneman set out to “Continue to improve the ability to identify & understand errors of judgement & choice in others & eventually in ourselves by providing a richer & more precise language to discuss them.” (1) That ultimately led to him wining a Nobel peace prize in economics. The first Nobel Peace prize organization started…
By: Alana Hayes on November 25, 2022
The formula to success on a movie or book, has a repetitive cycle that seems all to familiar to all cultures. Campbell breaks down the journey through an 11 part formula. Now that Campbell has uncovered the premise to every movie… when I watch anything through his lens I feel like I watching the predictable…
By: Alana Hayes on November 24, 2022
Is threshold concepts a threshold concept for you yet? Robert Coven made a note during his Ted talk that “Questions are more important answers.” (1) This made me reflect on people that I know that are asking questions. Right now I have a gaggle of kiddos running around which leads me to my first inquisitors…
By: Alana Hayes on November 23, 2022
I’m not going to recap Mandela, or Tutu today. We all read the books, and had the once in a lifetime experience gaining first hand accounts of their life and history. What I am going to do is tell you how they deeply impacted a generational change in my families life and for that I…
By: Alana Hayes on November 22, 2022
When I grew up my North Star in my family to me was my grandfather. I was extremely lucky in that I got to spend a lot of time with him. I always knew he was different than everyone else in my family and his demeanor was extremely alluring to me. It wasn’t until I…
By: Greg McMullen on November 22, 2022
Shelby Steele’s Shame: How America’s Past Sins Have Polarized Our Country is a great reminder of the many issues we face as Americans in place that claims freedom depending on our your race, religion, and political party. Segregation, has not gone away, it is something that is not brought up in conversations or discussions. Unfortunately if…
By: Greg McMullen on November 22, 2022
We are extremely blessed in the culture we live in the U.S. We have incredible homes, furnishings, comforts that many cultures or ethnicities never face or understand. We work and provide so are children can have it a little easier than we had it. But we must ask, are we hurting our children rather than…
By: Greg McMullen on November 22, 2022
Eve Pooles book on Leadersmithing is a great read that inspires leadership development in Romans 5:1-5. [1] As Christians we must be careful to not look to the world for answers but look to Christ. We must have a Biblically world view and see knowledge through the lens of the bible. To test knowledge against…
By: Chad McSwain on November 22, 2022
What do you do when you find yourself in in a leadership position? Read a book. While it does sound counter-intuitive, this book may be the one worth reading. That is what I was thinking as I read Leadersmithing: Revealing the Trade Secrets of Leadership [1]. More to the point, I was thinking, “this is…
By: Alana Hayes on November 21, 2022
Can you imagine Julius Caesar reading a leadership book? What about George Washington, Abraham Lincoln or a more present day U.S. leader Barak Obama? This was an initial question that was posed that really makes you dream. Eve Pool, author of Leadersmithing has made navigating leadership roles more definitive with several years of research…
