By: Jonita Fair-Payton on March 14, 2023
At the beginning of my second semester at Berkeley, my friend and I were invited to attend a leadership training. We were newly selected leaders of a campus student organization that worked with high school students of color to assist with applying for admission into UC Berkeley and providing retention services after admissions. The training…
By: Kim Sanford on March 14, 2023
“A leader leads people from where they currently are to another place, which at first is unknown to them and can only be imagined.”[1] Moses. Hudson Taylor. Abraham Lincoln. Martin Luther King Jr. Every single one of you as you dream about graduation day in May 2025. What do all these leaders have in common? They…
By: Tim Clark on March 13, 2023
“The showman gives you front row to his heart. The showman prays his heartache will chart. Making a spectacle of falling apart is just the start of the show…” (from the song “The Showman” by U2). The congregation I serve includes actors, musicians, athletes, and other “known” people. Over the years that I’ve pastored here,…
By: John Fehlen on March 13, 2023
Our family is a “Lord of the Rings” family. Some families are more “Harry Potter.” No judgement from me, except that you are wrong, and we are right. There, I said it. Cancel me. When all the kids, and by “kids” I mean grown young adults, are home, and by “home” I mean the place…
By: Jennifer Vernam on March 13, 2023
Reading through Leading Out of Who You Are,[1] the behaviors of the “defended” leader (Staging, Power, and Control) made a lot of sense to me. As did the various shapes of ego which relate to our childhood experiences of trust. Learning about the types of egos, and how they impact our leadership practices set my…
By: Travis Vaughn on March 13, 2023
This past week was one of those weeks where I thought to myself: It would be easier to just be in the background. Maybe even hanging out, for a year or two, on the beach with our twenty-something-year-old kids, “free” from the warp and woof of serving in an organizational leadership role. “Were things really…
By: Noel Liemam on March 12, 2023
Bruce Lee, the Asian American-born actor, was known by many as an amazing martial artist. But not only that, but he was also a profound thinker. “He left behind seven volumes of writings on everything from quantum physics to philosophy” [1]. Mr. Lee developed a martial technique called “jeet kune do,” which resulted from his…
By: Dinka Utomo on March 9, 2023
Read deeply. Stay open. Continue to wonder. -Austin Kleon- Impostor syndrome is a familiar experience for me. I’ve noticed that it tends to surface whenever I embark on something significant and meaningful. I vividly recall feeling extremely anxious about homiletics, a subject during my undergraduate studies twenty-three years ago. As part of the curriculum,…
By: Jana Dluehosh on March 9, 2023
Have you ever found yourself floundering? Directionless? Just plain old bored? Well I have a solution for you. Follow these “easy” steps and in no time you’ll have a Doctorate! Thresholds…. Find opportunities to expand your horizons! We often don’t know we are about to encounter a threshold experience, but we will know we have…
By: Adam Harris on March 9, 2023
I don’t watch a lot of movies these days, but several months ago I had some time and felt the urge to watch the new Elvis movie with Austin Butler. Austin ended up winning the Golden Globes Award for Best Actor in his portrayal as the “King of Rock”. I had a new appreciation for…
By: Todd E Henley on March 9, 2023
Born in Circleville, Ohio, in 1983, Austin Kleon’s work focuses and rambles around non-fiction and “motivational” niche. Being a millennial himself, Austin realizes the cursory attention span of the internet generation and therefore, he keeps it short and hurls doodles and illustrations frequently just to make sure that the focus stays intact. [1]. This millennial…
By: Pam Lau on March 9, 2023
Liz H. Just seeing her name on my screen floods my mind with the “Things nobody told [me] about being creative.” In 2014, I received a phone call from my publisher announcing with joy how she secured Liz H. as my editor for my next book. Wanting to share in her excitement, I quickly chimed…
By: Jenny Dooley on March 8, 2023
Không thầy đố mày làm nên. When translated this Vietnamese proverb means: No one can accomplish great things without teachers.[1] For 13 years, I had the wonderful privilege of living in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Walking along Dong Khoi Street was a favorite past time. Located in the heart of District 1, it is…
By: Mathieu Yuill on March 8, 2023
Several years ago I was at a conference and came across a book by Ken Wytsma titled Create Vs. Copy[1]. It explored the value of copying others as a learning tool but warned against relying on it as you progressed – especially if you were seeking to copy something purely for personal gain. I picked up a…
By: Cathy Glei on March 7, 2023
Okay. . . confession time everyone. When you read the title, Steal Like an Artist, did the word “steal” entice you to read more? Or for a quick minute did you wonder if you were being led on a path to breaking a commandment? Confession, I wanted to read more. The book convinced me that…
By: Kally Elliott on March 7, 2023
“Pretend to be making something until you actually make something.”[1] That’s exactly what I’m doing in this doctoral program. I am pretending that I am writing a dissertation on mental health and the Church. Maybe in a couple of years and some change I will actually have written it! “Fake it until you make it”[2]…
By: Esther Edwards on March 7, 2023
While studying music education in my undergrad, I had become quite fascinated with the jazz genre. In my quest to learn more about complex jazz chord structures, I signed up for jazz lessons with a well-known jazz instructor in the Philadelphia area on one of my summer breaks. I thought there would be a wealth…
By: Russell Chun on March 7, 2023
Because I am surrounded by articulate and erudite people[1], and because I want to write the story I want to read (p.47). Here is a portion of my “idea” that will be an endpoint in my NPO. Drum roll please, “Ladies and Gentlemen, I introduce you to Interlinkt!” What is Interlinkt you wonder? Well it…
By: Scott Dickie on March 7, 2023
It feels a little ‘tone deaf’ for me to write yet another boring blog post about a book that is seeking to stimulate creativity (and justify the means through which we all become creative: theft). So…here are a few somewhat random thoughts with creative titles stimulated by the somewhat random book, “Steal Like an Artist.”…
By: Jonita Fair-Payton on March 7, 2023
Oh, so much good stuff in one small book. Steal Like An Artist was the perfect feel-good read for me. I am convinced that Austin Kleon and I would be best friends if we met, and please be advised that from this point on I will refer to him as my best friend in my…
