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: 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: 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…
By: Erica Briggs on February 15, 2024
On Thursday, February 8th, 2024 a mother called the crisis line to report that her 12-year-old son was destroying personal property and exhibiting aggressive behavior towards members of the household. The operator told her to call the police. When officers arrived, the child walked off the property and away from the scene. Since he was…
By: Chad Warren on February 15, 2024
It was early morning, hours before sunrise, when we realized we had forgotten a box of supplies in the office just a few miles away. We were setting up for an outreach event a few miles from our church office, and Dawson, our newest and youngest team member, volunteered to drive back and get…
By: Chris Blackman on February 15, 2024
When I was 3 years old, my family was coming home from a vacation in Portland, OR, to Los Angeles. As we approached Bakersfield, a city about 90 miles from Los Angeles, my dad was pulling off the highway so we could rest. Sadly, a semi-truck was behind us, and the driver was drunk. He…
By: Elysse Burns on February 15, 2024
This month marks the three-year anniversary of my arrival in Mauritania. My experiences in this country have pushed me further than I thought possible and made me grow more than I could have imagined. Reflecting on Poole’s list of Critical Incidents [1], I couldn’t help but think back to those early days in Mauritania and…
By: Nancy Blackman on February 15, 2024
I would never have connected the dots between leadership and blacksmithing so it’s fascinating how Dr. Eve Poole did that in her book, Leadersmithing. After watching her TEDx talk, I appreciated her metaphor of “pearls” and “peril,” both offering a sense of grit. The pearl is created through peril when the oyster thinks it’s going…
By: Daren Jaime on February 15, 2024
I can remember vividly sitting at our first lecture at Christ Church Oxford listening intently as Dr. Jason was presenting and introducing us to Oxford, describing what the DLGP journey would feel like. As I was taking in the moment, looking out the window to the green surroundings, inhaling England’s crisp air and basking in…
By: Kari on February 15, 2024
“Stop!” “Louder, with more authority. He needs to know you mean it.” “StOp!” “Say it like your life depends on it because it does.” “STOOOOOP!” “Excellent. Again.” “STOOOOOP!” “Again.” “STOOOOOP!” Our self-defense instructor encouraged us, “Practice this in the car, your room, wherever, keep practicing. You need to develop that muscle memory. Practice this so…
By: Shela Sullivan on February 14, 2024
In the book, [1] “Leader-smithing, Revealing The Trade Secrets of Leadership,” Eve Poole uses the metaphor of blacksmithing to explore leadership, suggesting that leaders can be shaped and perfected like metal. To me, it meant people can be trained, shaped and transformed potentially to take on leadership positions. Poole validates my assumption in her book.…
