By: Phillip Struckmeyer on October 14, 2015
Deep, Interior Leadership Thanks to the help of Manfred Kets de Vries, I have been set free in my true leadership identity. With de Vries semi-clinical, psychoanalytical angle on leadership and the powerful tools and diagnostics provided in “Leadership Mystique: Leading Behavior in the Human Enterprise,” I can now self-identify as a cyclothymic, passive-aggressive, masochistic,…
By: Dave Young on October 13, 2015
Manfred Kets De Vries, in “The Leadership Mystique,” contends that emotional intelligence (EQ) is actually more substantial in higher levels of leadership than IQ. He writes: “And people who possess emotional intelligence are more effective at motivating themselves and others. Such individuals also do better when placed in a leadership position, because they’re better equipped…
By: Dawnel Volzke on October 10, 2015
In his book Exit, Voice, and Loyalty: Response to Decline in Firms, Organizations, and States, Albert O. Hirschman discusses the reasons for people’s decline in loyalty to today’s organizations. When people are dissatisfied, they leave, voice objections or become disloyal.[1] These behaviors give us valuable insight into the level of satisfaction of the people we…
By: Brian Yost on October 9, 2015
In his book Exit, Voice, and Loyalty: Responses to Decline in Firms, Organizations, and States, Albert O. Hirschman puts words to a reality that we inherently know, but don’t always have a concise way to express. When people become dissatisfied with an organization, whether it be political, commercial, or something else, they express their dissatisfaction…
By: Travis Biglow on October 8, 2015
Loyalty “Should I Stay or Should I go?” October 8, 15 I am presently in the crossroads with the title of this blog. While I understood that Albert Hirschman was conveying his thought through the eyes of a company or organization that has consumers and members I looked at it from the eyes…
By: Jon Spellman on October 8, 2015
Do I stay or do I go? That is the question! When I experience discontent within an organization, I have to ask whether my presence is still helpful to the organization or has the internal conflict I feel risen to such a level that I am doing more harm than good? If I should choose…
By: Nick Martineau on October 7, 2015
What a great book! Really…The theory and concepts in this book are important for churches to understand. Exit, Voice, and Loyalty by Albert Hirschman required some real focus for me to get through but it was worth it. The basic concepts reflect many of my consumerist habits and got me thinking about their implications…
By: Mary Pandiani on October 6, 2015
For 45 years since Hirschman first developed the framework of Exit, Voice, and Loyalty,[1] researchers from various disciplines – politics, economics, management, psychology, sociology – have incorporated the concept to help explain and understand the manner in which individuals and communities deal with dissatisfaction.[2] In these disciplines, the hopeful intent of the environment, if healthy…
By: Phillip Struckmeyer on October 6, 2015
In his book, Exit, Voice, and Loyalty: Responses to decline in firms, organizations, and states, Albert Hirschman writes of a simple concept … in complicated fashion. Hirschman’s ultimate point is that when customers are dissatisfied with the goods, services, or possible climate and culture of an organization, they have two basic responses: Customers can stop…
By: Dave Young on September 29, 2015
Hirschman’s “Exit, Voice and Loyalty” may have been written as social theory to be consumed by economists and politicians, but having watched the EXIT door of the church for a couple decades I can see correlations to the church. My comparison may be off-putting for some church folks; we’re often apprehensive when secular theories…
By: Brian Yost on September 18, 2015
In his book A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix, Edwin H. Friedman takes a different approach than most books on leadership. I have read countless leadership books that are all about head knowledge and logical decision-making. I have also read many authors that recognize the spiritual aspect of…
By: Mary Pandiani on September 17, 2015
Some books, the good books, call you into conversation, even when you don’t necessarily agree with everything. Edwin Friedman’s book A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix does just that. His provocative approach that first intrigued me back in 2009 when I started the D.Min program with Len Sweet still…
By: Travis Biglow on September 17, 2015
The Nerve September 17, 15 When I read something that affects me I can remember more. As I read through this reading I actually felt like someone was talking to me. Where do I start? First off the idea of the systemic power of leadership completely got me off guard. I started reading and thinking…
By: Phillip Struckmeyer on September 17, 2015
The Failure of “Niceness” I happened to be sitting in a restaurant in Sacramento, California with a man by the name of Paul Borden. Paul Borden was a church health and growth consultant who’s name and work was rapidly spreading across The Wesleyan Church denominiation. His work with churches was fast, furious, and produced direct…
By: Jon Spellman on September 16, 2015
“Kinder, gentler” American leaders… Is that what we need more of? Do we need leaders who are just real thoughtful and ponderous, you know, consensus seekers leading from the middle? I guess the answer to that is, if we’re happy with the overall direction of the leadership trends in America, YES! But if we look…
By: Dawnel Volzke on September 16, 2015
Edwin Friedman’s book, A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix[1], sheds light on what I believe to be a major leadership crisis in today’s churches and organizations. Lately I’ve noticed that there has been so much emphasis placed on servant leadership, gaining consensus, and cultural sensitivity, that people in leadership roles…
By: Dave Young on September 15, 2015
If I could open up a window into our church’s leadership meetings you would find that much of what we discuss, wrestle with, and act upon is about who we are, where we’re going, and how we get there. Without diving too deeply into our weeds, we’ve found ourselves continually having to rediscover our identity,…
By: Nick Martineau on September 14, 2015
Joy, anxiety, peace and many other feelings, are often passed on from person to person. Dr. Murray Bowen refers to this as “Triangles” and he claims it is the basic building block for any emotional system. In a “triangle” system the health of a family unit, or organizational system, depends upon the “triangles” capacity for…
By: Travis Biglow on September 13, 2015
Freedom of Art vs. Reality of Art? September 13, 15 First off my background is from a Catholic Church. And what is so striking to me is that I was inundated with Roman Catholic Art and Roman Catholic artifacts. These artifacts would forever stay in my mind and was actually something that compelled…
By: Dawnel Volzke on September 13, 2015
I can’t say that I’ve ever been considered creative or ‘artsy’, beyond decorating and gardening. However, recently, my opinion on art has been shifting and I have begun to more deeply appreciate the personal reflection of the artists thoughts, feelings and ideas as portrayed in their artwork. Dyrness, in his book Visual Faith (Engaging Culture): Art,…
