By: Noel Liemam on March 8, 2025
Introduction “As I ordered my steak, I wanted to be medium RARE – for its taste, which is my desired taste. Though often costs me, I enjoyed it. Then, moved on to next agenda with filled stomach. Apologies! I got carried away.” But to be authentic to the definition of leadership, which is to influence…
By: Ivan Ostrovsky on March 7, 2025
Let’s go for a walk! In Kahneman’s book “Thinking, Fast and Slow,” I’ve discovered the fascinating differences between two thinking systems. While in beautiful San Diego, where I served as a youth pastor for nearly six years, I thrived in a lovely neighborhood! It was hard to resist the temptation of stepping outside, especially when…
By: Daren Jaime on March 7, 2025
My first job as a youth landed me at an office with my older sister who had the crazy notion that my teenage brother needed something to do. As a result, she got me a volunteer job at her place of employment. She worked on 41st Street and Park Ave in New York City, in…
By: Judith McCartney on March 7, 2025
Two Speeds of Minds! I have been in the entrepreneurial world for many years. I have been in the faith-based non-profit world for four decades and, more recently, the marketplace global tech world. It’s been an absolute rush at times, yet I’ve also experienced the world of bureaucracy, which kept my aspirational hopes and dreams…
By: Elysse Burns on March 7, 2025
I still remember my first week in North Africa. I sat in a small room, staring at my two duffel bags—the only things that held my entire life—and felt a wave of uncertainty wash over me. I don’t think I have the capacity to truly love the people here, I thought. Each time I’ve wrestled…
By: Linda Mendez on March 6, 2025
Certain tasks come more naturally to you depending on which hand you write with. If your dominant hand was taken away, you would suddenly have to put much thought into how to perform those same tasks with your non-dominant hand. I am right-handed, but I am unsure of when I decided to be right-handed. I…
By: Michael Hansen on March 6, 2025
Fly the damn aircraft. The instructor who said that to me was a crusty Vietnam veteran helicopter pilot with tens of thousands of hours in the airframe. He shared that despite all the homework, planning, and analysis, as a pilot, you will be thrust into situations where you need to manage the aircraft’s profile and…
By: Christian Swails on March 6, 2025
Did you know that Quantum computers are being developed by Google, IBM, Microsoft and Amazon – introducing a technology that will transcend the current limitations humans face with historically unsolvable problems? To get a scope of what these things could potentially do, think of this – on a universal scale, we could understand what…
By: Chad Warren on March 6, 2025
Ted Lasso once said, “Taking on a challenge is a lot like riding a horse, isn’t it? If you’re comfortable while you’re doing it, you’re probably doing it wrong.”[1] The most effective leadership isn’t about avoiding problems or playing it safe—it’s about embracing challenges while prioritizing relationships, emotional maturity, and cultivating joy. In Rare Leadership[2],…
By: David Weston on March 6, 2025
I appreciate Daniel Kahneman’s candor in his book Thinking, Fast and Slow.[1] I am rather certain I understand his precepts of System 1 and System 2 thinking. His writing style is engaging and almost playful at times. How he broke down human cognition and choice-making into these two thinking systems is brilliant. I in no…
By: Julie O'Hara on March 6, 2025
God winked at me when I started reading Rare Leadership. He reminded me of the conversation with my leadership coach less than two weeks ago when I told Stephen that I wanted to press into living from a place of joy. I was motivated by an inner impulse to represent Jesus and attract others to…
By: Jeremiah Gómez on March 6, 2025
One of my favorite regular meetings is when my Discernment Team gets together. We meet for five to six hours every month (2.5 or more hours every other week) to pray together and seek Holy Spirit’s leadership for whatever it is we’re navigating or being invited into as a church. It has become invaluable to…
By: Alex Mwaura on March 6, 2025
A few realities have come to light over the past few weeks. There are things I had “running in the background” of my mind but never really paid attention to them. One of the main things is that there seems to be a leadership crisis not only at a global scale, but also at an…
By: Betsy on March 6, 2025
Years ago, I used to wait in great anticipation of our annual holiday as a time of rest and refreshment. I would look at the past photos of beaches, happy faces, sandcastles and ice creams and I longed for those days of rest and fun when the daily routine of a busy life felt exhausting.…
By: Kari on March 6, 2025
We had just finished a lovely evening celebrating a friend’s birthday at the only chain restaurant in my country, PAUL. This bakery-restaurant combination attracts many foreigners and affluent citizens. Due to the clientele, it also draws beggars hoping for charity or food. As we stepped outside, I noticed the beggar children just as they noticed…
By: Darren Banek on March 6, 2025
My wife and I moved to Montana in 2004. I had been connected with the area for five years prior to that as a summer staff for a small Bible Camp. Over those first five years, I enjoyed much of what northwest Montana had to offer in the summers. Including bushwhacking for days on end…
By: Ryan Thorson on March 6, 2025
What does it take to be a RARE leader? What sort of teams and processes need to be cultivated in order to experience the joy and grace of leading together with others, rather than giving in to the distress and dis-ease of our leadership-deficient world? In RARE Leadership, Dr. Wilder and Dr. Warner provide a…
By: Graham English on March 6, 2025
In a post-pandemic survey done in 2022 by the Barna group, they reported alarming statistics on the decline of pastoral health in the US. The effect of the pandemic continued to ripple through the ranks of pastors, as it has through many professions. The research does not paint a promising picture. They write, “The number…
By: Debbie Owen on March 6, 2025
It’s clear there’s a “control factor” at play. Isn’t that often the case in a church? You’re on staff, and they pay you for your expertise. But so often, there’s at least one volunteer who is quite sure they know just as much as you do. They manage to get onto the committee with which…
By: Rich on March 5, 2025
The reading this week was Thinking, Fast and Slow by Nobel Laureate Daniel Kahneman.[1] I looked forward to this book above all other entries on the reading list. This one deserved more than inspection, and Kahneman did not disappoint. I first came across Kahneman and his colleague, Amos Tversky, in a historical review of risk-taking…
