By: Jer Swigart on March 1, 2021
In blending together research data, policy analysis, and learnings from a rich history of environmental justice movements, Michael Shellenberger makes a compelling and surprising argument for why the environmentalists are hurting more than helping.[1] Put simply, he argues in Apocalypse Never: Why Environmental Alarmism Hurts Us All that the important work of environmentalism is being…
By: Greg Reich on March 1, 2021
In the book Apocalypse Never: Why Environmental Alarmism Hurts Us All, the author Michael Shellenberger, a self-proclaimed environmental activist, tries to bring a voice of reason to an emotional explosive topic. His desire is to not only protect the environment but obtain what he states as “universal prosperity for all people.” He believes all scientists…
By: Shawn Cramer on March 1, 2021
Discovering and uncovering the driving questions of leaders and thinkers fascinate me. Behind most divisive topics usually lies a driving question best attributed to the fields of philosophy, ethics, and religion. Here I will make a brief argument broadly for the arena of underlying questions, then specifically through the issue of environmentalism with the artifact…
By: John McLarty on February 25, 2021
Doris Kearns Goodwin closes her book, “Leadership in Turbulent Times,” with a chapter called, “Of Death and Remembrance.” She spends a few pages on each of the presidents featured in her book writing about the circumstances of their leaving the presidency and the impact their term had on the nation. Two of the presidents profiled…
By: Greg Reich on February 24, 2021
Each individual, in one sense or another, wants to leave a legacy. They want to put their signature stamp on the future and impact generations to come. Some do it consciously, some unconsciously. We all want our lives to matter. We hope that in some small way we make a difference to those around us.…
By: Dylan Branson on February 23, 2021
At Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s funeral service, Franz Hildebrandt recalled a conversation he had with Bonhoeffer: “Why should it always have to be the bad people who make the revolutions?”[1] The word “revolution” carries with it many connotations. For Americans, we may think of the American Revolution and the spirit of nationalism it evokes as cries of…
By: Darcy Hansen on February 23, 2021
On July 22, 1943, with the country in shambles, struggling under the weight of war and horrific economic downfall, Mussolini received word from members of his Grand Council that he was to resign his position immediately and that the State would take over all governing affairs. Mussolini deferred response until the Grand Council meeting on…
By: Shawn Cramer on February 22, 2021
In my recent leadership reflections, I’ve become convinced that leaders get out of bed not to primarily further a cause, but to answer a question. While multiple questions persist and exist, there’s one that tends to hold the rest in orbit. It gnaws, focuses, and drives the leader. For Frederick Douglass, the question began with…
By: Jer Swigart on February 22, 2021
In the very moment when Swiss theologian Karl Barth asserted that Christianity was separated “as by an abyss from the inherent godlessness of National Socialism,” Germany was working to fuse the German Volk (people) with the German Kirche (church).[1] Embedded within Hitler’s masterplan for domination was a strategy to make the violent rule of the…
By: Chris Pollock on February 21, 2021
Dorothy Day was a passionate advocate for the oppressed. Her book, ‘A Long Loneliness’, depicts her as strong, intelligent and never alone in the cause. Community was an essential living modality for Dorothy. Her style was not ‘lone ranger’ rather, she seems to have been a contemplative with regards to key partnerships and intentional collaboration.…
By: Darcy Hansen on February 20, 2021
Delusional, stubborn, determined, dreaming only of seeing Fascist glory on the battlefield. Outdated military, scant troops and supplies, accurate information withheld from Il Duce out of fear of punishment- Italy struggled at war’s onset. Intertwined and tangled relations with Germany, the love affair with Hitler endured despite Italy’s military defeats. Positional survival now…
By: John McLarty on February 17, 2021
There are moments when a leader whose vision, positional authority, relationships, and style all converge to accomplish something that seemed to be impossible. Such moment emerged as Lyndon Johnson stepped into the presidency following the assassination of John F. Kennedy in November 1963. While the country was reeling emotionally from Kennedy’s death, it still faced…
By: Shawn Cramer on February 17, 2021
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.” – Mark Twain Malcolm X to Mecca. Diedrich Bonhoeffer to Harlem. And Frederick Douglass to Ireland.…
By: Dylan Branson on February 17, 2021
On April 8, 1945, Dietrich Bonhoeffer was taken by two men to be led to his execution. He had been asked to perform a final service on Quasimodo Sunday – the Sunday following Easter. One of his fellow prisoners, Payne Best, describes the scene: “He had hardly finished his last prayer when the door opened…
By: Greg Reich on February 16, 2021
Like many others, I have always been fascinated by the stars. It is a nightly ritual to gaze into the night sky when I lock up our home for the day. As a youngster I was raised in the country on a small ranch at the base of Mount Jumbo outside of Missoula Montana. It…
By: Jer Swigart on February 15, 2021
Two days after Adolf Hitler was democratically elected to serve as the chancellor of Germany, Bonhoeffer, then twenty-six, gave a radio address entitled, “The Young Generation’s Concept of Leadership.” The speech was part history, part philosophy, and part theology and dealt with the fundamental problems of leadership by a Führer.[1] “Before he could finish, the…
By: Shawn Cramer on February 15, 2021
Never underestimate the redemptive impact of a small act of creative empowerment. No one person can take credit for the formation of the world-changer that is Frederick Douglass, but he (like us) was a result of both his antifragility and the benevolence of others with power. Allow me to showcase a few vignettes. In childhood,…
By: Chris Pollock on February 11, 2021
Love can be the cause of a universe of pain. Dorothy Day, in her book The Long Loneliness, speaks of her life of love, with intimate detail. The men in her life, her faith, social justice and her child are beautiful stories of true love in her life. In her stories of love, her stories…
By: John McLarty on February 11, 2021
What about those times when a leader needs to lead immediately and authoritatively? For all of the attraction many may have toward collaborative and affiliative, somewhat “backstage” styles of leadership as Simon Walker might describe, there are occasions when a more “commanding” style of leadership is necessary. For those in the military, this is probably…
By: Chris Pollock on February 10, 2021
Dorothy Day referred to her work in ‘The Long Loneliness’ as a memoir, not an autobiography. Writing a memoir and presenting it to the world must take some courage. Honesty has impact. Dorothy Day’s honesty, in her memoir, is enough to have an impact. ‘“You ask me what I’d like to be remembered for –…
