By: Karen Rouggly on October 21, 2019
I strive to be a leader that creates space for all those around me to feel as though they can be whole persons, and bring all they are to the table each day. A lot of this I took from my mentor, Brené (and yes, she and I are on a first name basis. She…
By: Shawn Cramer on October 21, 2019
Stories are the air we breath, the lingua franca of our existence. Our actions are constantly in line and in sync with the story we most believe at the time. Above the desk in which I join our Zoom calls lies one of my prized possessions. It’s that proverbial one thing I would grab if…
By: Dylan Branson on October 21, 2019
Leadership is a tricky topic to discuss. As the Handbook of Leadership Theory and Practice shows, there are not just many definitions of what leadership is, but many different ways in which it manifests itself. Although we may try to systematize leadership in a clear cut way, the reality is much more complex. There is…
By: Darcy Hansen on October 20, 2019
If an unsettling began when I watched the documentary Dying Green for my Pastoral Ministry class, then complete disruption happened when I read the first couple chapters in Grave Matters, by environmentalist, Mark Harris. Harris walks readers through the historical terrain of how American’s care for their dead, from the most toxic to the most…
By: Shermika Harvey on October 20, 2019
When one thinks of transition in a organization’s leadership, it is common to consider the elements surrounding the development and the people in which the transition will affect such as the remaining executive leaders and staff of that said organization. The remaining executive leadership carefully considers the necessary course of action for seeking a new…
By: Tammy Dunahoo on October 19, 2019
As an ordained rabbi, family therapist, and leadership consultant, Edwin H. Friedman tapped into the emotional processes within society describing the failure of nerve in leaders as a result. According to Friedman, leadership is often neutralized by four emotional responses: reactivity, herding, blame displacement and a quick-fix mentality. The characteristics that define herding in highly…
By: Simon Bulimo on October 19, 2019
DOING VISUAL ETHNOGRAPHY A VITAL TOOL FOR RESEARCH The Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary (2004), defines the following terms: Visual as a noun is a picture, map, piece of film used to make an article or talk easier to understand or more interesting. Ethnography is the scientific description of different races and cultures Ethnographer is a…
By: Wallace Kamau on October 19, 2019
“The comfort zone is a psychological state in which one feels familiar, safe, secure and at ease. If you always do what is easy and choose the path of least resistance, you never step outside your comfort zone. Great things don’t come from comfort zones.”[1] We’re operating in a world of safety and comfort, where…
By: Mary Mims on October 18, 2019
The word sabotage always brings to mind espionage or even, intrigue. It is the act of someone ruining an event or project for the sole purpose of stopping advancement or progress. Many times when things go wrong at work or in ministry, the thought of sabotage comes to my mind. Ministry is supposed to be…
By: Joe Castillo on October 18, 2019
I appreciated Nohira and Khurana and their approach to leadership. Even dough they addressed a secular audience, they are very inclusive in pointing out essential elements to practical guidance. The author writes about two chapters that are very close to my heart. 1-13 – LEADERSHIP AND CULTURAL CONTEXT At the start of every age, a new…
By: Sean Dean on October 18, 2019
Water is an amazing thing. It can dissolve more substances than any solvent – including very caustic acids. It cannot be compressed making it usable as a both a weapon and a tool, it is able to sooth burns, can absorb an outrageous amount of energy before changing states and is the most important ingredient…
By: Nancy VanderRoest on October 18, 2019
Perspective – do you see yourself as a victim or a survivor? This is the key to healing – and also the key to leadership. I often paint for my clients a picture of them in the winner’s circle. Zig Ziglar once said that if you don’t see yourself as a winner, then you cannot perform…
By: Harry Edwards on October 17, 2019
O wow! Reading Edwin Friedman’s A Failure of Nerve was like drinking from a fire hydrant — there’s just so much to assimilate. I found myself highlighting many parts, frequently re-reading sections, trying to comprehend his ideas about leadership. Then there were the familiar concepts we’re told not to emulate, such as empathy and togetherness1.…
By: Andrea Lathrop on October 17, 2019
I have taken my time with A Failure of Nerve and dismissed all the usual reading hacks for this one. I decided this summer that this would be one I would read and digest slowly based on the high recommendation from several mentors. I have not been disappointed. I am benefiting from Friedman’s thoughts on…
By: Digby Wilkinson on October 17, 2019
A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix was written ten years after Edwin Friedman’s death by permission of his family trust along with the editorial work of Margaret W. Treadwell and Edward W. Beal.[1] At its core, the book is an attempt to apply the societal regression theory of Murray Bowen…
By: Chris Pollock on October 17, 2019
The Biosphere, is the layer around the planet containing the sum total of all living organisms. Within this layer of life is another stratum that has been referred to as ‘the “Ethnosphere”, the social web of life’ [1]. David Wade defines the Ethnosphere as ‘as the sum total of all thoughts and intuitions, myths and…
By: Jenn Burnett on October 17, 2019
It was a number of years ago now, while watching a parenting video, when the teacher informed me that my first job as a parent was to be in control of myself.[1] Our home was often wrought with anxiety as we navigated layers of challenging circumstances. I remember thinking of my emotional, rambunctious, sometimes rebellious…
By: Mario Hood on October 17, 2019
In 1983, Apple launched its computer Lisa, and the last project Jobs worked on before he was let go. Jobs released Lisa with a nine-page ad in the New York Times spelling out the computer’s technical features. It was nine pages of geek talk nobody outside NASA was interested in. The computer bombed. When Jobs…
By: Rhonda Davis on October 16, 2019
I am grateful for GPS. It gives me turn-by-turn directions, but it also gives me an estimated time of arrival. I can even let my GPS know when I need to arrive at a destination, and I will be notified when I need to leave. Since I live in an urban area that is under…
By: Harry Fritzenschaft on October 16, 2019
Edwin Friedman (1932-1996) was a practicing family therapist, leadership consultant, and ordained rabbi (Reform Judaism). Friedman applied his four-decade work with family systems thinking to leadership applications. His innovative perspective on leadership was more about a way of thinking and being than about traditional leadership technique emphases. Because of his innovative approach to leadership, his…
