By: Shawn Cramer on September 16, 2019
With my working title defining me as “Team Leader for International Missions Innovation,” Erin Meyer’s The Culture Map provides applicable insight. My R&D team exists “to innovate and expand opportunities to further God’s Kingdom around the world.” Working with people from differing cultures along Meyer’s eight continuums of cultural differences is a large part of…
By: Dylan Branson on September 15, 2019
“I will be dead before I see the Ring in the hands of an Elf!” – Gimli, son of Gloin, The Fellowship of the Ring (movie adaptation) In 2012, I made my first trip to Hong Kong to serve with a Christian organization that sends Christian teachers to closed nations in Asia to…
By: John Muhanji on September 15, 2019
A culture of discipline is not a principle of business; it is a principle of greatness. This reminds me of King Solomon’s words of wisdom, “A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.” (Proverbs 22:1) I come from a culture that was raised on a…
By: Joe Castillo on September 15, 2019
Meyer, The Culture Map The Culture Map is a very precise book that I have ever read on culture. Even though it’s base on an anthropological approach to the business world, the book has many applicable insides that are very helpful for those working on a multicultural environment. First of all, when I was…
By: Harry Fritzenschaft on September 14, 2019
I had never read Good to Great and have always felt a bit like I missed out on digesting the principles of this oft-cited alleged inspirational leadership cult classic. Probably I should have covered this work within my MBA studies except that I completed my degree in 1982, and this source came out in 2001.…
By: Chris Pollock on September 14, 2019
School pride, Oxford has it. Perhaps school pride does not affect every school the way it does just a little for Oxford, the second oldest university in the world. The school can be a way in which students identify themselves. School colors are worn with pride; stories of founding and history are shared with reverence.…
By: Digby Wilkinson on September 14, 2019
Allow me to apologise. What follows is hastily put together. It lacks references, bibliography and may be slightly incoherent. I am leaving the country in a matter of hours and I am so excited I’m currently performing La Macarena while typing. It is not a visual symphony. I, however, do not care. In the beginning.…
By: Wallace Kamau on September 14, 2019
“Humble yourselves before God and you’ll be exalted[1]” is a cardinal rule for the success of the godly, coupled with diligence and could not have been a clearer advice to a wise and discerning leader than it is in Jim Collins (2017) book[2]. The title Good to great at the onset might suggest otherwise, especially…
By: Mary Mims on September 13, 2019
Children’s ministry is sometimes the stepchild of the church. Observations from a Facebook group on resources for children’s ministry show complaints of low budgets, scarce resources of all kinds, including lack of volunteers, and lack of dedicated spaces in buildings. Of course, this is not true for all churches. Many of the large churches make…
By: Rhonda Davis on September 13, 2019
There are many helpful lessons in Jim Collins’ research and writing. Good to Great offers practical help to those who are looking for ways to distinguish their organizations as thriving rather than simply surviving. However, more insight is gained when this book is paired with Collins’ companion work, How the Mighty Fall. These two books…
By: Nancy VanderRoest on September 13, 2019
I recently read a short story about leadership that intrigued me. It was thought-provoking and powerful in many ways because it helps put our role as ‘leaders’ into perspective. Judas Iscariot had… The best pastor The best leader The best advisor The best counselor …
By: Sean Dean on September 13, 2019
When I was in college my friends and I used to say, “why strive for excellence when mediocrity will do?” For the most part it was a joke deployed at something that was clearly the result of not trying hard enough. The focus, effort, and sacrifice necessary to reach excellence are things most people are…
By: Darcy Hansen on September 13, 2019
In 2 weeks, I’ll be embarking on a learning adventure for my Leadership of Global Perspectives Doctorate of Ministry program. This adventure will require full sensory attentiveness to the fast-paced cosmopolitan city of London, as well as the historically nostalgic streets Oxford. While I’m giddy to visit both, Oxford has captivated my imagination ever since…
By: Jenn Burnett on September 13, 2019
Just over a week ago I was catching up with longtime friends who are also in ministry. They are in the midst of transitioning into a new church and we were reflecting on our various congregations over the last few years. At one point I shared this comparison. (Now I want to qualify this with…
By: Karen Rouggly on September 12, 2019
Last year, the president of our University retired. He was at the university for a total of 43 years and had worked his way up from our facilities team through student life, to the VP of Student Life and then to the Presidency. While it was a long journey, it was one full of legacy…
By: Andrea Lathrop on September 12, 2019
There is an overwhelming amount of things to reflect on from Jim Collins for our leadership and ministry assimilation. It feels as if his research and concepts have been a part of all of my ministry leadership years. And it basically has been. I could start with just the title of Good to Great and dive…
By: Harry Edwards on September 12, 2019
When I first heard Jim Collins lecture on leadership back in February 20, 2002, I was immediately hooked. I still have an autographed copy of his book and refer to it often. What captivated me was not so much the content of his talk, although all of it was relevant and cutting-edge, it was something…
By: Jer Swigart on September 12, 2019
Henri Nouwen is one in a constellation of Christian mystics who speaks of the sustainable, centered, cohesive way of life that is present to and oriented around the God we can discover in Jesus. With each paragraph saturated in humility and vulnerability, Nouwen offers us permission to be nothing more than human beings who are…
By: Mario Hood on September 12, 2019
James C. “Jim” Collins is an American author, consultant, and lecturer on the subject of business management and company sustainability and growth.[1] In his classic and continuing bestseller book, Good to Great, Collins and his researchers sifted through 1,435 Fortune 500 companies to find the few that met their study’s criteria for greatness, out of these companies they…
By: Chris Pollock on September 12, 2019
In the house where I grew up I remember there was a book on a shelf in the upper hallway that had a picture on the front cover that often caught my attention. The picture was of open hands covering a woman’s face. ‘With Open Hands’ is the title of the book and, Henri Nouwen…
