By: Colleen Batchelder on November 29, 2018
Scott Galloway invites his readers to peer behind the curtain, take on the burden of his bitter diatribe and cover the landscape of Amazon headquarters in picket signs. In short, his aim is to dismantle and deconstruct the progression of the great and powerful Wizard of Oz, aka: Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google. He believes…
By: Dan Kreiss on November 29, 2018
It all sounds so ominous. The transformation of Western society at the hands of four of the most powerful and influential businesses ever. The development of the digital age, the ubiquitous influence of the computer and the internet have collectively opened up the door for the rise of what Scott Galloway calls ‘The Four Horsemen’…
By: Rev Jacob Bolton on November 29, 2018
One of my favorite things about being a minister is teaching a new member class. These classes provide the opportunity to better learn about the history and faith story of people who have chosen to make their spiritual home the community I am blessed to serve. What an honor. Every now and then one of…
By: Jennifer Williamson on November 29, 2018
What do The Four—Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google—have to do with missionary effectiveness and sustainability in the 21st century? A lot. Global connectivity is one of the present realities that mission leaders need to address as they adapt their ministries to be relevant to the culture in which we live. Consider the story of John…
By: Jake Dean-Hill on November 28, 2018
Scott Galloway writes a provocative expose on the most powerful companies in the world called The Four: The Hidden DNA of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google. What an interesting read, not just because I’m a tech nerd, but also because he had a very causal, easy-to-read style to his writing that kept me turning more…
By: Dave Watermulder on November 28, 2018
I think you have to watch some of Scott Galloway’s videos in order to really enjoy his book. It helps you hear his voice and understand the tone and tempo of his writing. Galloway, a serial entrepreneur and NYU Stern School of Business professor also runs his own “business intelligence (fancy term for research) firm that…
By: Harry Edwards on November 25, 2018
The late great R.C. Sproul published a book in 2000 titled The Consequences of Ideas in which he traces, in survey fashion, the contours of Western thought through the ages and its resulting effects on culture. It is one of the best of its kind since it is accessibly written and yet comprehensive in its…
By: Mike on November 25, 2018
Scott Galloway’s The Four is a book on how to understand, navigate, and hopefully live in a fast-paced digital age that is currently dominated by the apocalyptical Four Horsemen named Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google. Referred to as Biblical “leviathans” these four technological companies have gained the power to defy law, control people’s private data,…
By: John Muhanji on November 25, 2018
This book has been quite a challenge with full of leadership information based on empirical evidence and theory. It has a lot of practical reflection and to understand it has been an uphill task. The world of leadership is challenging and primarily based on different cultures with their traditional norms of life. When one lives…
By: Digby Wilkinson on November 21, 2018
Further back than I care to remember, I wrote a dissertation titled, Interpreting the Text: The Gulf between Trained Clergy and the Laity.[1]The motivation came at the end of my first year in ordained ministry. What surprised me was the cavernous gap spanning the way I viewed scripture and society in contrast to the people…
By: Rhonda Davis on November 17, 2018
This week did not go as planned. Unfortunately, I came face-to-face with my humanity and how quickly my seemingly indestructible super-suit can be rendered inactive. I have been nursing a knee injury for weeks now, but a bad encounter with a staircase this week has left me down for the count, awaiting the orthopedic surgeon’s…
By: Jason Turbeville on November 17, 2018
Have you ever had one of those moments when you realize you have been working in the completely wrong direction? (read that in Andy Rooney’s voice) This happened to me on Thursday, I was about to start writing my blog post for this week, and per usual, I started to glance at the other posts…
By: Nancy VanderRoest on November 16, 2018
Before you can lead someone else, you must be able to lead yourself. That includes your sense of purpose, your self-actualization, discipline and humility. But the question is: how does one truly become a good leader? The answer is to read and steal from others! According to Adler in How to Read a Book, reading…
By: Digby Wilkinson on November 16, 2018
I have just returned from leading a retreat for people who will be ordained in our denomination this Saturday. They will be Priests ordained to lead and care for the people of God. The themes are always centred on spiritual formation, self-awareness, prayer and so on. Invariably we do a session of leadership, and this…
By: Tammy Dunahoo on November 16, 2018
Having read more books on leadership in the last thirty-seven years of pastoral ministry than I can count, editors Nohria and Khurana’s Handbook of Leadership Theory and Practice was a breath of fresh air with its scholarly research rather than popular opinions. Searching the word “leadership” in Amazon results in over 90,000 titles made available.…
By: Kyle Chalko on November 16, 2018
What it’s about. This is in line with emotional intelligence, and developing social awareness and human behavioral management abilities that the rest of the semester has also focused on. It’s the “working with people” problem that people never seem to be able to get away from. What I liked Many business leaders and many who…
By: Trisha Welstad on November 16, 2018
After reading Edwin Friedman’s Failure of Nerve, I have not stopped pondering the influence a leader has, whether or not they are near those they lead. The idea that a leader can have a major impact on an organization or family system indirectly is profound, especially that the effect can be just as much or…
By: Greg on November 15, 2018
An image that has haunted me, not only from Hong Kong but also from the many temples that I have visited, is of a mother or father that are pushing their child to kneel, incense in hand and bowing before a golden image that is so beautifully decorated, immaculately polished yet unable to provide the…
By: Jean Ollis on November 15, 2018
I’m pleasantly surprised again this week! Kets de Vries has written a poignant leadership book – Leadership Mystique – full of practical and culturally competent leadership wisdom. Even better, Kets de Vries is a psychologist and “speaks my [social work] language”. There are so many parallels to past themes in prior readings in Kets de…
By: Karen Rouggly on November 15, 2018
My work is in the middle of a tornado. Honestly, I’m expecting a cow to fly by my office window at any second of the day (Twister, anyone?)[1]. At least it feels that way. Every day is a new adventure in learning to lead and be led in the midst of trial. In fact, many…
