By: Mark Petersen on February 14, 2019
As I read Tanya Luhrmann’s When God Talks Back, I was transported back in time thirty years to my seminary years (yes, I know this dates me, and I just re-did the math to verify that scary truth). The premise – an anthropologist with a scientific approach to understanding the ineffable and the sublime –…
By: Dave Watermulder on February 14, 2019
During our Advance trip to Hong Kong, one of our speakers was Dr. Philip Wickeri, an Adviser to the Bishop of Hong Kong and a Professor of Church History, especially the history of the Chinese Christian church. He is also a family friend who I have known through the years. During his presentation to our group,…
By: Harry Edwards on February 14, 2019
I wish I had come up with this clever title. I owe it to Dr. Vishal Mangalwadi, a scholar of Indian descent. The title comes from a series of lectures based on his book The Book That Made Your World in which he helps the reader understand the root cause of the West’s decline and…
By: Shawn Hart on February 14, 2019
Finally!!! Finally!!! Finally!!! T.M. Luhrmann’s book, “When God Talks Back” was a bible-based book that actually came with biblical perspectives all throughout it. Did I agree with everything the author said? Of course not; however, I did find many places of clarity regarding the Evangelical movement that are very helpful for understanding many of the…
By: Karen Rouggly on February 14, 2019
I’ve spent a lot of time in the Protestant Reformation lately. Luther has been a mainstay in my research on vocation and calling, understandably so, which is why I wasn’t all together too surprised to see Max Weber spend a good portion of time with Luther in The Protestant Work Ethic and the “Spirit” of…
By: Chris Pritchett on February 13, 2019
Lurhmann’s book, “When God Talks Back,” is an anthropological look at American evangelicalism and the complex cognitive processes at work in a dialogical relationship with the divine. She is concerned less with how God reveals himself as how evangelicals perceive God’s self-revelation and conceive of a God they can dialogue with about all of life.…
By: Shermika Harvey on February 10, 2019
Transformational leadership in its definition is “a leadership style that involves generating a vision for the organization and inspiring followers to meet the challenges that it sets. Transformational leadership depends on the leader’s ability to appeal to the higher values and motives of followers and to inspire a feeling of loyalty and trust.”[1] In John…
By: John Muhanji on February 10, 2019
It has truly been a good lesson from reading what Dennis Tourish has brought out in his book “The Dark Side of Transformational Leadership. A leadership perspective”. I sincerely appreciate the critique approach on the transformational leadership which has gained much emphasis in the recent past and is what many leadership trainers are stressing organizations…
By: Kyle Chalko on February 9, 2019
I have thought for a while that leadership literature was kind of cultish. But I love it. Tourish highlights that the leaders themselves are encouraged by this literature to a develop a king od cult like following around their irresistible vision. Tourish had my attention from page 1 but really had me on the edge…
By: Tammy Dunahoo on February 9, 2019
“Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?”[1] John, who had proclaimed that Jesus was the Lamb of God, in a dark moment asked, “Are you the Messiah, or should we keep looking?” Human propensity through the ages has been to give agency to a leader who can solve…
By: Mary Mims on February 8, 2019
Working in Children and Youth Ministry, there is always an apprehension when adults want to get inordinately close to children or teens. Churches and ministry organizations constantly need an awareness of the potential of child sexual abuse. Studies have shown that over eighty percent of the time a child abuser is someone known by the…
By: Nancy VanderRoest on February 8, 2019
Ahhh, the dark side of transformational leadership! What a nice, light topic for this week. It reminds me of the Darth Vader of leadership! Such a bright subject to tackle but also a necessary subject as well. Transformational leadership is a leadership style that can inspire positive changes in those who follow. The problem is…
By: Greg on February 8, 2019
Recently I watched the new Christopher Robin movie and thought it cute and enjoyable for the whole family. Did you know that movie was banned in China? You may already know that there has been an ongoing fight between online meme creators and those that censor. The Pooh character has become a lighthearted way for…
By: Wallace Kamau on February 8, 2019
I have a very strong strong drive to succeed and I literary dread failure. I know this does not come out as obvious because of my introverted personality but I know too well that I am passively aggressive. I have therefore taken notice of the successful organizations and individuals and always taken interest to know…
By: Shawn Hart on February 7, 2019
I’ll never forget the comment made by the Youth Minister that was teaching myself and a room full of Bible majors during a 3 day seminar: “I have been at the church so long that the elders don’t have the guts to tell me what I can and cannot do; well, that is not entirely…
By: Karen Rouggly on February 7, 2019
A few years ago, I stumbled upon Derek Silver’s TED Talk on how to start a movement.[1] In this TED talk, he talks about the fact that in order to be a leader, you have to have at least one follower. He says, “The first follower is what transforms a lone nut into a leader.”[2]…
By: Trisha Welstad on February 7, 2019
You can’t always tell much by a book’s cover. However, if you look at Dennis Tourish’s text, it is fairly obvious by the ominous picture, the play on popular culture’s phrase of “the Dark Side” and the subtitle, “a critical perspective” that there will be some serious critique of transformational leadership. In The Dark Side…
By: Jean Ollis on February 7, 2019
It may sound cliché, but we are living in fascinating times (and most people throughout history have probably proclaimed this same sentiment). It’s easy to look locally, nationally, and globally to examine the dark side of leadership (or what we perceive as the dark side). Our immediate thoughts may take us to the most obvious…
By: Rhonda Davis on February 7, 2019
“In the struggle to contain the dark side, to reclaim power and to gain wisdom, the first step is awareness.” [1] In his book The Dark Side of Transformational Leadership, Dennis Tourish explores the negative side of a leadership model that he believes has become the primary model in most organizations. Written after “The Great…
By: Harry Fritzenschaft on February 7, 2019
The focus of Tourish’s text is on the problematic values, assumptions and practical effects of transformational leadership theory. The core proposition of this theory is that leaders should have a transformative effect on followers’ performance and worldview. These effects are said to arise through the leader’s charisma and their inspiring vision. These transformational leadership theory…
