By: Kristin Hamilton on November 9, 2017
Each week when my cohort meets to discuss our reading for the week, our lead mentor, Dr. Jason Clark, asks us to give a brief “elevator speech” account of the book. I love this exercise and sometimes write down a particularly good summary given by one of my colleagues. This week I decided to write…
By: Jason Turbeville on November 9, 2017
I was intrigued when I ordered this book. How can a book on leadership be heroic and what is it about. Turns out the author, Chris Lowney, is a former Jesuit who decided to go into the world of finances for J. P. Morgan and found that the leadership track for that company was woefully…
By: Lynda Gittens on November 9, 2017
Manfred Kets DeVries asked a few questions for the reader to consider before reading this book – The Leadership Mystique: Leading Behavior in the Human Enterprise. They were: “Do you set your own goals when possible? Can you present complex issues to others in a clear and simplified way? Do you have a ‘Helicopter View’-that…
By: Stu Cocanougher on November 9, 2017
Sunday morning, July 3, 2016. During the worship service, the executive pastor at NewSpring Church, a fast-growing, multi-site megachurch in South Carolina walks up to the microphone and begins to read the following statement: “Through much prayer and with a heavy heart, we have important information to share with you regarding our pastor, Perry Noble.…
By: Dave Watermulder on November 9, 2017
I am glad that I didn’t just read the title or description for this book. I am glad that I didn’t stop reading after the introduction section, or even the first chapter. Because my first impression of “Heroic Leadership”, a guide to “best practices” for the business world based on the Society of Jesus (the…
By: Mark Petersen on November 9, 2017
When I received the DMin reading list this past summer and saw that Heroic Leadership by Chris Lowney was included, I smiled. It was the same book I had encountered over a decade ago. I had found it so remarkable that I bought a box and mailed them out as Christmas gifts for Canadian parachurch…
By: Shawn Hart on November 9, 2017
In this week’s reading, Heroic Leadership, Chris Lowney uses his history as a Jesuit priest and a managing director with J.P. Morgan to evaluate the leadership tactics used by the Jesuits for over 450 years; a fascinating historical look at the religious practices interwoven with fundamental leadership skills of the long-lasting Jesuit order. Upon reading…
By: Katy Drage Lines on November 9, 2017
For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. Indeed,…
By: Jennifer Dean-Hill on November 9, 2017
The mystique surrounding leadership is demystified when one recognizes the characteristics and traits of a healthy leader, and the symbiotic relationship a leader has with its organization. A disordered, unhealthy leader fosters a chaotic, fragmented, or rigid culture that cultivates a dysfunctional system. Similarly, a workplace is successful when it fosters a healthy environment for…
By: Chris Pritchett on November 9, 2017
Chris Lowney’s book, Heroic Leadership, is a unique examination of the relevance of the values and practices of leadership among the sixteenth century Jesuit movement, for our time. Leadership books for both corporate and church leaders are legion in our information age, but most of them merely scratch the surface of the practice of leadership,…
By: Greg on November 9, 2017
“My fake plants died because I did not pretend to water them.”1 Is leadership simply pretending to do what others expect us to do? How often do we as christian leaders fake it, pretend to know what we are doing. The line between inspiring the greatness in others and hypocrisy, can be very narrow. The…
By: Jennifer Williamson on November 9, 2017
At my core, I’m a Jesuit.* While I may not be a card carrying member of the Society of Jesus, I have practiced Ignatian Spirituality for years by doing The Exercises and meeting with a spiritual director. I understand myself to be a “contemplative in action.” All that to say, most of the concepts presented…
By: Jake Dean-Hill on November 8, 2017
Chris Lowney’s book, Heroic Leadership: Best Practices from a 450-Year-Old Company That Changed the World, was a fascinating read. I would have never thought I would be reading a leadership book based on the Jesuits, let alone referring to them as a thriving company to take notice of. After reading it, I am now convinced…
By: Christal Jenkins Tanks on November 8, 2017
. (https://ppmpractitioner.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/wpid-tmp.png) You cannot go into any airport bookstore and not find a book on leadership. If you go to Amazon and search leadership you will not find an empty search. So what is it about leadership that motivates authors to write endless books on the subject matter. in its basic form, leadership is…
By: Mary Walker on November 8, 2017
“Obvious as the need for the human factor may seem, a considerable body of research in organizations stands out for its conspicuous neglect of the people who are the principal actors in theses organizations.”[1] Each of us needs time for mental self-renewal. Whit Schultz[2] Manfred Kets De Vries brings his experience as an economist,…
By: Jay Forseth on November 8, 2017
By far the best review I read on this book was from Mike Bassett on goodreads.com who stated this about Heroic Leadership: Best Practices From A 450 Year Old Company That Changed The World, “The thing that resonated with me about this book was it really bridged Sunday to Monday.” Well said! Mr. Bassett went further…
By: Jim Sabella on November 8, 2017
I often have discussions with my colleagues concerning leadership and emotional function or emotional processes. More than a few of my colleague would argue that there is no place for emotion in leadership. Leadership, they argue, should be a logical almost mathematical cognitive process in which the best decisions are made based on the data…
By: Kyle Chalko on November 5, 2017
My Review It’s pretty presumptuous of a book to say, “keep this book with you at each of your classes and in front of you for each of your assignments.” But after reading the book Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking, I’m a believer. It attempts to put forth essentially a formula of study that is…
By: Greg on November 3, 2017
Sitting in Bangkok traffic for over an hour can be frustrating, but it has given me time to ponder how to be a critical thinker without being overly critical, yet emphasize what is critical. I don’t know how many of you would admit with me that you looked at the rising scale on the Elder’s…
By: Trisha Welstad on November 3, 2017
This week marks the 500th year anniversary of the Protestant Reformation of the church. The Reformation was initiated by Martin Luther and his 95 Theses or grievances against the church he loved. Luther longed for pragmatic change to the ways the church interpreted and lived the bible. He thought critically, not negatively but rationally, about…
