By: Caleb Lu on April 19, 2024
“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did…
By: Jonita Fair-Payton on April 19, 2024
My BFF (in my head) Let me just put it out there. I am a FanGirl of Brene Brown. I have been a fan long before the world discovered her. She is my BFF (in my head). My mentor and, in my opinion, one of the most brilliant beings on the planet is friends…
By: Dinka Utomo on April 19, 2024
The foundational skill of courage-building is the willingness and ability to rumble with vulnerability. Once we start to build vulnerability skills, we can start to develop the other skill sets. -Brene Brown- A Pastor in our denomination was very excited – after he had completed his initial ministry of five years in a remote,…
By: Jana Dluehosh on April 18, 2024
I am a Brené Brown fan. Anyone who has the courage to talk about shame and vulnerability deserves respect. In fact, I am a big enough fan that as I was looking for what’s next for me prior to this Doctorate I was seriously considering getting a daring greatly coaching certificate through her business. I’m…
By: Akwese on April 18, 2024
I’ve been thinking a lot about the process (i.e., the time and energy) it takes to create routines that sustain positive change in our lives. This semester, we’ve been reading various books that offer some helpful insight; however, just because we’ve gained new knowledge doesn’t mean we’ve been able to apply it as wisdom in…
By: Christy on April 18, 2024
This has been an intense week. After a long week at work and the end-of-semester writing assignments, I was grateful to have a light, enjoyable, and practical reading. The general idea behind Clear Thinking is that our subconscious responses are often counter to our better judgment.[1] Parrish uses the first half of his book to…
By: Julie O'Hara on April 18, 2024
I was not very far into Clear Thinking by Shane Parrish and it felt familiar. The premise of the book is to distill the best of research and wisdom about thinking into action steps leading to repeatable results.[1] The method is to make small decisions along the way which enable people to be in good…
By: Todd E Henley on April 18, 2024
Last weekend, I had the opportunity to speak at a leadership conference to medical doctors, therapists, and social workers. Whenever I am given the freedom to choose my topic, I always try to choose a topic my audience is not expecting but I know they need to wrestle with. Last weekend, my topic was, “Healing…
By: Jenny Steinbrenner Hale on April 18, 2024
Annabel Beerel, in her book, Rethinking Leadership: A Critique of Contemporary Theories, examines popular and overlapping leadership theories and addresses the leadership gap highlighted and widened by the Covid-19 Pandemic. Writing in 2020, she said, “At this time of the global pandemic, the world is hungering for both morally good and professionally effective leadership. Alas,…
By: Chad McSwain on April 18, 2024
“Where have all the leaders gone?” This is the question that Annabel Beerel asks echoing Warren Bennie and Time magazine before her, yet it seems as appropriate as ever.[1] Beerel is writing in 2020 at the start of the coronavirus pandemic and observing the lack of leadership being displayed during a time that needs leaders…
By: Cathy Glei on April 18, 2024
“What makes embracing vulnerability feel the most terrifying is how taking off the armor and exploding our hearts can open us up to experiencing shame. Our egos are willing to keep our hearts encased in armor, no matter the cost if we can avoid feeling “less than” or unworthy of love and belonging. What the…
By: Jennifer Eckert on April 18, 2024
All the books we have been reading lately about thinking… really have me thinking! I love dogs, but how much DNA could I possibly have in common with my brute-force 117-pound Bernese Mountain pup? The answer is a surprising 84 percent.[1] In the opening pages of his book, Clear Thinking, author Shane Parrish acknowledges that…
By: Debbie Owen on April 18, 2024
It’s very hard to watch someone you love and care about struggle with being sad. I have a good friend–let’s call her Jane–who has had a lot of changes in her life over the last year. Some of those changes have happened “to” her. Some are decisions that she and her family have made… but…
By: Adam Harris on April 18, 2024
Our home has a list of “Harris values” hanging by our front door. Our church has “Godwhy’s values” hanging in the hallway so everyone sees them as they walk into the café area (strategic placing). However, until I read Daring to Lead by Brene Brown, it never occurred to me to “operationalize” them for our…
By: Shela Sullivan on April 18, 2024
Clear Thinking: Turning Ordinary Moments into Extraordinary Results by Shane Parrish [1] provides practical tools to recognize crossroads moments, make better decisions and apply clear thinking to what truly matters in life. Shane shares a 4-step framework to navigate those moments effectively. Creating Space for Clear Thinking [2]: Parrish emphasizes that clear thinking is not…
By: Ryan Thorson on April 18, 2024
Shane Parrish’s book, Clear Thinking, was a great book to end the semester on. This simple but helpful text has reminded me of many of the things we’ve been pondering over this term together, as well as other leadership learnings I’ve experienced along the way. Parrish mentions the importance in his introduction of being in a…
By: Kari on April 18, 2024
My phone kept ringing and ringing. Multiple calls from multiple unknown numbers kept showing up on my “missed calls” screen. I turned my phone on silent and was only answering calls from known friends. Friday night. All day Saturday. On Sunday one of the callers left a voicemail message, then another one, and still another…
By: Daren Jaime on April 18, 2024
Living in suburban areas, having a vehicle is a necessity. I will never forget how a lifelong friend of mine called me up, asking if I could assist him as his car was having mechanical difficulties. He asked me to follow him to the mechanic, drop his vehicle off, take him to work and be…
By: Mathieu Yuill on April 18, 2024
Now at the end of the semester, looking back over the texts we have read as a cohort, Brené Brown’s seminal work, Dare to Lead[1], seems like an easier to digest snack opposed to our high-fibre, protein-rich meals we’ve been consuming. The difference I see is Brown’s work is more encouraging and supportive whereas the…
By: Chad Warren on April 17, 2024
Coaching Little League baseball in the United States is both a challenging and fascinating sociological experience. On the one hand, you have the challenge of breaking down the complexities of baseball into “bite-sized,” understandable chunks. Seeking to find a clear and compelling way to explain to a 10-year-old that they cannot just keep running around…
