By: Chad Warren on March 6, 2025
Ted Lasso once said, “Taking on a challenge is a lot like riding a horse, isn’t it? If you’re comfortable while you’re doing it, you’re probably doing it wrong.”[1] The most effective leadership isn’t about avoiding problems or playing it safe—it’s about embracing challenges while prioritizing relationships, emotional maturity, and cultivating joy. In Rare Leadership[2],…
By: David Weston on March 6, 2025
I appreciate Daniel Kahneman’s candor in his book Thinking, Fast and Slow.[1] I am rather certain I understand his precepts of System 1 and System 2 thinking. His writing style is engaging and almost playful at times. How he broke down human cognition and choice-making into these two thinking systems is brilliant. I in no…
By: Julie O'Hara on March 6, 2025
God winked at me when I started reading Rare Leadership. He reminded me of the conversation with my leadership coach less than two weeks ago when I told Stephen that I wanted to press into living from a place of joy. I was motivated by an inner impulse to represent Jesus and attract others to…
By: Jeremiah Gómez on March 6, 2025
One of my favorite regular meetings is when my Discernment Team gets together. We meet for five to six hours every month (2.5 or more hours every other week) to pray together and seek Holy Spirit’s leadership for whatever it is we’re navigating or being invited into as a church. It has become invaluable to…
By: Alex Mwaura on March 6, 2025
A few realities have come to light over the past few weeks. There are things I had “running in the background” of my mind but never really paid attention to them. One of the main things is that there seems to be a leadership crisis not only at a global scale, but also at an…
By: Betsy on March 6, 2025
Years ago, I used to wait in great anticipation of our annual holiday as a time of rest and refreshment. I would look at the past photos of beaches, happy faces, sandcastles and ice creams and I longed for those days of rest and fun when the daily routine of a busy life felt exhausting.…
By: Kari on March 6, 2025
We had just finished a lovely evening celebrating a friend’s birthday at the only chain restaurant in my country, PAUL. This bakery-restaurant combination attracts many foreigners and affluent citizens. Due to the clientele, it also draws beggars hoping for charity or food. As we stepped outside, I noticed the beggar children just as they noticed…
By: Darren Banek on March 6, 2025
My wife and I moved to Montana in 2004. I had been connected with the area for five years prior to that as a summer staff for a small Bible Camp. Over those first five years, I enjoyed much of what northwest Montana had to offer in the summers. Including bushwhacking for days on end…
By: Ryan Thorson on March 6, 2025
What does it take to be a RARE leader? What sort of teams and processes need to be cultivated in order to experience the joy and grace of leading together with others, rather than giving in to the distress and dis-ease of our leadership-deficient world? In RARE Leadership, Dr. Wilder and Dr. Warner provide a…
By: Graham English on March 6, 2025
In a post-pandemic survey done in 2022 by the Barna group, they reported alarming statistics on the decline of pastoral health in the US. The effect of the pandemic continued to ripple through the ranks of pastors, as it has through many professions. The research does not paint a promising picture. They write, “The number…
By: Debbie Owen on March 6, 2025
It’s clear there’s a “control factor” at play. Isn’t that often the case in a church? You’re on staff, and they pay you for your expertise. But so often, there’s at least one volunteer who is quite sure they know just as much as you do. They manage to get onto the committee with which…
By: Rich on March 5, 2025
The reading this week was Thinking, Fast and Slow by Nobel Laureate Daniel Kahneman.[1] I looked forward to this book above all other entries on the reading list. This one deserved more than inspection, and Kahneman did not disappoint. I first came across Kahneman and his colleague, Amos Tversky, in a historical review of risk-taking…
By: Jess Bashioum on March 5, 2025
Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman[1] is a whale of a book. It is so filled to the brim with concepts, examples and studies, that to try and consume it in a week is impossible. System one and system two thinking remind me of a similar idea in recovery, the upstairs brain and the…
By: Shela Sullivan on March 5, 2025
Introduction: In today’s fast-paced business environment, effective leadership is crucial for fostering trust, joy, and engagement among team members. The book RARE Leadership: 4 Uncommon Habits for Increasing Trust, Joy, and Engagement in the People You Lead by Marcus Warner and Jim Wilder outlines four habits that can transform leadership practices.[1] This essay explores these…
By: Robert Radcliff on March 5, 2025
I read Daniel Kahneman’s classic work Thinking, Fast and Slow this week. This book has been on my shelf but has gone unread until now. It’s grounded in psychological studies of decision-making and perception. The book is about biases of intuition. I’ve been familiar with the book for several years as it’s part of our…
By: Joff Williams on March 4, 2025
“I’ve got your picture hangin’ on the wallBut it can’t see or come to me when I call your name.I realize it’s just a picture in a frame.Ooh, I read your letters when you’re not nearBut they don’t move me and they don’t groove meLike when I hear your sweet voice whispering in my ear.…
By: Adam Cheney on March 4, 2025
For years I have prayed about increasing my joy. I have understood for a while that joy is certainly more than happiness but that it is a deep contentment that we might find in the Lord. During times of suffering, joy can be hard to find. Yet it is a choice we can make. When…
By: Glyn Barrett on March 4, 2025
In RARE Leadership,[i] Marcus Warner and Jim Wilder provide a framework for leaders to build emotional resilience and thriving teams. By integrating principles from neuroscience and theology to offer strategies that enhance leadership effectiveness, RARE Leadership emphasises that emotionally mature leaders cultivate trust and engagement, creating environments where individuals and organisations flourish. Warner and Wilder…
By: Jennifer Eckert on March 4, 2025
Back in the 1920s, minister and Methodist camp leader George William Cooke had something to teach us about joy through a catchy little song called Joy in My Heart.[1] Years later, contemporary neuroscience would confirm his findings about the healing power of joy. Joy is not only a feeling but, in fact, a mechanism for…
By: Diane Tuttle on March 3, 2025
This may be stating the obvious but throughout our readings over the last couple of semesters, many books have confirmed that leadership is more about the character of the leader rather than the skills that person might have. Early on, reading Leading out of Who You Are, The Undefended Leader, author Simon Walker, D Prof…
