{"id":30291,"date":"2023-01-20T09:13:26","date_gmt":"2023-01-20T17:13:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=30291"},"modified":"2023-01-20T14:35:48","modified_gmt":"2023-01-20T22:35:48","slug":"empowerment-modeled-or-read","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/empowerment-modeled-or-read\/","title":{"rendered":"Empowerment: Modeled or Read?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reading <\/span>Mining for Gold <\/span><\/i>by Tom Camacho brought back strong memories of Bill Burnett\u2019s and Dave Evan\u2019s New York Times best-selling book, <\/span>Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived Joy-Filled Life<\/span><\/i>. The similarities between the two books are almost identical in theme: True happiness comes from designing a life that works for you.\u00a0 On the surface, these two books share stunning similarities of getting unstuck, way-finding, coming alive and vulnerable stories weaved throughout the content.\u00a0 Similar deeper level questions, weaved throughout Burnett\u2019s and Evan\u2019s book, were thoroughly organized at the end of every chapter in <\/span>Mining for Gold<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet beneath the surface\u2013and between the lines\u2013these two books on the flourishing, well-designed life are sending opposite messages.\u00a0 They subtly represent our current mainstream crisis for this generation with two competing visions.<\/span><\/p>\n

In Camacho\u2019s chapters 9 and 10, he iterates the increased strength and power we have as human beings when we cooperate with how God made us. \u201cWe find momentum when we cooperate with our God-given design. Momentum releases freedom, fruit and fulfillment\u201d (78). As a reader, my faith is strongly challenged by his visuals of seagulls and bottle-nosed dolphins flourishing in their environments as I am convinced that God built into my life all the tools I need to fulfill my destiny.<\/span><\/p>\n

By contrast, the essentials Burnett and Evans teach is having good insights about yourself, exploring options about where to engage in the world and prototyping experiences (160). The picture of reality they create is that a person could find themselves unable to choose\u2013or at least unable to choose with confidence\u2013a way forward in their life, job, leadership role.\u00a0 The point is the burden is placed upon the reader\u2019s efforts to design their own life. The authors assert that through the technique of mind-mapping (71) one can generate a plethora of ideas. This is innovation, they claim, and an activity that produces even more options in designing your life\u2019s work.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In<\/span> Mining For Gold,<\/span><\/i> Camacho says, \u201cGreat coaching simplifies the complexity of leadership development. .\u00a0 coaching is the process of <\/span>coming alongside a person or team to help them discover God\u2019s agenda<\/b> for their life and ministry . . .\u201c Which brings me to why I compared the two books: Although there\u2019s a space for figuring some things out on our own, we need people to speak truth to us.\u00a0 The message that has gotten lost in the world of self-help and independence is God created us to encourage and be encouraged by others to become all He created us to be.\u00a0 Further, as David Brooks noted at the Lead Where you Stand conference, the solution to our current leadership crisis for emerging leaders is a posture of being willing to be taught, coached, challenged.<\/span><\/p>\n

One surprising interview I had last fall was with Daniel, a 22-year-old engineer who recently relocated from Iowa to New York City. He left the world of engineering to help start a church through the Salt Company.\u00a0 \u00a0 As I pressed this young man with questions, he said something I won\u2019t soon forget.\u00a0 From his first year at Iowa State University, leaders from the Salt Company intentionally coached and equipped him to be involved in the local church by asking him great questions.\u00a0 From being coached during his formative college years, Daniel discovered God\u2019s design for his life. Daniel inadvertently listed the same method his coaches and mentors used that Camacho calls the four primary parts of Leadership Coaching: Deep listening, asking great questions, cooperating with the Holy Spirit and determining the right next steps\u00a0 When Daniel and I ended our Zoom interview that day, I wondered to myself how many of us leaders are in danger of missing these coaching opportunities?\u00a0 Might we be dismissive thinking high school, college-aged or young adults can find what they need on their own? Or in a book?<\/span><\/p>\n

The difference between Burnett\u2019s and Evan\u2019s book with Camacho\u2019s is perhaps best illuminated by David Brook\u2019s advice to leaders on building up the Kingdom: He said we have an epidemic of blindness. We don\u2019t see each other. Why don\u2019t people flourish? Because people are not being recognized for who they are on the inside.\u00a0 To conclude I offer a few of his tips:<\/span><\/p>\n