Delegation is central to effective leadership. Most leaders would agree. So, why is it so hard to do well? Leaders struggle with delegating for a variety of practical reasons: We fear we won?t have enough time to explain the task. We fear giving up control. We fear we won?t get any of the credit. We […]
The Difference Between a Conference and a Retreat
One of the elements of my job that I most enjoy is facilitating retreats, especially for leadership teams or groups of Christian leaders. I?ve attended many gathering that were called retreats. If there is no space for rest, reflection, or prayer in the schedule, but rather meeting after exciting meeting of teaching, singing, practical ideas […]
Another Kind of Freedom
Those of you in the United States are celebrating Independence Day today. It is the date of our Declaration of Independence and our celebration of freedom. We, at The Leadership Institute, hope that you are enjoying time with family and friends today. On the topic?of freedom, here are some thoughts on true freedom?from Elton Trueblood: […]
Unhurried Work
What a gift to find a good word from one of my favorite literary spiritual directors that speaks to my life theme of unhurry. Von H?gel is talking about his habit of doing just one thing at a time. He would not have been a fan of ?multi-tasking?: ?And here there is also the […]
The Priceless Worth of Tested Trust
It can be very hard in the world of instantly expected results to understand that spiritual formation always takes longer than we thought it would?in our own lives, in the lives of those we care about, in our faith communities. Below are a couple excerpts from Jean Grou?on this theme: See by what a series […]
Leading Like Jesus
In this season of reflection and writing, I?ve been focusing a lot on Jesus. I wonder about how He led. Did he do it like a modern C.E.O.? I also think about the structures of His community. Were they mostly organizational structures or organism structures? Business or community? What kind of structure best supports the […]
First, Second or Third Hand Experience?
It has been almost 30?years since my theology professor at Simpson College started each class reading from a little book by Helmut Thielicke, A Little Exercise for Young Theologians. I few years ago I?re-read it and remembered why I liked it back then. At one point, he is talking about the problem of a ?merely […]
