Confused: The Super Bowl Halftime Show
The Super Bowl halftime show featuring Shakira and Jennifer Lopez left me confused. Some secular reviewers felt the same dilemma. One asked whether the show empowered or objectified women. Good question.
Death in a Glass
According to a new study by the National Institute for Health, the second leading cause of death in 2017 in the United States was alcohol. More people died from alcohol-related illnesses than died of drug overdoses, including opioids. The death rate from these illnesses has more than doubled...
Competence Builds Influence
Leadership is usually defined, in some way, as influence. Demonstrating competence is one key to influencing others. The better you are at your role, the more likely others will defer to your expertise, trust your judgment, and cooperate with your decisions. Your competence is both real and a...
A Theology of Servant Leadership
Last week, we considered the essence of servant leadership—the motive that drives the actions. Now, let’s discover—in summary form only—a theological rationale for this perspective.
Servant Leadership
A significant component of Christian leadership, some say the defining component, is servant leadership. While that sounds simple enough, it has been a struggle for me to define and implement.
Natural-Born Leader
One prominent Christian leader, a friend of mine, believes leadership can’t be taught. He told me, “A person either has leadership ability or doesn’t. You can’t teach a person how to be a leader.” Obviously, I don’t agree, but my friend does make a valid point. Some people are natural-born leaders.
God with Us
God came among us—what a wonder! Since I have been following Jesus for about 50 years, it would seem the incarnation would become so familiar as to lose its wonder. Not so! Jesus came among us—as a baby who grew into a man—to identify with us in every way possible. Then, as only he could, he...
Hang around a while
Over the past months, I have been studying tenure—meaning length of service, not an academic status—among seminary presidents. No big surprise—the longest serving presidents (more than 10 years) tended to make the most impact. In every ministry leadership role, there is a demonstrable connection...
It IS what you know
Leadership equals influence so increasing your influence increases your leadership effectiveness. One important source of influence is information—what you know. There’s an old saying, “It’s not what you know, but who you know.” Sometimes that’s true. But more...
Man Card
One of the seminar sessions at a men’s conference where I recently spoke was entitled, “Don’t Give Up Your Man Card.” The premise was men have a unique role and responsibilities. Abandoning those is harmful — both for men individually and the people they impact. Some critics dismiss a seminar...