Category Archives: Leadership

Parker Palmer’s Center for Courage & Renewal is offering a 6-month program to ‘explore the inner life of leadership.’ I have learned that in their reflective moments good leaders are more interested in their inner life or self-awareness than how … Continue reading →

During my first pastoral assignment at a rural church in Eastern Washington State we lived near a stop for freight trains.   Transients riding the rails would occasionally hop off trains, walk across the road to our house, knock on our … Continue reading →

I thought about the difference between covenant and contract leaders when reading David Brooks’ recent NY Times column – “How Covenants Make Us.” Contracts are about making deals, providing services, protecting interests.   They are temporary quid pro quo obligations; precise and … Continue reading →

Having spent over 20 years (1973 to 1995) helping to provide transitional housing for homeless families in Washington, D.C. I was eager to read Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, Matthew Desmond’s narrative of low-income individuals and families … Continue reading →

Adam LaRoache walked away from a $13 million contract with the Chicago White Sox last week rather than submit to the club’s request that he not bring his 14-year old son Drake with him so often. During his 4 years … Continue reading →

Transactional leaders exchange what they do for you for what you can do for them, e.g., politicians – ‘if you vote for me I’ll do this for you.’ Relational leaders prefer to give more than they receive. Transactional leaders measure … Continue reading →

                  illustration by Nisant Choksi THE NEW YORKER, FEBRUARY 29, 2016 The surprising emergence of Donald Trump as a viable presidential candidate reveals the kind of leader for President a significant segment … Continue reading →

I have been invited to attend political receptions for two men who are running for Congress.   One is a neighbor campaigning in the Maryland district in which I live, the other in an adjacent district.   One is a Republican and … Continue reading →

Leaders know that the things they do and the people they serve with will not always succeed. They know that their organizations sometimes resist change even when threatened with decline. Disappointment may lead to feeling like a failure.   In a … Continue reading →