Month: January 2024

Ep 132 – Krish Kandiah’s Heart Leadership

Posted on January 23, 2024 by - Calling, Character, Confidence, Leading Yourself, Learning Agility, Podcasts, Relationship with God

Now introducing The Global Leadership Podcast presented by the Global Leadership Network.

SUMMARY 

In this episode, Paula Faris talks with pastor and theologian Krish Kandiah about his passion for hospitality and his work with the foster system and refugees in the UK. Krish shares about how he moves quickly from idea to action, some of the ups and downs of his own journey, and how he lives out “Heart Leadership.” 

 

IN THIS EPISODE: 

  • What is an “Officer of the British Empire” (OBE), and how does one get that honor?  
  • How did Krish get started working with refugees?  
  • How was Krish involved in the UK’s “Homes for Ukraine” program? 
  • What are some ways to respond to setbacks or ups and downs in your calling?  
  • What is the role of hospitality (welcoming the stranger) in the Bible?  
  • What is the founding story of Krish’s family, and how does it influence his work today?  
  • What is “Heart Leadership?” 
  • How does Krish balance being available to those in need and having appropriate boundaries?  

 

LISTEN 

Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube 

 

STANDOUTS AND TAKEAWAYS 

  • Move to a fast pilot: simply ask, “What’s the worst thing that could happen?” and then go for it and see what kind of traction you get.  
  • When God closes a door, He usually opens another one.  
  • When you’re trying to figure out what’s next: Stay close to God, cling to those around you (your family and friends), and stay open to what’s going on in the world. 
  • Christians have always been called in two directions: love God, and love your neighbor.  
  • “Heart Leadership” is about bringing your whole self to your leadership efforts.  
  • Heart Leadership is empowered by simply getting proximate to people in need.  
  • Sometimes “maintaining boundaries” is just abdicating responsibility for others.  

 

LINKS MENTIONED 

 

THIS EPISODE SPONSORED BY:   

Is Courage The Most Important Of All Virtues?

Posted on January 12, 2024 by - Articles, Leading Yourself

The morning sun comes through the window while a women opens the curtains to the start of a fresh day.

Is courage only for the few? Necessary for the soldiers, those called to greatness, or the most extraordinary leaders?  

C.S. Lewis writes in The Screwtape Letters:  

“Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point, which means, at the point of highest reality. A chastity or honesty, or mercy, which yields to danger will be chaste or honest or merciful only on conditions. Pilate was merciful till it became risky.”  

In short, courage is the truest test of every virtue and of every person. 

If we are only kind until it becomes risky, can we lay any claim to kindness? If we extol justice until justice costs us, are we just at all? If we are only truthful when it is convenient, does our honesty mean anything?  

Courage is the expression of our self-proclaimed virtues at the extremes. The willingness to be kind when it could cost us. To be truthful when it’s inconvenient. To love when it’s dangerous. 

As Shakespeare said,  

“Love is not love  

Which alters when it alteration finds, 

Or bends with the remover to remove. 

O no! it is an ever-fixed mark 

That looks on tempests and is never shaken.” 

But as much as we laud courage with our words, courage often only looks good in retrospect, after the victory has been won. When history seems inevitable. Today, Martin Luther King Jr. is nearly universally praised. At the time, he was criticized by his fellow religious leaders, imprisoned and, ultimately, assassinated.  

Courage does not guarantee success. It’s the willingness to carry on when there is no guarantee of success, when things may look hopeless. And courage is certainly no guarantee of popularity. In response to your courage, you may be called brash. Naïve. Overly idealistic. Overly cynical. Annoying. And, truth be told, the courageous are annoying. They are like flies buzzing in our ears, spoiling our comfort with their calls to greater things when all we want is peace and quiet.  

Courage may lead to much worse than being considered a fly in the soup. Your courage may result in failure, unpopularity, loss of income, loss of freedom or even loss of life. Whether or not courage is the most important of all virtues, it can certainly be the costliest.    

Courage without the other virtues, on the other hand, abounds. It’s the pursuit of self-glory. The hubris and emptiness of bravado. Great acts for our own sake rather than for the sake of others.  

We aren’t called to great acts for own sake, to amplify our own glory. True courage is self-sacrifice. It’s choosing to give your own safety and comfort away in pursuit of good. In this way, it’s not unlike the ultimate divine act—the sacrifice of self for justice and love. 

Where are you being called to be courageous enough to do the uncomfortable in service to others? To risk in order to amplify goodness in this world?  

Courage is not only for the few or the great among us. Courage is the test of us all.   

“We have to be braver than we think we can be, because God is constantly calling us to be more than we are.” Madeleine L’Engle 

Ep 131: Balancing Human Well-Being and Organizational Excellence with Juliet Funt

Posted on January 9, 2024 by - Leading Organizations, Leading Others, Leading Yourself, Podcasts

Now introducing The Global Leadership Podcast presented by the Global Leadership Network.

SUMMARY 

In this episode, Paula Faris sits down with Juliet Funt to talk about the ongoing need for white space in organizations, the challenge of how best to return to the office, and important first step that organizations need to take before they attempt to “prioritize” goals and activities.  

 

IN THIS EPISODE: 

  • What’s new in Juliet’s world?  
  • How did Juliet get into teaching people how to achieve organizational excellence without sacrificing well-being?  
  • What is the basic meaning of “white space”? 
  • How has the pandemic and “RTO” (“return to office”) affected the white space conversation for employees?  
  • What are some small, “Better is Good” incremental gains that are happening? 
  • What are some things that individuals can do to protect our white space and mental health?  
  • What are “RPMs” and how do they affect employee white space?  

STANDOUTS AND TAKEAWAYS 

  • It’s not just about “efficiency,” it’s about how to achieve spectacular results without driving people into the ground.  
  • Most organizations focus on changing the “bricks”—org charts and policies—it’s also necessary to change the “mortar”—how people actually behave.  
  • The basic definition of “white space” is simply “time with no assignment.”  
  • COVID actually opened a window to redesign work, but unfortunately we’ve reverted to many of our organizational habits.  
  • Organizations often have a “set point” of complexity that they naturally want to return to.  
  • It’s best to bring people together for high-value, exciting periods of time when they can bond, be together and be creative.  
  • “Better is good.” Sometimes you have to be happy with very small gains.  
  • “RPMs” are a powerful tool for helping organizations not only prioritize, but also reduce and gain clarity on the avalanche of information.
    R = Revenue, Reputation, Reward, Readiness
    P = Panicking, Pandering, Posturing, Procedure, Padding
    M = Money, Manpower, Months, Magnitude 

 

LINKS MENTIONED

THIS EPISODE SPONSORED BY: