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Leadership

The Sack of Constantinople, Sorta

Three events in the last few months has reinforced an idea that’s been percolating. They have also reminded me how much we can learn from our past.

The first event was during my book promotion. I was a guest on a podcast, and the host was amazed to hear people of faith actually lived and worked in Silicon Valley. Seriously, he was stunned to hear bible studies actually happened in the corporate offices of places like Google, Facebook, and Apple. I was equally stunned that this informed and well educated man in the Midwest perceived Silicon Valley as so, well, …

Belize, Leadership, PathLight,

Nope, no age discrimination here!

Hey, I’m back from vacation! And did you hear the crazy news? PathLight International, an organization I co-founded and greatly admire, has hired a sixty-something snarky white guy to become their Chief Executive Officer.

Worse, he has no academic training in missions, never lived in a foreign country, only speaks English, has never been a teacher, earned no degree in theology, has no cross cultural training, and lives in what some call the spiritual wasteland of California.

I would add he’s bald and a little chubby, but that’s getting personal.

He has one advantage: he works for free. That’s

…

Leadership, So you think you're a writer?,

Deleting Leadership

A few weeks ago I accidentally deleted over a thousand files from my computer. Thankfully I recovered them all, but they came back unsorted. All the business files were mixed with the PathLight files or the Westmont files or the family files, for instance.

I’ve been slowly putting them in the appropriate folders. It’s easier than it sounds because the titles usually offer clarity. I’m pretty sure “Goble Properties Depreciation Schedule March 2017” doesn’t go in the travel plans folder.

But a few need to be opened and read first. This has, oddly, been fun. It’s like treasures of the …

Leadership, Salvaged,

Vines and Ministries

Quick Commercial: My new book is released next week, June 2nd! Please order a copy here.

Okay, back to thought of the week:

In the last few weeks I’ve had several people tell me it’s time for them to move on from a ministry they lead. It reminded me of something I wrote in my second book: sometimes it takes more faith to leave a ministry than to start one.

Which prompts me to think about the vine and the branches story in John 15. Just hang with me a minute so I can explain.

High end grape growers do …

Generosity, Leadership, Philanthropy,

The Podcast is Here!

Okay, shameless self-promotion and triumphal announcement, the Junkyard Wisdom Podcast will be released next week! I’m very excited about this so please be patient with my enthusiasm!

On Monday, January 24, the first three episodes will be released. The guests are:

The amazing Bob Goff, one of my first ever friends and a force to be reckoned with!

The remarkable Guy Kawasaki, a unique voice in Silicon Valley with strong takes on a variety of topics.

The amazing Kara Powell, who has incredible insights into the mind and heart of contemporary teens.

Each one shares their take on generosity, justice, …

Leadership, Philanthropy, Random Thoughts,

New Year Resolutions

A pastor/friend asked me what my resolutions were for the New Year. Making resolutions is not something I typically do, but it triggered a thoughtful conversation and had me thinking. What, exactly, do I really care most about for the new year?

I landed on three priorities: Truth, Generosity, Love.

We live in an era some have defined as post-truth. That’s debatable, but it does seem that the loudest voices and biggest platforms drive narratives to fit a particular angle on reality. We only shoot the messenger if the message comes from the wrong cable television station — truth be …

Generosity, Goble Properties, Junkyard Management, Leadership,

Faith and work

My flight to Philadelphia was scheduled to leave at 11:35 AM. But there was no plane at the gate at 11:30 AM, which was obviously a bad sign. About that time the ticket agent explained the plane was ready and sitting in the hanger about a quarter mile away, but there was no one to move the plane to the gate. A classic worker shortage situation.

The drama continued for a few hours as they scrambled for crew, extra ticket agents, and maintenance staff. Eventually they cancelled the flight. I won’t bore you with the (irritating) details.

There’s a misplaced …

Generosity, Goble Properties, Leadership, Salvaged,

The Generous Boss

This morning I had the honor of speaking to the Campolo Scholars at Eastern University. The topic was leadership and the talk was centered around why I wrote the book Salvaged.

At one point we covered the leadership ideas of Max De Pree, which concludes that all leaders finish their job by saying “thank you” to everyone involved. The process for a leader is basically, 1) define reality, 2) become a servant, 3) become a debtor, and finally 4) say thank you.

There’s generosity to this model. It’s basically the servant leadership concept from Scripture, but expressed in more …