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Leadership

Junkyard Wisdom Book, Leadership, Philanthropy,

Celebrity Philanthropy

Years ago I wrote about celebrity philanthropy. It’s a topic that makes me roll my eyes (sorry Renee). It’s especially over the top as this virus sadly creates high profile opportunities to be … well, to just be a good person. Please understand — I’m all for celebrities supporting good causes. But celebrities often can’t resist making a big deal out of their philanthropy. They get their publicist involved, have the media cover the story, and generally put themselves in the story as the hero.

Anyway, I wrote about it years ago and thought I’d look at the topic again. …

Junkyard Wisdom Book, Leadership,

Solutions of Privilege II

A few years ago I wrote about the “problems of privilege” and what the solutions might be for those problems. A recent conversation about the people on a cruise who were quarantined off the coast of California had me thinking about what we call privilege versus what we call sacrifice. So here is a redraft of the original post.

What are problems of privilege? Well in the simplest of terms, these are problems that become evident when people complain about meaningless things — my new iPhone is now outdated, the waiter didn’t bring us water when we asked, or I …

Leadership, Salvaged,

Leadership Style

My friend Steve Gumaer wrote, “After all these years of leading a multinational and motivated team, I have finally realized that what shapes my leadership style is not primarily context, techniques, or social recognition. It is love and the audacity to push into the world with a transforming idea lovingly and with others.”

You might remember Steve as the guest blogger a few weeks ago when he introduced us to Rose Mu. Well, Steve originally wanted to share his thoughts about my book Salvaged and put the focus on me. I refused. He persisted. I refused. He persisted.

And …

Family, Freestarters™, Goble Properties, Leadership, Salvaged,

Freestarter™ Awards

Over a decade ago I invented the word “freestarter” because there was no word that quite fit the kind of person I was trying to describe. Part prophet, part entrepreneur, part artist, and part leader (often without followers) it became my own concoction of traits describing a unique individual. I wrote about them in my book Salvaged and posted a list of great Freestarters™ on my blog.

Then last year our family foundation decided to honor these Freestarters™ and give them long overdue recognition. The first four were announced in December, and we hope to honor another one every three …

Leadership, Random Thoughts,

Rose Mu

One of the most fascinating people I’ve met over the past year is Steve Gumaer. Steve is the founder and President of Partners Relief & Development, which provides emergency relief for millions of misplaced people. That’s a fancy of way of saying he and his team work in war zones.

Think about that for a moment. They work in war zones. To help people who are victims of the war — the lost, orphaned, homeless, hungry, cold, grieving, and sometimes tortured people who find themselves surrounded by chaos. Into this walks Steve and his team.

When Steve agreed …

Junkyard Wisdom Book, Leadership,

Hope Is What You Do

Todd Deatherage had just finished moderating a panel discussion during which I was impressed with his insights. Several people in the audience had surrounded him and were asking follow up questions, but then I saw an opening to introduce myself. We chatted briefly and I ended up giving him a copy of my first book. And that, I thought, was the end of it.

The next morning D’Aun and I were leaving breakfast when I heard someone call my name. I turned and there was Todd, big smile on his face, walking quickly toward me. “I stayed up late last …

Belize, Jaguar Creek, Junkyard Wisdom Book, Leadership, PathLight, Salvaged,

Givers, Leaders, and Drinkers

Greetings from Jaguar Creek, Belize! I’m here with a dozen or so givers, leaders, and drinkers. Not necessarily in that order. The third annual Junkyard Wisdom Belize is happening and we’re having a blast talking through the challenge of being a good donor, a wise leader, and a sober … well, never mind.

Seriously though, the conversations are amazing. Most conversations about philanthropy take place in fancy hotels. Most conversations about leadership happen in large conferences or online TED Talks.

What I love about this event is we have these conversations in the rainforest of Belize, within a few …

Book Reviews, Leadership,

Unreasonable People

Fred Smith is not an unreasonable person despite the title of this post. I have invited Fred to be my first guest blogger in years because I love his quirky sense of humor, balanced perspective on cultural shifts, and genuine love for the unreasonable people who change the world. Plus he’s a great writer.

I met Fred at The Gathering, an annual conference focused on faith-based philanthropy. Fred is the founder of The Gathering and until just recently its President. Fred is a graduate of Denver University and Harvard Divinity School. He is the co-founder of Leadership Network with …