Do you know what your city flag looks like? Do you like it? Or, if you don’t think your city has one (and it’s worth checking), do you know your state’s flag?  If you’re not sure why you should care, watch Roman Mars’ TED Talk. Roman is the founder and producer of 99% Invisible, a great podcast on design. The great thing about design, as the name of Roman’s podcast implies, is that when it works, we don’t notice it even as it helps us do our work…or enjoy our lives…or take pride in our city…or any of a number of other things we highly value but don’t often think about it. I’ve been interested in this in part...

When I talk about making the move from what I describe as “performative leadership” to “formative leadership” (as I did obliquely in last week’s Dear Partner letter), I regularly encounter a reaction as understandable as it is predictable. First, let me say a little more about what I mean by these terms. Performative leadership is essentially leadership that focuses on certain skills or practices that the leader has acquired through training and practice and now uses on behalf of the organization he or she is leading. In congregational ministry, these are often of the skills of preaching, teaching, pastoral...