Although Susan Colantuono TED Talk is pitched particularly to women, it’s something men and women can profit from…and especially in the church. Colantuono talks about the “missing third” of leadership. She makes the case that, particularly when it comes to the advice given to women in middle management positions, we’re clear that it’s important to develop one’s own skills and talent, and we’re clear that it’s also important to develop our networks and relationships. But we don’t always value another essential dimension of leadership – that is, how to follow through on...

I’ve been in too many meetings of late where very little was accomplished. We talked and talked and talked, but almost nothing got done. Discussion meetings are fine and sometimes quite important, but none of these meetings were billed as “discussion only.” I came assuming we had work to get done. The strange, and rather disheartening, thing about it has been that few of the others in attendance seemed to mind. Don’t get me wrong – they didn’t enjoy the meeting; rather, it’s as if they’ve just gotten used to holding meetings for the sake of meeting and no longer expect to get much done. Over time, I suspect, this only...