The Power of “I Don’t Know”

We have, I think, a cultural bias against admitting what we don’t know. It’s as if by admitting our ignorance in a particular subject we undermine our credibility on any subject. I find this particularly true of leaders – whether in a church, corporation, faculty, or family. Perhaps that’s because when we are placed into positions of leadership we feel that it’s our responsibility to live up to this trust. Or maybe it’s simply because if we are leading in our organization it’s precisely because we’ve proven ourselves competent, and so we feel that any demonstration of ignorance calls into question our competence and,...

Revolution

I’ve learned a lot from Seth Godin – about marketing, about publishing, about being a leader. I read his blog regularly and found this post particularly provocative. What is it we think right now is just right, just about perfect? Or, maybe more to the point of our life in the...

What Are You Countin...

Recently I was at a pastor’s conference that fell shortly after annual parochial reports were due. If you don’t know what “parochial reports” are, take a moment to give thanks. In short, they’re the tally sheets by which my denomination, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America,...