Hi, welcome to my blog. Let me introduce myself by briefly describing recent chapters of my life. Each new chapter being birthed by a major transition. I would probably title my current chapter as “Chapter 8: Keep your job and make it meaningful“… this is in contrast to another popular mantra promoted by many of my colleagues in the international aid and missions sectors. They frequently promote the idea “Give up your job and do something meaningful with your life”. In other words, give up your job and join us! I think they are well-meaning but it is still a con. Meaning and fulfillment can be found in almost any job that improves the quality of life and/or promotes the common good. In fact most jobs (at least those that are legal) do this already. It doesn’t matter if the job is in the government, corporate, or non-profit sector. Working in the non-profit sector is no more meaningful, fulfilling or morally right than working in the corporate sector. There are plenty of thieves as well as saints in both sectors.
This current chapter of my life started when I was 61. After serving ten years as the CEO of Operation Mercy (a very cool international relief & development organization based in Sweden) the timing was right to step down and for the next generation of leadership to step in. During this previous chapter I helped grow Operation Mercy to over 300 staff doing excellent project work in ten countries in Central Asia, Middle East, and North Africa. See www.mercy.se These were great years, fruitful and life giving years. But they were also difficult years that included staff murders, kidnappings, and other formidable challenges. With tongue in cheek I might title that chapter of my life as “Chapter 7: Leading Cats through a Dog Park”. I have many reflections from those years in my blog. It was also during that chapter that I finished my doctorate in Education at the University of Edinburgh. I wrote my thesis on professional identity formation within in the international aid sector. During this time I also managed to write a short book titled Embracing Our Priestly Nature at Work summarizing many years of study, reflection, and experience in trying to follow Jesus within the context of workplaces that are sometimes positive, sometimes neutral and sometimes hostile. Now in this new chapter, I suspect I will increasingly be involved in supporting and encouraging followers of Jesus in the global workplace to embrace their God-given priestly identity.
It is hard to write definitively about what this new chapter will be about (i.e Chapter 8) because I am still in it and don’t know what twists and turns the Author has in mind. But as I mentioned before, I imagine a major theme in this chapter will involve finding my place in the effort to mobilize, motivate, and equip Jesus followers to see their work and the people at their work as a key to finding meaning and satisfaction in life. That part of the story is still developing. So far I have done consultant gigs for the Nordic School of Management (see www.nsm.se) and am currently serving as the Nordic Regional Leader of OM Europe, an international Christian fellowship. I’m at my best coaching, supervising and encouraging leaders who live and work in challenging environments. I also am a certified trainer in workplace conflict resolution and a member of the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC). Simultaneously, this chapter will also be defined by Katarina and I becoming ’empty-nesters’ and grandparents.
Previous chapters of my life certainly influence my current and future chapters. Chapter 6 of my life centered around living in Istanbul, Turkey where Katarina and I worked for 22+ years and raised our four children who are now adults. This chapter ended in June of 2009 when we moved to Sweden. In Turkey I was the founding partner in a managing consulting business and later helped pioneer the work of Millennium Relief & Development Services (see www.mrds.org) in Turkey and Central Asia. During those two decades, I finished a Master’s of Divinity (MDiv) from Trinity Theological Seminary, with a focus on counselling, supervised multiple projects and people, wrote several short books on applied theology, and worked as a free-lance leadership trainer/consultant for Honeywell Corporation in Europe, Middle East, and North America. I have worked in and supervised project work in more than two dozen countries throughout Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East, and North America. In chapter 5 of my life I worked for Price Waterhouse in Washington DC as a senior consultant, taught computer programing to undergraduates, and earned a Master and Bachelor degrees in Business Education from James Madison University. I was raised mostly in the Virginia suburbs of Washington DC, but have now lived over half my life in Asia and Europe.
I suppose we are all on a journey in one way or another. My most important journey is learning to follow Jesus. I have adopted the Latin phrase praesis ut prosis ne ut imperes or lead in order to serve not in order to rule as a personal motto. It is very close to what Jesus taught about leadership and I like the Latin because it seems to make an elegant expression out of what in real-life, is a rather sobering and difficult ambition. I see myself as a long-term student of leadership, peacemaking, resilience, and professional development.
When I have spare time I enjoy fishing in Sweden’s many lake’s and rivers. I enjoy building stuff with my adult children and my grand children. I also dabble in brewing craft ciders & beers and creating functional stained glass art.
The “kids” at my daughters wedding in 2012
With my bride of 40 years outside our house in Örebro, Sweden
