Hi, welcome to my blog. Let me briefly introduce myself. In July 2009 I started a new chapter of life when our family moved to Örebro, Sweden after I accepted an offer to become the CEO of Operation Mercy, a very cool international relief & development organization based in Sweden with over 300 staff doing project work in Central Asia, Middle East, and North Africa. See www.mercy.se After ten great years, I stepped down as the CEO of Operation Mercy in August 2019.

I now work 50% as a consultant for the Nordic School of Management (see www.nsm.se) and 50% 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 am a certified trainer in workplace conflict resolution and a member of the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC). I am the author of the book Embracing Our Priestly Nature at Work and several other publications on appliedl theology.

The previous chapter of my life was happily lived in Istanbul, Turkey where Katarina and I worked for 22+ years and raised our four children who are now adults. In Turkey I was the founding partner in a managing consulting business and later worked as the regional director for Millennium Relief & Development Services (see www.mrds.org). So, I have been living “abroad” for more years than I had lived in America. My Turkish is still better than my Swedish.

This new chapter is also defined by Katarina and I becoming ’empty-nesters’ and grandparents. Katarina works as a palliative care nurse at the local hospital. When I get a chance (and the energy), I do renovation projects in our 100 year old house and occational do a bit of lecturing at Örebro University’s School of Business on international management, Corporate Social Responsibility, and cross-cultural leadership.

I finished my doctorate at the University of Edinburgh’s School of Education (Moray House) in January 2014. My research took a grounded theory approach to explore the professional journeys of exemplary expatriate field leaders in the international aid sector. I have a Master’s of Divinity from Trinity Theological Seminary with an emphasis in counseling. I also have a Master’s of Education and a Bachelor’s of 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 and re-telling good jokes. I suppose my spare time activities are consistent with the Irish proverb: “You don’t always have to be good at something to enjoy it.”

The “kids” at my daughters wedding in 2012

With my bride of 30+ years outside our house in Örebro, Sweden