Category / Leadership

It has been fun to see that the international humanitarian sector’s most prominent HR actor, People In Aid has been promoting my doctorate research. Between January and May 2015, People In Aid (now CHS Alliance) have run four articles highlighting …

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three-legged stool of success in aid workOne of the interesting interpretations of the data from my doctorate research was this tree legged stool metaphor. The three legs: 1) relationships, 2) results, and 3) grit represent traits of people who successfully navigate the complexities of international aid …

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pear tree ub four seasons 3
The Parable of the Pear Tree

There was a man who had four sons. He wanted his sons to learn not to judge things too quickly. So he sent them each on a quest, in turn, to go and look …

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A while back I came across an ancient proverb from the Middle East:

harvester-antGo to the ant you sluggard; consider her ways and be wise; who, having no guide, overseer or ruler, provides her bread in the summer and gathers

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I recently returned from a trip to Azerbaijan visiting Operation Mercy staff and projects. We have some great people working for Operation Mercy in Azerbaijan. During my visit I had the privilege to teach a 2-day seminar on leadership …

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 I recently finished G.K. Chesterton’s biography of Saint Francis of Assisi. Chesterton (1874-1936) did an amazing job at trying to setup the historical/cultural context in which Saint Francis lived. I was slightly annoyed with this approach at first but later …

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geog07a[1]Centuries before a person could earn a master’s degree in humanitarian studies, social work, or international development, ancient societies enacted laws to protect the poor and needy of their communities. One of the earliest examples of such a law dates …

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This little book (100 pages) tells a big story in a very readable and entertaining style. In The Epic, Eldredge reframes the story of God’s love for mankind by using contemporary analogies and non-religious vocabulary. This is the most …

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In this short book (104 pages) Dutch Catholic priest Henri Nouwen (1932-1996) describes some of the key lessons he learned after stepping down from a twenty year career as a professor of Divinity at Harvard, Yale and Notre Dame to …

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If you are at all like me, you might find yourself fighting back feelings of despair when looking at the hard realities of human suffering around the world. Sometimes it all seems so desperate, so painful, so endless, and so …

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