Leader

Throughout the past five years, I've witnessed first hand the tremendous highs and accompanying lows that the Net has brought -and it's been a hyper-speed e-biz education unlike no other!

While the collapse of NASDAQ last year destroyed many startups and crushed many dreams, I can't imagine the future being any brighter. The future is now. The opportunities to change the world are still out there.

Remember. The fear of failure cripples the very legs of success.

In Lessons to the eFront, I tracked down and personally interviewed 50 of the tech industry's most succesful entrerepreneurs. Now, for the first time ever, they share their own secrets, tips and advice for thriving in a digital world.

This is battle tested wisdom from the tech sector that you aren't going to be able to find anywhere else. I also share my own insights and thoughts on important company building topics throughout the book. All with clear actionable steps - not ivory tower thinking.

To learn even more about Lessons From the E-Front, don't forget to check out the book's [website]...

... I'm always looking to kick around new ideas and ...

Letter 1: Jesus - the Heart of our existence

Letter 2: Jesus - the God Who sets us free

Letter 3: Jesus - the Compassionate God

Letter 4: Jesus - the descending God

Letter 5: Jesus - the loving God

Letter 6: Jesus - the hidden God

Letter 7: Listening to Jesus

Ministry is a field where much of the learning is on-the-job. Most minister go to seminary or through another kind of professional training and formation, but there are so many aspects of the profession that defy academic methodology (not that this isn't of vital importance as a foundation and framework). However, continuing education for ministers is often overlooked, in the crush of pastoral and administrative needs in the parish. Yet continuing education, from 'professional teachers' as well as peer-to-peer learning, is increasingly important for today's church.

This book edited by Robert E. Reber and D. Bruce Roberts looks at the issue of clergy continuing education. After examining the current state of affairs (official groups, denominational initiatives, seminary programmes, etc.) and the vision (or lack thereof) for continuing theological education, the authors explore some of the problems associated and the possibilities for greater participation and effectiveness, which include ideas such as clergy and lay participation in such programmes.

Perhaps the heart of the book lies in the section on practices. Here are chapters discussing clergy peer groups, linking faith and work (with a case study from Auburn involving legal professionals), theological education with and for the laity, working through extension sites and innovative programmes for continuing education (ITC in Atlanta is used as a good example here), and working for leadership in the increasingly multicultural environment of American society. This is more of a study than a how-to book, however, there are ideas here that can be useful, showing what works and doesn't, and what is available, and the inspired reader can use the references for further research.

The final two sections look at the nuts-and-bolts of creating and managing such continuing education programmes, including ideas for marketing, assessment, needs analysis, and more, and what the direction is for the future. In the final chapters, editors Reber and Roberts ask key questions, or rather, repeat the key questions that are at least implicit throughout much of the text. Will there be continuing education opportunities that are of interest? Will lifelong education for adults become at least an equal priority as the education of children? Will economic, racial and social barriers be effectively overcome to permit participation? Will this provide spiritual resources sought?

Reber and Roberts draw a large number of experts in the field of education, media, and religion (practical and academic) to the conversation, making a strong case for new and increased efforts for continuing theological education for clergy and laity of all denominations. Working with the needs and concerns of greater society as well as the innovations of new technology (current the world-wide web, but in the future other technology as it emerges), there are vast opportunities and possibilities, if we as theological 'professionals' will but taken advantage of them.

I enjoyed these books as well: How People Grow, Boundaries, and Safe People.

John Ramsden's fascinating book is an analysis of how Churchill's reputation was born, was consciously shaped by the man himself, and how it has evolved in the years since his death. The bulk of the analysis focuses on the five English-Speaking nations, though Europe is included as well. Another large section looks at the famous "Iron Curtain" or "Sinews of Peace" speech at Fulton, Missouri, in 1946, and how it -- precisely as WSC intended -- transformed the world's view of him from heroic-but-passé war leader to very-much-active statesman, politician, and geopolitical strategist.

A final section, which I found the most interesting, analyses many of the key Churchill biographies written over the years, from Randolph Churchill and Martin Gilbert's official biography, to Lord Moran, to Manchester, to Roy Jenkins' "Churchill: A Biography" (2001), which Ramsden predicts will remain "the authoritative single text for years to come" (p. 545). Ramsden also seems to have counted every Churchill memorial statue, street, pub, and park bench in the world. And while a catalog of these things could easily become tiresome, this author skillfully keeps it from doing so.

This is no small accomplishment. People who write about Churchill are forced to deal with the sheer immensity of his life. Many respond by being prolix, or trite, or they oversimplify, or caricaturize, or fall into either blind hero-worship or equally unnuanced destructiveness. Ramsden does none of these. One way he manages this, of course, is by being fairly sparing of the details of most of WSC's life. Thus, this book will make a lot more sense to someone who already has a fairly good understanding of who the man was, what he did, and when. Another way is by filling his text with stories about, and insights into, Churchill and his contemporaries that are nearly all some combination of fascinating, entertaining, and memorable. Thus, while he's dealing with some Grand Themes, the author surrounds them with a bodyguard of anecdotes that in and of themselves almost guarantee this will be a fun read for any Churchill student or fan.

Significantly, Ramsden is not an *uncritical* admirer of Churchill, though he is clearly an admirer. The Winston we encounter here is not sugarcoated, and some of his unattractive features do come through. That and the mountainous research on display are two signs of Ramsden's chops as a historian.

Finally, as a many-year member of The Churchill Centre and its preceding organization the International Churchill Societies, I should note and commend Ramsden's coverage of this worthy organization. Far from the worshipful society of star-struck fans it is sometimes painted to be, Ramsden shows the CC to be a reputable and respectable association of clear-eyed admirers of the man of the century, warts and all.

I am always amazed at the new aspects or corners of Churchill's life and impact that people can find to write books about. This one, no question, was a book that needed to be written. And for any Churchill student or fan, it's one that needs to be read.

Zaleznik comes straight at the point in this article, he start with this question: "What is the ideal way to develop leadership?" Most societies provide their own answer to this question. According to Zaleznik business has contributed by evolving a new breed called the manager (remember that this article was originally published in May-June 1977). And he believes that this has led to organizations becoming bureaucratic with an emphasis on rationality and control. Zaleznik believes that managers and leaders are very different kinds of people. "They differ in motivation, personal history, and in how they think and act." In order to prove his point, he discusses differences in attitudes toward goals, conceptions of work, relationships with others, and personalities. Eventually, Zaleznik concludes that we have to examine two different courses of life history in considering the development of leadership. The first one is through socialization, the second one is through personal mastery. "Society produces its managerial talent through the first line of development; leaders emerge through the second." But Zaleznik believes that organizations can develop leaders. Unlike known myths, he does not believe in peer training. He believes in one-to-one relationships between senior people and potential leaders. "Great teachers take risks. ... The risks do not always pay off, but the willingness to take them appears to be crucial in developing leaders." This OnPoint edition is complemented with a strong retrospective commentary by the author, which was published in March-April 1992.

This is an fantastic article by Abraham Zaleznik, I could really quote the whole article. It discusses the differences between managers and leaders, which is followed by a discussion how leaders are developed. Highly recommended to anybody interested in management and leadership. For readers interested in leadership and the difference between management and leadership I also recommend the articles by Henry Mintzberg (1975), 'The Manager's Job: Folklore and Fact', John Kotter (1990), 'What Leaders Really Do', and Tom Peters (1979), 'Leadership: Sad Facts and Silver Linings'. The author uses simple US-English.

The authors didn't write much about Martin Luther King's personal life. Instead, they talked about what conflicts he faced and what specific important things he accomplished. This way of writing allowed the reader to learn more about his heroic tasks. The authors wrote in a very factual manner. They gave many examples of what Mr. King accomplished by talking about his conflicts and then explaining the resolution he came up with.

The authors also used a story-telling technique in their book. They told most of the story in a "third person" view. To do this, they properly fit many actual quotations from Mr. King's speeches into the story. This way of writing allows the reader to learn more from the story that is told. The following quotation from the book is one example of this story-telling technique: "King told the crowds at that night's mass meeting: 'Now they know that an injunction will not stop us.'"

This book is great for all ages. The way the authors wrote helped me understand what a hero really was and what characteristics Martin Luther King had to produce such an advancement and to make the world more equal. The book makes you think of questions that influence what a hero really is. When I read the book, I thought of questions like: "Do leaders lead by force or by persuasion" By command or consent?" Raising these basic questions makes you think about the passage and what it really means.

I would recommend this wonderful book to everyone. It expressed Mr. King's story in a very logical manner which made it much easier to read. It showed how hard Martin Luther King worked at helping his ethnic group succeed in life with segregation and mistreatment surrounding their lives. The book taught me never to give up, no matter how difficult the task is and some day you will get what you deserve and worked hard for. In the end, after all the crime and mistreatment that had taken place, Martin Luther King finally pursued his dream and his people are set free.