Barnabas File

I love this book.     And it is not just because I am an introvert.     I love it because Jennifer Marcou does not attempt to change introverts into extroverts. She recognizes the inherent strengths and abilities of being an introvert and provides guidance for leveraging those attributes into successful leadership.      In Leading with Quiet Confidence:  A Practical Guide to Success for Introverts , Marcou states that “Introverts can be leaders by changing their behaviors, not who they are.”  One doesn’t have to give up the gift of being an introvert to become a good leader. Becoming a leader is not just about our capabilities, it is about how people perceive our capabilities.   There are four parts to the book:   Awareness:  What do I need to know to be successful as an introvert? Confidence: How to build and exude confidence. Behaviors:  Practical guide to being successful as a leader. Impact: ...

Do you know the story of Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuit order?      A nobleman, he spent his early life as a soldier.    He was severely wounded in battle. While recovering from surgery, he underwent a spiritual conversion and discerned a call to the religious life. After times of pilgrimage and spiritual discernment, he founded the Jesuits as a religious order to create schools, colleges, and seminaries across Europe.   As a former soldier, Ignatius paid particular attention to the spiritual formation of his recruits and recorded his method in the  Spiritual Exercises  (1548). In time, the method has become known as  Ignatian spirituality .    “In God’s economy, nothing is wasted” is a statement   popularized largely through Alcoholics Anonymous (often attributed to co-founder Bill W.) to express how personal struggles, failures, and hardships can still serve a purpose in growth and recovery.  ...

Someone posed a question to me recently that really caught my attention: “What do we gain from procrastination?”     Why is it that certain things or projects tend to slip on our calendars or get buried deeper in a pile of things to do later?    One of the topics that Jobert E. Abueva addresses in The Janus Plan:  A No-Resolutions Path to Begin Your Year with Intention is the practice of procrastination or avoidance.  Here are some of the reasons he suggests.   Fear of failure.   Often, we have anxiety about addressing something because we fear that we will fail.  Perhaps it is because we have failed in the past?  To be honest, if you have not failed, you probably have not tried something that really challenged you!   Perfectionism.   Not quite like fear of failure, but an internal drive to be perfect.  Seth Godin uses the term “time to ship.”  At some point you need to produce...

One of my favorite verses in the Bible is Jeremiah 29:1:    “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (NIV)   But it is helpful to understand the original context that is offered by the preceding verse:    This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. (NIV)   That’s next exactly good news, is it?  Here’s the context.  This is a letter from the prophet to Israelites who had been deported from their homes to exile in Babylon.  When he wrote, Jerusalem and the Temple had not yet been destroyed, but the Babylonians had already attacked the city twice and taken the letter’s recipients as captives.   And the prophet’s message is, “God has not forgotten you, but it will be sevent...

The Janus Plan:     A No-Resolutions Path to Begin Your Year with Intention challenges you not only to read but to engage with the author’s thoughtful and thorough approach to planning.    Jobert E. Abueva draws on his considerable personal experience of marketing, philanthropy, and global engagement to share with the reader an approach that is both reflective and action oriented.   Using the image of the Roman god Janus who had two faces—one to look back and one to look ahead—the author points out that “endings deserve reflection” and “beginnings deserve reverence.”  He perceives planning and goal setting as acts of personal reflection, assessment, purpose, and expectation. His six-step process includes:   Ponder the Past. Frame the Future. Nudge the Now. Clean and Clear. Revel in Ritual. Revisit and Reignite.    One aspect of the book that I found particularly significant was his emphasis on mindfulness and mediation as a preparation ...

Even when a novel is on the New York Times Best Seller list and is picked up by various book clubs, I am usually rather skeptical about whether it will appeal to me or not.     However, when several friends recommended Theo of Golden to me, I decided to give it a try.     Actually, I bought it in March and just read it in August.    Once I started, I was hooked.   Author Allen Levi shares the story a mysterious stranger who arrives in the city of Golden, Georgia, and begins investing in the lives of people there.  Levi weaves together various themes—faith, nature, art, music, relationships—to illustrate the impact that one individual can make in the lives of others.  He reminds us not only of the power of generosity but of compassion as well.  He does not ignore the ugliness and chaos present in even a small community but reminds us that love and faith make a difference in any circumstance.   To share just one exampl...

In recent days, I have been in several conversations with friends about retirement—some contemplating leaving a full-time position, some already in that reality.     I have often said that I have failed retirement.     I have “officially” retired twice but continue in several roles, including my work with Summit Coach Training.     Perhaps it would be better to say, “I have negotiated retirement in the way that works for me.”     And that’s the key.    Everyone is different and each must identify their own path in this third phase of life.   Here are four things that I think someone contemplating retirement should consider.   Retire TO something rather than FROM something.  When leaving a full-time role, we often think about what we are leaving behind rather than what we are entering.  We may have a mythical view of retirement as having all the time in the world to do what we want to do.  But what ...

  We have reflected on how learning and research from adjacent fields of study have impacted the core theory and methodology of coaching and the growing awareness of inclusivity and relationships in the application of coaching.  Now we turn to what I will term the emerging frontiers of coaching.     These topics are growing areas of interest among practitioners—the impact of artificial intelligence, the recognition that neurodiversity requires focused attention, and the role of faith-based or spiritual coaching.   Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Coaching   It’s here and it is not going away.  The role of AI in coaching is both energizing and controversial.  It means different things to different people.   Using AI in one’s practice may range from assigning administrative tasks to a virtual assistant to using a programmed avatar to do intake interviews.   The integration of AI technologies (such as conversational...

While management thinker Marshall Goldsmith did not coin the phrase "egocentric to ecocentric," his coaching philosophy emphasizes this approach.     Having been exposed to   Murray Bowen’s Family Systems Theory   in my post-seminary education, I have developed a tendency to look at most situations systemically.     Although Goldsmith’s emphasis is on the critical transition from self-serving leadership to systemic, planet-first leadership, he challenges us to remember that when we coach a person, we are also coaching a person within a system—a family, a church, an organization, a nation state, a global ecosystem.    Here are three coaching areas to consider under this sub-heading:  Inclusivity & Relational Contexts, DEIB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging), Team and Group Dynamics.   Cross-Cultural Engagement   The ability to coach effectively across diverse cultural norms, values, and worldviews is ess...

Coaching is by no means a static field.     As its impact and effectiveness have become widely recognized, both researchers and practitioners have sought to understand not only why coaching works but to leverage its strengths to provide more effective services to clients.     In so doing, coaches and coaching educators have engaged with other fields that are in themselves well-developed approaches to human functioning and development. In this post, we will look at four of these—Positive Psychology, Neuroscience, Mindfulness, and Somatic Coaching.   Positive Psychology.   The scientific study of human flourishing, strengths, and optimal functioning was launched by several psychologists, particularly Martin Seligman . The key idea in Positive Psychology is to look at people who are functioning well and learn from them rather than using pathology as the psychological base.  In coaching, it shifts the focus from fixing deficits to identifying a c...

Life coaching is a complex and evolving field of personal development.     I was recently contacted by a friend who did his coach training a decade ago.     He was considering reengaging in the field and asked about emerging topics in coaching.     This is a topic that often comes up with our coaches-in-training as well.   So, this is my top ten list.  It is not based on a survey and the areas are not necessarily new or novel, but they are prominent topics that I encounter on coaching websites, in chat rooms, and in webinars.   Positive Psychology   Neuroscience Mindfulness   Somatic coaching Cross-Cultural Engagement DEIB-- Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Team and Group Dynamics—not the same Artificial Intelligence and Coaching Neurodiversity-Affirming Coaching Faith-based or Spiritual Coaching   There are other topics that surface often:  Trauma-Informed Coaching; Climate, Eco-Anxiety, and Sustainab...

Although most of my ministry was on college campuses, I also worked for a small Baptist university and then a state-wide Baptist organization.     There were differences and similarities in the two. Despite the expected comments about bureaucracy, there were many positive aspects.      A plus was that I was part of organizations made up of committed people who loved the ministry they were doing.  For the most part, they were professionals who enjoyed engaging with others.  I often took the opportunity to walk down the hall or go to another campus building, drop into an office and spend time talking with someone about what they were doing, what I was doing, and life in general.  These were organic relationships that operated outside organization charts and “chains of command.”   As a result of these experiences, my understanding and appreciation for the relationships within an organization grew.  Even when individuals ...

Many in the church today look at the current situation and remember a “golden age” of church life.     Post World War Two the pews were filled, Sunday school classes overflowed with children, budgets were growing, the community was influenced by what the churches supported, seminaries were booming, and denominational bureaucracies were expanding.      Today, church members look around at empty pews, unused classrooms, diminishing resources, and an overall lack of relevance in the community around them. This disparity provokes grief, confusion, anger, and disillusionment.   In his Doctor of Ministry project at Central Seminary pastor Jason Mack pointed out that this “golden age” was an aberration.  Noting the work of Gil Rendle in  Quietly Courageous: Leading the Church in a Changing World,   he calls this “aberrant time.”   Postwar influence drove the population to be cohesive and common values were espoused.  Re...