Irreplaceable

 

Issue No. 599 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting (March 13, 2024) introduces a new book that connects the dots between strategy and design. So applicable! Plus, click here to download free resources from the 20 management buckets (core competencies). I appreciated the Harley stories in the new book, Irreplaceable. I won a 100th anniversary Harley at a trade show in 2003. That year, our Christmas card featured our new triplet grandkids, with the tagline, “Born to Be Wild!”   Ridin’ a Lawn Chair at the Harley Store! I was hooked on this book just reading Kevin Ervin Kelley’s introduction, “Ernie the Tow Truck Driver Meets Kevin the Watcher.” I couldn’t put it down and it’s already a finalist for my 2024 Book-of-the-Year: IRREPLACEABLE:  How to Create Extraordinary Places  that Bring People Together  by Kevin Ervin Kelley (March 12, 2024) Just published yesterday, March 12, this book is absolutely fascinating. Think of the book title as “IrrePLACEable”—and you’ll get this strategic design architect’s big idea: “Something so special it can’t be replaced if lost or destroyed.” I know 20 colleagues who would love this book.  Kelley is an award-winning architect and experience designer. “I’ve spent my life trying to bring people together through the timeless interactions and primal qualities of place.” He adds, “…my job is to make the everyplace places of our lives extraordinary.” How does he do this? “I’m the guy who pulls up a lawn chair in a parking lot to watch people walk in and out of a steak buffet chain, and I’m the guy who studies consumers buying Fig Newtons in the cookie and cracker aisle of a grocery store. It’s an odd job.” “Standing around for weeks on end watching people look at Harleys may not be for everyone, and it created an awkward moment when I first met my wife and told her how I spend my days in disguise as a customer. But it’s what I do.” He adds, “But I’m not just a watcher. I’m also a fixer, adjuster, tinkerer, rethinker, and experience designer.” Consulting with Harley-Davidson, Kelley interviewed people (mostly men) at 30 Harley dealership across the U.S. After seeing Ernie a second time and at a different Harley store, he listened to his story. “Ernie’s desire to ‘hang out’ in the store told me a lot about his needs and wants and how we ought to be rethinking the purpose of the dealership, less as stores and more as clubhouses for wandering souls.” (Ernie already owned two Harleys!) Kelley and Ernie joked about Harley bikers: “The purchase they sought to acquire was ‘the end of loneliness for midlife-crisis-males-fading-in-strength.'” And speaking of joking, the author’s unusual approach when his team is stuck on solving a client’s problem is to “find the funny.”  He explains “find the funny” in Chapter 9, “Articulate”—one of five parts to his design firm’s “comprehensive system we’ve developed that has allowed our clients to retain or regain their edge over outside influences for the last three decades.” The five parts: Extract, Distill, Articulate, Crystallize, and Maximize.” (The “crystallize” steps—I hope—will be covered in his next book.) Timely! I’m guessing the author has already sent his book to the new CEO of Macy’s. Read this March 1, 2024, article in the WSJ: “Macy’s Stores Aren’t Fun Places to Shop. Its New CEO Wants to Fix That. Tony Spring is drawing on his hospitality training to turn around the department-store chain.” LOL! You’ll laugh when you read that as a kid, Kelley rearranged the furniture, lighting, and music volume in his parent’s home! When he got bored, he took on his classroom and friends’ bedrooms! He believes that “great things happen at the intersection of commerce and community.” Kelley writes that “…we set out to create a multidisciplinary field called convening, which we define as the art and science of bringing people together around an idea, forum, and experience.” He cofounded the strategy and design firm, Shook Kelley, in 1992 with his friend and lifelong mentor, Terry Shook. I thought this was insightful: “Terry was good with acres and me inches.” (Where are you on that continuum?) Their firm “helps people connect the dots between strategy and design.”   And speaking of convening, I had read only four pages when I recommended this book to Greg Leith, CEO of Convene. Who else should read this book? All of my camp and conference center friends, pastors and church leaders, university presidents, rescue mission leaders, board members, and others—and then this list of others—as suggested by the author: “This book is for those who own, manage, design, or inhabit a physical place or human experience as part of their business model or operation. These places include anywhere people convene in the public realm, whether a local grocery store or pub, a religious facility or an office building, a bowling alley or university, or an urban district or zoo. This book is also for parents, teachers, and students wanting to know more about how the environment of a place affects human behavior, social interactions, and our mental health and well-being.” The book oozes with practical insights (relevant to your space), but let me pause here to apologize to my wife who endured my reading meaty paragraphs to her from almost every chapter! Here’s a taste: • Visual Harmony vs. Visual Noise. “Ideally we want customers to walk into our venues feeling one way and come out a changed person with more energy and inspiration.” (Is that not the aspiration of every pastor and priest?) • The 7 Layers of Signage System: Orientation, Evocative, Address, Values, Process, Promotional, Whisper/Nudge. (You’ll see stores and restaurants with new eyes!) About those giant grocery store letters that spell PRODUCE—“First of all, when’s the last time you heard mom and dad telling their kids to ‘Eat your produce!’” • The Theater of Space. Must-read: the author’s five guiding principles for “the art and science of scene-making.” Using retail as his example, the first principle is “A Good Retail Scene Has a Beginning, Middle, and End.” Principle 2: “A Good Retail Scene Has a Mini-climax Inside of It.” There’s much, much more: • The 10 preliminary questions the design firm asks to get their “observation pumps primed.” • Why only 3 out of 10 clients can do “groundbreaking, breathtaking, and game-changing innovation work.” The other seven? They’ll “do better than where they started but won’t reach the level of excellence they initially desired.” He explains. • Don’t skip the 3x5 card facilitation process, the 3 dials (rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 10), The Place Brand Constitution, and the “6 Tips of the Brand Spears.” • Plus: why you need a Brand Stewardship Committee, and how to inspire team members to become “black belt evangelists” and “shepherds of the brand.” • Creative idea: In what they jokingly called their “civil disobedience workshops,” the firm launched an urban renewal project with “the technique of communicating our big strategic idea in the tight confines of a movie poster.” (Brilliant—worth the price of the book!) The winners and the losers (Blockbuster and others) are noted in this book including the innovative L.A. shopping center, The Grove (he takes his clients there to observe), Trader Joe’s, and Texas Roadhouse. Irreplaceable reminded me of two books: Growing Weeders Into Leaders and The Power of Moments. More Brilliance! “If you suddenly got hired by your fiercest competitor and were now sitting at their strategy table, how would you recommend they beat your old employer?” “Too Enthusiastically." I was intrigued with Kelley’s design observations and recommendations (a list of 21) following his travel to the city of Makati—the financial center of the Philippines. (I’ve been there.) No one except Kelley noted “…this small but curious anomaly: groups of maintenance crews applying a notable amount of hazard-yellow paint all over the place…” He adds, “While they intended to alert the public to potential hazards, they did their jobs too enthusiastically.”  Trust me. You can’t be too enthusiastic about this one-of-a-kind book. It’s a must-read in your lawn chair or your Harley!    To order from Amazon, click on the title for Irreplaceable: How to Create Extraordinary Places that Bring People Together (March 12, 2024), by Kevin Ervin Kelley. Listen on Libro (7 hours, 39 minutes). And thanks to the publisher for sending me a review copy.     YOUR WEEKLY STAFF MEETING QUESTIONS: 1) How intentional are you in connecting the dots between strategy and design? Max De Pree (1924-2017) was the CEO of Herman Miller,  a company well known for design. In his book, Called to Serve: Creating and Nurturing the Effective Volunteer Board, he writes: “Hospitality has to do with equity for each member. Enabling each to feel authentic and needed and worthwhile is an act of hospitality. The way we provide for the needs of the group in the physical setting is part of this.” Read my 30 blog posts (not a typo!) on De Pree’s book. Or, read Lesson 3, “The Productivity Payoff of Intentional Hospitality,” in More Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom. 2) Who, on your team, is focusing on the “inches” and observing from a lawn chair? Perhaps Joan Kroc, the wife of Ray Kroc, McDonald’s founder, did not use a lawn chair—but she did “hang out anonymously” at a Salvation Army community center in San Diego. Kevin Ervin Kelley, author of Irreplaceable, would love these story about the Kroc estate gift of more than $1.5 billion to The Salvation Army! Read “Big Blessings Abound When Management Faithfulness Flourishes” (Christian Management Report, April 2004), and Lesson 1, "Big Blessings Abound When Governance Faithfulness Flourishes,” from More Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom (2019).        Mastering 100 Must-Read Books Part 12: Historical & Political Commentary (U.S.) Book #69 of 100: Rumsfeld’s Rules For your team meeting this week, inspire a team member to lead your “10 Minutes for Lifelong Learning” session by featuring Book #69 in Mastering 100 Must-Read Books.  Rumsfeld’s Rules: Leadership Lessons  in Business, Politics, War, and Life by Donald Rumsfeld Books #66 through #70 spotlight five fascinating books on U.S. politics and more. Admiral Hyman Rickover warned, “If you are going to sin, sin against God, not the bureaucracy. God will forgive you but the bureaucracy won’t.” That’s just one of over 400 “rules” in this wonderful book by Donald Rumsfeld (1932-2021). The quotations, axioms, rules, and corner office wisdom ooze off almost every page. In the front of my book, I noted 36 rules that I will use again.     • Read my review.     • Order from Amazon: Rumsfeld’s Rules     • Listen on Libro (9 hours, 3 minutes)     • Download the 100 Must-Read Books list (from John and Jason Pearson). In the section, “Running a Meeting,” Rumsfeld advises: • “The first consideration for meetings is whether to call one at all.” • “If you can find something everyone agrees on, it’s wrong.” (Rep. Mo Udall) • Rumsfeld adds, “The default tendency in any bureaucracy, especially in government, is to substitute discussion for decision-making. The act of calling a meeting about a problem can in some cases be confused with actually doing something.” • “If you expect people to be in on the landing, include them for the takeoff.” • “Stubborn opposition to proposals often has no basis other than the complaining question, ‘Why wasn’t I consulted?’” (Pat Moynihan) • “As drill sergeants are fond of saying, ‘If you’re five minutes early, you’re on time. If you’re on time, you’re late. If you’re late, you have some explaining to do.’” MORE RESOURCES: • BLOG: Pails in Comparison • SUBSCRIBE: Your Weekly Staff Meeting eNews • JOHN'S BOOK REVIEWS: on Amazon  •WEBSITE:  Management Buckets • BLOG: Governance of Christ-Centered Organizations Note: This is the NEW location for John Pearson's Buckets Blog. Slowly (!), the previous 650+ blogs posted (between 2006 and 2025) will gradually populate this blogsite, along with new book reviews each month.

Leading Me

 

Issue No. 339 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting (March 5, 2016) suggests you place two large glass jars on your dresser at home or your desk at work—and drop in thousands of ball bearings!  Corrective for Drivenness Before you can lead and coach others, says Steve Brown, you must learn how to lead yourself. So what would that look like? Steve enlightens us with eight memorable insights in Leading Me: Eight Practices for a Christian Leader's Most Important Assignment. It’s packed with the practical—like “The Cycle of Grief” chart on page 51 and its antidote on page 53, “The Cycle of Grace.” It’s original—know anyone who hangs a poster copy of Rembrandt’s The Prodigal by their front door? And—it’s inspirational. I made a ton of inspirational notes that I planned to share with you, but then I read Chapter 8, and found the big idea for me (and maybe you). Read this excerpt and you’ll be telling this story to family and friends all year!    Excerpted from Chapter 8: Stewardship and Shalom Leading Me: Eight Practices for a Christian Leader's Most Important Assignment © Copyright 2015, Steve A. Brown. All rights reserved.   Visit Arrow Leadership or Amazon to order this book. “Teach me to number my days aright so that I may gain a heart of wisdom.” Psalm 90:12 People sometimes do strange things. After my first residential session as a participant in the Arrow Leadership Program, my roommate went home and made a very strange purchase. He bought 25,550 ball bearings. The natural question is, why? Why would anyone buy 25,550 ball bearings? Well, there is a method to what may seem like my roommate’s madness. The answer is profound. During that first Arrow residential session, my roommate had a transformational experience. He was deeply moved by the needs in the world. He was also awed by God’s particular call on his life to be part of his mission in this chapter of history. Finally, he was convicted that God wants everyone to carefully steward their limited time on this earth.  His prayer was the same as the psalmist’s in Psalm 90:12: “Teach me to number my days aright so that I may gain a heart of wisdom.” So, when my roommate got back home, he took the psalmist’s prayer literally. He wanted to number his days aright. To do so, he did some basic math. He estimated his lifespan to be 70 years and multiplied 70 years x 365 days. This comes out to 25,550 days of life. Although my roommate knew that this timeframe wasn’t guaranteed and that his days are ultimately held in God’s hands, he was still moved by this research. He wanted to brainstorm creative ways to tangibly and visually mark this precious and finite amount of time. So, he purchased 25,550 ball bearings. With each ball bearing representing a day of his life, he counted out all the days he had already lived. Then he put the ball bearings representing days already lived into a large jar. The rest of the ball bearings were put in another jar that represented days not yet lived. Then he began a morning ritual.  Every morning he would go over to the jar of days not yet lived, pick out one ball bearing and place it in his pocket. This one ball bearing was a tangible reminder of his responsibility to steward each day that God gives him on this earth. At the end of each day, he completed the ritual. He would take the ball bearing out of his pocket and place it in the jar representing completed days. It served as a visual reminder that each day given is a gift and resource to steward for God’s glory. Once a day is gone, it is gone forever. My Arrow roommate eventually stopped this ritual, but he recently told me that the jars still sit on his shelf as a visual reminder.  This story has had a profound effect on my life. We ultimately don’t know how many days we have in this life. Today could be the last one. Maybe there are thousands left. Whatever the number, this story is a vivid reminder that we are called to be stewards of this special gift of time. Editor’s Note: In this important book, Steve Brown masterfully connects the dots between the illustrations and the Biblical values. (You’ll remember both.) If you appreciated Great Questions for Leading Well (also by Steve), you’ll love this book. He continues, “The concept of stewardship is clear in Scripture. God has entrusted everyone and particularly Christian leaders with many resources—time, talent and treasure being just three. Our job is to recognize this trust as well as to seek to care for and invest these resources for God’s glory. “As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 4:2, ‘Now, it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.’ In other words, leading yourself well means being a steward of the trust given to you. This trust is magnified for Christian leaders who are given opportunities to leverage not only their own talents but also the talents given to others. “When I put the ball bearing illustration together with these stewardship verses, I am both convicted and inspired to wisely invest the gift of time entrusted to me. I am overwhelmed by the truth that God invites us to be part of his work and purposes. For these reasons, one of the key elements of leading ourselves is stewarding our time.”  To order from Amazon, click on the title for Leading Me: Eight Practices for a Christian Leader's Most Important Assignment, by Steve A. Brown. Your Weekly Staff Meeting Questions: 1) Steve Brown notes that there is “the temptation for stewardship to become an idol. This usually manifests itself in an insatiable drivenness toward more activity, more busyness and more accomplishment. Ironically, this kind of behavior in a leader is often applauded and encouraged by boards, churches and employers. They are impressed by and thankful for the output that often seems to accompany driven people and leaders.” Discuss! 2) So how many ball bearings are left in your jar—and after you’ve prayed “teach us to number our days,” what are you learning? Brown writes, “Psalm 23 provides a beautiful corrective to the tendency toward drivenness.” The Worst Hallucination: "All Depends on Me" Insights from Mastering the Management Buckets: 20 Critical Competencies for Leading Your Business or Nonprofit As we cycle through the 20 buckets, here are two powerful notes from Steve Brown—perfect color commentaries for the Team Bucket, Chapter 9, in Mastering the Management Buckets.  Brown says that “stewardship that is hijacked by drivenness will eventually reap significant costs and casualties.” He quotes from Sabbath, by Wayne Muller, which “counters the drivenness that is often behind the epidemic of busyness in North America.”  WAYNE MULLER: “The busier we are, the more important we seem to ourselves and, we imagine, to others. To be unavailable to our friends and family, to be unable to find time for sunsets (or even to know that the sun has set at all), to whiz through our obligations without time for a mindful breath, this has become the model of a successful life.” BROWN/BUCHANAN: “Ouch! Unfortunately, there are far too many examples of sacrifices on the altar of drivenness. We are a society that prides itself on busyness and 24/7/365 activity. In The Rest of God, Mark Buchanan writes that in all this frenetic activity, ‘the worst hallucination busyness conjures up is the conviction that I am God. All depends on me. How will the right things happen at the right time if I’m not pushing and pulling and watching and worrying’?” For more insights from the Team Bucket, visit this webpage. MORE RESOURCES: • BLOG: Pails in Comparison • SUBSCRIBE: Your Weekly Staff Meeting eNews • JOHN'S BOOK REVIEWS: on Amazon  •WEBSITE:  Management Buckets • BLOG: Governance of Christ-Centered Organizations Note: This is the NEW location for John Pearson's Buckets Blog. Slowly (!), the previous 650+ blogs posted (between 2006 and 2025) will gradually populate this blogsite, along with new book reviews each month.

A Life of Listening

 

Issue No. 435 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting (April 22, 2020) suggests you leverage the slower pace during COVID-19 to discern God’s voice in the stillness. Leighton Ford, now 88, shares his transparent journey. Perfect timing! And this reminder: click here to download free resources from the 20 management buckets (core competencies).   The Cosmic Loom “Lord, what book should I read and review next?” is my on-going prayer. Many times I sense the Holy Spirit’s nudge about a specific book. So perhaps for you also—while hunkered down during this COVID-19 crisis—it may be God’s timing for us to read Leighton Ford’s masterful memoir of his very personal journey, A Life of Listening: Discerning God's Voice and Discovering Our Own. When Leighton Ford reflects on calling and vocation, he notes that “we spend the first part of our lives finding a role—professional or parent, executive or explorer, solider or artist.” But then (quoting Thomas Keating), “the paradox is that we can never fully fulfill our role until we are ready to let it go.” So who is Leighton Ford? One global title is noteworthy: Honorary Lifetime Executive Chair of the Lausanne Movement. But is he a preacher, or a proclaimer, or a prophet, or a painter, or a poet? Yes—all of the above. He’s also a listener. And his life has impacted mine across the years. I’m so grateful. Coaching a young leader—early thirties—who was second-guessing his pastoral call, Leighton encouraged him. “Remember God is an artist. He doesn’t do copies. He does originals. And if you are called here, God will do something new through you.” Thus, at age 88, when asked to declare his mission statement, Leighton Ford now says “To be an artist of the soul. And a friend on the journey.” What’s your mission statement—and has it changed over the decades? But let me back up a bit—with a LOL story that will provide some context. At age 14 (because he was tall!), Leighton was named the president of his local Youth for Christ club in Ontario, Canada. In the late 1940s, Billy Graham—the emerging evangelist—was invited to speak at the YFC rally in Chatham, Leighton’s hometown. So with this God-planned connection—fast forward—Billy Graham tells his sister, Jeanie, about this young Canadian and Leighton and Jeanie meet at Wheaton College and eventually marry. Then, as part of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Team, Leighton formed a team to focus on Canada and other parts of the world. Once, when Leighton’s team was conducting a two-week crusade in Nova Scotia, Billy Graham was invited to preach on the final weekend. Billy arrived a day early and sat quietly in the back of the crowd. During the invitation—when seekers would go forward to place their trust in Christ—Billy noticed an older man who perhaps needed encouragement. So Billy “tapped the man on the shoulder, and asked if he wanted to go down and give his life to Christ.” “The old fellow turned, and, not recognizing Billy, who was wearing dark glasses, thought a moment, then said, ‘Nah, I think I’ll wait until the big gun comes tomorrow night!’” So…you’re Billy Graham’s brother-in-law. Life is good. Bed of roses. Opportunities. Acclaim. Success. God’s blessings. (Eh?) Hardly—and maybe you’ve hit a rough patch also along the way. So that’s why now would be the perfect time to listen, to go deep, and to discern God’s voice with the help of an experienced guide, Leighton Ford. Here’s a taste of the guidance: • “As you read my story, perhaps it will stir a remembering of the voices you have heard in your life…” • Following the tragic loss of their 21-year-old son, Sandy: “It’s been said that there are places in our hearts we don’t even know are there until our hearts are broken.” He then discovered: “My preaching was more from the heart, but what I sought was not so much more places to preach as more still places to listen. Silence and solitude, which I had often avoided, became more welcome and compelling.” • The endnotes deliver readings for a graduate course in discernment: Leonard Cohen, Henri Nouwen, N.T. Wright, Mary Oliver, Parker Palmer, Richard Rohr, E. Stanley Jones, Amy Carmichael, Oswald Chambers, and dozens of others. • On his birth parents and his adoptive parents: “It has also taught me that I cannot be a rescuer in unhealthy ways of those who carry deep wounds from life. To discern the difference calls for a lifetime of listening.” • On recognizing God’s call to launch Arrow Leadership, a ministry to younger leaders: “For some time I had been keeping what I called my GGTW List—Guys and Gals to Watch. These were younger men and women in whom I observed strong potential for leadership.” • In the chapter, “When We Lose Our Way,” he transparently describes his own angst during a devastating conflict: “Motives are misunderstood, and those involved project onto leaders their own needs. Reason shuts down, and emotions rule. We get wrapped in the ‘fog of war.’ The desire for power and control take over. And when those we have trusted let us down, the sense of betrayal is acute.” On a country path walk through farm fields in northern England, Leighton remembered the discerning words from his “spiritual father,” an Anglican bishop, who tenderly said to him, “You just need to find a way to let the pain and hurt go. Hold it loosely even if you can’t fix it.” So Leighton “picked up a stick and drew a line on the dirt.” He stepped across the line and breathed this prayer: “Lord, as best as I can, I let go of the hurt, the resentment, the anger. I don’t know if the breach will ever be repaired. But as much as is in me I leave it behind. Help me to do so.” • He quotes Frederick Buechner: “The place where God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” And Leighton adds, “…where the Spirit’s deepest promptings bring a deepening conviction of being in the right place.” • Looking for a deeper leadership model than the ones many believers adapt from secular models, Leighton notes how Jesus led: “the leadership of a son, a storyteller, a servant, and a shepherd-maker.” (Four S’s: that will preach!) • Noting how E. Stanley Jones pictured a “Cosmic Loom” metaphor emanating from the unshakeable kingdom in Hebrews 12:28, Leighton writes, “As I respond to his calling, I may make mistakes. But he does not. And even my mistakes he can weave into his pattern.” • An editor’s advice to Leighton and Jeanie’s son, Kevin (also an author), on making college decisions—discernment counsel from A.W. Tozer: “When you have to make a decision, concentrate on loving God from your heart. If there are several doors open, some will likely close. Then if more than one is open, go through the door you want to go, and trust God to make it right.” • And this from a Quaker woman when asked how “to discern God’s way in her life.” Her answer: “Way has not often opened before me, but way has often closed behind me.” (Prophetic words during COVID-19?) • Don’t miss Leighton’s exposition on the three-step process for discerning your calling: Observe, Reflect, Act. He notes John Wesley’s encouragement that we should “second the motions of the Holy Spirit.” He quotes Mary Oliver’s instructions for living a life:    --Pay attention    --Be astonished    --Tell about it. • How might God get your attention? Study the great characters of the Bible and reflect on the diversity of attention-getting moments (see Moses, Samuel, Mary, Peter, and others). • Leighton punctuates this powerful memoir with a probing question: “If right now the Lord walked up the back steps to where I am sitting on my porch, I wonder, how might his voice sound?” He answers his own question with 19 bullet-point phrases (arresting insights)—the strongest and most meaningful final two pages of a book I’ve ever read. Stunning. A Life of Listening is rich. I read it slowly and I’m still discerning and discussing the book with my favorite listener—my wife, Joanne. I never aspired to be a Billy Graham or a Leighton Ford (not my calling)—but the book prompted me to think ahead to 2034, when I’m 88 (Lord willing). Will I have been a faithful lifelong learner and listener over the previous 15 years—so I might have something to write home about? Yikes. Or even this, as Leighton notes: Inscribed on Ruth Graham’s memorial plaque at the Billy Graham Library, “Construction complete. Thanks for your patience.” To order from Amazon, click on the title for A Life of Listening: Discerning God's Voice and Discovering Our Own, A Memoir by Leighton Ford. YOUR WEEKLY STAFF MEETING QUESTIONS: 1) In Ruth Haley Barton’s book, Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership (my 2009 book-of-the-year), Leighton Ford’s foreword pulls you into the richness of the text. The 10th anniversary expanded edition (2018), includes a new “afterword” also by Leighton Ford. He writes about the book’s impact: “My own soul responds both with ‘Ouch!’ and ‘Yes!’” Mention a book you’ve read or listened to recently that prompted an “Ouch!” response! 2) “Most of us need some kind of spiritual jolt to start us on the second journey, to make us stop and listen long enough to pay attention to what God is saying to us,” writes Leighton Ford in The Attentive Life: Discerning God's Presence in All Things. Describe a “spiritual jolt” you’ve experienced—and the result.    Bullet Point Your Life! Insights from Mastering the Management Buckets Workbook  One of the big ideas in the Team Bucket is that “…we leverage the unique set of talents and strengths given to each person by God. Thus we serve with more fulfillment and joy.”  Have you ever “bullet pointed” your life’s journey? During this unique COVID-19 period, in addition to reading A Life of Listening, by Leighton Ford (above), select a second book from the list below—and use another person’s journey to reflect on your own journey.  #1. The Joseph Road: Choices That Determine Your Destiny, by Jerry White. The author’s bullet point summary of Joseph’s life is fascinating and so he convinced me to “bullet point” my major life events—to see what I could learn from those forks-in-the-Joseph Road. Jerry illustrates how to do this exercise with bullet points of his own life.   #2. Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation, by Parker J. Palmer #3. Gilead, by Marilynne Robinson. Warning! You’ll weep as you journey with John Ames, the 76-year-old still-in-the-pulpit Congregational minister in Gilead, Iowa. It’s 1956 and Pastor Ames is journaling a life letter to his seven-year-old son, an extraordinary blessing from his second and younger wife.   #4. Listen to My Life: Maps for Recognizing and Responding to God in My Story, is a unique visual tool that helps you invite God into the process of reviewing your past, assessing your present, and enriching your walk with God into your future. Created by Sibyl Towner and Sharon Swing. #5. Soul Keeping: Caring for the Most Important Part of You, by John Ortberg #6. Leading Me: Eight Practices for a Christian Leader's Most Important Assignment, by Steve A. Brown (president of Arrow Leadership) #7. The Prince of Darkness: 50 Years Reporting in Washington, by Robert D. Novak #8. Myself and Other More Important Matters, by Charles Handy #9. Eisenhower 1956: The President’s Year of Crisis—Suez and the Brink of War, by David A. Nichols. After a heart attack in 1955, the “doctors told him to take it easy—and in that we get a humorous picture of Ike. He wrote a friend that he had been ordered ‘to avoid all situations that tend to bring about such reactions as irritation, frustration, anxiety, fear and, above all anger.’ So he had snapped at the doctors, ‘Just what do you think the presidency is?’” #10. Crafting a Rule of Life: An Invitation to the Well-Ordered Way, by Stephen A. Macchia. Note: Click here to download PDFs of three lists from the Book Bucket, including more biographies, autobiographies, and other resources for the journey.                   JASON PEARSON: UNEXPECTED CREATIVE. Your organization is also on a journey. How effectively are you painting your past, your present, and your future? Check out the innovative work from Jason Pearson at Pearpod Media (branding, digital, print, and video). And while in your bunker this month, it’s the perfect time to invest in your family by completing the fun and meaningful journal by Jason Pearson and Doug Fields, THIS. 52 Ways to Share Your World With Those You Love. (Read John’s review here.) Note: This is the NEW location for John Pearson's Buckets Blog. Slowly (!), the previous 650+ blogs posted (between 2006 and 2025) will gradually populate this blogsite, along with new book reviews each month. MORE LESSONS: Effectiveness, Excellence, Elephants! Click here to order More Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom, by Dan Busby and John Pearson. Click here to follow the new blog with 40 guest bloggers. Pop Quiz! Click here to take the boardroom pop quiz and then read John's short thoughts on five ways to bless your board: 1) Memo to Self: Shut Up! 2) Help our CEO discern “The ONE Thing.” 3) Don’t make the problem worse. 4) Consult outside wisdom. 5) Delegate!

A Board Prayer

 

Issue No. 672 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting (Feb. 13, 2026) urges you to buy Dan Bolin’s new book, A Board Prayer, for every person on your board. Really. You'll thank Dan for this powerful resource. Plus, click here for recent issues posted at the NEW site for John Pearson’s Buckets Blog, including my recent review of If I Knew Then What I Know Now. Also, check out the 20 management buckets (core competencies) and more book reviews at the Pails in Comparison Blog. Dan Bolin urges leaders and board members to pray, “Help me to tell the whole truth not just the parts that make me look good.” And, “Let me not bury bad news in mounds of data and detail…”   “When was the last time a mistake was owned before the board?” “Father, allow me to report honestly.” That’s one of the seven powerful prayers topics (with seven board best practices) in this new book I highly recommend:   A Board Prayer:  Explore Seven God-Honoring Board Practices by Dan Bolin (Feb. 2, 2026)   That prayer reminded me of the panel discussion I facilitated some years back with four ministry CEOs. The national conference workshop topic: “What I would do differently in my first five years as CEO.”  One well-known leader absolutely silenced the room: “I wouldn’t lie to my board!” (He shared the rest of the story. Oh, my.) Dan Bolin has been around the block (and the world). When leading Christian Camping International, his board was meeting in Bangalore, India, for their annual board meeting. As you’ll read in A Board Prayer, Dan was inspired that week to write this powerful prayer that boards worldwide are now reading together at every meeting. GOOD NEWS! Dan has generously shared this two-page prayer with leaders everywhere—and today the ripple effect is still rippling:    • The prayer is included in at least four books and a board governance toolbox. (See below.)    • I’ve facilitated this board prayer practice in dozens and dozens of board meetings with clients and clergy. Next week, I’m blessing board members again with this prayer.    • You can download the two-page prayer right here. (And LOL: read here why Dan had ample time to write this prayer in the hallway—while his board was conducting his annual performance review!) MORE GOOD NEWS! Wow. Dan Bolin has now blessed-the-socks-off of board members everywhere by adding his inspired color commentary to his original two-page prayer. His new book, A Board Prayer, features seven short chapters—exploring seven God-honoring board best practices. This is the perfect book to gift to every board member and senior team member. (If I were still a CEO or board chair, I would personally pay for the books. A praying board is very cost-effective! A no-brainer.) I know. I know. I recommend way too many “must-read” books—but please trust me on this one. This prayer has been pilot-tested around the world. I’ve read this remarkable prayer hundreds of times, yet each time the Holy Spirit faithfully elbows me about one or more lines in the prayer. (I’m a slow learner.) I’ve also seen board members respond to those holy jabs. What fun and what joy! Imagine…your board members praying these words together from Chapter 2: “Father, allow me to REPORT HONESTLY.    • Help me to tell the whole truth not just the parts that make me look good.    • Let me not bury bad news in mounds of data and detail, and don’t let me gloss over painful issues or personal failures.    • Help me to give credit to others and take responsibility for failure and lack of progress.    • Don’t let me trivialize serious issues or magnify minor successes.    • Let me tell stories and provide statistics that represent accurately.    • Help me remember that good information provides a smooth pathway to good decisions.” Each short chapter concludes with a “Personal Reflections” page and a “Board Discussion” page. Dan has done our work for us. (Thanks, Dan!) And yikes. Ask this discussion question from Chapter 2 at your next board meeting: “When was the last time a mistake was owned before the board? Has that been too long?” Note: If you’re a longtime reader of this eNews, you know I’m pretty good at mistake-making. See the awkward moment I experienced with a board member in Mistake #8, “Incessantly Whining About Being Too Busy,” in Mastering Mistake-Making. (Thanks to Jim Brown and Dick Daniels for helping me learn from Mistake #8.) Dan writes: “I have worked directly for boards for about 40 years. I have interacted with some of the best people on the planet—and a few curmudgeons.” (Can you relate?) As the new and very young CEO of Pine Cove Christian Camps in Texas, Dan was blessed to have Bob Buford (1939-2018) on his board. Buford simply asked him, “What can I do to help you be successful?” Wow. (Another must read: Drucker & Me, by Bob Buford.) CONTRARIAN! You’ll appreciate Dan’s wisdom, heart, and contrarian thinking. “Boards are badly mistaken when they think their work is about them. Boards exist to serve their organizations, consider the interest of the many stakeholders connected to the church or ministry, and ultimately to be good stewards of God’s resources." “The purpose of a board meeting is never about the board.” You’ll love his suggestion that maybe “these gatherings should be called beneficiary meetings.”  And this: “God loves the people served by the ministry, the campers, parishioners, students, patients, hungry, homeless, addicts, artists, scientists, athletes, clients of every stripe. And he loves the board members too. In fact, he loves the board enough to entrust the work of caring for his people to them, for better or for worse." “In a sense, they are not board meetings, or beneficiary meetings, they are God’s meetings.” I’m gonna borrow that line! Brilliant. When your board members read this book—their vision will be enlarged and enriched. I predict your board meetings will be less ho-hum and more hoopla! (in the best sense of the word). Dan writes, “Boards count inputs and outcomes: volunteer hours, meals served, beds filled, Sunday attendance, offering size, and any number of actions that tend to be measurable. We love to count, and that is not a bad thing, just not the only thing."    Then Dan asks, “What then, does honor God look like? (You’ll appreciate why “speaking with one voice” requires that “debate, opposing opinions, and candid deliberations stay in the room.”) And this: “Probably the least considered and yet most significant stakeholders are the people of the future. Someday, many years downstream, people’s lives will be influenced by the decisions made in the boardroom today.” (See Idea #5 below, "The Board and the Bachelor Farmer.") You don’t need any further commentary from me—so just bless your board and order one copy of A Board Prayer for every board member. (See below for creative ways to then leverage the learnings.) TO ORDER FROM AMAZON, click on the title for A Board Prayer: Explore Seven God-Honoring Board Practices, by Dan Bolin. P.S. Dan Bolin and I go way back and in my review of the book, Succession, by Peter Greer and Doug Fagerstrom, I mentioned that years ago, over lunch in Dallas with Dan, we were discussing the possibility of his serving on the board of Christian Management Association (now CLA). We were good friends and I wanted an honest answer from him. If he were on the board and sensed that it was time for me to exit—would he have the guts to…? Dan interrupted before I finished my question. “You’re asking, John, could I fire you—if needed? No problem!” We both laughed—and I believed him! Gratefully, I was privileged to serve 11 years (without a pink slip) as the CEO of that national association now celebrating 50 years—but I’ll never forget that succession conversation with Dan!   10 IDEAS FOR ENRICHING FUTURE BOARD MEETINGS  HINT! Delegate your reading! Appoint a “Leaders Are Readers Champion” and begin each board meeting with “10 Minutes for Governance.”  [   ] IDEA #1. Download the two-page PDF, “A Board Prayer.” [   ] IDEA #2. Order the book, A Board Prayer, by Dan Bolin, for every board member and senior team member (and prospective board members). Order from Amazon. [   ] IDEA #3. Deputize a “Leaders Are Readers Champion,” per the book, Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom. Read Chapter 38, “Great Boards Delegate Their Reading.” Read the blog by Kent Stroman. Order the book. [   ] IDEA #4. Begin the practice of investing “10 Minutes for Governance in Every Board Meeting” per the book, Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom. Read Chapter 39. Read the blog by John Walling. Order the book. [   ] IDEA #5. Pray about planning for the next generation and read “The Board and the Bachelor Farmer,” per the book, More Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom: Effectiveness, Excellence, Elephants! Read Chapter 1. Read the blog by Wayne Pederson. Order the book. [   ] IDEA #6. Pray about what to measure—and much more. Read the book, Effectiveness by the Numbers: Counting What Counts in the Church, by William R. Hoyt. Order the book. (Read my review.) [   ] IDEA #7. Read why a board chair insisted Jeff Lilley bring the two-page board prayer to every board meeting at Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission! See “Prioritize Prayer Over Problems: Create space for prayer—serious supplications for a serious work.” From: Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom. Read Chapter 10. Read the blog by Jeff Lilley. Order the book. [   ] IDEA #8. You’ll appreciate Dan Bolin’s writing style and heart for God. Visit his website to see other books by this gifted and prolific author, including:     • Blueprints: Biblical Designs for Christian Camping Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow. (Read my review.)     • Jesus: Camp Director: 5,000 Campers, 12 Interns, 0 Kitchen Staff (Read my review.)     • Valentine’s Day Idea! Wives, here’s a gift suggestion for your husband: How to Be Your Wife's Best Friend: 365 Ways to Express Your Love, by Dan Bolin and John Trent. (Order from Amazon.)    And speaking of Christian camping, read my very personal—but poignant—story recently published on the God Reports website (a prayerful God moment!).   [   ] IDEA #9. The two-page board prayer is included in the following books and resources:    • Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom: 40 Insights for Better Board Meetings (2nd Edition), by Dan Busby and John Pearson (2018) - Order from Amazon.    • *Lessons From the Church Boardroom: 40 Insights for Exceptional Governance (2nd Edition), by Dan Busby and John Pearson (2019) - Order from Amazon.    • TRUST: The Firm Foundation for Kingdom Fruitfulness, by Dan Busby (2015) – Order from Amazon. (Read my review.) Read more about Dan Busby (1941-2022).    • The 8 Big Mistakes to Avoid With Your Nonprofit Board: How Leaders Enrich Their Ministry Results Through God-Honoring Governance, by John Pearson (Oct. 14, 2025) – Order from Amazon.    • ECFA Governance Toolbox Series No. 3: Conflicts of Interest - Addressing Board and Organizational Conflicts of Interest—Avoiding Trouble, Trouble, Trouble with Related–Party Transactions. (Order from ECFA.)    *For more resources for church board members, see the three books/manuals I reviewed in 2023 on the Pails in Comparison Blog. [   ] IDEA #10. Now that you’ve already inspired a board member to be your “Leaders Are Readers Champion” (see Idea #3), check out the mini-reviews of “Best Board Books: Index to 18 Governance Stimulators” at ECFA's Governance of Christ-Centered Organizations Blog. (And oops! Please add Book #19, The Board and the CEO. And another oops! Please add A Board Prayer as Book #20!) [   ] BONUS IDEA. Read sample pages. It was my privilege to write the foreword to A Board Prayer. I meant every word and ChatGPT did not write it! Visit Amazon here to read my foreword and Dan’s introductory chapter.       SECOND READS: Fresh Solutions From Classic Books You have changed—and your problems have changed—since you read this the first time! Book #40 of 99: The Secret to a Good Meeting… For your team meeting this week, inspire a team member to lead your “10 Minutes for Lifelong Learning” session by featuring Book #40 of 99 in our series, “Second Reads.” The big idea: REREAD TO LEAD! Discover how your favorite books still have more to teach you and the people you’re coaching and mentoring.   The Secret to a Good Meeting  Is the Meeting Before the Meeting  (Lesson 18 from Leadership Gold)  by John C. Maxwell  In just 16 quick-reading pages in Lesson 18 of Leadership Gold, the leadership guru John Maxwell builds the case for turning routine meetings into productive action-oriented gatherings. Following the counsel of Olan Hendrix, he writes that the meeting before the meeting: 1) helps you receive buy-in, 2) helps followers to gain perspective, 3) increases your influence, 4) helps you develop trust, and 5) avoids your being blindsided.     • Lesson 18 reviewed in Issue No. 367 (Aug. 30, 2017).    • Read my review on Amazon.    • Order the Kindle chapter on Amazon.    • Full book reviewed in Issue No. 84 (April 14, 2008).    • Read my review on Amazon.    • Order the full book on Amazon.    • Management Bucket #20 of 20: The Meetings Bucket  Maxwell preaches: “If you can’t have the meeting before the meeting, don’t have the meeting. If you do have the meeting before the meeting, but it doesn’t go well, don’t have the meeting. If you have the meeting before the meeting and it goes as well as you hoped, then have the meeting!”   CLICK HERE FOR BOOKS BY JOHN      Mistake #8 of 8: “Making Decisions vs. Discerning God’s Voice.” Read more in the new workbook, The 8 Big Mistakes to Avoid With Your Nonprofit Board——and leverage the action steps on page 97 about spiritual discernment and mission drift. MORE RESOURCES: • BLOG: Pails in Comparison • SUBSCRIBE: Your Weekly Staff Meeting eNews • JOHN'S BOOK REVIEWS: on Amazon  •WEBSITE:  Management Buckets • BLOG: Governance of Christ-Centered Organizations Note: This is the NEW location for John Pearson's Buckets Blog. Slowly (!), the previous 650+ blogs posted (between 2006 and 2025) will gradually populate this blogsite, along with new book reviews each month. "DEAR GOD ...about those stories and stats." More than 300 board governance blogs by John Pearson (and guest bloggers) are archived at ECFA’s Governance of Christ-Centered Organizations Blog. Read Dan Bolin’s commentary on Lesson 40 from Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom, “A Board Prayer,” which includes this: “Dear God…Let me tell stories and provide statistics that represent accurately.” "Lord...bring a what?" That was my initial response when I sensed the Lord asked me to bring a shepherd’s staff to my brother’s Celebration of Life service last month. I shared this story at our church’s weekly prayer gathering and a friend, Mark Ellis, posted the story on the God Reports website. (My Christian camping colleagues, especially, will appreciate this God moment.)