Family Leadership

Have the day-to-day realities of being a dad and husband left you frustrated or worn out? You're not alone. Jerrad Lopes felt that way too...until he started blogging about his struggles and discovered thousands of other men who want to be good husbands and fathers but don't know where to start. You will learn that spiritual leaders realize their story isn't the story - it's all about Jesus; point their wives, children, community, and world toward God; stumble their way through spiritual leadership rather than doing nothing; and seek humility rather than strive for perfection.

If there were a code you could learn that would lead you to become a great teacher wouldn't you want to learn it? The Essential 55 is a collection of the amazingly effective rules that Ron Clark used to become an extraordinary teacher. Through trial and error, this teacher has distilled 55 ideas that have helped him take apathetic students in some of the country's most challenging areas and transform them into award-winning scholars.

This book was born out of the wake-up call I received from God in 2016. He said to me, "Emmanuel, you are not disciplined enough for where I am taking you to." Before then, I didn't see myself as an undisciplined person. Even though I understood God was not saying I lacked discipline, this assessment set me on an exploratory journey to find out what discipline really means and how I can enhance my discipline.

We all need more energy, the vitality that helps us stay motivated, focused and productive in life. We know we receive energy from good nutrition, along with working out, adequate sleep and maintaining positivity. But there is another major source for the energy we need: having the right kinds of relationships with others. Not the ones that drain us, but the ones that refuel us.

As a global pandemic shuttered schools across the country in 2020, parents found themselves thrust into the role of teacher — in more ways than one. Not only did they take on remote school supervision, but after the murder of George Floyd and the ensuing Black Lives Matter protests, many also grappled with the responsibility to teach their kids about social justice — with few resources to guide them.

You probably don't realise this, but every working day you replay and re-enact conflicts, dynamics and relationships from your past. Whether it's confusing an authority figure with a parent; avoiding conflict because of past squabbles with siblings; or suffering from imposter syndrome because of the way your family responded to success, when it comes to work we are all trapped in our own upbringings and the patterns of behaviour we learned while growing up.

In 2003, Diane Tavenner cofounded the first school in what would soon become one of America’s most innovative public-school networks. Summit Public Schools has since won national recognition for its exceptional outcomes: Ninety-nine percent of students are accepted to a four-year college, and they graduate from college at twice the national average.

Who are you when the teeth come out? For every true act of leadership, there is an equal and monstrous act of sabotage. Our leaders have been entirely routed by the agitated and the anxious. These emotional tyrannies manifest themselves in local libraries, HR cubicles, elder meetings, and at your Thanksgiving dinners.

When we lose someone we love, the silence can feel overwhelming. Embracing Life After Death is a grief support book for adults that speaks directly to the heart — guiding listeners through grief recovery, healing after loss, and the courage to embrace life again.

Most of us are terrified of conflict, says Arnold Mindell, PhD, author of 15 books and internationally recognized for his innovative synthesis of Jungian therapy, dreams, and bodywork. But we needn't be. His burning passion is to create groups and organizations, where everyone looks forward to group processes instead of fearing them. He calls this the deep democracy of open forums, where all voices, thoughts, and feelings are aired freely, especially the ones nobody wants to hear.

Family business enterprises, found in virtually every country, are the backbone of most economies. However, the leadership challenges they present are complex and unique. Most executives and family members in these firms eventually discover that their education and years of hard work have not prepared them to address many of the interpersonal demands that come with the territory. After years of study and reflection, David Bentall came to realize how ill equipped he had been to be a part of the solution for his own family business.

The bulk of the world’s growth in population and economic activity in the foreseeable future will be generated in the developing world. This is precisely where enterprising families dominate, operating very differently than their peers in more stable and affluent nations. These businesses not only survive but actually thrive in turbulent times, enduring wars, lawlessness, market failures, environmental disasters, and more. The world’s most advanced economies will increasingly experience these types of structural shocks and chronic uncertainties in the years ahead.

Dirty Little Secrets of Family Business comes clean with much-needed info on nitty-gritty issues such as entitlement; letting employees go when they just aren’t working out; compensation; including your kids in the business; shareholder agreements; selecting the next leader; deciding whether to keep the business or sell it; exit strategies for outgoing leaders; money matters; succession planning; communication; conflict resolution; establishing an effective board; and transitioning to the next generation.

Experienced pastor and seminary teacher R. Robert Creech helps pastoral leaders increase their effectiveness by applying family systems theory to congregational life and ministry. Creech introduces listeners to the basic concepts of Bowen Family Systems Theory, applies family theory to the work of ministry in church settings, and connects systems thinking to the everyday aspects of congregational ministry, such as preaching, pastoral care, leadership, spiritual formation, and interpreting biblical texts. Each chapter contains discussion questions and helpful information about Bowen theory.

Any group of people expected to work synergistically needs a system that structures their interactions. That system is “governance.” The Pragmatist’s Guide to Governance takes a first principles approach to exploring the ways governance structures affect the humans living under them (and vice versa), with a special focus on how human psychology interacts with the structures that facilitate our interaction with other people.

Return to Orchard Canyon is a story that vividly captures the real feelings too many people have today. A sense of working for a paycheck, giving up their lives to make a living, and throwing any dreams they may have had aside as impractical, impossible. A trade-off...for survival. Return to Orchard Canyon dispels the myth that living means sacrificing and replaces it with the reality that our nation was built on the backs of dreamers who took risks. Why not you? Why not today? Why not return to your own Orchard Canyon. Inspiring and actionable, this book will show you the way.

You’ve been holding it all together at home and at work with a successful career and loving family. Now your child is entering school and you have to decide who will be the one to teach him or her about values and spirituality. Do your beliefs align with what is taught in school? How successfully you shepherd your child through this phase depends on your belief system and how you live it. Do you know what you believe?

David C. Bentall shares family business insights gleaned from 20 years of working with the Bentall Group and Dominion Construction. Skillfully marrying his own experience with bet practices in the field, he offers solutions to the distinct challenges faced by all families in business. Practical examples are also included from the following prominent entrepreneurial business families from across North America.

How do families build and maintain their wealth? This question has challenged families for generations. In business, any wise entrepreneur would develop a plan to guide the venture. Though most people don't have a strategy in mind for their families, it is precisely what they need. This book applies business concepts to invest in our families with as much focus and discipline as we do our financial assets.

Everybody was rooting for Jonathan Conyers after seeing his profile on Humans of New York went viral and sparked millions in donations to the Brooklyn Debate League. The kid who went from struggling to read to being a breakout star on his high school debate team, thanks to a life-changing friendship with his transgender debate coach, captured the heart of America. Jonathan’s story highlights the important role teachers play in opening up worlds of opportunity for the most vulnerable students.