Blunt

FEATURE ARTICLEby Ray Blunt

It is in the answers to these three questions, lived out every day, which you are laying pipe for what you will leave behind—what remains. Because I can tell you your career and your time in leadership, indeed your life will go surprisingly quickly.

By Ray Blunt

Martin Luther doesn't make many appearances in the pages of the numerous leadership tomes that reach bookstore shelves each year. And it's a shame because he brought about earth shattering change to Europe-- for good and for ill-and forever altered the religious landscape. History books use the term Reformation to describe the movement he helped launch. But what not many may know is that those in public service owe him a large debt of gratitude because he introduced the idea that a calling (i.e. a vocation) is of critical importance in secular life.

By Ray Blunt

Mention the word calling or vocation, particularly to a Christian, and you uncover for many a raw wound. We are finding that out as different people respond to the name of this organization on the website, in a casual conversation, or when they listen to a talk we might give. The words may differ, but the angst is very similar:

by Ray Blunt
Associate Director and Teaching Fellow, The Washington Institute
Senior Consultant, Leadership Institute at the National Center for Leadership

Exploring three “courses” essential to learning to lead—reflective work that results in a guiding life worldview and purpose; learning from the life and experiences of mentors; and being part of a community of practice that learns together and holds each other accountable.

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by Ray Blunt
Associate Director and Teaching Fellow, The Washington Institute
Senior Consultant, Leadership Institute at the National Center for Leadership

Leadership, even godly leadership, is not the sole province of the individual, but the outcomes are often shaped as much by those who advise, support, encourage, and come alongside a leader. It is within a network of relationships or of a like-minded community that the great movements of change occur. Those with whom leaders surround themselves, their choice of companions on the journey, help to make them who they are and determine what they can achieve. These colleagues also help to further shape and to sustain a transforming vision over time and bring it to reality. We have looked at the role of early mentors in shaping the commitments of Jefferson and Wilberforce; we now turn to examine how those around them later in life helped to sustain their purposes.

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