It is interesting that in recent years, secular management experts have more and more given leaders help in biblical leadership. Where businesses and organizations were populated by leaders like Henry Ford and more recently, Steve Jobs, the focus in management research has moved towards respecting God's image-bearers. God's Image in My Employees Mind you, those … Continue reading Leadership: Respecting the Image

This is part 4 of a series of articles describing the experiences of Christian organization employees working under abusive bosses. These articles are the fruit of interviews with employees who sought diligently to respond to their foul bosses in biblical and thoughtful ways. This article describes their application of Matthew 7:1-6. This site is largely … Continue reading Experiencing Matthew 7 Under a Toxic Boss

Let's say a group of 40 current and former missionaries sent a letter to you as a member of the Board of Directors for a Christian organization. In that letter, the missionaries complained that the leadership of the organization treated employees and nationals harshly and lacked integrity and accountability.  Not only did these particular missionaries … Continue reading The Failure of Boards and Preempting Toxic Strikes

I recently heard John's story, a long-time Christian whose leadership in his church was scuttled by the others on the leadership team. It was a difficult story to hear. My friend, John*, is "self-differentiated."  This was a new term to me just a few years ago. I was working on a doctorate and studying abusive … Continue reading Self-Differentiation: Standing with Wisdom

I spent a day hearing Lundy Bancroft share his 30 years of research. Of course it could have been a month! I have written of Bancroft's defining of "repentance" before.  As one seminar participant said, "I felt like I was in the presence of greatness!" This awe is due to the fact that Bancroft has … Continue reading Why Does He Do That: A Day With Lundy Bancroft

"How To Decide When It's Time to Quit Your Job" is a wonderful article written by Dr. Paul White. White joined Dr. Gary Chapman and Harold Myra in writing a book called "Rising Above a Toxic Workplace: Taking Care of Yourself in an Unhealthy Environment" a number of years ago. This is a rare text … Continue reading How To Decide When It’s Time to Quit Your Job

In order for leaders to relate to their work and those under their authority in ways that create shalom [peace], there must be a humility exemplified by other-centeredness. This other-centeredness is expressed in a willingness to recognize the giftedness of subordinates. As noted in "Biblical Leadership - Part 1," the word "leadership" means "go forth, die." … Continue reading Go Forth & Die: Biblical Leadership – Part 2

Much of what I write in the Pearls and Swine blog is negative; toxic leadership is a very emotional subject. If you have experienced it, and nearly everyone has in some context, it is easy to become consumed by thoughts of it. That's the nature of trauma. However, I would like to write at least once … Continue reading Go Forth & Die: Biblical Leadership – Part 1