_{Photo Credit: Mark Gulezian/NPG; Copyright National Portrait Gallery/Smithsonian}

If you ask me who in history I would like to meet, Harriet Tubman is at the top of my list. I just finished a spectacular book on her called, Harriet Tubman: The Road to Freedom, by Catherine Clinton. What strikes me most from the book is how well-equipped in abilities, strengths, and qualities she was in order to become the person she became and do the things she did.

Unpredictable Outcomes

You may not predict...

I am so grieved and upset about the news reports of sexual misconduct and abuse by a very well-known international Christian leader. I am sorry for his victims, family, ministry supporters, and the damage this will do to the cause of Christ. This isn’t the first time a leader with a prominent life calling has fallen, and it won’t be the last.

But let his fall teach us something about our call. You don’t have to be famous to learn something here.

Depth of character matters...

Today we know William Wilberforce as the great British politician who led the movement to abolish the slave trade in British territories. But did you know that it almost didn’t happen?

It’s easy to look back on a well-lived life that has made a mark in a certain well-known way and think it must have been completely obvious to him or her which way to go. But at the time, it's not that simple.

Discovering life calling takes many things, among them a process, discernment,...

(Photo of Dr. Nicolaides courtesy of KU LEUVEN NEWS)

Many callings in life can be traced to a singular moment that changed everything. This happened for Dr. Kypros Nicolaides, a medical pioneer and world-renowned expert in fetal medicine. Due to his cutting-edge techniques and procedures, many babies have been born who otherwise wouldn’t be.

But you wouldn’t have seen this coming from his early days in college. Born in Cyprus in 1953, Kyrpos was sent to London by his father to...

One of my top strengths is being committed to growth and progress in my life and others' lives. (In CliftonStrengths®, this is called Developer®). If you looked at me, you would find various ways this strength plays out, including reading books. But not just any kind of book.

I don't read e-books because e-books don't feel real to me. Reading a book is a sensory experience, like making coffee or gardening may be to others. I need to feel the book in my hands, hear the sound of...

Author and Pastor Clare Loughrige invited me to have a conversation with her as part of an Advent Series on unwrapping the presence of Jesus while considering the Enneagram. In addition, we also discussed the connections between Enneagram and Strengths.

Clare is one of the authors of Spiritual Rhythms for the Enneagram, and is the creator of the Motions of the Soul Enneagram certification program, which I attended and highly recommend. 

In our first video, we talk about Generosity:

• ...

After studying the Enneagram for two years, I’ve realized I’ve mistyped myself. This revelation didn’t happen overnight, it has been a progressive unfolding. But progressive as it has been, I’m still coming to grips with it.

And it's a bit embarrassing because to some, I'm an Enneagram teacher. Shouldn't I know my stuff? I will say more about this in the future, but I won’t say much at this point, it’s still too new.

I will say that for two years, I thought...

In our last post, we answered, “What is Psychological Safety?” and we followed it up with a webinar on the topic. During the webinar, we asked attendees to rate their current level of psychological safety at their workplace from 1-5 with 5 being the highest.

What would you say about yours?

For our webinar attendees, the average response was 3. If this was a test, the score would be 60%, a grade of D.

One of the definitions we highlighted comes from Dr. Timothy R. Clark, who says ...

How open do you feel to take a risk at work? Are you afraid that if you make a mistake you’ll be embarrassed or rejected? How much do you trust the members of your team?

According to experts, questions like these help to measure a critical aspect of a healthy workplace—psychological safety. But what is psychological safety? Let’s look at what two experts say.

In 2012, Google was curious about what made a successful team, so they created “Project Aristotle” to...

I have fallen in love with the Gospel, and I’m not afraid to say it. I’ve been a Christian for more than 30 years, and even more than 30 years later, I feel like I’m starting to understand what the Gospel is about.

Maybe I’m a slow learner or have been busy with other things, probably yes. But maybe also the Gospel isn’t just for unbelievers; maybe believers are meant to fall in love with the Gospel over again.

We are tempted to think that the Gospel...