Sweet Darkness - Visiting a poem in practice of embracing the tension and complexity of what this season holds.

We live in an age where there is most certainly a tyranny of choice. Want a good book to get lost in? Interested in listening to a podcast on your commute? How do you choose? We asked LeaderWise staff about their favorite reads and audio dives of 2024. What’s clear from the recommendations is that books help us face what needs to be faced while podcasts emerge as practices of resilience. 

An Interview with LeaderWise spiritual director John Lee.

The varied backgrounds, traditions, and expertise of LeaderWise staff contribute to our strength and enable us to work collaboratively and with care for our communities (you!) and each other. And so with grateful hearts we have welcomed new staff members to our team, and we’re happy to introduce them to you!

Resilience is a practice. During the summer of 2023, we shared a series that included eleven tangible steps that helping professionals can take to support their own resilience. We wanted to remind you of these tools and resources so that you can continue to serve those who need you. [Photo by Maksym Kaharlytskyi on Unsplash]

As citizens, today—Election Day—it is our responsibility to vote. But our responsibilities don’t end there. The rest of the year we can commit to local participation, getting proximate, to building bridges. To inspire & support you, LeaderWise offers a few tools from our staff grounded in their hard-won stories. [Photo by Hannah Busing on Unsplash]

This article may or may not apply to your context. At the time of its writing, this commentary represents Christian mainline denominational churches in the USA. While each church is unique in its experiences, certain themes have been observed by LeaderWise consultants. [Photo by Ksenia Makagonova on Unsplash]

An Interview with LeaderWise spiritual director Heidi Lender.

By understanding your “tuning” to conflict, developing your self-management skills, and expanding your repertoire of conflict management approaches, you can shift your relationship with conflict and begin to develop increased confidence when (not if) a conflict arises in your church, relationships, or elsewhere.

[Photo by joesef key on Unsplash]

At LeaderWise, we have seen situations in which anxiety and dysfunction in systems can have devastating consequences, which is why we developed Beyond Boundaries, our advanced boundaries training. Beyond Boundaries picks up where NYABT leaves off, assuming that participants have done the necessary work to understand and enhance their own personal wellness and taking the work a step farther into the tasks of understanding and strengthening their own resilience. Through a series of large group learning, small group practice and conversation, and individual reflection, Beyond Boundaries participants are guided through a process that will enhance their resilience and fortify their ability to differentiate themselves from the unhealthy and dysfunctional patterns that frequently arise in anxious systems. Beyond Boundaries equips leaders not only to resist getting caught up in dysfunction but also to contribute to the work of restoring health to anxious systems. [Photo by Guilherme Stecanella on Unsplash]

As we become more aware of how we show up (self-awareness), we stand a chance to regulate our actions as we observe our emotions (self-regulation). Similarly, once we’re more easily aware of our own “stuff,” we can begin to read the room (social awareness) and then work with what is in the emotional space in order to accomplish that which is desired (social management). Photo by Langa Hlatshwayo on Unsplash

How is your world, good leader? Does it feel like it's on fire? Is the anxiety in the system overwhelming to you? Have you lost your sense of what you came to do? There is another way. Become a self-differentiated leader. This October, make that investment in your leadership. 

Self-Differentiated Leader Series, Thursdays in October (Oct 3, 17, 31), 1:30  - 3:30 PM Central Time, Cost: $249

[Photo by Darius Bashar on Unsplash]

Learn two practices for adopting a “both and” perspective.  Yes, we can reflect on the bounty of our lives and we can take joy in this most recent season of productivity, of brightness, of activity. Yet we also can accept, even embrace, the sorrows and grieving of everything we are losing in the process of starting anew. It is the acceptance of loss that “clears us out” for the life we wish to live now.  [Photo by Lala Azizli on Unsplash]

We at LeaderWise offer blessings and support for the endings that will come. Remember, this is not about creating a perfect goodbye (because that doesn’t exist) but rather giving all of us much-needed tools to honor our relationships and say goodbye with courage, clarity, care and kindness.

Therapist and boundaries training facilitator Sarah Parker, LMFT shares, “One of the tools that I have found really beneficial for me to keep myself ‘in check’ with regards to my boundaries is the Life Wheel we share in boundary training.”

When I think about my passion for boundaries trainings, I have similar thoughts for pastors and congregations that I imagine my dentist has for her patients. I want people to have good boundaries so they can experience holistic health … physically, emotionally, spiritually, etc. I want to spare people from the painful experience of boundary violations. I want ministries to offer nourishment and health to those to whom we are called to minister.

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