During the past few weeks a shocking amount of media coverage has been committed to the argument about whether President Obama is a Muslim. This battle was ignited by aggressive comments from a handful of high profile Christian leaders, followed by a letter signed by 70 Christian pastors asking the media to stop giving coverage [...]
displaying all posts about "Leadership"
The Crisis of Confidence in the Church
The Gallup Organization has evaluated the public’s confidence in institutions for four decades. Their most recent annual survey on this matter showed that Americans are continuing to lose confidence in churches and organized religion. While religious institutions were among the most revered organizations in the land for many years (topping the list some years), we [...]
Steinbrenner the Visionary Leader
Thousands, perhaps millions of words have been written over the years about George Steinbrenner, the owner of the New York Yankees who died earlier this week. His tenure was colorful and controversial, to say the least. Among the lasting memories that many have of him was his penchant for micro-managing the team during the early [...]
Inappropriate Censorship
The magazine article in my hands reviewed a book by a Christian leader with whom I rarely see eye-to-eye. Without realizing it, my immediate reaction to the article was one of distaste and mistrust. My unconscious thought was that the author wouldn’t have much of value to say and therefore I should simply turn the [...]
Seeking Cues from Genuine Leaders
A few days ago I had the privilege of speaking on behalf of the largest provider of services to the poor in our county. It was an interesting evening in many respects. One of the intriguing aspects had to do with the presence of local politicians. Because the event took place five days before the [...]
The Power of Follow Up
I recently attended a major league baseball game in a city where I was speaking. I purchased the tickets online a few weeks before my trip. What happened after the purchase was a great lesson in the power of follow-up. The day before the game I received a thank you for the purchase and the [...]
Does Ted Haggard Possess Moral Authority?
Ted Haggard, former senior pastor of a large church in Colorado and past president of the National Association of Evangelicals, is back on the scene. After having been run out of the church world for his admitted homosexual liaisons and drug abuse, he has stayed under the radar for a couple of years while working [...]
Telling the Truth
I’m a big fan of the Lakers (pro basketball, if you’re not up on such things). It’s the end-of-season playoffs, and the Lakers stomped the Phoenix Suns in the first game of the western conference finals. Kobe Bryant, the star of the Lakers, embarrassed Grant Hill (and others) who vainly tried to guard him. Afterwards, [...]
Earning Trust
Over the years I’ve had some interesting experiences that have taught me helpful insights about trust. When I began Barna Research Group (as it was originally known), our first significant client was Disney. It was odd because Disney’s VP of Research called me out of the blue. The call was placed by their research director, [...]
Thoughts on “The Party of No”
A significant portion of the news media has recently taken to caricaturing the Republican Party as “The Party of No,” referring to its stubborn resistance to some of the seminal public policy changes being promoted by the Democratic Party. And before we go any further, let me underscore that this blog entry is neither a [...]
