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Welcome to nc’s blog. Read, comment, interact, engage. Let’s learn together - recursively.

Tuesday, June 23, 2020

LittleFiresEverywhere

I recently read Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng (2017).  I rarely report on my fictional reads, but this one deserves note.


Ng does a magnificent job of character development (several of them, actually) while weaving a tapestry tale that touches on the messiness of family, of culture, of heritage, of values, of morality.  The contradictions that most of us struggle with along all those dimensions are laid bare in this work.

I love it when authors cause me to think about their book while I'm NOT READING their book.  Ng did just that.

This one is getting dangerously close to cracking my Top 10 Fiction readings.

Tuesday, June 16, 2020

LeaderFails

Leadership comes in all kinds of iterations and manifestations.  

Leaders at all levels (in our families, in our houses of faith, in our social networks, in our communities, in our world) can learn much from the fails of leaders past.

Here's what failing leaders DON'T do:

  • LISTEN - they fail to stop talking long enough to actually hear the voices, perspectives, insights of others.
  • ADMIT - they fail to acknowledge that problems exist, much less the prospect that they themselves could have contributed to the problems.
  • FORGIVE - they fail to understand that forgiveness is the first step in healing, the only path toward community.
  • HONOR - they fail to respect the dignity of others.
  • BRIDGE - they fail to build bridges, concentrating, rather, on magnifying the chasms.
  • SEE - they fail to envision and craft better futures, preferring to highlight the problems.


History is littered with examples of failed leadership.  

It is also ripe with examples of leaders who chose the paths of 
Listening, Admitting, Forgiving, Honoring, Bridging, and Seeing.  
None perfectly so, but always and persistently with betterness in mind.

We can learn quite a lot from both.