By Owen Phelps, Ph.D. Director, Yeshua Institute The key to being a true Servant Leader, in the mold of Jesus, is to recognize that in the great drama of life and leadership, ultimately “it’s not about me.” That’s a tall order because with self-awareness comes the instinct to self-preservation. We can’t help but ask the question: Who is going to take care of me? And it’s nearly impossible to avoid the response: I’ll do it myself. That’s a huge fiction, of course. Interdependence to the core At the very least we are interdependent beings.  Without others...

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By Owen Phelps, Ph.D. Director, Yeshua Institute Chris Lowney, the Jesuit seminarian turned JP Morgan managing director turned chair of a huge Catholic hospital system turned leadership author has hit another homerun. His new book, Everyone Leads: How to Revitalize the Catholic Church, is a must read for anyone interested in the health and well-being of the Catholic Church and its members. Previously, Lowney authored three fine books that discussed various aspects of leadership:   Heroic Leadership: Best Practices from a 450-Year-Old Company That Changed the World (2005), that explains how the Jesui...

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By Owen Phelps, Ph.D. Director, Yeshua Institute Last week I was asked to speak about the Catholic Vison for Leading Like Jesus (CVLLJ) to members of an amazing organization in Wichita, KS. The organization is the Catholic Assembly for Business (CAB), which has more than 100 members, male and female -- many of whom gather for a breakfast each quarter, where they have the opportunity to network and to hear a Catholic speaker. (By the way, the CAB meets at the Wichita Diocese’s Spiritual Life Center, which is a facility to die for. If your diocese or religious community is contemplating building a retreat c...

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By Owen Phelps, Ph.D. Director, Yeshua Institute Ministry Formation is a two-year program in the Rockford Diocese designed to prepare people to serve in ministry, especially parish ministry. Men who wish to enter diaconate discernment and formation have to finish this program first. Our Catholic Vision for Leading Like Jesus training experience is an integral part of the program. Having taught several of these classes, I never fail to be amazed at the intelligence, maturity and devotion of the students -- men and women alike. Not infrequently, they really surprise me. One of those times was in a class where we ...

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By Owen Phelps, Ph.D. Director, Yeshua Institute Recently we came across an article that asks an important question of all leaders in every leadership context: “Do you foster a culture of encouragement?” Why is a culture of encouragement so important? Think of culture as soil. And think of your goals – at home, at work, and in your other roles -- as the harvest that the soil produces. We all know that the better the soil, the better the harvest that will emerge from it. But we should also know that wise farmers don’t leave the quality of their soil to chance. Maybe they can’t co...

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By Owen Phelps, Ph.D. Director, Yeshua Institute Writing for Forbes, Amy Rees Anderson shares a simple story that draws a clear line between what it takes to be a mediocre employee and what it takes to be a great one. She shared it, she explained, because “it is so important that leaders are able to explain things to employees in a way that can be easily understood and which creates a clear picture of what you are looking for.” Her simple story is known as The Parable of the Oranges. We share it here with you with only a few minor edits. The Parable of the Oranges There was a young man who had...

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