It’s easy to pile praise on others if they are the least bit competent. Generally, our biggest impediment is just being too busy to notice the praiseworthy behavior or, when we notice it, to stop and laud it. Criticism is another matter. Generally it’s difficult to criticize a...

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  By Owen Phelps, Ph.D. Director, Yeshua Institute In all the material world, there is nothing quite like trust. It is the grease that lubricates relationships and makes effective human interaction possible. It is the glue that holds organizations of all sizes and purposes togeth...

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  By Owen Phelps, Ph.D. Director, Yeshua Institute When I was a kid, Lent was all about giving up things. Initially, I competed with my classmates to come up with the most awe-inspiring sacrifice. it was especially important to do better than the girls, who seemed to have more of a gift ...

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  A good bit of leadership today is exercised in the context of teams. There are, of course, the deliberate cross-functional teams so common in business settings. But even when our purposeful groups go by other names — families, parishes, service clubs or diocesan offices — the c...

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  When we hear the word "charity," we often think of making a donation. That's appropriate — especially during Lent, when one of the three things we are to focus on is almsgiving. Charity also can be understood in a broader sense — as when we are generous with ou...

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  Although effective teams are generally small — no larger than a dozen and often smaller than that — there are nine roles that a prudent leader will try to cover in assembling his or her team, according to Stephen R.* Robbins. They are: Creator-innovator — initiates ...

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Today's world is full of people with ever shorter attention spans trying to respond to an ever growing volume of messages. We're expected to do more things with less help in less time — and all the while, be ever more responsive in an increasingly cluttered and complex communication...

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St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits, seemed to be anticipating the climate of America's political and social discourse when he put pen to hand in the 16th century and wrote: "In your dealings with all, be slow to speak and say little, especially with your equals or subordinate...

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  By Owen Phelps, Ph.D. Director, Yeshua Catholic International Leadership Institute A professor leading an orientation program for new doctoral students was trying to explain the concept of “systems.” She started with a question: “Is an airplane full of passengers a sy...

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  We all know Jesus told us to “love your neighbor as yourself.” So it shouldn’t be too much to expect Christians to respect everyone they meet. But St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits, realized that respect is more than just a matter of the heart. That’...

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