Mindful Leader
Dennis Shaw is a musician, marathoner (Boston!), retired military officer, math modeler, muse, and United Methodist Pastor. A keen observer of the human condition, he has degrees in music, quantitative methods (don’t ask!), theology and leadership. He will discuss with other leaders how to become engaged and present in our current leadership opportunities. Critical to leadership is strong self-awareness. Becoming authentic, empathetic, and aware will form the framework of all discussions. You can access and follow this podcast on Apple, Podbean, Spotify and Amazon Music.
Episodes
Monday Nov 20, 2023
Episode 14: The Beardtastik Zach Bechtold -- Bozeman UMC
Monday Nov 20, 2023
Monday Nov 20, 2023
Welcome to Episode 14 of Mindful Leader! This is our second visit with Bearded Theologian and Pastor at Bozeman (Montana) UMC-- Zach Bechtold! The first conversation we had was July 23rd and can be found as a podcast HERE.
(Please share on social media or via email or text message the link if this podcast spoke to you!)
Zach is part of a wave of younger clergy leading a number of our pillar churches. Zach's LinkedIn page is HERE.
Zach partners with Matt Skinner (of Castle Rock (CO) UMC ) on their joint blog and podcast -- The Bearded Theologians -- HERE.
Zach and I start our conversation drawing from remarks Bishop Karen Oliveto of the Mountain Sky Conference of the United Methodist Church made during a clergy retreat in September. Further, she, Matt and Zach also discussed it on a United Methodist "Podcastathon" in early October. A link to that conversation is HERE.
Finding joy in leadership has been an important personal core value and I wanted to expand on that discussion with Zach. What we do as pastoral leaders is serious but we don't have to be so serious in our leadership.
I mention a Roman Catholic Priest -- and I forgot his name during the discussion (whoops) -- and it was Father John Neuhaus. His wiki bio is HERE. The magazine he started was First Things -- HERE. While Father Neuhaus was there, I read it regularly. Now, not so much. Traditional.
We mention New York Times Opinion Writer -- David Brooks. His wiki bio is HERE. Brooks is regularly on Public Television on Friday night during the News Hour with Jonathon Capehart -- Excellent, I try and watch it weekly. Resume and Eulogy virtues are quickly summarized HERE. The Brooks Opinion piece is called "The Moral Bucket List" and it is HERE. Note: The NYT has a paywall and if it blocks you and you want to read the piece, send me a note and I can "gift" you a copy of the piece where he lays it out. A transcript of a Ted Talk on this topic by Brooks is HERE.
This podcast was released on November 20th, 2023!
Our next guest is Annie Arnoldy of the Mountain Sky Conference of the UMC Office: Visioning and Dreaming! It will be released on December 4th.
The Kristi Kinnison podcast is the new gold standard for Mindful Leader. By far in terms of downloads the best to date! HERE.
My normal release schedule is 1st and 3rd Mondays. I will release "Special Podcasts" on 5th Mondays (usually four times a year). Look for Mindful Leader with the Logo from this Podcast on your Podcast App or follow on Podbean.
Send comments to me at dennis at (@ symbol) mantuan dot (the .) org ... and typed that way to confound the bots!
Monday Nov 20, 2023
Episode 13: Kristi Kinnison - Why John Wesley Speaks in her Present
Monday Nov 20, 2023
Monday Nov 20, 2023
(The word “here” that is underlined is a link to something somewhere else on the web related in some way to our topic.)
Kristi Kinnison is the Executive Director of the Methodists Helping Methodists Foundation which supports churches in Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and Montana. Her LinkedIn page is HERE.
Our conversation today is less grounded in her vocation as a financial executive in the not for profit world, but rather her views on why she is a follower of John Wesley. Wesley's theology is firmly grounded in the threefold fullness of Grace (Bishop Carder exposits a little here) and it captures Kristi's heart. I think this is of value in helping others to be able to articulate their own reasons for being followers of John Wesley.
We also mention (again if you have heard all of the Mindful Leader Podcasts, the late) David Foster Wallace and his superb talk -- "This is Water" (here, and note, DFW language can be a little coarse).
My normal release schedule is 1st and 3rd Mondays. I will release "Special Podcasts" on 5th Mondays (usually four times a year). Look for Mindful Leader with the Logo from this Podcast on your Podcast App or follow on Podbean.
This episode was released on November 6, 2023.
My next podcast will be November 20th with Zach Bechtold and he shares in the work of Bearded Theologians. Their website is found HERE. They have a podcast which is found on their homepage.
My email is dennis at symbol (@) mantuan dot (.) org (written that way to confound the bots which would harvest it and spam me to death. Send me a note if have a thought or three.
Tuesday Oct 24, 2023
Special Episode: A Mindful Discussion on Gaza, Palestine and Israel
Tuesday Oct 24, 2023
Tuesday Oct 24, 2023
Explore with us a little of the history and context of Israel, Gaza and Hamas.
My original plan was to use a Fifth Monday to have my friend John Plant interview me. John has been a faithful listener to my early Podcast work. The events of October 7th altered that plan. This episode "counts" as my October 30th planned release.
John Plant is a retired US Army Colonel. He is a graduate of the University of Toledo with a BA in Political Science and an MA in Public Administration. Further, he has a PhD from the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University. He lives in North Carolina and is a devoted follower of Jesus Christ. His LinkedIn account is HERE. We talk weekly.
Between the two of us, John and I have over 50 years of military service.
Our conversation on Israel, Gaza and Hamas is primarily contextual. It clearly assumes certain knowledge by the listener, i.e., the 1948 War of Independence. But overall, our purpose is to attempt to distill what is some history, define some groups and elements, etc..
Note: all followers of Islam are not terrorists. Hamas and Hezbollah are terrorist organizations grounded in a Pan-Islamic world view.
I could easily see us coming back to this topic again another day.
If you wish to send me a note -- my email is dennis at mantuan dot org (to confuse the bots harvesting email addresses.)
If you find the piece thoughtful, please share it with others.
A Wall Street Journal article from Rabbi Meir Soloveichik is HERE. Probably a paywall, sometimes they allow single usages but not consistently.