I’ll echo the many leaders who have praised the grace under pressure Bill Hybels showed at The Global Leadership Summit at Willow Creek. As many of you know, Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks canceled his speaking appearance due to an online petition from the homosexual community threatening to boycott Starbucks should Schultz speak at the supposedly “anti-gay” church. Schultz decided to cancel, and the Summit let him out of his contract. What was remarkable, then, is how well Bill handled the situation. I noticed a few things about his announcement that I’ll keep in my file the next time I’m forced to share bad news: 1. He explained the situation accurately, and without judgment for either Mr Schultz or the homosexual community. 2. He corrected the misunderstanding that led to the protest, while also acknowledging a difficult truth that led to the misunderstanding. 3. He showed Mr. Schultz grace and understood his position, even asking the audience for empathy for Mr. Schultz. 4. He invited the audience to “take action” by showing kindness to Starbucks and Mr. Schultz as a way of further dispelling the misunderstanding that led to the protest. I thought he did a terrific job in a [...]
My friend Chris Seay gave a TED Talk recently in Houston and knocked it out of the park. He talks about one of my favorite subjects: Story. And few people are living a better story than Chris himself. Worth the contemplation. Thanks Chris!
I got to have diner with Mat Kearney a few years ago after accidentally running into him in Nashville. This was right about the time he’d become a household name. It took Mat about half a second to put me at ease and we ended up talking for an hour or more about screenwriting, about movies, about the stuff of stories. He told me that had always been his passion, that making music was a distant second. Really? Because God knows the man is one of America’s greatest songwriters. I caught him at an acoustic show here in Portland where a sold-out crowd rose to their feet and exploded about halfway through Mat’s three-minute, detailed musical narration of all the things he loves about Portland, all without missing a beat, all like he’d written it as a song years ago. Turns out he was making it up as he went along. Mat’s new record is out this week. It’s been number one on I-tunes for days. It’s called Young Love and here’s the first release. If you’re at work, listening with headphones on, feel free to clap along. Congrats, Mat. I’d love to see that screenplay someday, but we would [...]
Friends and I are loaded up for the September show here in Portland. It’s at a great amphitheater out toward the gorge, one of my favorite places to see a show. So this is just making me salivate. The new record is helping me get through the most recent book. Sometimes when you cant see anything behind you or anything in front of you, music makes the here and now bearable. It makes me wonder why we try to live anywhere else but here and now. All the good work is done in the now. I’ve never done any good work in the future, that I can remember. It’s all about what happens here and now. Anyway, I’m grateful to these guys for making some good music to make the here and now livable. I liked this: Bon Iver – Holocene @ Fallon 2011 by danydance30
