Lissa Jones: Cultivating the spirit of an organization and of a culture

Lissa Jones is the Executive Director of African American Family Services. I've had the chance to work with Lissa on a couple projects, and I've experienced her leadership as a combination of challenging, appreciative, and spiritually grounded. It was an honor to talk with her about how she engages the spirit of her organization and also the spirit of the broader African American community. Here are some video clips from our conversation:

"The greatest weapon of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed" / A belief in the goodness of people / We will endure this too / Putting our faith in things unseen

Welcome to the first day of your liberation / People look around ... "what drug is she on?"

A spiritual crisis in Black America

Do I really make the just and right decision, or do I do what the world calls me to do that might cover myself better? / I mostly find the strength I need ... in difficulty

Avoiding despondency

A searching and fearless inventory

Learning from Marnita's Table about creating sacred spaces

For several years, I've heard about Marnita's Table, which hosts large multicultural dinner parties and intentional conversations. For all their events, they make sure that at least 50% of the guests are people of color, and at least 50% are living below the poverty line. They seem to have mastered the art of creating atmospheres that are deeply diverse, fun, and transformative. I had the chance to interview Marnita Schroedl from the Table, to talk about how their methods for creating sacred spaces can work in the transformation of organizations and communities.


We serve 2,000 people in our home each year / what we are going for is world peace / we're trying to break out of a limited religious, civic, or corporate definition of the sacred / we're going to have to find a way to change our culture from the inside

More video clips from the interview:

I came out of the foster care system, and only recently have I realized how much that formed my view of the world / How many people feel like they are outside the window? / Almost everyone feels like they have their face up to the glass and aren't having an authentic experience

Story of 2 men who met at the Table / the deeply personal is sacred space / there is a communion that happens / before we can do something together, we have to stand in relationship with one another

If we try to measure it, it changes the outcome / we don't know, in advance, which relationships will become the most meaningful

One of the best ways to build community is to build a table / we don't share the same religion or culture, but everyone has to eat / people have a high need to come together in celebration and ceremony

Roland Sullivan: Spirituality and Whole System Transformation

In the past months I've looked under many rocks for stories of deep transformation within large organizations. I hadn't come up with many stories--until I interviewed Roland Sullivan this week. Roland has worked on "whole system transformation" with more than 1,000 organizations since the 1960s. He's been one of the pioneers in the field of Organizational Development. He's also been practicing yoga for 45 years, and he has an amazing amount of energy. You might want to fasten your seat belts as you watch some of these video clips from my conversation with Roland:


The value of self-transformation / Continually grow towards the love of God by changing to become more according to his will / Every time I work with a client I tell them "please help me change"

More video clips:

A challenge to YOU to stay in step with the pace of change in the world

Spirit is truth / I try to get organizations to find their truth in a safe way. I have all kinds of tricks. / Getting to organizational intelligence

Everyone is using the word "transformation" / Very few know how to create it

Competencies of a change agent: Being, Skill, Knowledge

How I transform an organization:
1. Transform a leadership team
2. Transform a critical mass of the organization
3.Transfers to an internal change agent, who is able to sustain the change work long term

Monica Manning: Institutional Formation

During my sabbatical, there have been several times when I've been in awe to discover people in the Twin Cities who are already doing deep explorations into the collective spirit of institutions. This week I discovered Monica Manning, who has been partners with higher education institutions to cultivate "institutional formation." I was awed by how similar her focus is to mine. In an earlier interview, Monica said:

"My current focus is looking for evidence of the inner life on an institution: If there is a collective spirit, what might be its manifestations? How do we know it exists? Given my pragmatic bent, how do we nurture it and draw on it to support the vocation of the institution and the individual vocations of its members?"

Here are some video clips from my conversation with Monica:


"You can measure the worth of an organization by the number of lies you have to tell to belong to it."

We don't think about institutions; we think about ourselves as individuals; We talk a lot about leadership... but we don't talk about membership

What is institutional formation? What is the institution being called by the world to be?

A story of institutional formation at a community college

If people can find what is good in the organization, they are better able to enter into exploring its darkness.

When people are comfortable...it is easy to feel the institutions aren't that important, even though we take advantage of them all the time

Sondra Samuels: Spirituality and Leadership

Sondra Samuels is the President of the Peace Foundation, which is working to build a grassroots movement to reduce violence in North Minneapolis. Some Nuns on the Northside that I love and admire recommended Sondra as a spiritually grounded leader. I was grateful to soak up some of the passion, vision, and presence that Sondra lives in. We talked about the connections between spirituality, leadership, and community change.

In the above video: Everyone wants meaning; tapping into the God in people; not letting religious language become an obstruction; you don't have to shout, and an impression of Eckart Tolle

More excerpts from the conversation (click on the words to see the video):

The battle we are fighting is not one the eyes; can see visualizing what we want the community to look like; moving mountains for our communities

If I hold onto the need to be right, nothing can work; everyone wants heaven, but nobody wants to die (the audio is choppy, but this one is my favorite clip)

A vision of North Minneapolis: A sea of brown and black kids throwing up their graduation caps...

God is ridiculous; Things that a human would run away from, God says run towards; We are all big balls of energy

Focused on the solution, not the problem; being silent

The first murder in the city this year was on our block

A video summary of what I'm learning

This is a summary of ideas from my studies about spirituality and organizations. Near the end of the video, I also demonstrate my televangelist ambitions. What do you think of these themes and beliefs?

Greg Boyd: Theology applied to institutions

I sometimes say that Greg Boyd is my "online pastor." He is the pastor at Woodland Hills Church in the Twin Cities, and he's written several books. I often listen to mp3s of his sermons, but I'd never actually met Greg before this interview. I have found his ideas about how to live out Jesus's example of "power under" leadership within corrupt systems to be quite helpful. He has shown up on CNN, the New York Times, and many other places for his challenges to some of the directions the Evangelical movement in the U.S. has gone. Here is a video excerpt from our conversation about theology and institutions:



In this clip, Greg talks about 'power over' and 'power under' in organizations. He says, "Always understand that 'the Powers' are trying to play you."

How about you? How do you think spiritual forces impact organizations?

Charles Simmons: Spirituality and Leadership

Charles is a friend of mine who is the chairperson of a group called Ex-Felons for Ex-Felons. The group is primarily made up of people who have formerly been incarcerated, and who have a commitment to helping other succeed in that transition. The group is supported by the Council on Crime and Justice, where Charles also works as a Building Manager. Charles has taught me a lot about surrender to God and about what empowering leadership can look like.

• 0:10 Just remember that God is ultimately in control of everything.
• 1:30 I had a guy that came in and said, "I remember you and your brothers. You had the Northside locked up."
• 4:20 God is refining you to be what he wants you to be.
• 4:50 It brought me a closer, inner peace with Him in prison.
• 5:50 I think that in any atmosphere, there are good and evil spirits. You can fall into it, or let them control you ... as far as that prison atmosphere... God is in the midst of everything.
• 9:00 I can relate to this person who just came out of the institution because I've been in that institution... I walked on those same paths you walked.
• 11:25 I don't go out with the intention that I've got to go change somebody today.
• 13:20 Pray over the atmosphere that you are in...Let the Spirit reveal what you need, and bring that to your work environment.

Kay Pranis: Spirituality and Leadership

This week I met with Kay Pranis, a leader, trainer, and author in the Restorative Justice field. Kay has inspired me and many others for several years. I was happy for the chance to ask her how she thinks about leadership, spirituality, and transformation that changes institutions. Here is an excerpt from the interview:


This shift is so big... in all of our institutions


Encouraging examples:

• ROCA in Massachusetts


• Collaboration in Chicago


• Prison staff relationships in Minnesota

Al Quie: Spirituality and Leadership

Today I was fortunate to interview Al Quie about his experiences with spirituality and leadership. Al Quie was formerly the Governor of Minnesota and a U.S. Congressperson. He's also been involved in prison ministries for more than 30 years. Here are some excerpts of our conversation, over orange juice at Perkins:

The realities of the invisible and learning the language of the invisible

Listening to God is like deciphering a bad accent

Going to prison for the first time

Asking another congressman to pray & praying with Gerald Ford when he was appointed President

Moving towards those who don't have power. God wants us to pay attention to those we neglect.

Institutions can provide justice, but not love.

Discerning God's will in secular groups

Leaders set the tone for organizations

Most organizations are fearful of sharing what went wrong