Category: Book Summaries

Being the Boss

On February 27, 2023, I started a new role as Vice President of Human Resources for Space Center Houston—following a 30-year Federal career in Human Resources, mostly with NASA.  In honor of my first anniversary, I thought it was appropriate to summarize Linda Hill and Kent Lineback’s Being the Boss: The 3 Imperatives for Becoming a Great Leader.

If you were a high performer in your work before becoming a manager, you may find the journey into management particularly difficult. Because of previous success, stars are understandably reluctant to give up the attitudes and practices they think produced their success thus far, and they’re unwilling to change themselves.  But, as Marshall Goldsmith wrote, What Got You Here Won’t Get You There.

Too many leaders fail to live up to their potential. Why? Because they stop working on themselves. Leadership is about using yourself as an instrument to get things done. It can be learned, but only if you are willing and able to engage in serious self-development.

That’s one reason I continue with this blog.  It forces me to continue to learn about leadership and improve my own skills and perspective.

Click here to learn the 3 imperatives for becoming a great leader

Twelve Extraordinary Women

This has been quite a month. On January 25th, Jennifer and I celebrated our 27th wedding anniversary; and we celebrated her birthday just last week.  Jennifer is an extraordinary woman (see my previous posts on “Jennifer: A Leader After God’s Heart”; 4 Leadership Jewels from my wife, Jennifer; and my family life).

So, it’s appropriate to turn our focus to twelve extraordinary women of the Bible, and what God wants us to learn from them. All these women ultimately became extraordinary not because of any natural qualities of their own, but because the one true God whom they worshiped is great, mighty, glorious, and awesome, and He refined them like silver. He redeemed them through the work of an extraordinary Savior—His own divine Son—and conformed them to His image (Romans 8:29).

In other words, the gracious work of God in their lives made each one of these women truly extraordinary. They therefore stand as reminders of both our fallenness and our potential. Speaking together as one, they all point us to Christ.

As you consider their examples, John MacArthur’s prayer for you is that you will share their faith, imitate their faithfulness, and learn to love the Savior whose work in their lives made them truly extraordinary. As MacArthur puts it, “Your life can be extraordinary, too, by His wonderful grace.”

Click here for more from John MacArthur about 12 Extraordinary Women