Douglas Young | Changing the Face of Conflict

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

April 19, 2011 in life with 1 Comment

Are you thinking about the the decision you make?

Isn’t life simply one decision after another? Really. Think about how many decisions we make on a daily basis. Could you even keep count? I’m not certain it’s even possible.

What are we going to wear?

What are we going to eat?

Where are we going to go?

How are we going to do this, that, or the other?

And these are just the mundane questions of everyday life. Think about the big decisions you have to make- the ones that can truly change the course of things.

Should I confront my colleague?

Should I pull my kids out of one school and put them in another?

Should I take the job or not?

These are questions that warrant significant thought because they can change the scope your life in an instant. And they will.

But don’t discredit the crucial nature of questions that seem mundane. They have the potential to sneak up on you if you take them lightly.

Think about every question. Don’t take a single one for granted. It’s possible that you can’t afford not to!

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The Importance of Trust

April 15, 2011 in Leadership, Quotes with 0 Comments

In my final MACRR class, I’ve been reading The Leadership Challenge by Kouzes and Posner. It has been an incredible read and I anticipate reading it more than once. It is replete with profound thoughts that are essential to all leaders, both current and would be.

Trust is at the core of leadership. One might think he/she is a leader, but if they aren’t trusted by those under them they aren’t leaders. There’s no way around it. Followers, also, will not follow those who they don’t believe can trust, themselves. Let the following quote from The Leadership Challenge sink in a bit.

People who work for highly controlling managers are more likely to keep information to themselves, hide the truth, and be dishonest about what is going on.

No surprise, then, that controlling managers have low credibility. Highly controlling behaviors- inspecting, correcting, checking up- signal lack of trust. How do you respond to people who don’t trust you? You don’t trust them. And because trustworthiness is a key element of personal credibility, credibility diminishes. People are unlikely to believe someone who does not exhibit trust in them.

In business and organizations, controls are important. In highly personal interactive environments, though, there must also be significant trust for there to be internal healthiness. Trust and credibility must exist from to to bottom. If these aren’t present, dysfunction is inevitable.

Conflict and Culture

April 12, 2011 in Conflict Resolution, Culture with 0 Comments

We exist in cultures. I think of them as Big “C” Cultures (Major cultures like nationality or ethnicity) and Little “c” cultures (various subcultures like family or church). These cultures, whether we realize it or not, are significant to our development as human beings. We either work with them to affirm them or work against them to change them.

Inasmuch as culture is of human derivation, it has the power to form those who’ve come after it. It might seem odd to suggest, but Continue Reading…

Dump Day 2011

April 8, 2011 in Missions with 3 Comments

An image from December 8, 2010 is permanently etched in my memory. Should I develop the debilitating disease known as Alzheimer’s, I’m convinced this memory will be stronger than the destructive nature of Alzheimer’s could ever be.

I stepped out of the bed of a pick up truck driven by Bobby Moore, Executive Director of Bread for a Hungry World, onto the plastic littered ground of The Dump, outside of Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Even through my snake boots, I was hit. Yep. My kevlar boots couldn’t stop its bite. I was hit…

by…

the…

realization…

that…

this…

was…

real.

I’d heard stories and seen YouTube videos, but to experience it once and for all was almost more than I could bear.

I wept. And I wasn’t alone.

The stench said it all. I’d been to landfills many times in the states but this wasn’t just a landfill. This was a buffet for some and home for others.

Moreover, the rumor was true. I saw her. The pregnant woman who would more than likely go into labor there unless someone did something.

That afternoon we would feed close to 1000 Hondurans, many of whom would descend from the hill upon which The Dump sat, buzzards circling and all, a feat made possible by people not content to sit idly by. People fasted, gave up ice cream for a month, and found many other ways to save so as to contribute on Dump Day.

Now is your chance to help. Having been there for my self, and believing in the work that Marc Tindall, Nathan Hale, Trey Morgan, Bread for a Hungry World, and others are doing, I ask you to please help this year!

Watch the above video, recognizing here is your chance to take a stand against poverty and say, “In the name of Jesus I am not going to sit idly by!”

Feel free to ask me any questions you might have. Thank you so much.