What’s Next for us… (part 1)
Earlier this year I wrote an article I called The Descent of Leadership. I was reflecting on some of my experience starting, building, and ultimately giving away projects, teams and even organizations to the next generation of leaders. The UNDERGROUND is now in good (younger) hands, which leaves me a bit of a free agent.
Freedom like that can also create a kind of crisis of identity, as we wonder not just “What should I do now?” but “Who am I now?” What Kierkegaard called the “dizziness of freedom.” I have just this month finished the first draft of my next book which examines this very phenomenon, and my contention that calling is dynamic and that we all go through six of these major transitions over the course of our lives. Writing that book, while going through one myself has given me some perspective and also afforded me a little extra faith. It has helped me see that we are not really defined by these roles we take on, as much as we are defined by the whole arc of our lives. And more to the point, the degree to which we stay close to the will and heart of God through it all. I write:
The first revelation for me was that we are all called people. Not just some of us, all of us. The second revelation was that our calling is not something that happens to us once. It is something that changes with the changes of our lives. But the third revelation is just as significant, while our calling does adapt, that is not something that happens on a daily or even yearly basis. It is a misunderstanding of calling to think of it as happening once, but it is also a misunderstanding to think of it as something that can change with the winds and whims of life. So, calling is something that changes but also lasts.
As I have both remembered and revised my calling in this season, God has been gracious not only to show me ways he is asking me to grow, but meeting those insights with real opportunities. I wanted to share these three big opportunities/roles in three separate posts. I am starting with the role I have been offered with the National Christian Foundation, Tampa Bay. But I will share the other two in the coming weeks.
National Christian Foundation
Last year NCF granted $1.2 billion nationally and $36 million in Tampa Bay for grants to kingdom causes. Their profound commitment to serve givers has positioned them as a trusted ally in the work of philanthropy. As we have dreamed together, a role is being created for me to help bring together their expertise and relationships with givers, and my experience and relationships with grass roots organizations. In recent years NCF has been gradually learning to lead in city wide collaboration projects. I will be able to build on that ground breaking work. My role will be to create coalitions around key causes/problems that will catalyze unprecedented collaboration toward eradication of those problems. If we can invite both the donor and the doer to the table we can form and fund plans that have a real chance of lasting social change.
Coalitions like these are emerging all over the country as serious threats to chronic and seemingly intractable problems like mental health, homelessness, human trafficking, addiction, foster care and adoption… the list goes on.
I have real hope for these collaborative communities as a vehicle for what John Kania and Mark Kramer call “collective impact,” a term first coined in this Stanford Social Innovation Review article. My role will be to bring the right people together, help in the formation of a plan and the release of sufficient resources toward that plan. All for the goal of real transformation, in service of the marginalized and in the name of Jesus. A fire that is burning in me as furiously as ever.
I am honored to be invited into this position of trust. All meaningful work has the potential to change the world, but I realize that opportunities like this really don’t come along every day. I am excited to give the next two years (at least) and my heart to this project, these causes and this team. I covet your prayer, ideas, and even involvement as God leads you.
Stay tuned for more from me soon. :)
