<![CDATA[Paul Marcus Online - Blog]]>Tue, 31 Mar 2026 05:26:24 -0700Weebly<![CDATA[The Imposter Syndrome]]>Thu, 27 Oct 2016 01:17:52 GMThttp://www.paulmarcus.ca/blog/the-imposter-syndromeA recent conversation with a close friend reminded me of a syndrome afflicting many leaders helpfully coined ‘The Imposter Syndrome”.  It’s an interesting phenomenon that doesn’t get a lot of airtime.  I suspect, however, that it is a malady affecting the majority of leaders. 
 
My friend, who is in a leadership position in a Christian institution, was expressing to me that among the group of people he leads he often gets the sense that those around him are better than him.  For him, this meant that he assumed they were living much more ‘spiritual’ lives than he was living.  They were likely, he guessed, praying more often, doing devotions every day, and generally doing the things Christian folks are supposed to do and doing it better than him.  It came at an interesting time because just days before I had witnessed him interacting with a group of people and thought to myself ‘he likes people so much more than I do, and is so much better at interacting with them’. 
 
Do you catch the irony in this situation?  I did.
 
The Imposter Syndrome is characterized by people who have become successful in their respective roles who never feel as though they really know what they’re doing.  They fear that it’s just a matter of time before people around them realize that they’ve been faking it for a long time.  I’ve been doing this work for almost 10 years, have led 3 schools, and still consistently get the familiar feeling of self-doubt and low self-confidence that are manifestations of the Imposter Syndrome. 
 
My first encouragement to you if and when you experience this is: it’s normal.  In fact, I think it’s a sign that you have some humility about you and your position.  The opposite, which is more dangerous, is that you are overconfident in your abilities and rarely think that you’re wrong.  I do, however, have two other encouragements.  First, the malady gets easier to manage as you gain experience (as long as you have positive experiences, which you likely do, and you likely have more of them than you tend to focus on).  You will begin to recognize when it is rearing its ugly head and you will find ways to combat it.  Second, you need to realize and take to heart that God has called you to this work.  In most cases you did not decide on your own that you were going to take up this role.  God worked through teams of people to identify you, and the giftedness within you, that make you an ideal candidate for the time and place that you’re in. 
 
Even though you may at times feel like you’re the world’s greatest con-artist, I assure you that God is the greatest artist – and He hasn’t made a mistake on you. 

]]><![CDATA[Your Vocation is Intrinsically Good]]>Wed, 16 Dec 2015 01:13:01 GMThttp://www.paulmarcus.ca/blog/your-vocation-is-intrinsically-goodPicture
I grew up hearing the phrase “If I were in it for the money, I wouldn’t be in it”.  To my young ears what I inferred was different than what was intended.  I understood this statement primarily to be about not making a lot of money.  I’ve learned, though, that what was intended was an admission that positions in ministry in general, and positions in Christian schools in particular, are best understood as a calling as opposed to a choice. 
 
The biographies told in “The Road to Character” by David Brooks often centre on the idea of vocation.  I first heard the word vocation in Grade 10 when our high school guidance counsellor walked us through the wonderful book by John Krueger “Discovering Your Vocation: A Student’s Guide to Discerning God’s Call”.  What I hadn’t considered, up to that point, was that God’s call on one’s life includes more than those called to be pastors – God has a vocational call for all His creatures. 
 
Brooks, when relating the story of Viktor Frankl, the Austrian Holocaust survivor, claims that “A person does not choose a vocation.  A vocation is a calling.  People generally feel they have no choice in the matter.  Their life would be unrecognizable unless they pursued this line of activity” (p. 24).  Considering the subject of the sentence, it is a poignant statement.  However, the conversations I’ve had with principal colleagues in Christian schools in many places, and certainly my own experience, has confirmed this.  Many of us have felt pulled, pushed, and often prodded in the direction of this specific ministry that is Christian education. 
 
There are days that this position feels overwhelming.  There are demands on my time and my mental space that are not easily resolved.  A sense of vocation, though, helps me to put this work into perspective and offers me the encouragement I need.  Brooks says it well: “if you do it for God, you will never grow discouraged.  A person with a deep vocation is not dependent on constant positive reinforcement.  The job doesn’t have to pay off every month, or every year.  The person thus called is performing a task because it is intrinsically good, not for what it produces” (p. 44).  This book is full of chronicles about lives spent working out God’s call.  They are messy, imperfect lives which, if you’re anything like me, will find resonance with your experience.  May your encouragement be, as it is for me, that your career is a vocation and that your messy, imperfect work is intrinsically good. 

]]><![CDATA[Change the People, Or Change the People]]>Wed, 21 Oct 2015 01:02:05 GMThttp://www.paulmarcus.ca/blog/change-the-people-or-change-the-peopleAt our recent Ontario Christian School Administrators Association convention in Niagara Falls, we were left with a pithy statement by Erik Hoekstra, one of our keynote speakers: “Change the people, or change the people”.  This double entendre leaves us with a choice as leaders – we must commit to spending the time to lead our people to achieve the vision of our organizations, or we must commit to replacement and recruitment of the types of people we need in order to achieve our organization’s vision. 
 
I believe that we must confront these respectively – our commitment should be to helping our current personnel to become their best, as opposed to relieving them of their duties in the face of possible underperformance.  Sure, the law gives us the option to remove a staff member so long as we follow certain protocol.  But, what does this say to our obligation to perform as leaders?  I believe that if we are called to lead, then we owe it to our followers to entice them into wanting to follow our lead.
 
I don’t read Hoekstra’s adage as an option – I read it as a challenge.  Use your God-given leadership gifts to lead those around you to become the best they can be so that your organization can be the best it can be.  If you refuse to take up this challenge, then you better be prepared to face the consequences.  The consequences in this case might be heartache, lawsuits, financial obligations, broken relationships, or sin against God’s call on our lives. In other words, this is serious.
 
The primary job of leaders is not to remove people “from the bus” but to create a culture that helps all those on the bus to be and become active participants in the making of an exceptional organizational culture.  Thomas Sergiovanni describes the job of the educational leader as: “articulating school purposes and mission; socializing new members to the school; telling stories and maintaining or reinforcing myths, traditions, and beliefs; explaining “the way things operate around here”; developing and displaying a system of symbols….over time; and rewarding those who reflect this culture.”  The result of this, says Sergiovanni is “to bond students, teachers, and others together and to bind them to the work of the school as believers” (137).
 
I was once given the advice that I needed to make decisions that would be easier in the long run, not in the short run.  In situations of working with people, I believe that this often means we need to choose the hard work of developing those who follow.  Are there situations where the bus needs to be forcefully evacuated?  Yes.  But only as a contingency plan. 
 
Sergiovanni, T. (2009). The principalship: A reflective practice perspective (6th ed.). Boston: Pearson.
]]><![CDATA[Who do you Write For?]]>Thu, 28 May 2015 02:48:34 GMThttp://www.paulmarcus.ca/blog/who-do-you-write-forPicture
When I first started as Principal in 2008, I decided that every week I was going to write an original piece to be included in our school’s weekly newsletter.  My purpose at the time was to ensure that the vision of Christian education was kept in front of the school community regularly.  In essence, my purpose for writing was monologic – to communicate a message without necessarily engaging in dialogue with the audience.

A funny thing happened over time: I began to benefit from the very process of writing.  I found that as I reflected on my craft and as I formed the messages I hoped to convey, they became more concretized in my mind.  In a way, the writing process for me became dialectic.  Maryanne Wolf writes in her excellent book “Proust and the squid: the story and science of the reading brain that “the writer’s efforts to capture ideas with ever more precise written words contain within them an inner dialogue, which each of us who has struggled to articulate our thoughts knows from the experience of our watching our ideas change shape through the sheer effort of writing” (p.73).

I don’t know whether or not you like to write, but I have found it to be tremendously helpful in the weaving together of prior-to disconnected thoughts.  Much like how a good conversation with a colleague or friend can lead to new and deeper understandings, so too the process of wrestling with the right words can lead to novel insights.  Two warnings, however: it’s not easy, and it takes time.  The process for me often means that I’ve read a few interesting books, I’ve saved a few quotes, and then I’ve ruminated on the ideas for a time.  When it comes time to put the words on the page, I begin writing, deleting, copy-paste-moving, and eventually arrive at a piece that feels right.  This piece, for example, started on October 28, 2013!

As important as communicating ideas to our communities is, the process of writing itself can be an individually formative process.  We often think of the weekly newsletter article as another item on the to-do list.  However, if we regard writing as a practice that develops us as thinkers and leaders we may find renewed interest in writing well.   

Wolf, M. (2007). Proust and the squid: the story and science of the reading brain. New York, NY: HarperCollins.
]]><![CDATA[Leaders Should Be Readers]]>Tue, 03 Mar 2015 01:16:27 GMThttp://www.paulmarcus.ca/blog/leaders-should-be-readersPicture
I read often.  I often read quickly.  I tend to have a half a dozen books on the go at one time.  And, I’ve often felt guilty about it.  I feel guilty because I was nurtured to think that only by studying a book deeply could one really glean its ideas fully.  In my haste to consume as many books as possible, I worry that speed might hinder my ability to digest.  I question that assumption now and I challenge you as a leader with reading more.  

I remember having a conversation with a colleague a number of years ago where we were ruminating on this topic.  During the dialogue it was teased to the surface that perhaps there was an unconscious element in learning the breadth and depth of a book.  Perhaps without the kind of deep study we associate with university-level English courses we are still able to learn the ideas presented in the volumes we consume.  

Bill Hybels, a renowned Christian leader, seems to agree.  He claims that “When you read, you invite new information into your subconscious mind.  You may spend ten full hours going cover to cover and at the end feel like you’re none the wiser.  But then a day or a week later, you face a leadership dilemma that you are able to solve only because you read that book.” (Hybels, 2008, 197).  In fact he likens it to being mentored by a person you’ve not met face to face – the written word acting as vicarious interlocutor.  I have certainly experienced this in my professional life when in a conversation or situation a principle pops into my mind that otherwise found its home in a book previously read.  

I think this also relates to Steven Johnson’s principle of the slow hunch.  He describes a slow hunch as an idea that is given “just enough nourishment to keep it growing” and then it is “plant(ed)…in fertile soil, where its roots can make new connections” (Johnson, 2010, p. 78).  It is through this process that he suggests we give our ideas time to bloom.  Read, ruminate, repeat….  

Leader, where are your new ideas coming from?  I strongly believe that leaders ought to be reading books related to their craft.  There are a tonne of books out there on the topic of leadership, management, psychology, sociology, education, marketing, and Christian living.  Some are good, some are bad, but they are all helpful.  Books can nourish ideas if we give them a chance.   


Hybels, B. (2008). Axiom: Powerful leadership proverbs. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan.

Johnson, S. (2010). Where good ideas come from: The natural history of innovation. New York: Riverhead Books.

]]><![CDATA[The Christian School Lifecycle]]>Fri, 14 Nov 2014 02:13:41 GMThttp://www.paulmarcus.ca/blog/the-christian-school-lifecycle The Bowmanville District Christian School Society held their Fall Membership Meeting this week.  Although there weren’t important business decisions made, there were important stories told.  In my Principal’s Report my topic ranged from the lifecycles of organizations to the proper perspective that we ought to have as an organization.  I have included in this blog post the Prezi presentation that I used and I will outline some of my main points as well.  Please feel free to scroll through the presentation and to notice where the intersections are between it and what I write here. 

All organizations go through seasons.  Christian schools do too.  In no particular order, these are a few of the possible seasons that organizations encounter:

  • Sauntering: characterized by searching, exploring, and soul-seeking.  Ideas are being discussed, the ground is being tested, and the organization is ready to begin some work towards a vision or a goal.  
  • Building: This is the time when organizations are taking the ideas that they’ve been discussing and putting legs to them.  It is a time characterized by hard work, connecting ideas, and developing new ways forward. 
  • Momentum: Momentum is a little bit different than building because it is the point when seeds that are being or have been sowed are being watered, are beginning to take root, and are sprouting into the fullness that they one day will be.  
  • Acceleration: Acceleration is the real fun of being in organizations and it is when the ideas that have been explored and given legs are fully grown and are reproducing themselves.  We see growth and new life. 
  • Crisis: Crisis can happen at any point along the way.  These are the moments that define the next stage of an organization, and they also happen to all organizations.  Bill Hybels, of Willow Creek fame, once said that conflict is an opportunity to strengthen relationships.  Joseph Grenny adds to this by saying that the best way to avoid conflict is to live a meaningless life.  The point here is that we ought to look at conflict as an inevitable by-product of passion and that we ought also to find ways to use crisis and conflict as a means to make our organizations better.
  • Recovery: Recovery is the path that is cleared when we do crisis well.  It involved forgiveness, healing, and the development of new and beautiful ways forward.  

We are always at one of these stages at Knox Christian School.  Where have we been?  Where are we now?  Where will we go next.  Each of us holds an important and God-given role in this organization and we are called to take it seriously.  Knox exists because of faithfulness – God’s, and ours to His call in our lives. 

Ephesians 1:22 says that “God placed all things under his (Jesus) feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church”.  Properly understood, Jesus runs Knox.  I don’t mean to be flippant.  What I mean to say is that our proper perspective for understanding why we do what we do as the Bowmanville District Christian School Society is to honour Jesus in each area of life, including education.  With this perspective we are able to find peace in conflict, able to remember our past with celebration, and able to explore new ways forward in anticipation of what God is going to do next.   

]]><![CDATA[Trust Must Start with Us]]>Sun, 09 Nov 2014 18:10:07 GMThttp://www.paulmarcus.ca/blog/trust-must-start-with-usPicture

We’ve all heard the adage that “trust is earned”.  It’s an oft-uttered phrase, but one that I believe needs to be examined.  Walter C. Wright knows trust well, afterall his hobby is mountaineering, a pastime that absolutely requires trust in one’s teammates.  In his book “Don’t Step on the Rope” he claims that “the risk of relationship gives trust in faith” (p. 10).  What he means, I believe, is that inherent in relationships, at least healthy ones, is a certain amount of risk.  By engaging in relationships with others we risk hurt, disappointment, criticism, etc.  But to begin in relationship in the first place requires a step of trust.  If our starting point is that trust is earned, we limit our ability to engage fully in the relationships that will form the core of our families, organizations, and friendships. 

Imagine a scenario where you are hired to perform an important task in an organization.  Once you are hired, though, it becomes clear that your manager is not allocating you any trust.  She constantly checks up on you and gives only the easiest assignments.  You feel stifled and unappreciated.  Worse, you get stale and find it hard to be motivated to do better.  It doesn’t work.   Relationships begin with a leap of trust.  Trust is strengthened, bolstered, fostered, and perhaps even lost, but our posture as leaders shouldn’t be to cautiously dole our trust – we must start with trust. 

Wright goes on to outline that “An effective team focused on results and relationships is powered by trust.  Trust is the lifeblood of relationship and thus the fuel of teams” (p. 10)[1]  Trust is empowering, but it is wisely noted by Sinek that “the true social benefit of trust must be reciprocal.  One-way trust is not beneficial to the individual or the group” (p. 75).  Trust needs to be a two-way street, and as usual, must either begin with the leader, or be modeled by the leader. 

The implications of this for the leadership we show in our schools are large.  How do you show a first year teacher at your school that you trust him or her without having seen their full body of work?  How do you step into a relationship of trust with the new Board Chair who you’ve only known for 2 months?  Relationships and teams flourish when trust is strong.  How are you as a leader going to build and foster relationships that begin with trust?

[1] It should be noted that on the same page Wright goes on to say that “trust is essential for cohesion and community.  It is both given and earned.”  In this last point, I obviously disagree with him.  However, I can think of a circumstance where a relationship is able to blossom over time with someone who we were unable to trust from the start because of extenuating circumstances.  In this case, trust can definitely be earned, but I don’t believe it is the starting point of normal and healthy relationships.

Sinek, S. (2014). Leaders eat last: Why some teams pull together and others don't. New York, NY: Penguin Group.


Wright, Walter C. (2005). Don't Step on the Rope!: Reflections on leadership, relationships, and teamwork. Waynesboro, GA: Paternoster.



  


]]><![CDATA[Diffusing difficult Conversations]]>Fri, 06 Jun 2014 01:49:23 GMThttp://www.paulmarcus.ca/blog/diffusing-difficult-conversationsPicture
The last line of Kouzes and Posner’s leadership tome “The Leadership Challenge” charges that “Leadership is not an affair of the head. Leadership is an affair of the heart” (p.351).  I couldn’t agree more.  Those of you that know me probably find that a little surprising, but what has become imminently clear to me over my short career is that although leaders must make many cognitively demanding and challenging decisions, leadership is essentially about being in relationship with others and being able to foster positive, passionate, long-lasting bonds.  

Communication obviously plays a pivotal role in fostering these types of bonds.  And we all can relate to situations where communication has broken down.  Perhaps it’s the nasty email you get right before bed that doesn’t sound at all like the voice of the person who’s writing it.  Perhaps it’s the parent sitting across from you for the umpteenth time who you can’t seem to say the right thing to.  Perhaps it’s the conversation that you have to have with a colleague that you know is not going to be received well.  I believe that in all of these situations there are simple tips that can help to make these conversations better.  It’s important to note that I didn’t say “easier” because I think these types of conversations only get easier with experience and practice.  However, there are some tried and true tactics that can lead to smoother conversations even in the midst of contention. 

Face to Face

This one I have definitely learned the hard way.  Early in my career I would choose to send an email regarding a contentious issue rather than pick up the phone or set up a meeting.  Too often this exacerbated an issue that could have been more easily solved face to face.  Earlier I alluded to receiving an email not in the voice of the person sending it.  This is a two way street – you as a leader rarely speak with your true voice via email either.  When I receive a nasty email my first response now is to pick up the phone and set up a meeting.  The very act of meeting face to face often softens the tone.  It is far too easy to lose the human voice in an email and I’ve often heard senders say “I wish I hadn’t sent that”, or “I was afraid it might be read that way”.  Do yourself a favour and do what’s harder in the short but easier in the long: pick up the phone and set up a face to face meeting. 

Listening

Too often I have tried to rule the conversation.  I have learned that the most effective way to start a meeting is to simply say something to the effect of “tell me what’s going on”.  As leaders we often have heard every side of the story prior to the meeting, but the very act of allowing the voice of the other to be heard coupled with the posture that you’re humble enough to admit that what is going to be spoken is truth, can help to difuse some of the tension of the initial combustible moments.

Susan Scott says in Fierce Conversations that “there is so much more to listen to than words.  Listen to the whole person” (p.103).  Listening to the whole person means using your eyes as well as your ears.  It is important to maintain eye contact in a friendly and collegial way.  Too much eye contact is, of course, authoritarian, but it is integral to be seeing what the other person’s eyes are ‘saying’ and watching for important body language.  This is also reciprocal: it is important that they are able to see what your eyes and body are saying as well. 

Body Language

Body language plays an important role in effective conversations because it can help us to interpret the intentions of others and can help others to interpret our intentions.  The methods outlined here can seem manipulative, they should be seen rather as ways to be aware of our physical selves during conversations in order to hear others more effectively and to help those with whom we are conversing to be comfortable and to ‘feel’ our message well. 

1.       How you Sit

Kevin Dutton in Split Second Persuasion” tells a story about a person who was able to diffuse tense situations by sitting on his hands.  It may seem silly, but the way we situate ourselves physically during a conversation can have fairly significant effects.  Dutton suggest that if possible we position our chairs a little lower than those to whom we are talking and to and to sit on our hands.  The goal here is to put yourself in a posture of listening.  If you are lower than the other person, their stature now exceeds yours.  If you are sitting on your hands, this is a non-verbal indication of relinquishing power.  Both of these are powerful ways to influence positive and peaceful conversations.  Try it.

2.       Strategic Mimicry

Strategic mimicry, says Daniel Pink, is a sign of trust.  Pink cites a number of studies that have shown that when the listener strategically mimics the physical actions of others, more deals are done and the speaker feels more positively about the listener.  It may seem silly but it has been shown to be effective.  When your conversant crosses his or her arms, wait a few moments and cross yours arms.  If he/she sits up straighter, wait a few moments and sit up straighter. 

3.       Touching Arms

Both Dutton and Pink recommend light physical touch.  This is a tricky one because you must feel comfortable doing it or else you risk coming across as creepy.  I always greet people prior to a conversation with a hearty handshake and either a gentle opposite hand on the back of their shaking hand, or a light pat on the shoulder.  It is possible that this lends to a feeling of trust and gentleness. 

These tips, of course, only scratch the surface.  However, in a position with so much depending on the leader’s ability to foster good relationships, I believe it is important to practice being good at peaceful conversations.  Some of this may come naturally, but some of it also comes through trial and error.  Next time you face a potentiality volatile situation, arrange a face-to-face meeting, listen before you speak, and make sure your body language reflects your intention. 

Dutton, K. (2011). Split-second persuasion: the ancient art and new science of changing minds. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. (2007).The leadership challenge (4th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Pink, D. H. (2012). To sell is human: the surprising truth about moving others. New York, NY: Riverhead Books.

Scott, S. (2002). Fierce conversations: achieving success at work & in life, one conversation at a time. New York, N.Y.: Viking.

]]><![CDATA[Does Teacher Training Matter?]]>Thu, 15 May 2014 14:25:47 GMThttp://www.paulmarcus.ca/blog/does-teacher-training-matterYou haven 't heard from me in a while, that's because I've been busy putting the finishing touches on a research paper for the culmination of my Masters in Educational Leadership at Calvin College.  Below is a copy of the excutive summary being sent to stakeholders in the project.  If you'd like to have a look at the whole project, you can find it here.
Executive Summary 

Many studies have aimed to explore the relationship between teacher certification and teacher effectiveness by relying on student achievement data as the independent variable.  The present study aims to expand this literature by exploring whether or not there is a difference in effectiveness between teachers receiving teacher certification from secular or Christian training institutions. 

Principals of nearly all OACS elementary schools were surveyed to assess the possible relationship between their perception of teacher effectiveness in domains of Christian Perspective and Pedagogical Performance, and the teacher training institution that teachers graduated from.  To do this, principals were asked to provide a summary of each teacher (years of experience, gender, secular or Christian undergraduate institution, secular or Christian teacher training institution) and to rate each of their teachers on a scale of 0 (Unsatisfactory) to 10 (Distinguished) according to 6 criteria: Overall Christian Perspective, Creating an Environment of Respect and Rapport, Engaging Students in Learning, Overall Teacher Effectiveness, Classroom Management, and Demonstrating Knowledge of Content and Pedagogy.  The descriptors for these criteria were included in a rubric based on actual rubrics used by certain Christian schools.   

Through a regression analysis of 317 teacher ratings, it was found that there was no significant relationship between institution of teacher training and teacher effectiveness as perceived by principals in any category.  Instead, it was found that years of teaching experience and teacher gender may be better predictors of teacher effectiveness in certain categories.  Male teachers were rated more poorly by their principals in scores of overall pedagogical performance (-.40) and classroom management (-.43) than their female counterparts.  Further, teachers with more than 3 years of experience were rated more highly by their principals in scores of overall Christian perspective (+.46).  These ratings, though statistically significant, were relatively small according to a 10-point scale and should be read as such. 

Although this study aimed to assess the relationship of teacher training institutions and a number of areas of teacher effectiveness, the results in the Christian perspective category are of important interest to many Christian school principals.  The lack of relationship between teacher training institution and measures of Christian Perspective and Pedagogical Performance, however, ought to be interpreted judiciously.  This study was unable to ascertain, for example, the possible positive socializing effect that teachers from Christian training institutions may have on pre-tenured teachers graduating from secular institutions in developing distinguished levels of Christian Perspective.  This study was also unable to take into account any possibly applicable background items such as whether or not a teacher graduated from a Christian elementary or highschool.  The findings herein should, then, be regarded as the foundation for future study rather than as definitive conclusions. 

]]><![CDATA[Gladwell: David and Goliath - Failing and Forgiveness]]>Fri, 31 Jan 2014 17:01:21 GMThttp://www.paulmarcus.ca/blog/gladwell-david-and-goliath-failing-and-forgivenessBelow is a piece that will be published very soon in the E-newsletter of the Ontario Christian Schools Administrators Association, The Rudder.   Picture
“Giants are not what we think they are, the same qualities that appear to give them strength are often the sources of great weakness” 
(Gladwell, 2013, p.  6).

This statement drives to the heart of the message that Malcolm Gladwell’s new volume aims to explore.  Even those with no religious affiliation will recognize the namesake of the title – we hear it referred to when a lower seeded sports team is battling an opponent, when a lesser known politician defeats an incumbent, and when a whistleblower has the audacity to confront a major corporation.  In David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants, Gladwell makes use of his characteristic style to once again turn the table on common misconceptions.  He uses research from studies in a variety of disciplines such as psychology, sociology, and criminology to illustrate his central thesis that being and acting as an underdog can have surprising power and uncommon results.

In this review, instead of dissecting Gladwell’s thesis and critiquing the strengths and weaknesses, I’m going to focus on a chapter that I find particularly poignant and that I think has ramifications for our work in our organizations.  In Chapter 8, Gladwell tells a story of forgiveness and in it he outlines with grace how forgiveness can turn “turn the world upside down”.  Of particular interest to me, and probably to my readers is that even outside of his intentional use of Biblical allusion there is a subtle and discernible Christian element at the foundation of Gladwell’s most recent volume.  I won’t spend time exploring that here, but this isn’t surprising given his background and what he has been saying in recent interviews.  More information can be found in an interview linked to in the footnotes about Gladwell’s faith journey.[1]

In Chapter 8, Gladwell uses the stories of two characters to foil one another.  The first is the story of a man named Mike Reynolds who was the instigator behind the enacting of the Three Strikes Law in California.  Essentially, the Three Strikes law mandated subsequently stiffer penalties for repeat offenders.  The third offence could land an offender in jail for 25-to-life.  Three Strikes had a rationale for Mike Reynolds; he lost his daughter to a senseless murder in 1992 - Kimber Reynolds was shot to death outside of a Fresno Planet Hollywood for what appeared to be no reason.  Mr. Reynold’s ensuing life mission became vengeance for his murdered daughter. 

Behind Reynold’s vision for prevention of criminal activity lies a view of humans as homo economicus which describes people as rational decision makers who make intentional choices based on conscious cost-benefit analyses.  This is misguided, Gladwell claims.  While attacking the Three Strikes law and critiquing Reynold’s approach Gladwell shows us that much to the contrary criminals often act spontaneously with very little forethought.  What’s worse, the Three Strikes law was shown to be enormously expensive, largely ineffective at preventing criminal activity, and guilty of incarcerating an inordinate number of young males.  Three Strikes culminated in being popularly characterized by the story of a three time offender being incarcerated in the same cell as a murderer for stealing a piece of pizza.  And, it consumed the rest of Reynold’s life. 

The story of Three Strikes is juxtaposed against a story of forgiveness.  Candace Derksen was a Winnipeg youngster who was murdered senselessly.  The reaction of her mother Wilma was, however, quite different than that of Mike Reynolds.  In a word, Wilma chose forgiveness.  She could very well have pursued vengeance.  She could have chosen to avenge her daughter’s murder by pursuing a lifelong quest to bring justice to her daughter’s name in the way of activism and advocacy.  Wilma Derksen admits, though, that this would only have been easier in the beginning.  She concedes that “it would have gotten harder.  I think I would have lost [my husband], I think I would have lost my children”.  Ultimately, she says “In some ways I would be doing to others what he [the murderer] did to Candace” (p. 261). 

The two stories offer drastically different ways of viewing the world, drastically different ways of approaching and responding to situations of adversity.  Gladwell concludes the chapter by summarizing Derksen’s response: “A woman who walks away from the promise of power finds the strength to forgive – and saves her friendship, her marriage, and her sanity.  The world is turned upside down” (p. 262, italics mine).  It is this last two-fold point that I want to focus on for the rest of this article.  First, forgiveness is powerful and power-full, and second when forgiveness is chosen power is turned upside down. 

“Giants are not what we think they are, the same qualities that appear to give them strength are often the sources of great weakness”.

What is it about forgiveness that is so difficult?  Have you ever been in a situation where you know that you simply need to forgive someone to move on but are unable to do so?  Have you ever been in a situation where you know that you need forgiveness but you’re unable to say two seemingly simple words?  ‘I’m sorry’ is perhaps the hardest phrase in the English language to utter.  Why?

Tim Keller in Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith offers a reason.  He claims that “forgiveness is free and unconditional to the perpetrator, but it is costly to you” (Keller, 2009, p. 83).  Forgiveness is costly because we give up something in the process; we give up our right to vengeance, our right to make things right in our favour.  Consider the options: If someone damages your car, you can demand that they cover the cost of the repair or replacement, or you can cover the cost yourself.  In essence you can choose to forgive the cost (we’ll conveniently ignore insurance companies in this example).  Forgiveness always comes at a cost and that cost is giving up your specious right to power over the situation. 

Power considered in this way can be regarded as Gladwell’s giant.  The same qualities that give this power its strength can also become its greatness weakness.  What happens in the extreme when we pursue our right to vengeance, our right to compensation, our right to make things right?  In Mike Reynolds case he plunged his state and other parts of the country into a set of ineffective, inefficient, and possibly unjust laws while denying himself closure.  On the contrary, what happens when the right to vengeance and compensation are given up?  For Wilma Derksen, she was able to maintain her closest relationships and she could experience some semblance of closure.

My use of the word power is of course simplified here and limited to one context.  Andy Crouch in his most recent book “Playing God: Redeeming the Gift of Power” explores power more fully.  Tucked in the back half of the book he makes an interesting statement regarding power, forgiveness, and institutions.  He prophesies that “the institutions of our time will be changed not by impersonal institutional forces; they will be changed by trustees, the image bearers who face their institutions failings, forgive them and lead toward a better way” (Crouch, 2013, p. 220). 

What does it mean to forgive an institution and how does this relate to our discussion of forgiveness and power thus far?  All institutions fail and fall short.  Just as individuals of which institutions are composed fail and fall short, so too institutions will corporately neglect their God-given mandate at times.  Will leaders, lay or professional, react by engaging their right to vengeance, compensation, and right to make things right?  Or, will they bear the cost themselves?  The latter, I think, is more in line with what our God-given calling is as leaders.  We know that we must acknowledge the failings, but forgiving the failings is deeper than that.  Forgiving is also not about forgetting.  We must remember our failings in order to ensure that the same failings don’t needlessly happen again.  Rather, forgiving our failings means acknowledging them, confessing them, and ultimately finding new and faithful ways forward. 

Failing is a giant.  What appears to give it its strength is also its greatest weakness.   Failing has the façade of being able to hold us down, to prevent us from growth, development, and improvement.  When failing is forgiven, however, its strength is redeemed and it will help us and our organizations to grow, develop, improve, and ultimately flourish.

Works Cited

Crouch, A. (2013). Playing God: redeeming the gift of power. Downer's Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

Gladwell, M. (2013). David and Goliath: underdogs, misfits, and the art of battling giants. New York: Little Brown & Company.

Keller, T. J. (2009). The prodigal god: recovering the heart of the Christian faith. London: Hodder & Stoughton.

[1] http://www.religionnews.com/2013/10/09/interview-malcolm-gladwell-return-faith-writing-david-goliath/


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