Constructing Blue Collar Leaders In A White Collar World

In Constructing Blue-Collar Leaders in a White-Collar World . . . "Dr. LaMar Herndon considers a group of leaders often overlooked and occasionally denigrated-the-bivocational pastor. Constructing Blue Collar Leaders in a White Collar World integrates important theoretical leadership concepts with spiritual and practical realities. Dr. Herndon explores important topics such as trends and issues facing the global church and its leaders, leadership models, values and ethics, character and integrity, cultural effects, creativity and innovation, reverse mentoring, and strategic planning. This book is a profoundly honest hands-on guide to what constitutes a true leader serving as a bivocational minister." -Dr. Gary Oster Regent University School of Business & Leadership, Virginia Beach, VA "Down through my thirty plus years of education, ministry, and leadership I have read many books on the subject of leadership. Some have challenged me and inspired me, but none have done so at the level of Constructing Blue Collar Leaders in a White Collar World. As a State Minister, I work with many bivocational and blue collar Pastors. I will be using Dr. Herndon's book as a primary resource to assist me in working with those Pastors in challenging and inspiring them in their leadership development." -Dr. Darryl Allen State Minister KY Church of God Ministries, Adjunct Professor at Nazarene Bible College & Mid-America Christian University "It [Constructing Blue-Collar Leaders in a White-Collar World] is an excellent presentation of leadership issues every pastor needs to understand to some degree. The chapter on "Values and Ethics" is worth the price of the book. Thanks for sharing the results of your many hours of study and hard work." -Ray Gilder National Coordinator Bivocational and Small Church Leadership Network, Bivocational Small Church Ministries Specialist Tennessee Baptist Convention "Dr. LaMar Herndon presents leadership from a very down to earth and practical approach. This book seeks to help the bivocational church leader be effective while balancing these two worlds. I believe this book needs to be in every pastor, minister, and leaders library; whether bivocational or not." -Rev. Jewel D. Williams, M.R.E. (Church of God, Anderson, IN Author of Fearfully and Wonderfully Made, Living our Theology, and the Path of a Preacher

Finally, there is a book specifically created for the often overlooked and underdeveloped blue-collar workers on the front lines. My passion is to help leaders and organizations invest in those on the front lines or to help you invest in yourself. For the blue-collar workers I value so much: I've written the book I wish someone would have given me this book nearly 30 years ago when I started my career on the front lines. It would have changed my life then. It can change your life now. Separate yourself from the crowd quickly by learning how to master the traits High Impact leaders value most. You will learn how to get noticed for the right reasons and how to get promoted for the right reasons. You will learn how to become recognized as a front line leader worth following, and you don't need formal authority (position) because you will develop something better: moral authority (influence). I've made this book easy to read for the non-readers on the front lines. There are 30 chapters with 3 pages each. If you read a chapter a day (3 pages) you will easily complete the book in 1 month even if you're a non-reader. I've written this book specifically for the often overlooked great people with so much untapped potential on the front lines. If you're on the front lines it will help you better understand: - how to make an impact from where you are - how to be recognized for your abilities - how to position yourself well for promotions - how to increase your influence with your leaders and your teammates - how to be a better team player - how & why you should accept more responsibility - how to intentionally become more valuable to the company - how to become more valuable and successful as an individual - how to lead yourself well in order to create a better future for yourself This book will actually be great for anyone at any level in any industry, but the greatest value will be for those in the blue-collar world on the front lines along with the first few layers of front line leaders. Of course, higher level leaders also need to know and understand what's in this book to multiply the potential of those on the front lines.

Bivocational: Returning to the Roots of Ministry offers one answer to the pressing question of the future of congregational life in the mainline Protestant Church. The contention of the book is that the model of professional ministry we have received from the past century of congregational life is imposing unsustainable costs on most congregations and parishes. In consequence, these faith communities face stark choices for which there are no self-evident answers. Shall we close? Shall we merge with another congregation—a decision shaped by a primary value on maintaining a full-time professional in the role of ordained minister? Can we find someone who will do the job part-time? What will it mean for them—and for us? Bivocational explores the impact on the ministry, on congregations, and on denominational polities of encouraging a way forward—one in which bivocational ordained professionals, ministers working simultaneously in the church and in secular life, come to leadership positions in the church. It explores the different sorts of gifts and preparation such ordained ministers need, and how a bivocational ethos looks when it characterizes not only the ordained minister, but all ministers of the congregation—lay and ordained alike.

In Limbo, award-winning journalist Alfred Lubrano identifies and describes an overlooked cultural phenomenon: the internal conflict within individuals raised in blue-collar homes, now living white-collar lives. These people often find that the values of the working class are not sufficient guidance to navigate the white-collar world, where unspoken rules reflect primarily upper-class values. Torn between the world they were raised in and the life they aspire too, they hover between worlds, not quite accepted in either. Himself the son of a Brooklyn bricklayer, Lubrano informs his account with personal experience and interviews with other professionals living in limbo. For millions of Americans, these stories will serve as familiar reminders of the struggles of achieving the American Dream.

Good and smart decisions should be distinguished from wise decision-making — especially in the age of artificial intelligence (AI) where algorithms are increasingly used to automate business processes or to augment the accuracy and speed of decisions. This book argues why specific forms of intelligence as well as consciousness and enhanced conscience are crucial to make wise decisions — with consciousness to be clearly distinguished from intelligence. It also addresses why machine learning and smart computers (AI) are plausibly able to make 'smart' (and thus to a certain extent 'intelligent') decisions but definitely unable to help us to become wiser. In essence, optimizing a desired output in a business context will require a balanced approach with cognitive awareness and ethical reflection — synthesizing intuitive and algorithmic thinking — encompassing short-term profit and longer-term envisioning, and aiming to optimize created and captured value for shareholders while taking the concerns of those who have a real stake in the organization seriously. If business is about creating and sharing value in a future that is both 'digital' and 'relational', then innovative technologies like AI will play an increasingly important role. Consequently, mindful executives and their responsible boards therefore need to acknowledge the limitations of AI in business — especially when the uncertain future is estimated to be rather volatile or ambiguous than stable.

Twenty-nine leading scholars and executives provide a visionary look at the future of business, propelling past damaging industrial-age values to uncover the key ingredients of humanistic, ecologically sustainable, and intergenerational prosperity. Through the exploration of robust cases and stories packed with deep insight and vital science, this extraordinary collection explores how we can adapt our notions of value, markets, and models of cooperation and collective action to create a world where economies and businesses excel, all people thrive, and nature flourishes. In part I, The Business of Business Is Betterment, the contributors show how enterprises today are further developing-and even taking a quantum leap beyond-the multistakeholder logic of shared value creation. Part II, Net Positive = Innovation's New Frontier, is focused on what companies can and are doing to move away from doing no harm to playing an active role in solving environmental, social, and economic problems. The final section, Ultimate Advantage: A Leadership Revolution That Is Changing Everything, looks at new leadership paradigms-characterized by unexpected qualities like virtue, love, compassion, and connection-that are crucial to creating engaged, empowered, innovative, and out-performing enterprises. This book is designed to galvanize change and unite a global community of inquiry and action. It establishes the conceptual cornerstones for a new kind of business practice that will lead the way to an equitable, sustainable, and flourishing future.

This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 License. It is free to read, download and share on Elgaronline.com. This timely book provides an innovative study of the profound changes and latest challenges facing the construction sector. It adopts a socio-technical approach to analyse not only the role of technological factors, but also that of actors and their social dialogue and industrial relations.

"The most valuable player is the one that makes the most players valuable." Peyton Manning In today's high stakes game of business, the players on the team are the competitive advantage for any organization. But, only if they are on the field instead of on the bench. Blue-Collar Leadership(R) & Teamwork provides a simple, yet powerful and unique, resource for individuals who want to increase their influence and make a high impact. It's also a resource and tool for leaders, teams, and organizations, who are ready to Engage the Front Line to Improve the Bottom Line. After logging over 11,000 hours leading leaders and their teams through process improvement, organizational change, and cultural transformation, Mack reveals the 30 key character traits of high impact players. Mack explains why each trait is critical and how adopting and leveraging each trait will help you develop 360° of influence regardless of your position, title, or rank. High impact players do more than get results. They motivate and inspire their teammates to get results. Adopting and applying these traits will help you and your team climb to the next level and beyond. "My first words are, GET SIGNED UP! This training is not, and I stress, not your everyday leadership seminar!" Sam M. VP/COO