When the Center Does Not Hold: Leading in an Age of Polarization

by David R Brubaker, Everett Brubaker (Continued), Carolyn Yoder (Continued)

Over the past forty years, congregations, businesses, other organizations, and communities across the United States have become increasingly divided along political and ideological lines.In When the Center Does Not Hold, David R. Brubaker, with contributions by colleagues Everett Brubaker, Carolyn Yoder, and Teresa J. Haase, offers relevant, practical mentorship on navigating polarized environments. Through easily accessible stories, they provide tools and processes that will equip leaders to both manage themselves and effectively lead others in highly polarized and anxious systems.Coaching includes guidance on key characteristics of effective leadership in times of refusing contempt, honoring dignity, broadening binaries, seeking first to understand, inviting disagreement, and staying connected.With years of combined experience in the fields of conflict transformation and organizational and leadership studies, Brubaker and his colleagues offer hope. Here, readers learn from leaders and communities that continue to renew the covenants that bind them, courageously address deeper needs that drive conflict, and hold on to a moral center while navigating the storms of polarization.

Genres: Leadership

154 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 5, 2019

Reviews

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a practical book for leaders, be it political leaders, civic leaders, organizational leaders, and religious leaders. Organizations have constituencies and those bodies divide or issues or identities. Brubaker and his colleague offer thoughtful analysis of polarization and helpful ideas for how to counter it.

[Alan Marr · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent resource. It provides accessible helpful material on a topic that can intimidating and divisive.