Jonathan Herron

Inside the Oral Defense of Doctoral Process

This week I wrapped up a two year journey toward earning my Doctorate. The final phase was the Oral Defense, a time-honored rite of passage required before completing the doctoral candidacy.

For what it’s worth, I filmed a reaction video and shared a couple clips from my Oral Defense to help educate others on the process.

 

 

Colin Mochrie Reflects on Over 30 Years of Whose Line Is It Anyway?

Vulture has a great interview with Colin Mochrie, the improv phenom who has been making us all laugh for 30 years.

As you know, improvisational comedy has many “rules” that apply to business, leadership and life, as revealed in my book, Holy Shift.

Here are some highlights from the article:

On improv entering the mainstream:

“There are still times I think, How did they pitch the show to a network and have it get picked up? There’s four guys you have never seen before, and we don’t have a show until the end of the taping, and it’s 22 episodes of that. I’m proud that it got improv into the public mind-set.”

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Anybody can improvise:

“Like any muscle, it has to be worked and exercised. Because, I mean, basically, we’re all improvisers. That’s what our lives are. We have sort of a rough framework; we know how it’s going to end. Everything in between now and then is just totally improvised.”

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Why improvisers hate Hoedowns:

“Well, they’re horrible! First of all, is it even a song style? It’s like, “Oh, let’s hear the hoedown stylings of …” Who? No one. And there’s no good place to be in line. The first person: You get this suggestion right away, you have no time to think. And then the rest of the time, you’re just hoping no one will take your verse. There’s some topics we think, All I’ve got is one thing. If somebody does that verse … And when they do it right before you? I can’t even describe the feeling. It’s just loss and despair. And the fact that the Hoedown was invented? It’s horrible.”

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Read the full article on Vulture.

Be More of a Blessing, Less of a Burden

The goal of a leader is to always be a blessing and never be a burden. There is nothing worse than a person that overstays their welcome at a home gathering. The same is true in leadership. We want to live our lives in such a way that adds greatness to people and circumstances around us instead of taking from them.

Here are three quick things to remember in order to be a blessing as a leader:

#1: NEVER BE OWNED BY ANYONE

• To be owned by someone means that you owe them something. As leaders, our goal is not to be owned by our  relationships, finances, belongings etc. Rather it is the responsibility of a leader to steward their own lives so that we can be a blessing to others around us and not a burden. 

• Money and people will try to own you so that you can serve them, but part of being a good steward means that we recognize that we are owned by God and serve Him only. 

#2: BE CAREFUL OF PEOPLE WHO COME INTO YOUR LIFE TOO FAST AND TOO LOUD

• People who come into our lives too fast and too loud generally leave the same way they came in. In leadership, the tension is between divine appointments and people that we moved too quickly with. 

• It can be easy to jump toward what’s flashy, but over time we see that the faithful and steady people around us usually end up being the ones that we need in our life. 

#3: GOD IS OUR SOURCE!

• God is the ultimate source! We don’t ever have to worry about our needs or the needs of the church because God is committed to taking care of us.  

• When we worry about our “lack” we are saying that God isn’t enough. Kingdom-minded people don’t see “lack” – they see what God is doing through the people placed in their lives. 

Let’s always remember that as leaders, it is our goal to be a blessing and not a burden.