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Todd Sears had been openly gay as a student at Duke University in Durham, N.C. So he didn't expect the need to be secretive about being "out" after he graduated in 1998 to work on Wall Street. But soon after he started his entry-level job as a financial analyst for an investment bank, he heard someone at a nearby desk say a derogatory word toward gays. He soon learned the traditional Wall Street work environment, with its stereotypically rigid culture, was anything but welcoming to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. He conceived of the idea of gathering the major Wall Street banks in an event for the LGBT community and 10 years later he finally pulled it off.

This is an interesting read for those that are in the UM system. It seeks to look at the struggle of many mainstream churches; how is our leadership being effective?

Adam Hamilton was the keynote speaker at the 2010 Annual Conference for the United Methodist Rocky Mountain Conference. The most successful pastors I know participate in this summit and read his books. I find his materials interesting and useful.

I think the ongoing situation in Libya provides an interesting illustration of leadership and what happens when there is no clear leadership or at least a process for leadership. Qaddafi seems to have provided a form of leadership for decades - somewhat along the lines of Northouse's narcissistic leader type. Understandably, Northouse does not provide an analysis of the use of violence in acquiring and retaining a position of leadership/power. Yet it seems to me that one reason Qaddafi has been able to retain power when others have fallen is his ability to lead, even if brute force is used to enforce his position. What is the difference between Mubarak and Qaddafi? Why did Mubarak lose the support of his inner circle where Qaddafi has not? Further, a lack of clear leadership seems to be hobbling NATO and the rebels. Those who oppose Qaddafi seem to agree only on the fact of their oppositional sentiment; they seem unable to agree on what should be done to effectively express that opposition.