Description

Register and Learn More: https://neflchristianchamber.com/https-neflchristianchamber-com-august-dr-debra-schwinn/

Dr. Debra Schwinn is President of Palm Beach Atlantic University, a Christ-first university with 700 full and part-time employees, located in West Palm Beach, Florida. She describes 3 pillars of transformative leadership, or the ability to encourage, motivate, and inspire employees in ways that create meaningful change via radical openness to God’s leading for individuals and organizations. Schwinn defines Leadership Pillar 1 as competence. Most leaders have competence in their field, yet this alone provides only transactional (get it done) leadership. Pillar 2 is the ability to be relational. Many call this a leader with emotional intelligence. Having both Pillars 1 and 2 can lead to excellent, caring leadership, but not transformation. Pillar 3 is the inner journey of leadership. This pillar is the least taught, and often the most difficult journey. It can be the crucible where God burns off extra “dross” that gets in the way of our experiencing God’s love deeply, beyond head knowledge, all the way down to one’s heart and soul. Experiencing this deep level of God’s love, particularly when paired with facing a failure or deep wound and realizing God’s love remains constant, results in more compassion for ourselves and others. Another aspect of the inner journey is being willing to do the deep dive of understanding what drives us. This includes identifying subliminal triggers, then initiating spiritual practices to soften or enhance specific natural tendencies. It also entails being willing to let go of one’s deeply held, but sometimes unhelpful, assumptions and beliefs. Leaning into God in these ways, including practicing letting go of our more egoic tendencies, makes us more radically open to God’s leading. It also softens us and helps us grow into being servant leaders. Thus, blending all 3 pillars together paves the way to remarkably transformative leadership.