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Ed Brenegar
I provide leadership guide services to help people make life and work transitions that result in making a difference that matters.
Interests: I have a very eclectic set of interests. I am interested in the history of ideas, so I read a lot of philosophy, history, theology, social and political thought. I am interested in how leadership and management literature fit into that larger view of the history of ideas. My current passion is for the story of the Lewis & Clark Expedition. My music tastes range from bebop to cowboy/Western music, with the full range of classical throw in. I love movies. I'll watch virtually anything. I enjoy hiking, camping and travel. Our family loves to travel not to rest, but to discover new things. Our trips tend to be historically oriented. We in particular, love to travel in the Western United States.
Recent Activity
The Spectacle of the Real
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Afghan Mujahideen camp Afghan / Soviet War Chitral, NWFP, Pakistan July, 1981 We live in a time of images. They form our understanding of history and engage us in the present. These faces of Afghan freedom fighters from three decades ago sustain a memory of this encounter that had as a young refugee worker. This image helps me understand the continuity of history in the region. But without that direct engagement, this image maybe more surreal than real. For there is no life context in which to interpret what was taking place when the picture was taken. Just a few... Continue reading
Posted May 7, 2013 at Leading Questions
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Living in the Worlds of Ruthie and Rod
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Rod Dreher's memoir of his sister, Ruthie, The Little Way of Ruthie Leming, is a simple story as the subtitle suggests of "A Southern Girl, A Small Town, and the Secret of a Good Life." Yet, it is much more. It is a story of many layers, dealing with the realities of small town life, how we as modern people deal with death, and ultimately, in its own way, a mirror of America in the 21st century reflecting the fragmentation into societal enclaves of rich and poor, urban and rural, communal and individualistic, and the local and the global. The... Continue reading
Posted Apr 16, 2013 at Leading Questions
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What Defines Us?
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Family I grew up in a family environment where family history verged on ancestry worship. Connection to the past mattered. I have a folder in my photo file of the grave stones of family members, from both parent's sides of the family. I regularly recognize in my interactions with people how my family has defined me. My mother's parents (below) had more to do with this than anyone in my family. What my extended family gave me as a child, and continues to provide me as an adult, is a ground upon which to stand that defines a part of... Continue reading
Posted Mar 22, 2013 at Leading Questions
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Being Trustworthy
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Trust isn't just an idea; its a feeling down deep in us. Trust is not some philosophical construct or a business strategy, but the measure of what people feel about us and our organizations. In our interactions with people, it is an early warning system, alerting us to something being not quite right. It is that gut "feel" that we just can't quite place that tells us to be a bit more skeptical. Trust is the mission-critical measure of our life & work. Without trust, nothing is sustainable, things begin to fail. How do we measure trust? The simplest measure... Continue reading
Posted Feb 2, 2013 at Leading Questions
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Honor and Recognition - Top 50 Leadership Blog
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Honor and recognition are not always the same. However, from Jon Warner of the Ready To Manage blog, they are. Jon has honored me by including me in his Top 50 Leadership Blogs listing. I'm number number #36. Yep, I'm honored and happy for the recognition. Thank you, Jon. Make sure you visit his blog often. He addresses important aspects of organizational leadership. Also, check out others who are on the list. Many are people I know, follow and read often. You should too. You'll become a better leader and person for it. Continue reading
Posted Jan 15, 2013 at Leading Questions
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When the Souvenir Becomes the Social Object
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UPDATED! "A book is a souvenir of an idea" - Seth Godin "The term, "Social Object" can be a bit heady for some people. So often I'll use the term, "Sharing Device" instead." - Hugh McLeod / Gaping Void Seen in these pictures is the 19 lb Behemoth - This Might Work - compilation of Seth Godin's blog posts for the past seven years. I'm sure many of those who received it, have it sitting on youre desk or office coffee table. I'm using it, not as a souvenir of Seth's blog posting, but as a social object, "a sharing... Continue reading
Posted Jan 10, 2013 at Leading Questions
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The Sweet Spot
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There are two continuum that we all live on. One is between our talent and our skills. The other is between what we love and what we hate. The Talent - Skills Continuum It would be nice if we could live out at the edge where we are at our most talented, and are doing what we love. But life and work doesn't work that way. Talent is great, but without skills, we don't achieve what we desire. Skills are fine, but if we aren't really talented in this way (Remember Johnny Bunko?) then we end up frustrated, disappointed, hating... Continue reading
Posted Jan 5, 2013 at Leading Questions
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Change Early, Not Late
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Page 24 and 25 of This Might Work This Might Not Work (Behemoth) by Seth Godin This is EXACTLY right. I remember years ago, my father, one of the best judges of people as an HR guy that I ever knew, said to me as we were talking about one of my consulting projects, "Son, the best time to fire someone is before you hire them." My rule of thumb #2 (Rule of Thumb #1 is "Everyone needs an editor.") is "Never wait to change. It only complicates things and makes them harder." Change and change often, and you'll never... Continue reading
Posted Jan 4, 2013 at Leading Questions
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2013, The Year of Leadership and Healing
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I first heard of Esther Sternberg, MD in an interview with Krista Tippett at On Being. Sternberg is the author of the book, Healing Spaces: The Science of Place and Well-Being. It is a book that provides a tour of how our sensory lives interact with our environment to create conditions for healing. In the book, she tells of Roger Ulrich's experiment . He had examined the hospital records of patients who had undergone gall bladder surgery in a suburban Pennsylvania hospital during the period 1972-1981. He'd chosen forty-six patients, thirty women and sixteen men, whose beds were near windows... Continue reading
Posted Dec 31, 2012 at Leading Questions
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The Platform of Desire, Part 5
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The Desire to Connect Desire isn't just an idea. It is a movement within us drawing us towards some value or experience or person. This drawing, like water into the porous membrane of a sponge, is the activity of connection. You walk into a room at a business after hours event. You register, get you name tag, and turn around and look at the crowd. Who are you looking to meet? Who is looking to meet you? We are drawn towards particular kinds of people. What is it that us draws to them? You sign up for an online dating... Continue reading
Posted Dec 28, 2012 at Leading Questions
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Death's Measure - a poem
Death’s Measure By Ed Brenegar * Death ends, Opportunity, Potential, Relationship. It comes too soon for many. Too late for more. The experience defies logic. Death is not logical. It is certain. Real. Final. The exceptions are just that. Exceptions, That gives us false hope. Hope that I could die and be resuscitated back to life. I met a man to whom this happened twice. He says he got the message. What was the message? Change. Grow up. Be different. Care for others. Does one have to die to get that message? Talking about defying logic. * I hate death.... Continue reading
Posted Dec 15, 2012 at At The Table of Thanks
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The Platform of Desire, Part 4
The Platform of Hyper-reality The world of social media is very far removed from our premodern ancestors' experience. Our experience is not one of a constant awareness of the physical danger of the natural world or of life on a farm. We live in a world mediated through sophisticated technology that, for many people, has removed them from any direct exposure to the world of nature. We live in an immersive world of an always-on information feed directed at our sub-rational desires. And the worst of these onslaughts focus on our fears, not our ambitions. As Marshall McLuhan wrote, “It... Continue reading
Posted Dec 1, 2012 at Leading Questions
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Bernd, is there a digital version of the comfort food cookbook? If so, would you post a link? Thanks.
Toggle Commented Dec 1, 2012 on Tohoku and virtual community at ... a beginner at something
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The Platform of Desire, Part 3
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The Platform of Nature Prior to the industrial revolution, and especially prior to discovery of electricity, a person's life was lived within the confined space of their village. Social experience happened within the community of family and neighbors. People would gather in their homes, around the backyard fence, in church and community pot-luck dinners. Their world was small and confined to the close proximity of their town. My grandfather once told me that the most significant invention he saw in his 94 years of life was the radio, because it opened up the world beyond the small town where he... Continue reading
Posted Nov 27, 2012 at Leading Questions
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William Cavanaugh on Christianity and Consumerism
I find this very relevant to the issues facing the PCUSA in the future. In effect, the alienation in which he speaks at the personal level is also true at the corporate or congregation, and especially at the denominational level. I would love it if this was the conversation that we'd have on Sunday mornings and at presbytery meetings. HT: Englewood Review of Books Continue reading
Posted Nov 23, 2012 at At The Table of Thanks
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The Platform of Desire, Part 2
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Desire or Rationality? We live in an era created by science and rational thought. But the culture that we live in is not rational. It is sub-rational, almost primal, in its elevation of the expression of desire over everything else. This elevation of desire is a two-edged promise. It on the one hand, a promise of engagement in all that life has to offer. On the other a promise of total exhaustion, of even annihilation, if embraced without thought, direction and boundaries. It is the power behind the passion of ambition and human connection. Images of desire capture our attention,... Continue reading
Posted Nov 20, 2012 at Leading Questions
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The Platform of Desire, Part 1
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“It is experience, rather than understanding, that influences behavior.” - Marshall McLuhan Recently, my friend David Pu’u asked me about my vision. In a moment of rare, uninhibited candor I said, “I want to change everything related to 20th century organizational purpose and structure. I want to replace the institutions that created the problems we face now. I no longer want to be sad because of the waste of human potential that I see around me.” The structures that I am referring to are not just organizational structures, but also social, moral and ideological structures. It is important to understand... Continue reading
Posted Nov 6, 2012 at Leading Questions
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The Future of Our Connectionism: Spiritually, Financially & Missionally
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This is a revised and expanded version of my Next Church post from October 31, 2012 I am the chair of the Stewardship Committee of my presbytery, the Presbytery of Western North Carolina. My entry point for this post is my concern about the practice of congregations withholding of funds from the PCUSA as an act of principled protest. Regardless of the reasons, I see this practice as a political act that is weakening our connectionalism as the Presbyterian Church USA. At our most recent presbytery meeting, I made the following remarks following the presbytery's financial chair's presentation. We are... Continue reading
Posted Nov 2, 2012 at At The Table of Thanks
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Bonhoeffer on truth and politics - Stanley Hauerwas
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Posted Nov 1, 2012 at At The Table of Thanks
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The Frontier is Within
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A century ago Frederick Jackson Turner declared that the frontier was closed. A half century ago, President John F. Kennedy, challenged the nation to believe in the frontier of space as he focused attention on going to the Moon. "No nation which expects to be the leader of other nations can expect to stay behind in this race for space. ... We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard." A hundred years from now, what will people have said the frontier that we... Continue reading
Posted Oct 28, 2012 at Leading Questions
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Great story, Bernd. I got to know Matt through his book on elegance. The new follows a similar theme. Very helpful.
Toggle Commented Oct 23, 2012 on WHAT ISN’T THERE at ... a beginner at something
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A Return to Lewis & Clark for the 21st. Century
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Many of the pictures that I post on my blog posts and at my Facebook page have been taken as I have traveled parts of the trail of Lewis & Clark trail. From August of 2004 through December of 2006, I published a weblog called, Lewis & Clark for the 21st Century. There I posted on the leadership of Lewis & Clark as the first 21st century leadership team. As the bicentennial celebration ended, I ended my posting, but not my interest. Now through the encouragement of Joe Mussulman, creator of Discovering Lewis & Clark, I am returning to blog... Continue reading
Posted Oct 14, 2012 at Leading Questions
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Simple Happiness
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Being unable to cure death, wretchedness, and ignorance, men have decided, in order to be happy, not to think about such things. ... Despite these afflictions man wants to be happy, only wants to be happy, and cannot help wanting to be happy. But how shall he go about it? The best thing would be to make himself immortal, but as he cannot do that, he has decided to stop himself thinking about it. -Blaise Pascal 1623-1662 The opportunities that life presents us today should provide us the conditions for happiness. But, as we are all discovering, these choices are... Continue reading
Posted Oct 5, 2012 at Leading Questions
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Funding Realities and the Future Church - A NextChurch blog post
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The question crossed my mind, “What if non-profits are no longer fundable? What does this mean for churches and presbyteries? How will we fund the church in the future?” I have been asking these questions in the places where I serve as a leadership and stewardship consultant and teaching elder. Until recently, I was a fund raiser for campus ministries in North Carolina, now I am an interim pastor of a small church. Also, I chair my presbytery’s stewardship committee and leadership division of committees, am a member of its Administrative Board and the presbytery’s Transitional Task Force, which is... Continue reading
Posted Oct 5, 2012 at At The Table of Thanks
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A Culture of Alternatives
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Some times transitions can be smooth, sometimes difficult. As a global economic community, we are in a difficult transition from the modern industrial age to what will follow. Modern organizations share a common assumption. This is true if you are General Motors or the old Soviet Union. Efficiency is the route to an economy of scale and scope. The problem with efficiency is not what it gives us, the ability to do more with fewer resources. The problem is what it takes from us. Robust, sustainable cultures are those that have many competing alternatives. I'm not here writing to advocate... Continue reading
Posted Sep 25, 2012 at Leading Questions
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