The Power of People Skills

INTRODUCTION

I grew up in a leadership family. My dad was the pastor of what was then the largest church in Canada. At the same time, he founded a charter school that now has 1,200 students attending. My mom had a huge heart and ran programs for large numbers of mentally challenged individuals. Her greatest tribute was to be regularly visited by a man with Down syndrome, who rode his bike across town to see her while she was on her deathbed. Like the vast majority of church leaders the world over, they made little money, served wholeheartedly, and entertained no hint of scandal.

In their spare time (!) my parents planted churches in towns around ours, and that’s where my siblings and I came in. We were expected to be leaders. So from an early ...