In today's increasingly globalized world, it is essential that people of diverse ethnicities and socio-economic backgrounds learn to work together and communicate effectively. This book offers a breakthrough approach to recognizing that differences among people are resources for organizations to tap as they strive to anticipate change and adapt rapidly in an unpredictable world. "Catalytic Conversations" provides a conceptual framework for understanding how complex communication patterns of social networks influence, and are influenced by, organizational structures. It discusses how to enhance the quality and viability of groups and organizational life by paying attention to how people talk - and do not talk - to each other. The book distinguishes between conversations that support organizational enhancement and others that inhibit innovation, and explores the complexity of organizational communication in detail.

More than news, weather, and sports. When is the last time you had a catalytic conversation with an employee, a colleague, a friend, or a complete stranger? Whether at work, church, a coffee shop, or at home, people everywhere are one conversation away from a life-defining decision. Being truly present during such moments grants you an invitation to greater levels of leadership and friendship along the way.If you don’t have the heart, it limits your capacity.If you don’t have the questions, it limits your access.If you don’t have the discipline, it limits your engagement. The Conversationalist will help you to develop your heart, ask the questions, and engage your relationships—leading yourself and others into life-changing discovery. In an age driven by social media and virtual reality, we need practical tools to help take our relationships to the next level of trust, transparency, and real change for the good. An adventure is waiting for those willing to step forward courageously as a conversationalist.

An international arts organisation and network engaging with music, dance, theatre and visual art, Phakama creates adventurous, site-responsive performances with large groups of people from diverse backgrounds. With contributions from participants, artists, academics and cultural commentators from India, Ireland, South Africa, the UK and USA, this book features case studies, interviews and articles covering two decades of practice. At the heart of the book is a selection of carefully explained and beautifully illustrated exercises which will enable Phakama's methodology to be used by organisations and practitioners working with young people internationally. Phakama is a Xhosa and Zulu word for stand up, arise, empower yourself. With a focus on collaborative, non-hierarchical performance making, Phakama invites cultural sharing and critical engagement with the world we live in. As well as engaging with political and critical concerns about contemporary theatre and performance, the book offers unique approaches to devising theatre, applied and social theatre, intercultural performance practices and pedagogic models of collaboration and cultural leadership.

Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion (RSSSR) publishes reports of innovative studies that pertain empirically or theoretically to the scientific study of religion, including spirituality, regardless of their academic discipline or professional orientation. RSSSR is published annually with the kind support of Loyola College, Maryland, USA. This volume of RSSSR contains several articles on spiritual development among adolescents, spiritual transcendence, Jung and pastoral counseling and spirituality and religiosity. In addition to this, a special section of nine articles is devoted to several aspects of positive psychology and its usage in practice.

Creative collaboration makes the impossible, possible. But all too often collaboration stifles creativity. This exciting new book offers tradition-shattering advice that gives readers the tools to make any collaborative activity creative, productive, and rewarding.

Thirteen critical essays challenge Howard Gardner's theories of multiple intelligences, ability traits, U-shaped curves in development, and other psychological concepts of spirituality, creativity, and leadership. All are answered by Gardner himself, and his pungent replies, coupled with the essays, create a provocative, no-holds-barred debate. Also included are an intellectual autobiography and bibliography.

Authority in the Church: An Ecumenical Reflection on Hermeneutic Boundaries and Their Implications for Inter-Church Relations examines the nature of authority in the Christian Church through analysis of major reform movements of the 16th Century and major ecumenical documents of the 20th Century.