At least for a while, this will be the final posted episode of Agility at Work. More about that in a moment. No matter what unfolds, quite conveniently our conversation today with Rob Garris bridges Kim’s world of agile leadership and Mike’s jazz of negotiation domain.
Rob is the Managing Director of Leadership Development at Trinity Church Wall Street. While New York was still an English colony, the church was granted more than 200 acres of land in lower Manhattan. As you can imagine, Trinity has enormous resources—seven billion dollars, in fact.
Some of that has been used to support the church itself. But much of the money has gone to supporting good works in its community and, more broadly, through collaborations with other institutions and agencies. Its current grantmaking is focused on two major areas: racial justice and homelessness.
Rob’s responsibility at Trinity is to promote “leadership development for people of faith, both clergy and ordained, and to help train clergy who both are good leaders within the church as an institution, but also are leaders in their communities and fit into this broader concept of a church as a center of service and a resource for its community and its congregation.”
Worthy intentions are essential, of course, but bringing them fully to life requires astute planning, collaboration, persuasion and agility, most certainly in these contentious times. Shared values and faith do not guarantee consensus, however. Members of a community can disagree strongly about priorities and about the best means for achieving them.
As you will hear, much of what Rob has learned himself applies to leadership and negotiation in very different contexts—business, education, and not-for-profit institutions. His feet are firmly on the ground, but his aspirations (and accomplishments) are lofty. We hope you are uplifted by the example he sets.
Now, shifting gears, back to our podcast, Agility at Work. Over the last several years we have greatly enjoyed talking with and learning from scholars and practitioners who have shared with us (and you!) their experience and insights about leadership and negotiation with agility, both strategically and moment-to-moment.
Both of us are busy with other ventures and responsibilities. We need to catch our breath. There is much more for us to explore, of course, on this topic. Who knows, we may revive this project at some point, but likely, not anytime soon. For now, we express our thanks to you, our listeners, for your kind words and for letting other people know about Agility at Work.
Be well!
-Kim and Mike
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