A huge offering of gratitude to you! Thank you for tuning in this year to meaningful conversations about life and leadership, mentoring tips, ideas, and resources. And, thank you for your donations and sponsorships!

When we started Mike Kabeya and I said we would be happy to inspire just one leader. In 2016, we had 23,028 visitors and 11,000 downloads (10,994 listeners to be exact). This year, with 50 new podcast conversations, we have had over 85,000 site visitors reading over 365,000 pages of content, +34,000 downloads, and a global listenership, 24/7. Amazing! Steady growth and improvement works.

Catch our last podcast episode for 2018!!!  Today Mike and I finish our series on failed institutional leadership within the Catholic Church and what can be done about it. Our discussion focuses on two main ideas.

1. Will evolutionary changes within the church hierarchy be enough to re-establish trust and faith in those leaders? Or, will it take a revolutionary innovation like lay people taking over the leadership of the church to save the church?
2. Where are we at in terms of our revolutionary journey? What does this mean for you?

This isn’t our last conversation about the demise of predatory leadership practices in coveted institutions like the Catholic Church. More ugly institutional truths will be revealed to us in 2019 of how power over, control, and entitlement are used to contain the masses. We will uncover new ways to lead as abusive power structures collapse under their own weight. No more emotional stoicism. No more avoidance of tough conversations and accountability. Power to the people.

Revolutionary innovation is risky, messy, turbulent, filled with curiosity, and scary. I am familiar with and skilled in mentoring leaders through this kind of innovation. I will air leadership conversations from the heart in 2019 that will expand your thinking; give you fortitude to keep going; provoke emotional resiliency; and offer peer mentoring and resources to help you lead from a place of inner knowing. 

This series has reinforced that we need to be in charge of our spiritual journey to become one with God/Higher Being. Our spiritual self is like a glass menagerie. Fragile and sacred; to be handled with care. Not unlike novel ideas. We need to be careful with what ideas we share, and with whom we share those ideas; to not allow others to snuff out our spirit.

A Sanskrit term for spiritual awakening is Kundalini. Kundalini yoga is meditation and movement that can release feminine energy coiled around the base of the spine. This term was brought into our conversation regarding the spiritual awakening (the unraveling of our psyche/a psychological break through) ignited in us when we digested the Pennsylvania Grand Jury Report outlining a playbook used for over 70 years to cover-up horrific crimes against children within the church hierarchy. It is worldwide and still in play. The summary of the playbook outlined in the report is listed below.

Mike also shares his vulnerabilities, how he is taking charge of his spiritual life and leadership, and what he has decided going forward. He enlightens us about African culture and traditions that he can count on. His wisdom will nurture your spirit and inspire an appreciation in harnessing your unique spiritual path.

Learn where Mike’s religious and spiritual insights come from and what he is doing to stay strong in his convictions. We discuss six barriers that can keep you from finishing a transformational process and how to address adult peer pressure.

 Have a heartwarming and reflective holiday. Embrace your accomplishments. Resurrect the learnings from challenging lessons. Let go. Prepare your heart and focus your thoughts on action-oriented plans to launch in the New Year. Your unique lifework is worth expanding!!!

Pennsylvania Grand Jury Report Summary

Much of the information in the report was collected from church documents and records. The purpose for an institutional playbook was to conceal the truth about sexual abuse of children by priests. It is used not to help children, but to avoid “scandal” and protect the institution by concealing the truth of their predatory criminal acts. The seven playbook strategies are outlined below.

“First, make sure to use euphemisms rather than real words to describe the sexual assaults

in diocese documents. Never say “rape”; say “inappropriate contact” or “boundary issues.”

Second, don’t conduct genuine investigations with properly trained personnel. Instead, assign fellow clergy members to ask inadequate questions and then make credibility determinations about the colleagues with whom they live and work.

Third, for an appearance of integrity, send priests for “evaluation” at church -run psychiatric treatment centers. Allow these experts to “diagnose” whether the priest was a pedophile, based largely on the priest’s “self -reports,” and regardless of whether the priest had actually engaged in sexual contact with a child.

Fourth, when a priest does have to be removed, don’t say why. Tell his parishioners that he is on “sick leave,” or suffering from “nervous exhaustion.” Or say nothing at all.

Fifth, even if a priest is raping children, keep providing him housing and living expenses, although he may be using these resources to facilitate more sexual assaults.

Sixth, if a predator’s conduct becomes known to the community, don’t remove him from the priesthood to ensure that no more children will be victimized. Instead, transfer him to a new location where no one will know he is a child abuser.

Finally and above all, don’t tell the police. Child sexual abuse, even short of actual penetration, is and has for all relevant times been a crime. But don’t treat it that way; handle it like a personnel matter, “in house.””

Mentoring Tips

After listening, complete the following exercises.

1. 2018 Reflection Exercise: tally a list of your accomplishments; tally a list of the most challenging lessons learned this year; highlight the gifts embedded in the lessons. Keep the exercise in a journal you can reflect on next year, or have a burning ceremony and release the accomplishments, challenging lessons, and learnings into the universe letting go of another year. Focus your mind through meditation and create a plan to expand your lifework. Notice how you feel. Make sure it is a worthwhile plan that you are jazzed about implementing!
2. Which of the following six ways of getting derailed from completing a revolutionary journey, apply to you: perfection, grief, sadness, fear, self-judgment (including, making decisions based on what will others think), and unforgiving? 
3. Write down how you plan to stay focused on your revolutionary journey right now, or plan ahead for when you embark upon a revolutionary journey in the future.  Ideas: practice critical awareness by staying awake and alert. When you notice something doesn’t feel right, don’t second guess yourself. Take time to identify what you are experiencing. Then, muster up the courage to course correct. Accept the call to action!

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Mentoring Help

Your worries as leaders are our worries. We have the privilege of the microphone to talk about our experiences, free ourselves from isolation by connecting to you, and catapulting you into new ways of thinking, doing, being, and leading. We would like to invite you into this discussion. Reach out. We are here to listen and help you move forward constructively.

Institutional Playbook For Concealing The Truth, 7 of 7   Episode 154    Kabeya Media