Dr. Michaela O’Donnell is the executive director of the Max De Pree Center for Leadership where she oversees the center’s vision, strategy, program, and team, all with the goal of helping leaders like you respond faithfully to God in all seasons of your life and leadership.
Michaela is the author of Make Work Matter: Your Guide to Meaningful Work in a Changing World. It’s gotten rave reviews from folks such as Dave Evans, Mark Labberton, Missy Wallace, Luke Bobo, Dee Ann Tuner, Kara Powell, and more. This book is a reflection of Michaela’s heart as both an entrepreneur and a practical theologian. Drawn to the real life working out of big issues, it is a how to for anyone walking the road of calling in a changing world.
Click here to view Michaela's profile.
Leadership Playlist, Song 2
If leadership is an uphill climb, then we need inspiration for the journey. The liberation that is life in Christ is the basis for imagination as a leader. We can feed this imagination by calling out to God, praising him that in Christ we are indeed “as free as a bird in flight.” In Christ, all things are possible and the hope of what is to come is worth the slow, hard work of leadership.
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Leadership Playlist, Song 1
Psalm 124:6 is an invitation to remember that we already have God’s help, that God never leaves us nor abandons us. We aren’t defenseless if we have God.
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De Pree Center Promotions and New Additions
It’s been a busy and fruitful season at De Pree Center. Our work has necessitated two internal promotions and two new hires! Each of…
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Clarissa Joan Middleton Joins De Pree Center as Content and Communications Manager
I am thrilled to announce that Clarissa Joan Middleton is joining the De Pree Center team in role of Content and Communications Manager. In…
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Fear and Faithfulness
Recently, I had young woman approach me after a speaking engagement and ask with admiring eyes, “How do you do it all?” When I…
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Rest, Play, and the Costs of Believing “I Can Do It All”
When I graduated with my doctorate, I did so alongside eight men. As part of the ceremony, each person stood up and gave a…
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Myths of Vocation
Recently, I had two separate conversations with friends who were in career crises. Each crisis was catalyzed by a sense of disillusionment with work—the…
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What is Entrepreneurship?
Recently, I was chatting with a client of mine who was a few years into resurrecting an organization that had nearly fizzled out under…
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Why Passion Isn’t the Holy Grail of Work
I graduated seminary in 2011, on the heels of the Great Recession. Very few companies were hiring. In fact, many were laying people off….
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Gender Discrimination at Work: Faithful Resistance
I was on a panel recently that opened up with this question: As a woman, what are some of the ways you’ve been discriminated…
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Let’s Change How We Ask About Calling
I hate icebreakers. Maybe it’s the introvert in me. Or maybe it’s because I’m Irish and my face heats up every time I’m put…
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Failing Well, Not Fast
Someone asked me once, “Why are you afraid to fail?” I remember wading through a bunch of half sentences until I admitted, “I don’t…
Read PostLiberty Sessions: Finding Hope in Another Woman’s Story
I recently went back home to the Midwest to visit family. While there I visited the coolest nail salon I had ever been to….
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Zooming In and Zooming Out
Together, my husband and I own a creative agency. Separately, I work as a practical theologian and he is a filmmaker. Like many of…
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