Jo Whitehead – författare

Facilitation is a way of leading which is empowering and participative.The word 'facilitation' comes from the Latin 'to make easy' and facilitation is a way of managing processes that enable people to engage in learning, belonging, participating or growing.This book is designed for those who wish to encourage and empower through their leadership skills. Facilitation is about managing process - drawing people in, enabling them to contribute and holding the boundaries and values of a context to create a safe and productive place. Many ministry training courses do not teach facilitation skills per se and ministers are often left to learn on the job. Some become effective facilitators through reflection on their practice, others develop tacit skills. Many others flounder when it comes to facilitating effectively and participatively.In a culture where ministry roles increasingly involve community involvement and working with congregations who expect to participate in decision making and ministry, this skill set is one that is increasingly needed. This is particularly important in pioneer contexts where a more team-based approach is the norm.

Churches today face unique challenges as they seek to help young people engage with the Christian faith and youth workers, whether employed or volunteer, play a key role in supporting this process. This book provides a comprehensive overview of Christian youth work, drawing together practice, theory and theology in a format which is both engaging and informative. Serving as both a text and workbook, it brings together key youth ministry thinkers and grass-roots practitioners to explore significant themes and issues. It will be invaluable to those thinking about youth work at a strategic level as well as youth work practitioners. Each of the sixteen chapters is followed by a response written from a different perspective, modelling reflective practice and theological reflection. Topics covered include mission, church, adolescent identity, appropriate relationships, spiritual practices, youth culture, pastoral care, work with families, education, leadership and management, inclusive youth work, theology, lifelong learning, ethical dilemmas and the Kingdom of God.

In any career in business, chances are that the time will come when someone will ask you to do a strategy for something. Too often, this will be a cue for stress at work and sleepless nights.What You Need to Know about Strategy shows that it doesn’t have to be like this. Taking you step-by-step through the basics of what you need to know to come up with a great strategy, it shows: That getting the right answers depends on asking the right questionsWhy priorities matterHow to map out your internal and external situationHow to deal with uncertaintyHow to make tough choicesWhat your brain does while you’re doing strategyBy cutting out the theory, and focusing on the things you need to know and do to come up with a killer strategy, this book means that you never need to panic again.