The Leadership of C.S. Lewis | An Interview with Crystal Hurd

Crystal Hurd is an educator, poet, and researcher from Virginia.
She holds a master of arts in Literature from East Tennessee State
University, a master of fine arts in Creative Writing from the
University of Texas at El Paso, and a doctorate in Educational
Leadership and Policy Analysis from East Tennessee State
University. Her doctoral research focused on C. S. Lewis as a
Transformational Leader. Crystal currently serves as reviews editor
for Sehnsucht: The C.S. Lewis Journal. Her articles have appeared
in SEVEN, Christian History Magazine, Inklings Forever,
Perichoresis, and The Faithful Imagination. She serves as a
visiting professor for Northwind Seminary’s Doctorate in Theology
and Ministry for Inkling Studies and Romantic Theology as well as
the Master's in Spirituality, Creativity, and Writing. Crystal has
been happily married for over twenty years to a technology
director. They have two boisterous rescue dogs. Highlights 3:30
Introduction to Kurt’s Cohost, Tyler Snow 4:40 Crystal talks about
why she wrote her book about C.S. Lewis 6:45 C.S. Lewis was a
servant and that’s what made him a leader. He was a mentor to many.
8:40 Summary and life scope of C.S. Lewis 17:40 Crystal wrote her
dissertation on transformational leadership and she explains what
it is. She explains how C.S. Lewis embodies this type of leadership
and how he transformed the lives of so many. 21:40 Lewis got a lot
of criticism when he wrote The Screwtape Letters. Many people
thought he was giving voice and sympathy for the devil. 24:00 Lewis
brought people to Christianity. He went through his own faith
crisis and was an atheist for a time. Because of these experiences,
he was able to understand the doubts and faith journeys that people
go on. He was able to speak to so many through his own experiences.
28:30 Is C.S. Lewis relevant to modern-day Christians? 32:30
Crystal gives her advice to leaders on how they can use Lewis’
writing with their congregations 35:30 Crystal explains different
leadership models 43:00 Being a leader without having a title and
what we can learn from that. C.S. Lewis is a perfect example of
this. 47:10 How can we find balance in serving and being there for
people while still setting boundaries for ourselves? Delegation
Find other people’s talents and build them up 52:30 Was C.S. Lewis
radical in his beliefs? 55:00 Although C.S. Lewis was considered a
saint, he had his personal struggles and he sinned just like us.
1:01:00 C.S. Lewis was a wounded healer. He was able to help people
because he had experienced the same things. Links The Leadership of
C.S. Lewis: Ten Traits to Encourage Change and Growth
CrystalHurd.com Twitter: @doctorhurd Instagram: @doctorhurd Image:
Aronsyne, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Read the TRANSCRIPT
of this podcast Get 14-day access to the Core Leader Library The
Leading Saints Podcast gets over 300,000 listens each month and has
nearly 10 million total downloads as part of nonprofit Leading
Saints' mission to help latter-day saints be better prepared to
lead. Learn more and listen to any of the past episodes for free at
LeadingSaints.org. Past guests include Emily Belle Freeman, David
Butler, Hank Smith, John Bytheway, Liz Wiseman, Stephen M. R.
Covey, Julie Beck, Brad Wilcox, Jody Moore, Tony Overbay, John H.
Groberg, Elaine Dalton, Tad R. Callister, J. Devn Cornish, Dennis
B. Neuenschwander, Anthony Sweat, John Hilton III, Barbara Morgan
Gardner, Blair Hodges, Ryan Gottfredson, Greg McKeown, DeAnna
Murphy, Michael Goodman, Richard Ostler and many more in over 700
episodes. Discover podcasts, articles, virtual conferences, and
live events related to callings such as the bishopric, Relief
Society, elders quorum, Primary, youth leadership, stake
leadership, ward mission, ward council, young adults, ministering,
and teaching.