Episode 36: A Life of Leadership with Dr. Jennifer Murff

Summary

Dr. Jennifer Murff’s career is one defined by leadership. In this episode, Robert talks with Jenn about her work as President and CEO of the MENA (Middle East/North Africa) Leadership Center, an organization that equips Christian leaders throughout the MENA region with the skills to share the gospel successfully. Jenn also relates the cultural and religious challenges she and her organization face in the MENA region, how she was drawn to a career in leadership, balancing a full-time career while homeschooling, and the ways she encourages her own children to develop leadership skills. Finally, she shares a story of God’s love and faithfulness as her church and local community supported her through a recent and serious surgery. After the interview, Robert uses the classical tools of learning to analyze the Chinese spy balloon incident, and Will takes a quick look into the SEC’s attack on crypto stablecoins.

Quote

“Reading a John Maxwell book doesn’t actually necessarily help you become a great leader. It’s really rubbing shoulders with great leaders and seeing their mistakes and seeing their successes and learning from both the good and the bad. And so, I fell in love with this idea of, ‘How can I love God with everything inside of me and lead in excellence, and even lead in excellence after I have messed up?’”

Dr. Jennifer Murff

Topics

• Intro to Dr. Jennifer Murff [0:52]
• Jenn’s definition of truth [1:48]
• What is the MENA Leadership Center? [3:37]
• The religious and cultural climate of the MENA region [5:20]
• How MENA achieves its mission of providing leaders with the tools necessary for the expansion of the gospel [7:10]
• How Jenn was drawn to a career in leadership [8:51]
• Balancing homeschooling with a career [11:19]
• How Classical Conversations® helped Jenn homeschool through the challenges of life [13:31]
• Ways Jenn encourages her children to build leadership skills in their home school [16:54]
• Jenn’s recent surgery: how her community and church supported her [18:48]
• Farewell to Jenn [24:34]
• “Classical Tools Recap:” The Chinese spy balloon incident [25:31]
• Ad: 2023 National Conference [29:56]
• “Classical Crypto”: SEC’s attacks on stablecoins [30:53]
• Outro [35:06]

Mentions

• MENA Leadership Center
• Regent University
• The King’s University
• “What is a Bible society?” | Got Questions Ministries
• Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM)
• John C. Maxwell | Wikipedia
• Dr. Kathleen Patterson | Regent University
• Robert K. Greenleaf Biography | Robert K. Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership
• Challenge | Classical Conversations
• Generation Joshua
• MENA Leadership Center | Instagram
• MENA Leadership Center | Facebook
• “Biden says US-China relations have not taken a hit in wake of spy balloon shoot down” | CNN
• Kraken
• BUSD (Binance USD) | Binance
• “Why the SEC wants to ban crypto staking and stablecoins under scrutiny” | Cointelegraph
• Paxos Trust Company
• Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) | Federal Reserve Board