About Flint McGlaughlin/This Site
This "About Me" section is finally being written. I have resisted (literally) for years. But last night, I came home to three exuberant children. "Daddy, we went on Google and found stuff about you everywhere," one of them said. Casey (nine years old) climbs into my arms. "Dad, there is even a Chinese Website about you." Quin (thirteen years) adds, "Yeah, Dad, we quit after twenty-two pages of Google, but there was way more." Maggie (three years), very unimpressed, rushes in for a quick "kiss-and-run," then squeals, "I got Daddy first! I got Daddy first! I get the dollar!"
Sidetrack: Yes, it is tragic but true. For the past week, I have been giving a dollar to whichever little girl greets me with the first kiss. I concede there is something vaguely disconcerting about this buying of affection. Nevertheless, it is a solid deal – I would probably pay more, much more, for the thrill I get when the McGlaughlin brood chases me down with sloppy, wet kisses.
This night I was pleased, but somehow disturbed. Later, I logged onto the Web and engaged in what is probably an all too common Net Narcissism – "Self-Googling." The results were "all over the map." Clearly, we are living in a new age. One can hardly go anywhere, physically or mentally, without leaving digital traces. Yet, despite the plethora of these "bits," there are substantial "holes" in the composite. The resulting digital portraits are haphazard, often distorted.
This is particularly true in my case – and it's not just a problem on the Net. Arlene (my wife) chides that even offline, in personal conversation, I do a poor job of explaining my profession or of telling my story. She is, I fear, too right. I seem to be involved in multiple research fronts, and never know how to answer the ominous question: "So what do you do for a living?" The reply seems to falter between saying almost nothing or saying almost too much.
Actually, I work in three "worlds": in the Marketplace, in the Academy, and in the Church. Officially, I serve as the Director of MECLABS (a group of research companies), as the Director of Enterprise Research at the University of Cambridge, and as a Pastor of The Beaches Vineyard Fellowship. For me, all three of these "worlds" are converging, a point I will explain in other ways on this BLOG.
For now, I should address a different but related point: I have been learning more from my family than I have from my profession. My life has been deeply impacted by the authenticity of my parents' faith. My father is a pastor and a missionary (my mother is a saint). I spent many of my early years in the "Deep North," in the Canadian "Bush." We lived in a remote cabin 110 miles from the nearest city (Whitehorse, Yukon).
At times we had no electricity or running water. Temperatures were below minus 50º Fahrenheit, and it took twenty-four cords of fire wood (sometimes cut with an axe and a Swedish bow saw) to survive the winter. My three younger sisters and I grew, caught, and killed our own food (two moose and a bear per year).The commitment and the integrity I witnessed, firsthand, on the mission field have deeply impacted me.
Even as my parents impacted the first half of my life, my wife Arlene and children (Quin, Shania, and Maggie) have impacted the second half. Arlene and I have been married for twenty years. She is a "country girl" from Yulee, Florida, and her common sense has been a gift from God. I was ordained in 1988, but marriage has been my true seminary, and it seems that I am still in "school."
NOTE: Three ways to get more information are appended below: (1) An abbreviated BIO prepared for the media (2) CV Updated 10-08 (3) Contact information for Dr. McGlaughlin's PR Team
(1) Abbreviated Bio
Flint McGlaughlin is the Director of MECLABS. The organization has partnered with key market leaders including, The New York Times, Microsoft Corporation, and Reuters Group. Flint also serves as the Director of Enterprise Research at the Transforming Business Institute, University of Cambridge (UK), as the Chairman of the Board of Governors for St. Stephen’s University, and as a Trustee for Westminster Theological Centre. Dr. McGlaughlin originally studied Philosophy and Theology at the University of London's Specialist Jesuit College. Today, his primary research is focused on enterprise as transformative agent. His work has won multiple awards and has been quoted in more than 13,000 online and offline sources.
(2) CV Updated 10-08
(3) Contact information for Dr. McGlaughlin's PR Team
Pamela Markey
PR Manager
904-891-8966
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