An Interview with Lusi Chien: Telling the Greatest Story Ever Told

Lusi Chien is a Stanford MBA and a dual degree MPA at the Harvard Kennedy School.  She is the founder and CEO of 4Soils, a mobile an edu-tainment company that is connecting the mobile first generation with their faith through interactive content and engaging community. You can find out more by visiting 4Soils’ website and Facebook page. 

1. Briefly tell me about 4Soils and the inspiration behind the genesis of 4 Soils. 

4Soils is a start-up company that produces biblically-centered and enriching digital experiences for kids that aim to “tell the greatest story ever told.” This story is about the gospel of Jesus where He came to earth to save us from our sins. We believe that the whole Bible points to Jesus as savior, so we want to provide Biblically accurate, interactive, and fun content for children. When we first started this, it wasn’t something that we had been thinking about a lot. It was more through an inspiration.

The inspiration came from a dinner with our friends and their son.  Since then, we’ve observed more and more of how children were engaging with the mobile device,  and we’ve asked parents, who have iPhones and iPads, whether they have found good Biblical contents, but the resounding answer was no. That really was our inspiration to do something about it. I’ve never imagined myself making iPad apps, but I think when God opens doors and shows you inspiration, you follow through on them. We actually joked around. My husband and I actually met at a life-size replica of Noah’s Ark in Hong Kong (Ma-Wan Park), and we were there for Christian mission’s conference for people who were doing lay ministries in China. As we reflect back when we released our first app, which was about Noah’s Ark, we just see God’s hands shaping our lives in ways that was very different than the trajectory that I was working on before. … Continue Reading

Living Intentionally in Your Defining Decade

Meg Jay says “30 is not the new 20.” She urges 20-somethings to live with a sense of urgency and intentionality. She says this is not a period of throwaway decade, but rather a defining decade.

Clinical psychologist Meg Jay says that those in our twenty-somethings are living in the “Defining decade.” Why? Because….

• 80% of life’s most defining moments happen by age 35.
• 70% of lifetime wage growth happens in the first 10 years of a career.
• More than half of Americans are married or living with or dating their future partner by 30.
• Our personalities changes more in our 20s than any other time.
• Our fertility peaks.
• Our brain makes the last growth spurt.

Meg Jay emphatically states in her latest TED talk that “30 is not the new 20.” Contrary to common belief, she exhorts to those in this defining decade not to squander this time as prolonged adolescence or throwaway years, but a time of being intentional with your life, setting a solid foundation for the rest of your life. … Continue Reading

The Paradox of Our Time

In about twelve hours, I’ll be in an auditorium filled with graduates. My family is heading down to Austin, Texas tomorrow morning to see my younger sister at her commencement where she’ll receive her Bachelor of Science degree at University of Texas.  

It bewilders me that time has gone by so quickly. It was less than three years ago where the spotlight was on me as a graduate. I cannot forgot that the convocation was held in one of the coldest weather in Vancouver, BC. I remember the excitement, vibrancy, and the hope for the future. I remember thinking to myself “Okay, let’s bring it on. I’m ready to embrace the future.” 

It’s times like these that forces you take a step back and look life with a 30,000 ft view. You start asking questions, “Have I really lived life to the fullest?” “Have I discovered my calling and lived a purpose-driven life?” “Have I made a small dent into the universe?” “Am I better person now than the past?” 

I’m very excited to see my sister tomorrow. I know she has done a great job at school not just academically but also spiritually and socially. She is in the process of becoming the person she is meant to be. She is growing in her knowledge in her self and in Christ.  … Continue Reading

6 Ways to Make Your Idea Contagious

How has Korean singer Psy’s “Gangnam Style” video managed to generate more than 1.5 billion views on YouTube? Why did the video clip from a small non-profit organization calling to capture Joseph Kony become a media sensation, making it one of the 20 most shared ads on social media in 2012?

Jonah Berger, a professor of marketing at Wharton School identifies six ingredients that make ideas, products, and campaigns become contagious. In his new book, Contagious: Why Things Catch On, Berger summarizes his framework in an easy-to-remember acronym STEPPS: social currency, triggers, emotion, public, practical value, and stories. When you understand and harness the factors in the right way, this can push an idea to millions: millions of shares, millions of viewers, millions of dollars, millions of products.

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10 Ways to be a Life-long Learner

Imagine you asked twenty people in your circle of influence (professional, personal, social, and religious domains) to describe your number one strength. Well, last year that’s exactly what I did, looking to discover my singular strength that was not merely subjected to mere self-opinion, but grounded in certainty and objectivity.

The response was overwhelming. 90% considered my number one strength as self-development (= continuous learning). Quite honestly, the results were affirming and liberating. My relentless drive for growth felt more like a gift from God – how He wired me to be this way.

The journey as a life-long learner began in the beginning of my high school days. Since then, I’ve endlessly pushed myself to the envelope when it came to learning and growing. I have embraced the saying, “There are no uninteresting things, only uninterested people.” Living a day without a learning anything new would be my worst nightmare. That’s why I am following Eartha Kitt who said, “I am learning all the time. The tombstone will be my diploma.”Here are ten learning vehicles I have used to maximize my learning.

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In Pursuit of Great AND Godly Leadership

The opening line of Good to Great from Jim Collins states “Good is the enemy of great.” As organizations experience some measure of success, they will consider themselves “good,” and they start to lose the mojo to become “great.”  Thankfully as Christians, we are given the definitive leadership role model – our Lord Jesus Christ. Called to be imitators of Christ (Eph 5:1), we must ask the inevitable question. “Is great the enemy of godly?” or “Is godly the enemy of great?”

As a maturing student of leadership, I sometimes found myself swimming in the sea of confusion as I absorbed numerous books on leadership. Sometimes the leadership lessons seem to be virtually the same, just packaged different with different cover, titles, and stories. I wrestled with the notion of being a “Christian” leader.

Me (back left) participating in Mike Bonem’s workshop on “In Pursuit of Great AND Godly Leadership”

Mike Bonem was one of the speakers at the CLA conference I attended. His background is very interesting. Graduated from Harvard MBA, he worked as a consultant for McKinsey &Co for several years. Unlike his fellow peers who normally followed the fast-track accelerated leadership path, Bonem followed God’s call and entered vocational ministry. He then served as a leadership consultant and executive pastor for 10 years. You can follow him on his website.  

Bonem’s lastest book In Pursuit of Great AND Godly Leadership: Tapping the Wisdom of the World for the Kingdom of God talks about the subtle tension between the pursuit of godliness and greatness. He argues that as Christian leaders we can be both godly and great. … Continue Reading

Top 10 Posts from April 2013

April was by far the most focused, productive, and fruitful month this year. I’ve reached my goal of devouring 10 books this month. In addition, I published 10 blog posts where I interviewed two key leaders, and wrote a book review.

I’m excited to share with you my blogging journey now on a monthly basis. In less than two months, this will mark my first year anniversary of active blogging with a revamped platform. I’ve learned many lessons and insights along the way. Still, I have lots to learn and grow.  

As an aspiring leader, I’ve embraced Ken Blanchard’s timeless words on feedback: “Feedback is the breakfast of champions.” So, please, please, please continue to share your constructive feedback so I can better serve you. … Continue Reading

Authentic Leader/ Inauthentic Leader: Which Are You?

I’m taking a short break (April 30- May 2) from the overcast and allergy season of Portland, Oregon to enjoy my vacation in sunny southern California. However, this is not your typical vacation. I’m not in shorts, t-shirts, nor slippers but in button-up shirts and a nice Zara sports jacket. This is a special kind of vacation – a learning vacation, if you will, that I committed to take at least once a year.

As I write this post, it is 75 degree outside in Anaheim, California, the home of Disneyland, where I’m attending Christian Leadership Alliance’s annual conference. I initially feared I would be distracted and tempted from the sheer thought of vacationers enjoying Disneyland while I was stuck in a hotel listening leaders teaching leaders. Thankfully, this was never the case. In fact, I’m on my second day now at the conference and my brain is already fried from all the awesome learning and connecting.

The theme for this year’s conference is “Authentic Leadership.” Leaders such as Phil Cooke, Pat Lencioni, Wess Stafford shared their unique insights on what it takes to be authentic leader and why authentic leadership is more important and needed today.   

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10 Tips to Maximize Your Conference Experience

You might as well call me a conference junkie. In the past five years, I’ve attended countless conferences. Every year, I commit to attending at least several conferences mainly because it helps me to learning, grow, and connect. I understand this is not a small investment so I want to ensure that this will pay off dividends.

As an aspiring author and speaker, I also am learning what it takes to be a global leader and speaker.  After attending many conferences, I realized conferences are what you make of them. Here are my top ten tips on conferences and how to make them more valuable and engaging experiences.  

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[Book Review] Slave: The Hidden Truth About Your Identity in Christ (Part 1 of 2)

As followers of Jesus Christ, we identity ourselves as “Christians.” However, the word “Christian” in the Bible only is mentioned three times. Rather, we are described as children of God, sheeps in His flock, saints, citizens of Heaven, lights to the world, followers of the Way. All of these descriptions, in its unique ways, help us to understand what it means to be a Christian. But there is one word that is used more than any of these to describe our identity as Christians. Slave.

John MacArthur, in his paradigm-jarring book Slave: The Hidden Truth About Your Identity in Christ, argues that English translators have “perpetrated a fraud” or a “cover-up of biblical proportions” by translating the Greek word doulos as “servant” instead of “slave.” In fact, the word doulos appears 124 times in the original text, but it is correctly translated only once in the King James. As a result, a majority of Christians fail to truly capture the radical nature of our relationship with Christ as Master and Lord.

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