In the second episode of this season of NetVUE’s podcast Callings, hosts Erin VanLaningham and John Barton interview Michael Lamb, the senior executive director of the Program for Leadership and Character at Wake Forest University. An associate professor of interdisciplinary humanities and the F.M. Kirby Foundation Chair of Leadership and Character at Wake Forest, Michael also serves as an associate fellow of the Oxford Character Project at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, a project which helps graduate students in various fields, including government, law, medicine, business, and academia, think about the role of ethics in their professions. Michael’s research and teaching focuses on the ethics of citizenship and the role of virtues in public life, all of which offers many connections to the exploration of vocation.
Michael is committed to educating for character through the virtues, and in his work with students, he encourages them to “live the questions” as part of connecting their interests and talents with the callings of their communities and contexts. As he observes in the interview, “Having students think about those three questions—what are your passions, what are your gifts, what does the world need that you feel called to respond to—can be a great sort of heuristic to help them think about who they want to be and what they are in the world.” Throughout the discussion, he explores how setbacks, crises, and deep listening can help us discern how to “re-enchant purpose,” as part of evaluating our motivations and next steps. Throughout the conversation, we hear how practicing the virtues can help us return to the core of our callings.
Click hereto listen to the episode featuring Michael Lamb, “Cultivating Virtue.”
Geoffrey W. Bateman is the editor of Vocation Matters.