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Chaplain Karen Meeker | Purpose, Leadership, Resilience & Faith

Magical technologies surround humans in the developed world. It’s taken for granted that on-demand electricity, stocked grocery stores with food from around the world, communication that enables anyone with a smart phone to broadcast their lives globally, and various modes of safe, cheap transportation are the norm. Someone living just a century earlier would find today’s world unrecognizable. Yet, these changes are minor compared to the possible changes to come. Artificial intelligence is in its infancy and already its transformative powers are easy to feel. Space exploration, space mining, and space tourism will go from novel to ordinary in the coming decades. Fusion energy and quantum computing will likely go from theoretical to practical in a couple generations. Medical research will extend life like never before and potentially suspend the aging process while robots and other technologies will do the work that has often filled people with meaning.

In short, the changes that humanity has experienced are nothing compared to the changes that are to come. As these changes arrive, people are bound to gravitate toward the things they know in order to cope. Relationships and faith will become more important than they are now. Real leadership that offers solutions and helps people navigate rapid change will grow in importance and so will individual and organizational resilience. In an AI world where unprecedented longevity is possible, finding one’s purpose becomes of paramount importance.

In this interview, Chaplain (Colonel) Karen Meeker joins the show to discuss all these topics. She talks about the importance of finding one’s purpose and how to go about finding it. She describes her work helping military leadership navigate the challenges in the aftermath of battle and she gives her perspective on the differences between resilience and perseverance. Chaplain Meeker goes on to share her insight on what the future of faith might look like, suggesting that the next pope could come from the continent of Africa and saying missionaries might one day originate from Africa and be sent to developed countries. She ends the conversation by discussing the mistakes humans are making today that the people of 2075 will look back at in disbelief. 

Chaplain (Colonel) Karen Meeker is a US Army Colonel and the Command Chaplain of US Africa Command. Raised in rural Pennsylvania, she received calls to serve God and the US military when she was growing up. Chaplain Meeker holds a Master Parachutist badge and was named Pathfinder School and Officer Honor Graduate at Basic Airborne School in Fort Benning, GA. She is also the first woman chaplain to serve in Special Operations and the first woman chaplain jumpmaster. Chaplain Meeker enjoys serving Soldiers and their Families through worship, preaching, discipleship, outreach, and also enjoys competing in an occasional endurance event. In 2020, Chaplain Meeker was inducted into the US Army Women’s Foundation Hall of Fame.

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Don MacPherson is the founder, CEO, and Host of 12 Geniuses

Don MacPherson is host of 12 Geniuses - a podcast for curious and voracious learners. A five-time entrepreneur, Don spent 25 years researching the employee and customer experiences, the attributes of great leadership, and how healthy organizational cultures are created and sustained. Now, Don interviews geniuses from around the world about the trends shaping the way we live and work. From AI to biotechnology, aging to addiction, cybersecurity to privacy, and climate change to trust, Don uses these insights to help business leaders better understand what these trends are, how they are positioned to disrupt companies and industries, and how new value can be created for those willing to make the necessary changes.

An avid traveler and volunteer, Don has visited every corner of the world and been a Big Brother mentor for more than 20 years. He is the former executive director and current board member of think2perform Research Institute where he helped to create the organization’s Future Leaders Academy. Don is a board member of Leadership Garden, an organization that helps young people develop the life skills needed to make a positive difference in their community. He is also a board member for Harmony Foundation, a drug and alcohol addiction treatment facility in Estes Park, Colorado.