James Mueller

Onboarding Champions is the essential guidebook for nonprofit board members and executives. It challenges board members to become champions of governance and provides a roadmap to get there. Author James Mueller identifies seven principles of highly effective boards: Culture: E very board has a culture-either by default or intention. Culture is the foundation upon which sound governance is built. Through rich storytelling, observation, and advice Mueller explains how to build a solid culture rooted in sound core values. Character: The time to screen for character is before a board member is seated. Too often, assumptions are made of a person's character based upon the first impression or just because they are willing to serve on the board. Mueller challenges us not to be shy about assessing prospective members' character during recruitment . Competence: It is vital for a board to genuinely examine the board member competencies it needs to become a highly effective board. Mueller shows us how to look beyond business acumen to identify, define, and seek out competences that will have a transformative effect on a board's ability to govern. Connections: When their organizations fail to access the levels of support they need to thrive, they often assume that they just need more visibility. The deeper truth is that they need to develop a band of believers among a cross-section of potential constituencies. Mueller describes four types of constituencies from which boards need to recruit in order to develop greater organizational support. Composition: Building a strong board that embodies the character, competence, connections, and diversity that organizations need to thrive is not a complicated process. The approach is straightforward, but it takes time and discipline to do it right. Mueller walks us through insights he has derived over four decades to help us succeed at building championship boards. Continuity: Knowledge of how a nonprofit is organized, functions, and performs over time is critical to sound governance decision-making. Mueller discusses how board members must understand how their organization is uniquely wired in order for them to make informed decisions, especially when the stakes are high. Collaboration: Collaboration is the mindset that enables us to work together cooperatively to advance the causes we serve-whether internally or with other organizations. Mueller describes how to cultivate and sustain the collaborative mindset and the benefits it bestows upon organizations that practice it. In describing Onboarding Champions, international nonprofit governance consultant Steven Bowman writes: James Mueller is a masterful executive, board member, and high-level consultant to nonprofit organizations, and this shines through in his latest book, Onboarding Champions. He gets right into the heart of the matter in the first chapter-boom -creating board culture, a topic that is just now starting to find its way into the boardroom. James asks incredibly insightful questions throughout the book that can unlock strategic conversations around recruitment, selection, and onboarding of new directors-and provides practical exercises that can give insight into your own situation

Onboarding Champions is the essential guidebook for nonprofit board members and executives. It challenges board members to become champions of governance and provides a roadmap to get there. Author James Mueller identifies seven principles of highly effective boards: Culture: E very board has a culture-either by default or intention. Culture is the foundation upon which sound governance is built. Through rich storytelling, observation, and advice Mueller explains how to build a solid culture rooted in sound core values. Character: The time to screen for character is before a board member is seated. Too often, assumptions are made of a person's character based upon the first impression or just because they are willing to serve on the board. Mueller challenges us not to be shy about assessing prospective members' character during recruitment . Competence: It is vital for a board to genuinely examine the board member competencies it needs to become a highly effective board. Mueller shows us how to look beyond business acumen to identify, define, and seek out competences that will have a transformative effect on a board's ability to govern. Connections: When their organizations fail to access the levels of support they need to thrive, they often assume that they just need more visibility. The deeper truth is that they need to develop a band of believers among a cross-section of potential constituencies. Mueller describes four types of constituencies from which boards need to recruit in order to develop greater organizational support. Composition: Building a strong board that embodies the character, competence, connections, and diversity that organizations need to thrive is not a complicated process. The approach is straightforward, but it takes time and discipline to do it right. Mueller walks us through insights he has derived over four decades to help us succeed at building championship boards. Continuity: Knowledge of how a nonprofit is organized, functions, and performs over time is critical to sound governance decision-making. Mueller discusses how board members must understand how their organization is uniquely wired in order for them to make informed decisions, especially when the stakes are high. Collaboration: Collaboration is the mindset that enables us to work together cooperatively to advance the causes we serve-whether internally or with other organizations. Mueller describes how to cultivate and sustain the collaborative mindset and the benefits it bestows upon organizations that practice it. In describing Onboarding Champions, international nonprofit governance consultant Steven Bowman writes: James Mueller is a masterful executive, board member, and high-level consultant to nonprofit organizations, and this shines through in his latest book, Onboarding Champions. He gets right into the heart of the matter in the first chapter-boom -creating board culture, a topic that is just now starting to find its way into the boardroom. James asks incredibly insightful questions throughout the book that can unlock strategic conversations around recruitment, selection, and onboarding of new directors-and provides practical exercises that can give insight into your own situation

In Lyrics of a Broken Heart, James Mueller writes: The loss of Luke was dissociating and unhinging. I was groping in the darkness, in sadness, with no sense of how to move forward in a life without my son. The writing was the key to my sanity. As I continued to write, I discovered I was creating a pathway through grief toward emotional wholeness.Turning his private journaling into a book, Mueller shares with the reader the deepest emotions a father can experience from the loss of his child. Through lyric prose, he plumbs the depth of his journey from devastating loss to emotional recovery. The experience of loss can be so potent we may compartmentalize our emotions--as the author reflects in "The Cavern of My Lament."Speaking in a voice that is honest, raw, soft, and vulnerable, he lays bare his world, inviting us to feel, to embrace, to trust our own process without judgment. In doing so, we discover our pathway, our own authentic journey.What Others Have to Say...Lyrics of a Broken Heart is nothing less than a lamentation, coming from the depths of a broken spirit, over a father's loss of his son. It's not often that males allow others, especially strangers, to witness their raw emotions, but Mueller does so in this short volume. -- Ron Hamel, PhD, Theologian/EthicistThis book is amazing--so devastating in the beginning and then so filled with light and hope at the end. Everyone who has suffered a loss should read it -- Lynn Meister, MD, Medical Director, Pediatric Palliative Care Team, Pediatric Hematologist/Oncologist, Joe DiMaggio Children's HospitalThis book addresses often-overlooked aspects of parenting: a father's perspective and love for his child. Jim Mueller's insights and reflections are worth their weight in gold. This short book is packed with words of wisdom for all dads, and especially those who may have a child with special needs. -- David Hirsch, President, 21st Century Dads Foundation and host of the Special Fathers Network Dad to Dad PodcastJim Mueller aptly describes his pieces as "lyrics of a broken heart." The vulnerability on these pages about the process of grieving will forge a pathway from heart to heart and create a shared connection of understanding and deep humanity. This beautiful book will let you know that no matter how deep your grief, you are not alone in this world. It's a beautiful and necessary book that ultimately offers healing and hope. -- Donna Gephart, award-winning author of Lily & Dunkin, In Your Shoes, and The Paris ProjectJim Mueller's heart-wrenching account of the loss of his son is a stunning and soulful expression of the ultimate interpersonal loss that can be experienced by human beings. It reflects not only the sad journey that was taken by Jim, Margot, and Lili, and Jessica, but is also a tribute to Luke's bright spirit, humor, and ability to maintain an amazing family cohesiveness. Jim, as a loving father and devoted friend to Luke, has captured the essence of human devotion, love, hope, and emotional pain that only a parent can experience. Lyrics of a Broken Heart is mandatory reading for any parent who has experienced the loss of a child. -- Robert Shumaker, PhD, Clinical Psychologist

In Lyrics of a Broken Heart, James Mueller writes: The loss of Luke was dissociating and unhinging. I was groping in the darkness, in sadness, with no sense of how to move forward in a life without my son. The writing was the key to my sanity. As I continued to write, I discovered I was creating a pathway through grief toward emotional wholeness.Turning his private journaling into a book, Mueller shares with the reader the deepest emotions a father can experience from the loss of his child. Through lyric prose, he plumbs the depth of his journey from devastating loss to emotional recovery. The experience of loss can be so potent we may compartmentalize our emotions--as the author reflects in "The Cavern of My Lament."Speaking in a voice that is honest, raw, soft, and vulnerable, he lays bare his world, inviting us to feel, to embrace, to trust our own process without judgment. In doing so, we discover our pathway, our own authentic journey.What Others Have to Say...Lyrics of a Broken Heart is nothing less than a lamentation, coming from the depths of a broken spirit, over a father's loss of his son. It's not often that males allow others, especially strangers, to witness their raw emotions, but Mueller does so in this short volume. -- Ron Hamel, PhD, Theologian/EthicistThis book is amazing--so devastating in the beginning and then so filled with light and hope at the end. Everyone who has suffered a loss should read it -- Lynn Meister, MD, Medical Director, Pediatric Palliative Care Team, Pediatric Hematologist/Oncologist, Joe DiMaggio Children's HospitalThis book addresses often-overlooked aspects of parenting: a father's perspective and love for his child. Jim Mueller's insights and reflections are worth their weight in gold. This short book is packed with words of wisdom for all dads, and especially those who may have a child with special needs. -- David Hirsch, President, 21st Century Dads Foundation and host of the Special Fathers Network Dad to Dad PodcastJim Mueller aptly describes his pieces as "lyrics of a broken heart." The vulnerability on these pages about the process of grieving will forge a pathway from heart to heart and create a shared connection of understanding and deep humanity. This beautiful book will let you know that no matter how deep your grief, you are not alone in this world. It's a beautiful and necessary book that ultimately offers healing and hope. -- Donna Gephart, award-winning author of Lily & Dunkin, In Your Shoes, and The Paris ProjectJim Mueller's heart-wrenching account of the loss of his son is a stunning and soulful expression of the ultimate interpersonal loss that can be experienced by human beings. It reflects not only the sad journey that was taken by Jim, Margot, and Lili, and Jessica, but is also a tribute to Luke's bright spirit, humor, and ability to maintain an amazing family cohesiveness. Jim, as a loving father and devoted friend to Luke, has captured the essence of human devotion, love, hope, and emotional pain that only a parent can experience. Lyrics of a Broken Heart is mandatory reading for any parent who has experienced the loss of a child. -- Robert Shumaker, PhD, Clinical Psychologist

The immense environmental challenges facing the world now and in years to come can only be met through marshalling the talents of the best environmental engineers and scientists, and through the use of innovative, cost-effective solutions. Written by three leading aeration experts, Aeration: Principles and Practice, covers the principles and practice of aeration, a unit process critical to the performance of activated sludge treatment and to the budget of wastewater plants. This reference presents the state of the art in aeration, using examples from a variety of facilities in the USA and Europe. The authors investigate conventional and deep-tank aeration systems for BOD removal and nitrification, as well as high-purity oxygen systems. Operating and capital costs, as well as energy use data are presented together with design information allowing the adaptation of new aeration technologies to plants of diverse size. Both practitioners and advanced students of wastewater management will appreciate the detailed presentation of oxygen transfer principles, especially as they are illustrated in numerous applications. With the information presented in this book engineers and managers will be able to understand and monitor the efficiency of existing aeration systems and to develop strategies for process improvement.