This week, I examine what is sometimes called the “Dark Night of the Soul,” an experience that Peter Scazzero refers to as “the Wall.” [1] One of the exciting features of Scazzero’s work is that it exemplifies what I sometimes call the “Post Modern Recovery of the Ancients.” In the case of the Wall, he is recovering the ancient church’s spirituality that surrounds how God is present in his absence, provides light amid darkness, and works in spiritual pilgrims to purify them from barriers to the fullness of what God has for them. Surprisingly, this ancient notion is relevant to secular and religious leaders today.

It is a fundamental notion of Christianity that humans fall short in life (are sinners) and suffer from disordered desires and attachments. St. Augustine famously declared that we love what we shouldn’t love and love the right things incorrectly. We seek our comfort, our pleasure, and our own will. We value what we want more than we value what God wants. We commit wrongdoings, even if only in our hearts.

Secular thinkers generally conceive the human condition as burdened by psychological trauma inherited from childhood and inadequate education and nurturing. The result, however, is just the same—we are less than fully functional, healthy, and moral human beings. We miss the mark of the goals we and others have for our lives. Leadership places extraordinary pressures and burdens on those who exercise it. [2] Whatever “cracks” exist in their personalities are likely to be exacerbated by the pressures leaders face.

The past two blogs emphasized the importance of feeling emotions, positive and negative, understanding the unconscious drivers that impact our leadership and the impact it has on others, and fostering what we referred to as a “positive shadow,” which is a subconscious emotional and spiritual reality that encourages the best functioning of the organizations we lead. This week, we will talk about failure and the need to grow internally through periods when the positive aspects of leadership (success) are lacking in the context of the Christian notion of the Dark Night of the Soul.

The Wall and Dark Night of the Soul

First, we need to define what we are discussing when we speak of “the Wall” or “Dark Night of the Soul. “Secular readers will have to ponder the concept a bit, but eventually, the idea’s secular importance will dawn on all readers.  At the beginning of the religious life, there is usually a honeymoon. You have made a spiritual commitment, received some initial discipleship training, attended worship and other services, started studying the Bible or other religious literature, learned the rudimentary elements of prayer and meditation, and found life different and better.

The problem from a religious perspective is that all of this is, in a way, selfish. We love God or engage in a spiritual community for what we can gain from it. When I reflect on my early religious life, this is exactly what I experienced. I became a Christian in a small group in Houston, Texas, in the late 1970s. I immediately encountered profound spiritual growth. I learned how to study the Bible, began to pray, and volunteered in various public services, including a local mission, church youth activities, and a Sunday School class. I met my wife, fell in love, and started a family. Through all of this, I experienced one long period of consolation and blessing from God, which lasted several years.

In secular callings, there is a similar experience. One decides on a career, for example, law. One studies and achieves the necessary licenses and education. When one first goes to work, one grows rapidly. Everything is new, and every day involves growth as a professional. Sure, there are hard times, which one expects, but overall, a life goal is being accomplished. In the case of lawyers, they may begin to participate in a local or even state bar association.

Unfortunately, this stage does not last forever. For most Christians, there comes a point when they experience spiritual dryness, a feeling that their prayers are hitting a glass ceiling. Prayers go unanswered, and the excitement of religious experience diminishes. Simultaneously, one might face spiritual struggles, including unanswered prayers that seem justified, conflicts within the religious community, and similar challenges. Pastors and spiritual directors consistently caution that these occurrences are neither the dark night of the soul nor the unavoidable ups and downs of life, such as job loss, family issues, moral failures, and so forth. While this is accurate, all of these can be external manifestations or triggers of a Dark Night. The Dark Night or Wall refers to the feeling of God’s absence in the situation.

In the life of most leaders, a similar experience often occurs. For example, let us take the case of a person I will call “Dr. Y.” Dr. Y graduated from a prominent Presbyterian seminary. Dr. Y was a significant success through several more extensive and prominent calls. He was a natural preacher, had good relational and leadership skills, and a practical bent that allowed him to begin ministries and grow churches. Y was a good servant of God, and God was a good servant of Y’s ambitions.

At 45, Y was at the pinnacle of any pastor’s dream career. He was the church’s Senior Pastor, led a sizeable non-profit mission in the city, was a published author, and was much in demand as a speaker and retreat leader. He received a call from a mega-church. At that church, he followed a legendary pastor who took a small rural congregation and turned it into a mega-church in a major city’s suburbs. For the first time, he faced opposition and failure in a call. The congregation constantly compared him to the former pastor. They rejected worship and mission. And managerial changes that Y had successfully instituted in the past. Y was under enormous pressure. Eventually, he suffered a minor self-induced failure. The leadership who called him turned against his leadership. For a time, Y did what any strong leader might do. He worked harder. He studied his Bible, and he prayed. There were no answers to those prayers. Now, Y was lonely, depressed, and questioning his faith. He prayed, but there were no answers.

The events that occurred are of a type that happens to many pastors. They are not the dark night. The Dark Night is the perceived sense of God’s absence during spiritual growth. This is why it is often called “God’s presence in God’s absence.”

Eventually, Y asked for and was given a Sabbatical. For a part of the time, he was with his wife and family. For a part of the time, he went to a Catholic Retreat Center, where he was able to share his feelings of abandonment by God. In the end, Y moved from loving God and ministering to others from a selfish and immature motive to loving God and ministering to the congregation in a selfless way from a center in the unmerited love of God.

Two Aspects of the Dark Night

In The Dark Night of the Soul, St. John of the Cross identifies two kinds of Dark Night. The first is a night of the senses.  In other words, we don’t feel the presence of God. The second night is a night of the spirit in which God appears absent from our spiritual lives.  Saint John of the Cross puts it this way:

 This Dark Night, a night of contemplation, produces two kinds of darkness or probation in a spiritual person, corresponding to two parts of human nature: the sensual and the spiritual. The first Dark Night is sensual, wherein the soul is purged according to sense, subduing it to the spirit. The second Dark Night is spiritual. During this second night, the soul is purged and stripped, according to the spirit, subdued and made ready for loving union with God. …  The first Dark Night is bitter and terrible to sense. The second Dark Night is far beyond the first, for it is horrible and awful to the spirit. [3]

In simple terms, humans need to be purged of our tendency to value things according to our senses and the pleasure they bring us. Beyond the merely sensual, we also value ourselves, that spiritual psycho-somatic unity of mind, body, and soul that makes up our total spiritual personality. This spiritual self must also be purged. Those who can endure this purging of the false self in all its forms find a new spiritual unity and wholeness in which they can love God and others unconditionally and without expectation of personal pleasure.

A Secular Example

“Z” is a successful businessman. After graduating from college, he worked in a major technology company as a salesperson, sales manager, and eventually as part of management. He eventually earned an MBA. At a fairly young age, Z was offered the chance to lead a technology start-up company. He was also successful in that endeavor, and eventually, the company went public.

Recently, Z has hit a wall in his professional career. Things that once brought him great joy no longer provide any satisfaction. In addition, his company has fallen behind in the always competitive high-tech industry. The market niche for his product has changed. Several of his employees have publicly challenged his leadership, and his board of directors has begun to raise questions about it. For many years, he has devoted his life to increasingly larger achievements.

At the insistence of his Board of Directors, he began a relationship with a leadership coach. In a recent session, the coach made a challenging observation. She asked a rhetorical question, “Basically, what you are saying is that up until now, your business career has been about you—your achievements. What about your employees, suppliers, customers, shareholders, and others?” I don’t sense much interest in them.”

After the session, Z reflected on her observation. He recalled reading Jim Collins’s book, Good to Great. [4] One of Collins’s key points is that great leaders display humility, focus their energy on the company instead of themselves, and anticipate and empower potential successors. During a long self-examination and with his coach’s help, Z became aware of this pride and the way success fed his pride. He became aware of his love of money and the luxuries that success brought him. He came to terms with his personal weaknesses and shortcomings. Considering his situation, he recognized the need to set aside his ambition and develop a humble, servant spirit towards his company and all its stakeholders. By doing so, Z broke through a leadership barrier that had held both him and his company back.

Conclusion

Dark Nights, or what might be called “Encounters with a Wall,” are often viewed as negative experiences. In reality, they present valuable growth opportunities. These encounters may be perceived as signs of failure; however, they signify future success. Often, they are resisted as a form of death, yet they serve as a pathway to new and abundant life. This does not imply that they are easy- far from it. But they are essential for anyone, whether secular or religious, to attain the fullness of their potential.

Copyright 2025, G. Christopher Scruggs, All Rights Reserved

[1] As mentioned previously, these blogs are based on Peter Scazzero, The Emotionally Healthy Leader: How Transforming Your Inner Life Will Deeply Transform Your Church, Team, and World (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2017), hereinafter EHL. See also Emotionally Healthy Discipleship: Moving from Shallow Christianity to Deep Transformation (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2021). Emotionally Healthy Spirituality,Updated Ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2017). The Emotionally Healthy website is https://www.emotionallyhealthy.org/. The materials needed to guide individuals through emotionally healthy discipleship training are available on the website and most Christian and secular online book retailers. The Emotionally Healthy Spirituality and Relationship Courses are offered as the “Emotionally Healthy Disciples Course,” which includes books, study guides, teaching videos, devotional guides, and teaching aids.

[2] EHL, 270.

[3] I have paraphrased this passage from St. John of the Cross, Dark Night of the Soul, tr. E. Allision Peers (New York, NY: Image Books, 1990), 61. I have simplified the language and tried to make it more readable for contemporary people who are not specialists.

[4] Jim Collins, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap, and Others Don’t (San Francisco, CA, 2001),

One of the most remarkable (yet commonsensical) revelations from the research for this blog was the understanding that it is not enough for leaders to simply acknowledge their shadow; they must also learn to manage it for the benefit of the institutions they serve. For better or worse, the unconscious motivators that leaders hide from themselves impact the lives of the organizations they lead. There is truth to the saying that we humans cast a shadow, and leaders cast a particularly large one. [1]

The Shadow

As previously mentioned, the “shadow” consists of an accumulation of unacknowledged and, therefore, untamed emotions, motives, and thoughts, both good and bad, that influence our behavior. The term “shadow” signifies that consciously hidden and submerged aspects of our personality operate in the background, within our unconscious, where they can direct and influence our actions without our awareness or control.

This shadow’s unconscious feature makes it significant and potentially dangerous. Let me provide an example. Mr. X grew up in a dysfunctional family. His father was repeatedly unfaithful to his mother, who coped by drinking excessively. Although his father was a moderately successful businessperson, he fluctuated between extreme prosperity and near bankruptcy.

Additionally, the businesses he managed experienced high turnover rates. Eventually, he was compelled to retire from the company he founded. X is also an entrepreneur. He similarly cycles between extreme prosperity and bankruptcy. Like his father, he is unfaithful to his wife and trusts no one. Similar to the organization his father built, the company he created is characterized by internal conflict, a lack of trust, and poor teamwork.

X recently visited a psychologist for help. The psychologist promptly identified the behavioral similarities between X and his father. He also noted, in a constructive manner, that X’s lack of trust had become systemic within his company. He recommended a counseling period along with specific actions to rebuild healthy trust and teamwork in the workplace. X’s shadow was infecting not only his performance but also the performance of others in the company.

Now, let’s look ahead five years. X has successfully confronted his shadow. He has become more trusting and is focused on fostering a positive atmosphere in his company. Interestingly, he recently embraced Christianity and has been working diligently to restore his marriage, which was severely impacted by his unfaithfulness. A trade publication recently featured a positive article about his company, highlighting its low employee turnover for a business in his industry.

This story illustrates the difference between a negative and a positive shadow. Unconsciously, X had harmed his company through his behavior. Once he became aware of his shadow and changed his actions, he began positively impacting his employees, consciously and unconsciously. Not only did he become more trusting and cooperative, but everyone else in the company followed suit. X transitioned from casting a negative shadow to casting a positive one.

We Know More Than We Can Say

The philosopher Michael Polanyi coined a significant phrase in this context: “We know more than we can say.” [2]In every area of human inquiry and activity, we often act based on information, beliefs, worldviews, and prejudices that unconsciously guide our behavior. It can be as simple as holding a hammer. When I hold a hammer while nailing, I am often unaware of how my hand grips it; my focus is on the hammer’s head and the nail. I’m aiming to hit. However, tacit knowledge is even more crucial in more complex areas. In all aspects of life, humans interpret the world through feelings, ideas, and concepts we have internalized to understand and operate in the world as we perceive it. [3] Unfortunately, we do not always interpret the world accurately; unconscious motives and emotions often guide us.

When I lead a business and engage with people daily, I unconsciously apply my feelings about others to my relationships- including their trustworthiness, abilities, loyalty, and a variety of other factors. Most of the time, this occurs without conscious thought. For example, if someone comes into my office and suggests a course of action, I will immediately respond, “ Sure, go ahead,” if I trust that person and view them as confident. Conversely, if I doubt the person, I say, “Let me think about it. ” In addition, in many situations, I have to consciously remind myself that this person may be right even if I don’t necessarily like or admire this person. On the other hand, I have to constantly remind myself that this person might be wrong even if it’s a person I like and admire.

You can see why leaders need to be in touch with their unconscious drivers more than other people. Simple things, like being self-aware when you’re moving too fast and overworking, are essential for a leader, especially if you’re given (as I am) to overperformance. Otherwise, mistakes can be made.

We Emerge from a Family System

Human beings from the beginning of time to the present have emerged from a family system. It doesn’t matter what society or culture you’re in; you are born from the union of a man and woman, and for a period during infancy, you are completely helpless and dependent on others. During this time and into our young adulthood, we are unconsciously shaped by the culture and family system into which we were born. Unconscious programming can follow us into adulthood for better or for worse.

Since there are no perfect families, everyone should come to terms with the family system from which they emerged. I like to tell a funny story about my wife and I. I come from a family that loved to argue about politics and religion at meals. We didn’t think we had had a good dinner unless we argued about something. My wife came from a family system in which politics and religion were not discussed in social situations. We have somewhat different instincts when speaking out about politics and religion. I’ve learned something from her, and she has learned something from me. We have become more conscious of our family systems and how they molded our personalities.

Two very helpful tools are becoming aware and conscious of our emotions and family history and understanding the unconscious drivers of our personality.

Becoming Aware of Our Emotions. It is very difficult for most of us, especially males in our society, to connect with our unconscious emotional state. One of the most helpful things we can do is spend some time each day reflecting on the positive and negative emotions we experience throughout the day. In the last blog, we discussed the Ignatian discipline of recognizing consolations and desolations. In simpler terms, we need to be mindful of the positive and negative emotions we experience daily. Engaging in this practice regularly, over an extended period, is essential to be sure you properly understand the feelings that subconsciously guide you.

The previous illustration demonstrates the process. When X became involved in counseling, he began to write down his emotions. Over time, he discovered that distrust and fear of others, along with concerns about what they might do or think, significantly influenced his emotional life. This affected both his family and business. He recognized that his father also tended to distrust others. This trait had been instilled in him at such an early age that he understood its impact on his behavior.

Genograms. Another helpful tool is creating a diagram of your family history, known as a “genogram.” A genogram is a visual representation of your family’s relationships, structure, and composition, including key relationships, character traits, significant life trauma, medical information, and other details.  It serves as a tool to help you understand the family system from which you emerged.

In creating a genogram of your family, it is essential to ensure that you have your parents, siblings, and children included in the chart. If you can push back to grandparents and great-grandparents, it’s also helpful. In my case, I know a good bit about my parents and grandparents but not as much about my great-grandparents and almost nothing about my great-great-grandparents. I do, however, know one piece of information about a great-great-grandparent that’s important for our family history: he died pretty young, and as a result, the family moved from being middle class to being poor. I think this trauma has impacted future generations up to mine.

The recommended information for inclusion in a genogram includes marriages, divorces, children, and significant traumatic events (such as an early death), as well as issues like alcoholism, drug dependency, domestic violence, sexual misconduct, and other factors that may impact future generations. I have provided a chart to help you get started. Additionally, various online resources can assist you in using symbols to represent specific types of dysfunction. One of the most important considerations is whether the family system functioned effectively. For instance, if one or more children left home at an early age and had no further contact with their parents or grandparents,

 It indicates a problem. Returning to my illustration of X, let’s suppose that while creating a genogram, he discovers that not only was his father repeatedly unfaithful to his mother, but his grandfather and great-grandfather were also unfaithful and even fathered illegitimate children. This would indicate a deep wound in the family system that X needs to address. Having completed more than one genogram over the past several years, I have found that each case contributed to my self-understanding.

At this point, offering a personal disclaimer or at least some words of wisdom is necessary. The purpose is not to blame our problems on our parents and ancestors but to help us understand ourselves and change. One of my great-grandparents came from Scotland at a very young age. His parents died almost immediately, leaving him to care for himself and his siblings. He worked in a physically demanding job throughout his life. He could be a heavy drinker, had a temper, and could be occasionally violent, including to a hyperactive and not very well-behaved little boy. I can only say that if I had experienced the same life as he did, I might have become just as violent and just as heavy a drinker. I don’t blame my great-grandfather for his behavior or my weaknesses and temper. I understand, love, and hope that he found healing in heaven. This is the attitude we should adopt when creating a genogram. We’re not here to blame; we’re here to learn and seek healing.

Conclusion

The shadow and its impact on our lives and the lives of those around us is an important concept. It’s important in families, churches, small groups, businesses, schools, and every social institution we are part of. I’ve emphasized the importance of leadership and the shadow of a leader. That should not blind any of us to the fact that our behavior impacts the entirety of our relationships. In other words, my shadow may not have as significant an impact as the shadow of the president of the United States. Still, it impacts me and all my social relationships, including my citizenship, our country’s character, and even our world’s character. Therefore, it’s worth taking the time to do a little “shadow management.”

Copyright 2025, G. Christopher Scruggs, All Rights Reserved

[1] As mentioned previously, Peter Scazzero, The Emotionally Healthy Leader: How Transforming Your Inner Life Will Deeply Transform Your Church, Team, and World (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2017). See also, Emotionally Healthy Discipleship: Moving from Shallow Christianity to Deep Transformation (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2021). Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, Updated Ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2017). The Emotionally Healthy website is https://www.emotionallyhealthy.org/. The materials needed to guide individuals through emotionally healthy discipleship training are available on the website and most Christian and secular online book retailers. The Emotionally Healthy Spirituality and Relationship Courses are offered as the “Emotionally Healthy Disciples Course,” which includes books, study guides, teaching videos, devotional guides, and teaching aids.

[2] Michael Polanyi, The Tacit Dimension (Gloucester, MA: Peter Smith, 1966), 4. The actual quote is, “We know more than we can tell.”

[3] Id, at 29.

Christians and Christian leaders must realize their potential as disciples, and apostles (those sent into leadership) must face their personal emotional weaknesses and sin, lest they project it onto others. This responsibility is fundamental, especially for leaders. As noted in the past, leaders magnify their brokenness by embedding it into organizations like the church, where it infects others. Leaders inevitably leave the marks of their personalities on the organizations they lead, including small groups, classes, and entire congregations.

Understanding the False Self, the Shadow, and the True Self

To understand what it means to “face our brokenness,” it is helpful to clarify three concepts in our minds: the False Self, the Shadow, and the True Self.

False Self. The “False Self” is a construction of the human ego designed to project a more acceptable persona to others. This constructed False Self divides a person from the True Self, preventing psychological and spiritual wholeness. The human propensity to create a “False Self” is a coping mechanism resulting from our insecurity and inadequacy, usually stemming from childhood, youth, and adolescent anxieties. From a religious perspective, our false self ultimately derives from our alienation from God and God’s creation due to pride and selfishness, our unwillingness to accept who God has made us, and our failure to recognize God’s ultimate trustworthiness to redeem and bless us as creatures and the creation God made. [1]

The Shadow: The Shadow consists of an accumulation of unacknowledged and, therefore, untamed emotions, motives, and thoughts, both good and bad, that influence our behaviors. The term “shadow” indicates that consciously hidden and submerged parts of our personality work in the background, in our unconscious, where they can direct and influence our behavior without our even knowing it or having any control over it.

The False Self and the Shadow can create chaos in our lives and the lives of others. The apostle Paul, speaking of sin, speaks words of wisdom that apply to our false self and shadow self:

For I do not understand my own actions. I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now, if I do what I do not wish to, I agree with the law that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I desire to do what is right but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now, if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me (Romans 7:15-20).

When we are under the control of our false and shadow selves, we act in ways we cannot fully understand or control. We do not act with faith, hope, and love towards others. We do not act wisely, with temperance, justice, and courage. Instead, we act under the impulse of submerged fears, anxiety, lust, jealousy, greed, and a host of other sinful and unhealthy desires. This causes us to betray our calling as leaders, our fundamental values, and our most basic commitments to the cause of Christians.

As Scazzero points out in The Emotionally Healthy Leader, when we become dominated by the dark side of our shadow, we become a less dramatic form of the famous Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Worse, our false and shadow selves prevent us from experiencing the joy of the Christian life and the kind of transformational leadership we so much desire. [2]

True Self. Unlike the False Self, the True Self represents our authentic personhood. From a Christian perspective, it is the person God created us to be, encompassing all our gifts, talents, abilities, strengths, and weaknesses. For Christians, Paul instructs us that in Christ, we must “take off the old self and put on the new self” (Colossians 3:9-10). This new self, as John wrote, is “born not of natural descent, nor of human decision, but born of God” (John 1:13). Our true self does not require false strategies, deceit, or control to shield a false self-image. It is genuine and possesses inner integrity. It does not operate from the hidden motives or control of the shadow or repressed emotions. It does not need to project false strength or abilities. It is content with itself.

Life Beyond the False Self and Shadow Domination

Most of the time, many Christians and leaders, both secular and sacred, ignore their false selves and shadows. When challenged to confront them, we often resist due to anxiety, fear, and sheer laziness. We say, “I don’t have time for this.” By resisting the confrontation of our own brokenness, we miss the treasures that Divine Wisdom and Love have to offer. By taking the time to confront our shadow self, we gain emotional and spiritual riches through the freedom that comes from Christ and the realization of our true selves. We can break free from the shadow’s hidden power and bring it into our conscious ability to change. We discover aspects of ourselves that are good and wholesome, which we fear due to the disapproval of parents and others.

Basic Tools of Our Freedom

Experience and Name Emotions. So long as we cannot name our emotions, we cannot ask ourselves questions about their meaning and appropriateness. Once we can name them, they begin to lose their power over us. I often tell a story from my past. When I was about six years old, my parents were hit in a car by a drunk driver. Two people were killed. My father was thrown through the windshield into a nearby field, and my mother was crushed between the back and front seats. (This was before seatbelts and airbags.) Dad was in the hospital for about eight weeks and my mother for six months., Dad lost our family business, and the doctors doubted Mom would recover fully. (She did and lived to 94, walking like a much younger woman.)

For whatever reason, I did not want them to go that night. They assured me everything would be okay, and we spent the night with our grandmother. Things were not okay, and I was left with a kind of anxiety and fear of abandonment that affected me as a husband and father. Then, one day, a spiritual director and friend pointed out that the dysfunction was not the problem or was caused by anyone else. It was coming from my subconscious fears. That realization was the first step in overcoming this fear. It did not happen all at once. It did not happen without prayer and work. But it did happen.

Understanding and Experiencing Our True Selves. As mentioned above, not all aspects of our shadow selves are negative. Within each of us lie potentials we have submerged, partly because others have devalued them. I have a friend whose parents deemed him “too emotional and too soft.” In our success-oriented culture that celebrates toughness, this can easily occur. For a long time, he pursued a profession and a life path, trying to become the “macho person” he believed he should be. The outcome was failure and emotional turmoil. When he finally embraced the different facets of his personality, he shifted his professional focus. He became quite successful in a new field where his sensitivity to others became an asset. Accepting his true self enabled him to unlock untapped potential.

Stopping the Wrong Script. Most of us see our lives as a story where we are the main characters. One view from modern psychology, philosophy, and theology is that humans interpret and respond to reality in narrative forms. This is beneficial if we embrace the script of the right story for our lives but harmful if we enact a false narrative. Unfortunately, in one way or another, we all follow a script we did not write, which was not intended by God, but rather passed down to us by our parents or other significant figures. Sometimes, that script is tragic.

For example, a child who learns to believe he is not a good person may live a life of crime and dishonesty. A child who is told that “Girls (or boys) do not enter this or that kind of profession” may spend years in the wrong calling. Children taught “never to complain” may put up with abusive behavior from others in their adult lives. A young person who sees on television or the media glorification of violence or sexual promiscuity may live out a life script of promiscuity and miss the joys of real love.

Seek Counsel and Wise Mentorship

It isn’t easy to overcome deeply ingrained emotions and habits without help. This is why receiving counsel from appropriate, trained professionals is essential. Referring back to my earlier example, if I had not established a relationship with a spiritual director, I would not have been able to overcome my brokenness. Scazzero notes in his book that one of his negative scripts was the belief that he could not be a good manager because the family business in which he was raised was poorly managed, and he felt he lacked the ability. He overcame his buried fears through the wise counsel of more experienced managers.

Discernment and the True Self

St. Ignatius Loyola wrote a series of meditations to use Jesuits in discerning God’s will for their lives. [3] Today, across many denominations, the so-called “Ignatian Retreat” is used to discern God’s will and the proper functioning of the True Self. At the root of this method is recognizing that God speaks to us through our emotions. He calls these “Consolations” and “Desolations.”

Consolations. Consolations occur when we experience the potential for the joy of God’s pleasure in our lives and, in leadership, in the lives of others. We know we are in God’s will when we sense the presence of love, faith, mercy, hope, or any qualities we recognize as gifts of the Holy Spirit. If I am becoming kinder to people and find this transformation life-giving and Christlike, Galatians offers a partial list of these emotions: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, and similar emotions (Galatians 5:22-23).

Desolations. Desolations, on the other hand, refer to those moments when we perceive the absence of God’s pleasure in our lives and, in the context of leadership, in the lives of others. We recognize we are heading in this direction when we sense a lack of the growth of love, faith, mercy, hope, or any qualities we understand as gifts of the Holy Spirit. Once again, Galatians provides us with a partial list of these emotions: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry (greed), sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and similar emotions (Galatians 5: 19-21).

In his Spiritual Exercises, St. Ignatius developed a system of discernment and decision-making that relies on scriptural meditation. This involves visualizing whether a proposed course of action or decision will enhance the presence of God and the Spirit in our lives and the lives of others. By meditating on Scripture and seeking its guidance in our lives and decisions, we can practically understand God’s will in our daily experiences.

This can be very important for leaders. Failing to discern whether a particular decision will lead to consolations or desolations, health or a loss of health (personal and institutional), wholeness or a loss of wholeness, harmony, or disharmony can have devastating consequences for any organization and the people involved. As a pastor and church leader for nearly 50 years, I have seen the tragic consequences of failing to meditate prayerfully on the consequences of a course of action.

Victory through the Word of God.

When we become aware of the submerged emotions and harmful narratives shaping our lives, we can evaluate, pray about, and transform them. This awareness liberates us from being driven by unconscious desires and repressed emotions, allowing us to embody our True Selves in Christ. We can “put off our old self and put on a new self” in our lives and leadership. Paul puts it this way:

Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 3:17-23).

As we allow our minds to be changed, we become able to engage in what I call “contemplative decision-making.” Letters to Leaders (which I hope to revise and publish in the future) outlines the beginning of contemplative leadership’s importance and technique. [4] Ultimately, contemplative decision-making involves prayerfully lifting to God, not just the decision to be made but also the impact on the human beings involved. One helpful practice is for a leadership team to build a “mental model” of the decision and its impact together with prayerfully considering various bible verses or wisdom sayings that might be helpful. There will be more on this in a future blog.

Copyright 2025, G. Christopher Scruggs, All Rights Reserved

[1] G. Christopher Scruggs, Centered Living/Centered Leading: The Way of Light and Love (Memphis, TN: Permiso Por Favor, 2016), 164.

[2] Peter Scazzero, The Emotionally Healthy Leader: How Transforming Your Inner Life Will Deeply Transform Your Church, Team, and World(Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2017), 55.

[3] The Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit order, were originally published in Spanish. Numerous English translations are available online and through various book services. The Spiritual Exercises consist of scripture readings, meditations, prayers, and contemplative practices developed by St. Ignatius Loyola to help individuals deepen their relationship with God. For centuries, the Exercises were typically offered as a “long retreat” lasting about thirty days in solitude and silence. In recent years, the Spiritual Exercises have evolved into a program for laypeople and non-Catholics.  The most common approach to experiencing the Exercises today is a “retreat in daily life,” which incorporates a months-long program of daily prayer and meetings with a spiritual director.

[4] G. Christopher Scruggs, Letters to Leaders (unpublished manuscript created for Bay Presbyterian Church, 2019).

Last week, I began a series of blogs on what I’m calling “More Emotionally Healthy Leadership (MEHL).” As I indicated last week, these blogs are heavily influenced by Peter Scazzero’s “Emotionally Healthy Leadership” and his writings on emotionally healthy discipleship.[1] The underlying thesis is that many Christians, including Christian leaders, are not able to fulfill their calling as disciples due to emotional immaturity and blockages from the past.

Christian disciples and leaders cannot change unless they recognize the signs they need to address specific emotional issues. Most of us face the problem of some of these issues lying beneath the surface of our consciousness. Cao uses the iceberg model to illustrate that 90% of who we are lies beneath the surface of our consciousness. Addressing that 90% when it interferes with our service to Christ takes work. Therefore, before self-transformation can occur, self-examination and self-understanding must be undertaken.

Because humans are embodied creatures, we can’t address our spiritual lives without considering our physical, emotional, social, and spiritual lives. To achieve a well-balanced, harmonious personality, we have to balance all of our humanity. In particular, disciples of Christ, including Christian leaders, must bring their emotional lives under the rule of Christ.

Characteristics of Emotional Unhealth

In his book, Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, Scazzero lists ten characteristics of emotionally unhealthy spirituality:

1. Using God to run from God,
2. 2 Ignoring emotions, such as anger, sadness, and fear, d
3. Dying to the wrong things,
4. Denying the impact of our past on the present,
5. Dividing our lives into secular and sacred compartments,
6. Doing for God, instead of being with God,
7. Spiritualizing away conflict,
8. Covering up brokenness, weakness, and failure,
9. Attempting to live without limits, and
10. Judging other people’s spiritual journey.

In his book, Emotionally Healthy Leadership, Scazerro reduces this list to four characteristics of an emotionally unhealthy leader. These are:

1. Low self-awareness,
2. Prioritizing ministry over marriage and singleness,
3. Doing too much for God, and
4. Failure to practice a Sabbath rhythm.

For readers of this blog who are not Christians or who are engaged in secular professions, I would rephrase the list as follows:

1. Lack of emphasis on emotional intelligence,
2. Prioritizing work over family and community life,
3. Constant over-performance and failure to live within limits, and
4. Failing to develop a harmonious way of life.

The good news for all leaders is that these problems can be successfully addressed. Even those of us with low self-awareness and limited emotional intelligence can develop better habits. If our priorities are misaligned, we can change them. If we are consistently overextending our human limits, we can slow down. If our lives are out of balance and we neglect our physical, emotional, social, intellectual, and spiritual needs, we cannot achieve balance by consciously adjusting our lifestyle.

Habits of Unhealthy Leaders

Unhealthy leaders have common habits:

1. Viewing success in terms of size and physical rewards,
2. Building a self-image around what we do as opposed to who we are

(doing versus being),

3. Superficial spiritual and emotional health is fine (putting on a mask),

One caution is that all leaders, however self-aware, from time to time narrowly view success, get our self-image by what we achieve as opposed to who we are, and hide our real self from others. Self-awareness is the capacity to recognize what is happening inside of us and react in a healthy way. The journey of Emotionally Healthy Leadership is a journey into balance. It’s a journey to achieve inner harmony that coordinates with our outside leadership. The need for this is just as great in business, the professions, academia, nonprofits, the military, and other kinds of leadership as it is in the church. Some language modification might be necessary to make the principles applicable, but the principles remain the same.

Restoring Balance

However, we cannot become emotionally healthy leaders in our active lives until we have developed an Emotionally Healthy Spirituality. For those who may be secular, we cannot have a healthy, active life unless our interior life is also healthy. I can think of many leaders whose leadership failed due to their self-promotion, fears, anxiety, lack of emotional maturity, misuse of their bodies, moral failure, and underdeveloped mental lives, making them so unbalanced that failure becomes likely.

Copyright 2025, G. Christopher Scruggs, All Rights Reserved

[1] Peter Scazzero, The Emotionally Healthy Leader: How Transforming Your Inner Life Will Deeply Transform Your Church, Team, and World(Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2017). See also, Emotionally Healthy Discipleship: Moving from Shallow Christianity to Deep Transformation(Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2021). Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, Updated Ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2017). The Emotionally Healthy website is https://www.emotionallyhealthy.org/. The materials needed to guide individuals through emotionally healthy discipleship training are available on the website and most Christian and secular online book retailers. The Emotionally Healthy Spirituality and Relationship Courses are offered as the “Emotionally Healthy Disciples Course,” which includes books, study guides, teaching videos, devotional guides, and teaching aids.

Somewhere over 4000 years ago, in that perennially troubled part of the world we now call the Middle East, an elderly gentleman heard God speak these words:

“Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.

I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
 I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you, I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:1-4).

This man, whom we call Abraham, obeyed the call, left the place where he was, and began a journey that would last the rest of his life.

It does not require extensive familiarity with the story to recognize that Abraham was not perfect. He tended to lie under pressure. Despite his faithfulness, he often deviated from the path of complete faith. While he listened to God, he sometimes took matters into his own hands. By the end of his journey, I believe he would tell us that he was not a perfect leader. He was, however, better than he had been at the beginning.

Three religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—trace their beginnings to Abraham. Each reveres him as a foundational figure. We all celebrate that Abraham believed in God, trusted God, and obeyed God. This is what I want to discuss in this blog.

The journey to healthy leadership is not a simple one. As I’ve been preparing for this series of blogs, I’ve been joking that the blog should not be titled ” Emotionally Healthy Leadership” but “More Emotionally Healthy Leadership.” In the end, I’ve entitled the series “Healthier Leadership.” Although the book emotionally healthy leadership is in some ways foundational to this series of blogs, I’m going to be giving you some of my own reflections. One of my reflections has to do with the word “emotionally.” We do need emotionally healthy leaders. We also need spiritually healthy leaders. We need physically healthy leaders. Leadership is holistic. The leader leads not just with their mind, not just with their emotions, not just with their spiritual fire born of an encounter with God, but as an embodied being. We lead with all that we are and can become.

The Call

Leadership begins with a sense that we are called to be leaders. When I was quite young, I became a Cub Scout, a camp counselor, a Boy Scout, and then an assistant camp director. I was also president of my high school’s student body. After a few years of practicing law, I attended seminary and became a pastor, eventually leading larger churches. In each case, something inside me urged me to pursue roles I felt utterly unqualified for and incapable of fulfilling.

Every leader has a calling. They may not even know they have the call. Think of the president of a company. That person may think they achieved their position because of ambition. Nevertheless, behind that ambition is the creator God, who made them what they are. Over the years, I have read many leadership books. When I wrote my dissertation, I wrote about the spirituality of leadership. These books recognize that leaders, whether in business, politics, the church, private charities, or social organizations, have some common qualities. They have the physical endurance to undertake the responsibilities of their position. They have the mental capacity to understand problems and their solutions. They have the emotional capacity to read people. All good leaders have these capacities to 1° in another, and the best leaders have exceptional energy, emotional intelligence, and mental acuity. They may have developed these abilities throughout their lives, but the leadership capacity came from another source.

And, of course, there is that subtle thing we call luck, chance, or opportunity. In every leader’s life, there is a moment in which the future opens up, and they step through the door towards their destiny. I can think of two examples from my own life. I was an average student, a poor athlete, and not socially at ease with people. One day, completely unexpectedly, I had the opportunity to become the student body president of my high school. There were 600 people in that class, and I would suspect that I rank somewhere around 590 in the capacity to lead. But God, who knew what he had in store for me, opened the door.

Many years later, I was a lawyer. I wasn’t happy practicing law. I was very active in our church and had served as a deacon, elder, and Sunday school teacher for many years. One day, the door opened, and I had the opportunity to attend seminary, although I had a wife and four children. There’s nothing that I could’ve done to have made that possible. I prayed about the opportunity to serve God and perhaps become a pastor someday. But it was God who opened up the door.

The Promise

When I teach the story of Abraham and his response to the call of God, I often point out that Abraham had a motivation. Too frequently, we think of the spiritual life as entirely spiritual, unconnected to our physical lives. I don’t think that’s true. In the case of Abraham, he was a 70-year-old man, the leader of a tribe of people, and without an heir. In Abraham’s day, that was a considerable problem. It meant that his family would no longer be leading the tribe of the Hebrews. It meant that his wife, Sarah, whom he loved, would likely fall into poverty without anyone to take care of her. Abraham did not obey God in some disembodied way and connected to his own life or problems. He followed God because he wanted to have a child. When God promised him that he would make him a great nation, he promised him that he would have at least one child, which would be the beginning of that great nation. We are no different.

The second aspect of Abraham’s story that interests me is the realization that he didn’t fully understand the promise. He grasped the idea that he would have a child. But what if you and I had told him that he would be the father of three world religions and that many people around the globe, who did not share a single gene with him, would be his children by faith? He surely would have thought we were ridiculous. Often, we ask God for something we desire, and He grants it to us. However, when He does, it is in a way that we could never comprehend at the time of the promise.

Kathy and I served churches from the East Coast to the Mississippi River, to the Canadian border, and throughout southern Texas. We’ve led missions that took our churches and us to Africa, Asia, Central America, and most recently, Mexico. One day, I found myself standing on top of a hill in West Africa, reflecting on the Great Commission, where God says He will send His disciples to the ends of the earth (Matthew 28:19). I looked at a project we had just completed, one with my name on it, and I thought, “Son of a gun, I made it.”

If someone had told me in 1991, when we left Houston, that I would preach in Africa, the Philippines, Honduras, and Mexico, I would’ve thought they were crazy. God is taking me much further than I envisioned. I thought I would simply become a pastor and have a lovely church somewhere in the United States, complete with four white columns at the front and two rows of pews divided by a center aisle. I envisioned wearing a black robe every Sunday while preaching from a Calvin pulpit. I was mistaken. What God had in store was even better than I had dreamed.

The Blessing

I often discuss what I refer to as “Shepherd/Servant Leadership.”  Abraham was a shepherd, and all the patriarchs served in that role at various times. King David was also a shepherd. Jesus is known as the “Good Shepherd.” Leadership involves guiding people; it is about leading a group from one place to another toward a better situation- physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and organizationally. That ideal place can be a church that thrives both spiritually and physically, a successful business, a charity that meets the needs of its clients, a family filled with happiness and joy, or a strong and lasting marriage. Leadership exists wherever individuals engage in a common endeavor, and the leader’s goal is to guide those people and the organization entrusted to their care.

This brings us to the servant aspect of Shepherd/Servant leadership. Abraham is told that when he obeys God, he will be a blessing to others. He will receive a blessing, but he will also bless other people. We bless others whenever we meet or help to meet their most basic needs. People need love. People need respect. People need trust. People must be corrected when they are wrong and guided on the right path. The leader’s role is to serve the organization and the people they are called to lead.

It’s been my own experience, and the experience of every leader that I know, but this is not always easy. I have a good friend who was the president of a nice-sized company. We talk almost every week in retirement. Interestingly enough, we often talk about times when we had to do something we didn’t want to do. I’ve had to fire people, and so has my friend. No sane person enjoys holding another person accountable for the final time. I’ve had to uncover wrongdoing and spent hours and hours thinking about financial statements that did not make sense. I was doing it for the organization, not because I liked it. Every leader must do a lot of things they don’t enjoy doing. It comes with a territory.

Attending meetings, working long hours, managing conflict, and addressing organizational failure are all challenging, draining responsibilities, yet leaders must confront them. Selfish and self-absorbed leaders shy away from the tasks they dislike. Conversely, good leaders tackle both the tasks they enjoy and those they loathe. Through this process, they develop the ability to serve others.

America today is afflicted with narcissistic leadership. It occurs in business, politics, churches, charities, and everywhere else. One unfortunate feature of losing a Judeo-Christian consensus about morals is the emergence of people who serve only themselves without the moral constraints of a religion that teaches self-denial.

Some time ago, I researched a company that I cannot name. The president was narcissistic to the point of being a sociopath. He created a culture built on fear and greed. Because of his position, he could hide this behind the façade of being a servant leader. In a way, he was a servant leader, but the person he was serving was himself. Eventually, the company collapsed, and his leadership was discredited forever. His name will go down in history as a failed leader.

The Challenge

Returning to Emotionally Healthy Leadership as we conclude this week’s blog. In the book Emotionally Healthy Leadership, Peter Scazzero tells his personal leadership story and provides many examples for leaders. [1] Most examples come from the church, where he eventually was an experienced and effective leader. However, it doesn’t take a lot of imagination to apply a lot of what he says to every other kind of organization.

He begins with four core internal tasks that every leader must undertake. They are:

Internal: Facing our own shadow or false self, leading out of our marriage or singleness, slowing down for loving union with God, and practicing Sabbath delight. In secular terms, he means we must understand our false self, not ignore our primary responsibilities to family and others, slow down to make wise decisions, and be willing to rest. Rest, even for second people, isn’t acknowledgment that we are not in charge of everything, nor should we be.

External: Every leader also has four external tasks to undertake. These include planning and decision-making, creating a culture and building a team, exercising power and maintaining wise boundaries, and knowing how to begin and end a period of leadership.

At the center of emotionally healthy leadership is a profound recognition that who we are as leaders is more important than what we do. The people with whom we interact daily are more certainly formed by who we are than by what we do. Therefore, we must focus our attention first on spiritual matters.

Copyright 2025, G. Christopher Scruggs, All Rights Reserved.

[1] Peter Scazzero, Emotionally Healthy Leadership (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2015).

Dear friends:

This afternoon, I researched and wrote about the Ukraine conflict using artificial intelligence. If your social media feed is like mine, you are inundated with politically motivated views on the current situation. I decided to examine the situation at a slightly deeper level. I do not claim originality or deep personal understanding. However, I can tell you that every inquiry I made requested a “balanced view.” I am trying to educate, not provoke or support a particular view, though I believe continuing the current war is unwise. I am not smart enough to know how that should be accomplished.

The current conflict in Ukraine stems from a long history of geopolitical tensions, major power rivalries, political corruption, and domestic struggles. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, NATO’s eastward expansion has been a contentious issue among Russia, the United States, and Western Europe. Before the conflict began, several U.S. officials warned of its potential to provoke Russia. These warnings underscored Russian fears and the geopolitical risks of bringing the NATO military alliance closer to Russia, including the possibility of destabilizing Ukraine and inciting Russian military responses.

Early Warnings: George Kennan and the 1990s

One of the earliest and most significant warnings came from George Kennan, the architect of the Cold War containment policy. In a 1997 New York Times interview, Kennan described NATO’s eastward expansion as “the most fateful error of American policy in the entire post-Cold War era.” He cautioned that it would exacerbate Russian nationalism, revive Cold War tensions, and undermine efforts to incorporate Russia into a cooperative European security framework. Kennan’s critique wasn’t speculative—he predicted that moving NATO to Russia’s doorstep would be perceived as encirclement, a notion echoed by Russian leaders ever since.

During the Clinton administration at the State Department, similar concerns arose. When NATO welcomed Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic in 1999, Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott acknowledged Russian objections, stating in his memoir that Moscow saw NATO as a Cold War relic aimed at them, despite the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact. Talbott and others questioned whether the West had a convincing answer to Russia’s question: if they had abandoned their bloc, why hadn’t NATO done the same? This internal skepticism indicated a recognition that expansion could be perceived as needlessly antagonistic.

William Burns: A Consistent Voice of Caution

Perhaps the most frequently cited warning came from William Burns, who served as the U.S. Ambassador to Russia from 2005 to 2008 and was the CIA Director under Joe Biden. In a February 2008 classified cable titled “Nyet Means Nyet: Russia’s NATO Enlargement Redlines,” Burns cautioned that Ukraine’s potential NATO membership represented a significant red line for Moscow. He stated that it “could potentially split the country in two, leading to violence or even, as some claim, civil war, forcing Russia to decide whether to intervene.” Burns emphasized that this perspective was not limited to Vladimir Putin—hostility toward NATO expansion was “almost universally felt across the domestic political spectrum” in Russia, even among anti-Putin elites. Additionally, Burns issued an early warning. In 1995, as a political officer in Moscow, he cautioned that Russian opposition to NATO’s eastward expansion was deep and widespread. Later, as ambassador, he described NATO expansion as “premature at best and needlessly provocative at worst,” predicting in 2008 that Ukrainian aspirations for NATO membership could destabilize the region and compel Russia to act. His warnings proved prescient with Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and the 2022 invasion, events directly linked to Ukraine’s Western orientation.

Robert Gates, Deputy National Security adviser during German reunification talks in 1990 and later CIA Director (1991–1993), criticized NATO’s eastward push in his memoirs noting that the U.S. “pressed ahead with expansion” despite assurances to Soviet leaders like Mikhail Gorbachev that NATO wouldn’t grow beyond Germany—a claim debated but supported by declassified documents showing Western leaders discussing limits on expansion. Gates called this a missed opportunity to build trust with Russia post-Cold War.

Jack Matlock, the last U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union (1987–1991), claimed that assurances were given during 1990 talks that NATO wouldn’t expand eastward beyond a unified Germany. In later writings, he argued that breaking this perceived promise fueled Russian resentment and set the stage for conflict. While NATO and some U.S. officials deny any formal pledge, scholars like Mary Sarotte, citing archival evidence, suggest that Gorbachev was “led to believe” that expansion wouldn’t happen—a nuance that mattered to Moscow.

CIA Involvement and Escalation Risks

The alleged  CIA role in Ukraine added another layer of tension, amplifying Russian fears of Western encroachment. Reports, including a 2024 New York Times investigation, revealed that the CIA began constructing a network of bases along Ukraine’s border with Russia shortly after the 2014 Euromaidan uprising, which ousted pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych. This followed a proposal from Ukraine’s security service for a “three-way partnership” with the CIA and Britain’s MI6. Over the next decade, the CIA established 12 secret outposts, trained Ukrainian commandos, and gathered intelligence on Russia—actions that Russia interpreted as a direct threat.

From Moscow’s perspective, this was not merely NATO expansion; it was the U.S. embedding itself militarily in a country that Russia regarded as its strategic buffer. Critics, such as Ted Galen Carpenter, who wrote for The Guardian in 2022, contended that this covert involvement transformed Ukraine into a “NATO political and military pawn,” even without formal membership. Burns himself had warned in 2008 that Russia feared “unpredictable and uncontrolled consequences” from such actions, a fear realized when Putin cited Western influence as justification for his 2022 “special military operation.”

(As an aside, it is impossible for Americans to fully understand Russia’s fears concerning hostile powers on its borders. In the 19^th century, Napoleon invaded Russia across the Ukrainian countryside. In the 1930s, Hitler launched an attack across the Ukraine. The land is flat and perfect for a tank battle. Russia views Ukraine as an essential buffer zone between itself and any hostile activity from the West. Whether we think this is an irrational fear or not, it exists.)

State Department officials were aware of this. A 1990 internal analysis warned against forming “an anti-Soviet coalition whose frontier is the Soviet border,” predicting it would alienate Moscow. By 2014, as CIA activities escalated, some diplomats expressed concern that arming and training Ukrainians—together with NATO’s involvement—crossed Russian red lines. Victoria Nuland, a senior State Department official, played a crucial role in supporting Ukraine’s post-2014 government, which Russia viewed as evidence of a U.S.-orchestrated “coup.” Her leaked 2014 call discussing Ukraine’s leadership transition fueled this narrative.

Dangers Highlighted: Provocation and Miscalculation

The warnings consistently flagged two dangers: provocation and miscalculation. Kennan foresaw a nationalist backlash, which materialized under Putin’s leadership. Burns and Gates highlighted the risk of civil strife in Ukraine spilling over, forcing Russia’s hand—a scenario that unfolded in Donbas in 2014 and nationwide in 2022. The CIA’s presence, meanwhile, risked escalating a proxy conflict into direct confrontation, a fear Putin exploited to rally

Historical Context: A Land Between Empires

Ukraine’s story begins long before its independence in 1991—and not all of it supports the typical Western view of the conflict. Before World War I, it was a contested space between the Russian, Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman, and Polish-Lithuanian empires. Kyiv, now Ukraine’s capital, was the heart of “Kyivan Rus,” a medieval state often cited by Ukrainians and Russians as a cultural ancestor. This shared heritage has fueled competing national narratives: Ukraine sees itself as a distinct entity with a unique identity, while Russia has historically viewed it as an extension of Russia, a “little brother” in the Slavic family.

By the 17th century, much of eastern Ukraine fell under Russian influence, while the western regions leaned toward Europe. This split deepened over time, creating a cultural and political divide. The 20th century saw Ukraine enter the Soviet Union after a brief attempt at independence following World War I. Under Soviet rule, Ukraine suffered through forced collectivization, the Holodomor famine of 1932–33 (which many Ukrainians view as a genocide orchestrated by Moscow), and Russification policies. Yet, it also industrialized and became a vital Soviet breadbasket and military hub.

When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Ukraine emerged as an independent state, inheriting a mix of pro-Russian eastern regions and pro-Western western ones. Crimea, which was transferred from Russia to Ukraine in 1954 by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, added another layer of complexity. This historical backdrop—Ukraine’s struggle for identity—set the stage for modern tensions.

Post-Independence Struggles: 1991–2013

Independent Ukraine faced economic hardship, corruption, and an identity crisis. Its leaders oscillated between Russia and the West. Presidents like Leonid Kuchma (1994–2005) pursued a “multi-vector” foreign policy, balancing ties with Moscow and NATO/EU partners. Meanwhile, the 2004 Orange Revolution—a mass protest against electoral fraud favoring a pro-Russian candidate—highlighted Ukraine’s democratic aspirations and its western tilt under Viktor Yushchenko.

Yet, Russia remained a dominant influence. It supplied Ukraine’s energy, maintained cultural ties in the east, and viewed Ukraine’s integration into NATO or the EU as a threat to its security. The 2010 election of Viktor Yanukovych, a pro-Russian leader, seemed to stabilize this relationship. Yanukovych leaned toward Moscow, negotiating trade deals and extending Russia’s lease on the Black Sea Fleet in Crimea. However, his rule was marred by corruption and authoritarianism, alienating many Ukrainians—especially in the west—who sought closer EU ties.

The Euromaidan Turning Point: 2013–2014

The immediate trigger for the Ukraine crisis occurred in November 2013 when Yanukovych abruptly suspended an Association Agreement with the European Union, opting instead for a Russian economic bailout. This decision ignited protests in Kyiv’s Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square), initially led by students and pro-EU activists. The movement, dubbed “Euromaidan,” evolved into a broader revolt against corruption, repression, and Russian influence.

Protests intensified in early 2014 as police responded with force, resulting in the deaths of dozens. On February 21, 2014, Yanukovych fled to Russia after a deal brokered by EU mediators collapsed. Ukraine’s parliament ousted him and installed an interim pro-Western government. For many Ukrainians, this was a triumph of democracy; however, Russia and some eastern Ukrainians viewed it as an illegal coup supported by the West.

Russia’s response was swift. Claiming to protect ethnic Russians and its strategic interests, it annexed Crimea in March 2014 after a controversial referendum. Meanwhile, pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region (Donetsk and Luhansk) declared their independence, sparking a war with Ukrainian forces. Evidence suggests that Russia provided military support to these rebels, though Moscow denied direct involvement, labeling it a civil conflict. The West condemned Russia’s actions and imposed sanctions, while Ukraine viewed them as an existential threat to its sovereignty.

The annexation of Crimea was a significant geopolitical shock. Russia justified this action by citing historical ties (Crimea was part of Russia until 1954), the presence of its Black Sea Fleet, and a referendum in which 97% allegedly voted to join Russia—though critics questioned its legitimacy given the military occupation. Ukraine and the West condemned it as a violation of international law, specifically the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, in which Russia, the U.S., and the UK pledged to respect Ukraine’s borders in exchange for its nuclear disarmament.

In Donbas, the conflict settled into a drawn-out stalemate. The Minsk Agreements (2014–2015), brokered by France and Germany, aimed to establish a ceasefire and grant autonomy to rebel-held areas within Ukraine. Neither side fully implemented them: Ukraine resisted legitimizing the separatists, while Russia denied its control over them. By 2021, over 14,000 had died, and 1.5 million were displaced, yet the “frozen conflict” maintained an uneasy status quo.

The Role of Burisma and alleged Western Corruption

Burisma Holdings, Ukraine’s largest private natural gas company, has become a lightning rod in debates about Western involvement and corruption tied to the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian conflict, particularly since Russia’s 2022 invasion. Founded in 2002 by Mykola Zlochevsky—a former Ukrainian ecology minister under pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych—Burisma’s prominence grew amid Ukraine’s post-Soviet struggles with oligarchy and foreign influence. Allegations of Western corruption, mainly linked to Hunter Biden’s board tenure (2014–2019), have fueled narratives about its role in escalating tensions.

Burisma’s Origins and Ukrainian Context

Burisma emerged during Ukraine’s chaotic transition from Soviet rule, a period marked by oligarchic consolidation of power. Zlochevsky, leveraging his ministerial role (2010–2012), secured lucrative gas licenses for Burisma, raising questions about self-dealing. After Yanukovych’s ousting in 2014 during the Euromaidan uprising, Zlochevsky fled Ukraine amid corruption probes, including a UK money-laundering case that froze $23 million of Burisma’s assets (later unfrozen due to lack of Ukrainian cooperation). This backdrop—Ukraine’s endemic corruption and Burisma’s ties to it—sets the stage for Western involvement.

In April 2014, shortly after Euromaidan and Russia’s annexation of Crimea, Hunter Biden, son of then-U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, joined Burisma’s board alongside figures like former Polish President Aleksander Kwaśniewski and ex-CIA official Joseph Cofer Black. Hunter, with no evident energy expertise, earned up to $50,000 monthly, sparking ethical concerns. Critics, including some U.S. State Department officials, flagged this as a potential conflict of interest given Joe Biden’s role in shaping U.S. Ukraine policy—namely, pushing anti-corruption reforms and countering Russian influence. As with all aspects of this matter, Russia and the West have different perspectives:

• Western Perspective: The U.S. and allies allege Hunter Biden’s role was private and not policy-driven. No conclusive evidence shows that Joe Biden altered U.S. strategy to shield Burisma. His push to oust Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin in 2016—widely seen as corrupt and ineffective—aligned with bipartisan U.S., EU, and IMF goals, not a Burisma cover-up. Shokin’s probes into Zlochevsky predated Hunter’s tenure and were dormant by 2016.
• Russian/Critic Perspective: Russia alleges that Joe Biden sacked Shokin to protect Hunter, pointing to Burisma’s payments as evidence of a corrupt quid pro quo. A 2020 Senate Republican report called Hunter’s role “problematic” but found no policy influence. Burisma’s hiring of Western elites seems more a PR move—bolstering its image amid legal woes—than a deep conspiracy. Yet, the optics fed Russian propaganda that Ukraine was a corrupt Western puppet, a narrative Putin used to justify aggression.

Notwithstanding American claims, Burisma’s role intersects with broader claims of Western corruption in Ukraine:

• Energy Warfare: Some argue Burisma was a tool in U.S. economic warfare against Russia, aiming to boost Ukraine’s gas sector (e.g., Burisma and Naftogaz) and reduce Europe’s reliance on Russian Gazprom. Some people suggest the CIA backed Burisma to choke Russian gas exports, linking this to the 2022 Nord Stream sabotage (unproven). If true, corruption might lie in prioritizing U.S. corporate interests—like LNG exports—over regional stability, though evidence is circumstantial.
• Aid and Profiteering: Since 2014, the West has poured billions into Ukraine—over $118 billion from the U.S. by 2025. Allegations persist that corrupt Western actors, including defense firms, benefit from prolonged conflict. Burisma’s prominence amplifies this critique, though its direct role in aid corruption is unclear. Ukrainian oligarchs, like Ihor Kolomoisky (once linked to Burisma), have faced U.S. sanctions for graft, suggesting a tangled web of local and Western interests. A 2024 New York Times report revealed that the CIA has had bases in Ukraine since 2014, training operatives partly to counter Russia. Critics see this as corrupt overreach, turning Ukraine into a U.S. proxy and provoking Moscow. Burisma’s board inclusion of Cofer Black partially fits this narrative, though his role was strategic, not operational.

 Burisma and Western corruption allegations didn’t ignite the Ukraine war but have unfortunately shaped its dynamics, particularly in the United States, where it has become a political issue. As with all things, there are differing views:

• Russian Justification: Putin’s 2022 invasion rhetoric cited Western “exploitation” of Ukraine, with Burisma as a symbol of alleged U.S. meddling. The Biden connection gave Russia a propaganda cudgel, framing Ukraine as a corrupt NATO pawn.
• Western Support Dynamics: Perceptions of corruption—Hunter’s Burisma stint, untracked U.S. weapons—fuel skepticism among Ukraine’s backers and critics of our involvement. By 2025, with private and public donor fatigue rising, these narratives risk eroding aid, while Ukraine warns of battlefield losses without it.
• Ukrainian Perception: For Ukrainians, Burisma epitomizes elite impunity, undermining trust in both domestic and Western anti-corruption promises. Zelensky’s 2023 crackdowns on graft signal reform, but Burisma’s legacy lingers.

Although there is little concrete evidence tying Burisma or Western corruption to Russia’s invasion beyond amplifying existing tensions, the conflict’s roots—NATO expansion, Crimea, and Donbas—precede and overshadow Burisma’s saga.Despite the possibility of Western political corruption, Russia has a history of corrupting Ukrainian elites (e.g., via gas deals), which undercuts its moral stance.

Burisma and Western corruption play a supporting role in Ukraine’s conflict rather than a leading one. Hunter Biden’s involvement symbolizes perceived Western hypocrisy, amplifying Russian grievances and domestic Ukrainian cynicism. Allegations of broader corruption—energy schemes, aid misuse, and CIA overreach—suggest that strategic missteps or profiteering may have escalated tensions, though hard proof remains elusive. As of March 2025, the war continues, with Burisma serving as a potent emblem of how corruption narratives, whether true or false, shape geopolitics. The real story lies in the interplay of power, not merely in one company or scandal.

Escalation to Full-Scale War: 2022

Tensions escalated in 2021–2022 as Russia amassed troops near Ukraine’s borders, arguing that NATO’s eastward expansion—especially Ukraine’s aspiration for membership—posed a threat to its security. The West strengthened its relations with Ukraine, providing military aid and training since 2014, though NATO membership remained a distant prospect. Russian President Vladimir Putin demanded legal guarantees against NATO expansion, insisting that the U.S. and NATO reject it as an infringement on sovereign choice.

On February 21, 2022, Putin recognized the Donbas separatist republics as independent, mimicking his approach with Crimea. Three days later, on February 24, he initiated a “special military operation” aimed at “demilitarizing and denazifying” Ukraine—rhetoric that portrayed Ukraine’s government as a Western puppet with extremist elements. Russian forces invaded from multiple fronts, targeting Kyiv, Kharkiv, and the southern region. Ukraine, supported by Western arms and fierce resistance, successfully repelled the initial assault on Kyiv, transforming the conflict into a protracted struggle.

Perspectives and Interpretations

As the foregoing proves, there is more than one way to interpret the current situation. Here are various viewpoints:

• Ukraine’s View: This is a fight for survival against Russian imperialism. Kyiv sees 2014 and 2022 as part of a pattern of Moscow denying its right to exist as a sovereign, democratic state. The West’s support is vital but insufficient. Ukraine seeks NATO membership and fears abandonment.
• Russia’s View: The conflict is defensive. NATO’s expansion, CIA involvement, and Ukraine’s drift westward threaten Russia’s buffer zone and national identity. Putin invokes history—viewing Ukraine as part of Russia’s “near abroad”—and accuses the A of orchestrating a proxy war.
• American and European View: The U.S. and EU perceive Russia’s actions as unprovoked aggression, violating post-Cold War norms. Supporting Ukraine upholds democracy and deterrence, though critics argue that NATO’s flirtation with Ukraine provoked Moscow unnecessarily.
• Global Perspective: Several nations, including India and South Africa, seek to remain neutral. These countries are cautious of what they perceive as Western and American hypocrisy, and they uphold economic ties with Russia. They promote diplomacy over escalation.

Where are we now?

Today, the conflict persists, with no real end in sight absent negotiations. Ukraine has reclaimed some territory with Western support, but Russia maintains control over extensive areas in the east and south. Irreconcilable demands hinder peace negotiations: Ukraine insists on a complete withdrawal and reparations, while Russia seeks recognition of its territorial claims and a Ukrainian stance of neutrality regarding NATO. Ukraine desires NATO membership or protection, a solution that would only intensify Russian fears. Sanctions have significantly impacted Russia’s economy; however, it has found ways to adapt through China and other allies. The human toll—tens of thousands dead and millions displaced—grows each day.

In conclusion, the situation reflects a tragedy rooted in miscalculation, mistrust, and ambition. History offers no straightforward solutions, and every decision—from 1991 to 2022—has reduced the chances for compromise. A balanced perspective reveals no heroes, only participants in a high-stakes game where the risks continue to escalate.