Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Alumni
  • Login
  • Volunteer
  • Clubs
  • Reunions
  • Bulletin
  • Class Notes
  • Help
  • Give Now
  • Stories
  • Alumni Directory
  • Lifelong Learning
  • Careers
  • Programs & Events
  • Giving
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Alumni→
  • Stories→

Stories

Stories

01 Dec 2017

Turning Point: The Dark Season

Re: Jonathan Wilkins (MBA 2007); By: MDiv 2009) Jonathan Wilkins (MBA 2007
Topics: Religion-GeneralPsychology-TrustPersonal Development-GeneralPsychology-Motivation and Incentives
ShareBar

illustration by Vahram Muradyan

illustration by Vahram Muradyan

A few years ago I went through a sort of wilderness experience, where nothing was lining up. I had to sell my car and move in with a roommate to cut costs. There was a moment of realizing, “I have two master’s degrees from Harvard, but I’m unemployed.” Yet every day I was leading a prayer conference call for hundreds of people from across the country. The feedback was that my words were extremely encouraging and helpful. So there’s a sense of envy in realizing God’s divine magic is working for others, but not for you.

About six months into unemployment, I was doing a lot of soul-searching and praying to figure out what I was truly trying to do, which was get into real estate and community development. Then my mother came to visit in Chicago and said she was praying for me. The next day, I connected with an HR rep who was a member of my church, which led to a position at Jones Lang LaSalle.

About a year later, the Chicago Bears were looking for a part-time team chaplain, and the head of player engagement called his pastor in Denver, who happened to be my former youth pastor. He recommended me, and I came in to teach a lesson to the team’s rookies called “The Desire Within.” It was drawn from that dark season I lived through and centered on this question: What does it mean to have a desire for something beyond what we can see and touch? I had tasted what it was like to be on the edge of impoverishment. But I eventually found my way. By the time I was done, some of the players—who had also faced adversity—were in tears. Two months later I was named team chaplain.

+ SKYDECK
web-only content

Wilkins describes what it’s like to lead football players in prayer and how he recharges his spiritual batteries in the Skydeck podcast

The NFL is all about production and productivity. When things go well, everyone in the world can see it. When things don’t go so well, the same is true. Last year, the Bears were 3 and 13. I’ve never talked so much about anxiety and adversity in my life. Our weekly meetings are optional, but we usually get about 45 players from a 53-man roster. In some ways it’s similar to an HBS case discussion in terms of how it’s structured—I open with a prayer, pose a discussion question, and write responses on the board, shaping the conversation around what comes up. It’s a trusted space to talk about life and spiritual principles while engaging with each other as a team—building unity, being transparent, and applying scripture to everyday life. What I offer is a source of peace and recognition that we don’t have all the answers all the time, but that an answer will come—not from our circumstance, but from within us, through a higher power. The dance, if you will, is to know when you’ve come to the end of yourself, and when you need to have faith for the things that are literally out of your control. To have the ear of the team in this way is humbling and inspiring.

There are some things that only trials and tribulations produce. When you suffer and have to draw from the depth of your personal resources to overcome adversity, it gives you the language of compassion—the ability to relate to others who are suffering or who have suffered. So while I wouldn’t wish what I went through on anyone, I wouldn’t give it back, either.

Chicago Bears Team Chaplain Jonathan Wilkins also serves as a motivational speaker for sports and corporate teams.

ShareBar

Featured Alumni

Jonathan Wilkins
MBA 2007

Post a Comment

Featured Alumni

Jonathan Wilkins
MBA 2007

Related Stories

    • 03 Jan 2018
    • Skydeck

    Finding Faith in an NFL Locker Room

    Re: Jonathan Wilkins (MBA 2007)
    • 27 May 2017
    • Boston Globe

    Boardroom to Bimah

    Re: Breck Eagle (MBA 1978)
    • 30 Jan 2017
    • Harvard University

    HBS Deans' Message on White House Travel Ban

    • 13 Jul 2016
    • HBS Alumni News

    From Money to Ministry

    Re: Rod Quainton (MBA 1970); By: Margie Kelley

More Related Stories

Stories Featuring Jonathan Wilkins

    • 03 Jan 2018
    • Skydeck

    Finding Faith in an NFL Locker Room

    Re: Jonathan Wilkins (MBA 2007)
 
 
 
 
  • Explore
  • Explore
  • Explore
  • Explore
  • Explore
  • Explore
  • Explore
  • Explore
  • Explore
ǁ
Campus Map
External Relations
Harvard Business School
Teele Hall
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
Phone: 1.617.495.6890
Email: alumni+hbs.edu
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
  • Terms of Use
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College