A LOOK AT REVIEWING LEADERSHIP BOOK.
Reviewing the leadership book the 2nd edition
Christian evaluation of current approaches By Bernice m, Ledbetter, Robert j, Banks
and David C. Greenhalgh forwarded by Max de and Published by Baker Academic.
THESIS
A leader’s
convictions shape their views and practices of leadership and their responses
to contemporary culture.
SUMMARY.
The book deals with different leadership
theories and critiques their ideas through the lens of theology. It is a summary of academic
approaches and concrete experiences, as much as it is a fruit of biblical
investigations real-life reflections of the writer’s leadership learning and
experience.
He looks at how some leadership Gurus have
let their faith drive their approach to leadership. Paul the apostle is one
example they look at and examine. After spending time in the word which they
say presents a “normative and determined Christian view of leadership” they
describe how others of the Christian faith approach leadership.
LESSONS
It was interesting to look at the aspect
of leadership as influence, the relationship among leaders and followers who intend
real changes that reflect their mutual purposes. Joseph Rost emphasizes on
followers being active participants in leadership. The focus moves from the leader
to their followers and finally the culture within which leadership is
exercised. Because leadership doesn’t work in a vacuum rather than within a
specific context.
Servant leadership is God's centered and
involves articulating, embodying and enacting God’s vision, heart, and will for
his people. This is well demonstrated by God’s dealing with humankind and
dealing with them as a shepherd Psalms 23. A great reminder of what our posture
must be as we pursue servant leadership.
The difference between management and
leadership was very enlightening; One thing that stood out for me was that
management provides order and consistency to an organization while leadership
produces change and movement. For the first time in my life, I get to confirm
that I am a leader and not a manager. Worth noting though both are needed for
any organization since leadership is shared and not a one-man show.
Great
metaphors found here, my favorites:
“A leader of faith must be like a parent who guides, a physician who heals and a teacher who facilitates learning,” this
emphasizes that it's not just about what the leader does.
“Leadership
is not only about proclamation it is also listening”. “What is
important and necessary can be heard”. Coming from the hierarchy type of
leadership I appreciate hearing that and reminding myself that as a leader I
should be able to listen to people.
“The the greatness of a leader is not measured by how well a leader is a follower of God”, It is not just
the relationship with God that matters but also how the leader’s relationship
with God affects the relationship to the culture and the environment in which
leadership is exercised.
I surely could not agree more on the idea
that if it's going to be servant leadership it got to be spiritual, there is a spiritual
dimension in leadership. “Leaders with spiritual depth and ethical sensitivity are
more likely to create organizations characterized as benevolent and virtuous”.
I desired more that they went beyond the
traditional influencers they began with the Bible which provides the normative the yardstick for investigating all major aspects of belief and life including
leadership.
True ethical leadership, true value-based
leading derives from a deep sense of spiritual consciousness and such sustains
an organization. This explains to me what determines the rise and fall of most
organizations.
Russ Moxley’s influenced by Palmer Parker
deals with most Christian workers dispirited lives and suggests that they are
not just to inspire but also inspiriting. His solution is that “We must
learn to be our true selves and our whole selves. This enables me to be human as
I lead. The experience of the spirit within comes in times of renewal
integration and vitality. The experience of spirit between people occurs in the moment of honoring others treating them as ends rather than as means and that’s
why I believe it’s more than being a follower of Christ. I support Brown in his
argument that the cultivation of one’s spirit is central to leadership and is
intricately connected to a relationship with God and others. It's not something
out there but something that proceeds from a spirit-filled center.
Patricia
La Barre argues that the basic defect in current views of leadership is the
neglect of character-building conversations. What are the possibilities that
leaders like me want to change? The change we refer to is of habits relating to
how I think, value and manage frustrations and act. Indeed Posey is right
when he says, “character counts!” the inner life of a leader must be therefore developed
to prepare the outer expression of leadership.
Being a founder of a mission agency it as
great to learn that “organizations possess an inherent divine foundation”.
I found Laura Beth’s approach very individualistic
and not looking outward but inward “I shape my own destiny, what I believe I become,
what I become I can do”
Clinton’s approach considers that the
Bible is not the only resource and that it doesn’t speak directly to all issues
of leadership, I wonder what he means? The word of God is sufficient and helps
us solve issues of every sphere of life. I also don’t understand what he means
by “when it speaks there is freedom since it gives general ideas”. I suppose that
there is a yardstick in scripture for Christian leadership practice.
It's intriguing to hear that “women are
slightly better at showing transformational leadership because they know how to
perceive the motivations, thoughts, and feelings of others.” Surely this explains
a lot of things to be a Woman leader working amidst men.
“Indeed, faith-driven female leaders will
seek ways to transform systems so that diversity is recognized honored and
celebrated” (redemptive work of faith-based leadership.
What then is the importance of wisdom in
leadership? “Wisdom is the ability to size up a situation quickly and to act
decisively, it's not afraid of complexity and ambiguity, it continues to learn
from experience and lives out what it discovers with integrity and care.”
The explanation of integrity not being a
skill but something organic (not something but someone) was enlightening.
Eugene Peterson pus it very well when he says,
“leadership is not a skill although it employs skills, it’s the way of living
that suffuses everything we do, and we are.” So, we can’t separate what the leader is doing from the way they are doing
it.
“Developing a leader begins with
developing their inner life.” This development is a process of increasing self-knowledge
and self-awareness of one’s strengths and challenges, blind spots and cravings,
thus increasing their capacity, while leadership development can be thought as inclusive to the team, organization, and community.
I never viewed leadership as a journey
through the process of developing a particular area of expertise, so I
struggled with this concept as argued here.
In pursuit of spiritual development Palmer
recommends that leaders must learn to sit in solitude and community exploring
not strategies and tactics but their own lives.
The need for a better more faith-informed
leaders at the senior board level to make strategic decisions switched on a light
in my mind, yet even at such a level, one must be a role model.
A new concept of leadership was introduced
to me and am keen on learning more about it “Christian shared leadership”.
In
closing this book, we find leadership through faithfulness and service. They go
a step forward and further present Christian case studies of a few who have
lived the lives of leadership. We get offered a slightly more in-depth look at the lives of those whose “Christian” faith was integrated with their style of
leadership.
The writers in my suggestions needed to do
more pointing of the readers to Jesus Christ for who he is not just his moral behavior.
I don’t see one clear definitive sentence of Christ for who he is in influencing
our leadership. To develop a comprehensive biblical theology of leadership, one
must draw on the person and the work of Christ. I longed for more of that.
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