Saturday, June 7, 2014

Greatness in Leadership is....God-centered!

Three words:  a must read!!!!

Joseph Stowell's Redefining Leadership:  Character-driven Habits of Effective Leaders is a must read for any Christian currently in a leadership role or aspiring to have a leadership role.  While Stowell does operate from the perspective of shepherd leaders (i.e. pastors), but the principles and tenets are valuable for any Christian that serves as a leader.

I serve in a secular field, but his focus on God's Word makes it highly applicable to any situation.  The last few chapters of the book shift into the Sermon on the Mount -- specifically the Beatitudes.  He takes many of those Beatitudes and applies them to the leadership realm.  Some scholars would argue that he is reading into the text, but I would disagree with them.  If every Christian is to have these attitudes in our lives to show the world that Jesus lives in us, then they would absolutely apply to a leader.

The structure of book is logical and well-established:  (1) redefining priorities, (2) redefining our identity, and (3) redefining leadership.  In the first part of the book, Stowell clearly defines character-driven and outcome-driven leadership.  In doing so, he makes the Biblical case for the former because you lead as you are.  The second section challenges the modern notion of personal identity.  Unfortunately, leaders identify themselves based upon position, authority, or money.  Stowell says that we need to remember that our identity is in Christ and He is who we serve.  Finally, the author concludes with a laser-like focus on the specific identifiers of a character-driven leader.  He summarizes the entire book with a short-paraphrase of a well-known verse of Scripture:  "For me, to lead is Christ!"  Amen and amen!!!

What I love best about Stowell's work is his adamant stance on character-driven versus outcome-driven leaders.  Character-driven leaders do have success, but they define success differently.  Rather than building profit, Christ-centered leaders build people.  In order to accomplish that task, Christian leaders cannot adopt the leadership mores and values of the world and expect different results.  As Stowell says on page 26:  "running the kingdom by earthside standards is a contradiction of the very nature of the kingdom."  We, as Christians, do live in the world, but we operate on different principles (at least we should be...and a huge failure of Christian leaders today is that we are too similar to the world).

If you are a pastor, elder, or deacon looking for a quality training resource for new elders or deacons, this is a great manual for you because it is filled with Scripture.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLookBloggers.com review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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