In today’s rapidly changing world, it is not enough that leaders develop loyal employees who will keep doing what they have always done. Leaders must lead by demonstrating the flexibility that can escape “the way things have always been done around here.” It is almost certain that “the way things have been done” and the …
Category Archives: Leadership
Effective Leaders are Dreamers and Vision Casters
Steven Covey wrote, “Management works in the system. Leadership works on the system.” Leading up to the 2012 presidential election, President Barack Obama suggested that his first three years were off target to the extent that he thought that getting policy right and people right would fix everything. He admitted that he had at times …
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Leadership: Facilitating Involvement, Engagement, Ownership
To be a leader in the church is to walk the tightrope between control and freedom. Jesus refers to himself as the Good Shepherd. Church leaders are shepherds. The shepherd metaphor says a great deal about church leadership. The shepherd leads the sheep by controlling them when they wander or when dangers threaten. But day …
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Leadership and Excellence
Effective leaders provide examples of excellence. A person may occupy a position of leadership without being excellent, but that person will struggle to lead effectively and powerfully without a personal commitment to excellence. A person of excellence is committed. Excellence cannot be scheduled for selected time periods of life. Persons committed to excellence begin early …
Christian Leadership: A Summary
Note: I am indebted to Frank Viola for helping me think through some of these summarizing principles. Some of the points are his, both in concept and in wording. Following are some summary points to assist in establishing a biblical definition of Christian leadership. The Bible does not specifically use the words “leader” or “leadership,” …
Redefining Christian Leadership
One way to deal with the leadership dilemma is to quit using the words “lead, leader, leadership.” That was the suggestion of one brother in Latin America. Certainly that is one way to deal with the problem, but in my mind it is an insufficient solution. The church, called to be a contrast community in …
Leadership: Sight and insight, influence, every member
Leadership is not what most people think it is. Secular concepts of leadership stand in stark contrast to biblical concepts of leadership. Three aspects of biblical leadership highlight the contrast. Leadership is sight and insight. To guide is a common synonym of the verb to lead. To guide means to show the way. One root …
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Leaders and Leadership: Understanding the Words
While the etymology of a word does not provide a current definition, understanding the root, origin, and past usage of a word can help us understand the present. What is the origin of the word “lead?” The Arcade Dictionary of Word Origins gives two roots. One is related to the metal, spelled the same but …
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Caution: Secular Leadership is not Biblical Leadership
The brother in Christ, a long-standing and faithful member of the church in another country, was not seeking confrontation or conflict. He only wanted clarification. “What is this thing called leadership that you are talking about?” Where does the Bible use the word? [Good question, and worthy of a thoughtful, well reseached answer!] Leadership (and …
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Leadership Reflections
Leadership is difficult to define, easy to identify when seen. Leaders lead by example, thus leadership occurs in a specific moment, a specific circumstance. When moment after moment, in those moments when life is uncertain and leadership is needed, a person seizes the moment and fills it with goodness and strength, leadership happens. Leaders realize …