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Transcendence in Leadership
Max du Pree (Leadership is an Art) says that the primary responsibility of leaders is to define reality. Henri Nouwen (1989) wrote that the task of Christian leaders is to “identify and announce the ways in which Jesus is leading God’s people out of slavery” (p. 87) rather than making a “contribution to the solution…
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Leadership as Obedience rather than Service
I recently wrote an article entitled “Kenosis and the Leadership of Jesus: A Sacred Texture Analysis of the Philippians Hymn.” Here is the conclusion to that article. In summary, Jesus’ leadership as seen through a sacred texture analysis of Philippians 2:5-11 reveals three major truths. First, the beginning posture of Christ as a servant is…
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Power-full Leadership
Calvin Miller writes in The Empowered Leader, “the cross of Christ is the focus for all who commit themselves to leadership. The cross proves that anytime we take ultimate steps to obey God, human opinion can move swiftly against us…We best exonerate our leadership by reckoning ourselves dead to our ambition. Those who crucify themselves have…
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Leadership Functions & Spiritual Gifts
I ran across this from Dr. Paul Ford, a consultant with ChurchSmart Resources, the US partner for Natural Church Development (recommended for evaluating church health). Ford sees leadership within the church as a “series of functions carried out by a group of people, not just a job filled by only one person.” This perspective places a high priority…
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Who’s your moral leader?
From Bob Novak’s latest Political Report (5/2/07): Former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) had a deer-in-the-headlights moment not unlike the one President Bush had in his first debate with Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) in 2004. It was made worse by the fact that he did so on a softball question. When asked whom he considered his moral leader, Edwards took…
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Who are Good Leaders?
A friend of mine just asked me over lunch, “Who are some good leaders?” Having been wrestling on some writing projects involving different categories of leadership, I instantly thought about all the different ways that question could be answered. Based on what? Achievement, character, integrity, amount of influence, reputation, size of organization, personal relationships? The lens…
