In their book Lead Like Jesus Ken Blanchard & Phil Hodges encourage readers to ask themselves three key questions:
1) Am I a leader? (pg. 4)
2) Am I willing to follow Jesus as my leadership role model? (pg. 11)
3) How do I lead like Jesus? (pg. 19)
The authors try to define who is a leader. They say “Leadership is a process of influence. Anytime you seek to influence the thinking, behaviour, or development of people in their personal or professional lives, you are taking on the role of a leader.” (pg. 5) You might be a parent, a teacher, a nurse, a pastor, a coach, or an adult child helping her aging parents. There are differences between being a “life leader” (such as a parent) and an “organizational leader” (a manager in a company). The author defines leadership as influence in a positive or negative direction.
Blanchard & Hodges say leaders are defined by how they use their influence, they say. If our instincts are self-promotion and self-protection, then we'll use our influence to fulfill these needs. Conversely, if we are driven by service and dedication to a cause or a relationship, then we will model and encourage these values in others.
The authors then go deeper than just leading; they speak of being a leader and growing other leaders. One of the greatest challenges leaders today face is training and developing new leaders. Jesus wanted those around him to succeed. He had vision, values, and purpose, he stated them clearly, and did all he could to see they were carried out. In the book Lead Like Jesus we read how Jesus empowered and gave ownership to those around him, concerned more with their success than his own. It highlights that Jesus is the greatest leadership role model of all time, that He mandated Hi...
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...rmational journey (pg. 19). The transformational leadership process initiates from personal leadership and progresses to one-on-one leadership and team leadership and continues to organizational leadership. Your leadership transformation means adopting a God's-eye view of your life and leadership. This will help you learn how to align your leadership motivation, viewpoint, behaviors, and habits with those of Jesus to effectively lead others. Blanchard & Hodges say that “the world desperately needs new leadership role models, and Jesus has shown us the way to lead” (pg. 234). Jesus is the greatest leader of all time and Jesus calls us to be servant leaders. Lead Like Jesus is a tool that can help guide us toward that goal. It will definitely make a difference in your leadership and in those you influence.
Bibliography - Lead Like Jesus by Ken Blanchard & Phil Hodges
“The author Victor Rhee of “Hebrews as a Leader of the Faith Community” enlightens the path way on the subject of leaders in the body of Christ. The title alone brings a certain kind of curiosity to what makes a leader according to the book of Hebrews. If leadership training could have a manual it should be parallel to Hebrews. Leadership today is missing the courage to stand for something that is right according to the word of God. No matter what is taking place in our society beliefs and value system. Leadership has suffered greatly both inside and outside the church, especially in Christian leadership. One of the main points that the author of this article points out is the society woes are the same as ours today. How fitting is this when we need direction for Christian ministry. There is a soul searching event that is taking place for leaders to rise up and be all of what God intended for them in caring the gospel of Christ to the world. Rhee, who wrote the journal points to the characteristics of the author of Hebrews as a leader who will arise for the cause of Christ by illuminating the importance of courage, faith, love, hope , to fight against apostates, and believe in leadership unity when leading as a leader of the Christian faith.
The book demonstrates a couple of different ways in which people define leadership. The first is that leadership is being connected to a
Undoubtedly, Leaders can be further broken down into quite a few ways. Leadership roles are not for everyone and can be difficult to obtain. Some people do not want to be a Leader even if he or she has the leadership skills. Being a Leader can be an intimidating role and add a lot of pressure to his or her life. When one takes on a Leader’s position, he or she can become big headed and take advantage of his or her leadership. Rebellious Leaders will lead people into dangerous situations like drug addictions and being placed in jail. Christian Leaders, or disciples, can bring people to Christ, and tha...
N.T. Wright’s book, The Challenge of Jesus, challenges the reader in various aspects of his or her life; including faith, understanding and inspiration. The reader is able to view Jesus in a different context. Within this viewpoint, Wright almost presents a time traveling experience in order to understand their world and the historical context of Jesus’ time. When grasping Wright’s purpose and argument in this book, the reader can presume that the thesis is essentially the title. Jesus presents his followers a challenge, it is comprehended best in the essence of who Jesus is, not just who we understand him to be. In the preface of Wright’s book he states three specific purposes, they include, “the historical integrity in talking about Jesus, Christian discipleship that professes to follow Jesus, and providing Christians with a vision that will transform the world” (Wright 10-11). I believe that Wright’s purpose for writing this book was to empower Christians to impact the world with love and to live out the gospel in our every day lives.
Transformational leadership also integrates well with a biblical worldview because both advocate valuing followers as well as leaders, the importance of ethical behavior, the need to forgive and learn from mistakes, and the value of a high moral example. Kouzes and Posner advocate leaders having a “moral authority to lead” (2007, p. 41), practicing personal accountability and working to improve all aspects of their follower’s lives. This others-centered leadership approach fits well in the Christ centered atmosphere of a Christian school.
The way person leads a group of people or an organization is key to a successful business or outreach. There are many styles and techniques for a leader to implement. Christian leaders are no exception; some might say being a leader in a church organization can be a more scrutinizing position than other leaders. Since, a church leader has expectations on how they should act or conduct themselves because of the Christian faith. This paper will discuss an interview with a person in leadership brother Larry and will give an account of his leadership approach. Furthermore, what strengths and weaknesses are prevalent according to authors Kouzes and Posner and the model they have in their book, Christian Reflections on The Leadership Challenge.
Leadership has been defined in different ways, a definitaion of leadership that would be most commonly accepted would be “the ability of an individual to influence, motivate, and enable others to contribute toward the effectiveness and success of the organization…”(House et al., 1999, p. 184 as cited in Yukl, 2013, p. 19). After a comprehensive review of different leadership literature, Stogdill (1974, p. 259, as cited in Yukl, 2013, p. 18) concluded that “There are almost as many definitions of leadership as there are persons who have attempted to define the concept." Leadership can be viewed from two different angles one is shared influence process and other as a specialized role. Researcher who view leadership as a specialized role consider attributes as a factor in selecting a designated leader. On the contrast, theorist who emphasises on influence process considers “Leadership” as a social process or a pattern of relationship.
The book consists of three parts. The first part has five chapters of which focuses on explaining what the key questions are and why we find them difficult to answer. The second part has nine chapters explaining in detail what N.T. Wright considers Jesus’ public career and the approach he had in first century Palestine. The third part of the book, the last chapter, challenges readers to wrestle with the questions of Jesus’ life and ministry.
Leaders are the individuals who help to create options and opportunities. They help in identifying the choices and solve the problems. They build commitment and coalitions. Leaders do this by inspiring others and working along with them to construct the shared vision of the possibilities and commitments of a better group, organization or community. They engage the followers in such a way that most of the followers become leaders in their own right. The variety of demands of an increasingly complex world very often require that leadership be shared by most of the members of an organization, in appropriate ways for different situations. A leader is the on...
Leadership is the ability of an individual to influence, motivate and inspire others (Gill, 2006). It is therefore defined as a process whereby a leader influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal (Northouse, 2013). A leader has to make a decision for something to happen and provide his followers with clear direction (Rost et al, 1991). It will evoke feelings of challenge, excitement and involvement for the followers to proceed with the task (Gill, 2006).
Wilkes, C. G. Jesus on Leadership: Timeless Wisdom on Servant Leadership. Carol Stream, Illnois: Tyndale House, 1998.
Leadership is defined as a process by which an individual influences others to obtain goals. There are three aspects that should be addressed when explaining leadership. One aspect is that leadership is a social influence process; leadership could not exist without a leader and one or more followers. Another leadership aspect is compliance; all of the leader’s directions must be complied with voluntarily. Compliance is what separates leadership from other influence-based formal authority. Finally, leadership results in the followers’ behavior, that is purposeful and goal-directed which must be in some organized setting (Leadership Theories and Studies, 2009).
Leadership is influence. Sanders quotes Bernard Montgomery and Li Hung Chang. Chang’s quote nails down the essence of leadership. “There are only three kinds of people – those who are immovable, those who are movable, and those who move them” (27). Another insight Sanders mentions is we can lead others only as far along the road as we have traveled (28). Chapter five raises the question “Can you become a leader? Sanders presents twenty – seven questions for a potential leader to reflect on. In chapter six Sanders reflects on the insights on the leadership of the apostle Paul. According to Sanders Paul spells out the qualifications for a spiritual leader with five qualities namely, social, moral, mental, personality, and domestic. One final note, spiritual maturity is indispensable to good leadership (44). Chapter seven emphasizes insights on the leadership of Peter. Peter was a natural leader who was shaped by God to become a spiritual leader who came alongside others and pushed them on to greatness. I Peter 5:1-7 outlines the characteristics of the type of spiritual leader God is looking for: A leader must be a shepherd, cannot be driven by greed, not a dictator, and one who is clothed with humility (48-49). Chapters eight and nine highlight the essential qualities of leadership. There are fourteen qualities in which Sanders examined, discipline, vision, wisdom, decision, courage, humility, humor, anger, patience, friendship, tact and diplomacy, inspirational power, executive ability, the art of letter writing. Chapter ten Sanders stresses the value of being filled with the spirit. A person can have a brilliant mind and possess artful administrative skill. But without spirituality he is incapable of giving truly spiritual leadership (80). The filling of the Holy Spirit is essential for spiritual leadership. And each of us is as full of the Spirit as we really want to
Leadership is trait that is extremely important in any society. Leadership is known as the way people attempting to make a difference in a situation. However, I believe that it is better said to be a way of influencing others actions. Leadership is usually connected to a great leader that affected his or her followers in a dynamic way. Throughout the semester for my leadership class, I have expanded the knowledge in numerous ways. I now have fully understanding of the purpose and process of leadership to a society. Being a leader one must maintain an image of being the role model. I believe that this is leader should be who is someone who has the ability to influence, encourage, listen, and nurture. They are able to inspire, stimulate, persuade, shape, and have an effect on others.
The doctrine of the incarnation impacts and informs one’s leadership style because in it one sees Christ’s selflessness in serving others; which is illustrated in Christ washing the feet of his disciples (John 13:1–20). This paper will investigate the doctrine of the “incarnation” as it relates to leadership style and method as well as how these findings relate practically to the modern leader. As we consider the importance of the incarnation as it relates to leadership we will first examine what this doctrine is, the biblical foundation for it, and why it matters? From there we will explore the concept of selfless servant-leadership seen in John 13:1-20.