Christian Leadership

The Christian worldview of leadership is distinctly different from most secular views on the subject. In the secular, leadership tends to be viewed primarily in terms of a company’s bottom line and how well the leader can urge employees to produce more and better work. That view is profit-centered rather than person-centered, and it does not give much attention to employees’ human needs and qualities nor on how developing excellent work relationships can promote productivity. In the Christian worldview, however, people are key, and their human needs are important. The leader in the Christian worldview understands how meeting employees’ needs promotes the kind of productivity desired and

Factors that can influence an individual’s choice of leadership in any given situation are many and varied. An individual is likely to have a primary leadership style which they are most comfortable with using. Often the primary leadership style is that which most suits their innate personality traits. For example,

In the world, different people have different approaches to leadership. For ample, according to Leebol man (n.d), there are four types of leadership: “leaders who emphasize rationality, analysis, logic, facts and data” “leaders who emphasize the importance of people” “leaders who believe that managers and leaders live in a world of conflict and scarce resources” and “leaders who believe that the essential task of management is to provide vision and Inspiration.”

Before defining an individual as a great leader, one must first understand the definition of leadership and the qualities that make a leader. According to businessdictionary.com, “leadership involves establishing a clear vision, sharing that vision with others so that they will follow willingly, providing the information, knowledge and methods to realize that vision, and coordinating and balancing the conflicting interests of all members and stakeholders.” The website goes on to say that “a leader is the one who steps up in times of crisis, and is able to think and act creatively in difficult situations. Unlike management, leadership cannot be taught, although it may be learned and enhanced through coaching or mentoring” (Leadership).

Leadership is a concept that many probably think is a clear-cut subject that is well understood and extremely recognizable. Many would picture an all-powerful individual in a leadership postion, such as a chief execuative officer (CEO) of a company or a leader of a country. These individuals, most people would identify as obvious examples of people who have qualties, skills, or traits that have set themsleves apart from “the common man” and propelled them into the positions they now hold. It would surpirse many to find out that leadership is not as obvious concept as commonly precieved. In fact, as these indiviuals begin to study the numerous theories and studies on leadership, a picture obscure and non-sensical would emerge leaving the individual feeling like they are no closer to understanding what a “leader” is then when they had started. This relatively unknown truth about the absract concept of leadership is best demonstrated by an analyses of two individuals with two unique views of leadership.

In the excerpt titled “Christian Leadership in a Pluralistic World”, Richard Mau discusses the idea of teaching as a form of leadership. Mau says, “leading and educating… go hand in hand” (p.128-129). I plan on becoming a teacher, and am studying for a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies. As I spend my time at Westmont College developing the skills necessary to be a teacher, I seek not only to use what I learn in the classroom, but also the experiences I have in my time outside of class as lessons that I can apply to my teaching career. Throughout my college experience I strive to meet objectives that help me develop intellectually, spiritually and socially in the hopes that they will help me to become a teacher and leader.

There are number of different leadership styles available in different organizations according to its environment. such as,

Robert F. Dees the author of Resilient Leaders focused the chapters three and four on the core quality character traits (integrity and courage), and the highly sought quality of wisdom. Within this week studies the examination of how the above concepts affect organizations were of main importance, as the discussion progressed there is evidence that a Christian world view was used to better explain these concepts. This particular discussion post is designed to reflect the common consensus of group one regarding the three main concepts studied this week.

Leadership scholars have presented many theories in understanding leadership. However, making sense of hundreds of books and thousands of studies is a complicated task, which is why many mistakenly think that leadership is an indefinable phenomenon. Some of us presume complete authority in our own favored ways. Novel leaders often discard the entire system used by the exiting leaders. In a catastrophic situation, persistence on individual style can be helpful; yet in a democratic culture, leaders don’t own the organization and must consider the right of the followers. Personal style and preference must be avoided in

The word leadership is defined as a person who directs or guides someone and has the ability to influence or have an impact on their lives. Christian leadership is distinctively different from other major leadership conceptions such as instructional, transactional, and transformational leadership conceptions. Those who live as humble servants of Christ, should assume the position of leadership in any given community such as CBU’s International Service Program (ISP), because you can turn someone’s life around just by your actions and you will be setting an example for believers. In Mark 16:15 Jesus said, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.” Doing ISP plays a role in leadership and you would be doing what God’s calling all believers to do.

The term leader is perceived differently through the lenses of Christianity and the world, what leaders look like, how they act, and how they treat their followers. In the book Spiritual Leadership by J. Oswald Sanders, he quoted Bernard Montgomery. "Leadership is the capacity and will to rally men and women to a common purpose, and the character which inspires confidence." This is an exemplary reason behind good leadership, throughout history and the present day there are countless people that were grand leaders. They varied from Christians to people who had no belief at all in a God. There are many standards of a good leader, even though they're both called the same names, the world and Christianity have different views and standards of a

If anyone has the authority to speak on Christian leadership, it is Henri Nouwen because of his professorship at Ivy League Universities and long-standing role as a priest. Yet Nouwen leans not on either of these credentials; instead, he shares his reflections on leadership that he learned while serving at Daybreak community for handicapped people. What is more, Nouwen learned the most amazing leadership principles when he was asked to speak in Washington D. C. on leadership and Daybreak sent a resident named Bill Van Buren with him. Out of this experience, Nouwen creates a pattern of Christian leadership based on Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness. Nouwen believes that all leaders are similarly tempted. Therefore, Nouwen follows the pattern of task, question and discipline, which give great insights into a true Christian leader. Furthermore, Nouwen shares many amazing leadership lessons and the most impactful lessons are: the need for prayer over competence, embracing brokenness within a leader’s life and the role of community in leadership.

Leadership, eluded to by Daft (2011) as one of the most observed and least understood phenomena on earth, is an evolving discipline that is an influence relationship among subordinates and followers who intend real changes and outcomes that reflect their shared purpose (pp. 4-5). But with the study of leadership comes along the different aspects and theories as to which is more appropriate for an organization. Initial traditional theories recognized that leaders are born with

Leadership is considered by psychologists and organizational researchers as one of the most multifaceted and complex phenomena (Field & Seters, 1990). As a result of its complexity, leadership is one of the most misconceived phenomenon in the whole world. This prompted the researchers to come up with various foundational theories which helped to shed more light about leadership (Burns, 1978). Thus, it is impossible to analyze and evaluate leadership theories without going back to their origins (Field&Seters, 1990)

Everyone talks about it; few understand it. Most people want it; few achieve it. There are over multiple definitions and descriptions of it in personal files. What is this intriguing subject we call “leadership?” (Maxwell, 1993).