Maxwell also makes an emphatic statement when he says that ‘Everything rises and falls with leadership.’ This bold statement would suggest that leadership plays a significant part in determining the success or failure of anything and everything – whether it is in a home, in a business, in an organization, in a church or in a nation. Supporting this thinking and in the context of the Christian community, George Carey talks about the importance of leadership and attributes the growth of a Church (and the people in it) to effective leadership, suggesting that when entities succeed, it is not due to happen-chance but to visionary leadership, whilst the converse can also be attributed to poor leadership.
If leadership is as critical as described above by virtue of its impact on the well being of people and the society, it therefore becomes imperative that we identify the tools that can be used in developing effective and godly leadership. Finney, writing in the late 80’s, states that ‘every survey of churches has shown the importance of leadership, yet, until recently, there has been little attempt by Christians to think carefully about the skills and attitudes which leaders require’.
This paper critically explores the role of mentoring as a tool for developing effective leaders in the
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The subsequent report revealed ‘that UK churches are made up of 65% women’ and suggests that ‘by 2028, there will be no men left in the church’ . This finding of church male to female attendance ratio is certainly the case in my local parish and the rest of the RCCG denomination in the UK. The Tearfund findings correlate with an in-house survey conducted in my local parish in 2012 which revealed that the total number of members in the church were 1700, excluding children. Of this number 65.7% were women and out of this, 43% were between the ages of 20 –
Along with their self-confidence, every mentor leader needs an internal sense of security. From the groundwork of security comes the capability to mentor other individuals, to lead them without demanding continuous verification or being diminished by self-doubt. Mentor leaders already have a sense of security in who they are and they are able to devote themselves in assisting other individuals cultivate and develop to their full potential. Attributes that are fundamental to the mentor leadership style include demonstrating courage; modeling faith; and leading by example. Mentor leaders will always be learning and growing, to be mentored themselves. Mentor leaders need to look for opportunities to make an impact in all walks of life. Mentor leaders that make a difference in the lives of others will always be present. Mentor leaders also need to understand that they act as a role model to others. Mentor leaders will be known by their legacy. When Tony Dungy was in Junior High School, the assistant principal Mr. Rockquemore acted as a mentor leader that still sticks with Dungy to this day. Mr. Rockquemore sat with Tony Dungy and his friends during the lunch period and talked to them about things outside of school. Mr. Rockquemore was trying to learn more about Tony Dungy and his friends because he cared about his students. Tony Dungy was about the quit the high school football team when Mr. Rockquemore took him under his wings and mentored the young Tony Dungy. They developed a close relationship. Mr. Rockquemore felt that it was his duty to build into Tony Dungy’s life and to mentor him when he was about to get off track. The culture that one constructs permeates everything you touch in life. The success to any mentor leader is to under-take a culture that supports it. When done successfully, mentor leadership is a constant practice of leading and being led, of developing ourselves and cultivate the future leaders.
In the book Practicing Greatness: 7 Disciplines of Extraordinary Spiritual Leaders, by Reggie McNeal it examines the need for strong spiritual Christian leaders in today’s society. McNeal looks at the good and bad characteristics of a leader in order to help leaders understand and develop the characteristics needed in one’s own life to be a good leader. McNeal states “we are desperate for great
I never thought to be a Christian leader. As a matter of fact, I am a person who did not know about God for 26 years. I was the center of my life, and there was no room for God to enter. Even when I was attending church service, I was trying not to be exposed to other church people. In other words, I was the kind of person who was afraid to walk into a life of faith. However, in the past three years, God has changed me in many ways, and showed me so many miraculous things. And, finally here I am. Being a Christian leader seems the most challenging job in the world. I am working as the chairman of a youth ministry, and walking on the path to be a church leader. When God called me to work for the
A sentiment common to almost any organization is that the one fact that remains constant is change. As society changes, and human understanding grows, any organization that maintains a static posture, assures its demise. Churches and Christian organizations are no exception. The gospel may remain the same, but the method for communicating it must speak to the audience to assure understanding. The Christian leader must be prepared to meet this challenge by incorporating an effective model for change into his theology of leadership in order to keep the ministry relevant and effective. Searching for such a change agent can prove to be challenging as well. To aid in this search, four
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
The book selected for the assignment is, ‘Be a people person: Effective leadership through effective relationships,’ by John C. Maxwell. Mr. Maxwell is an author, speaker, leadership expert who is internationally recognized and a pastor. He wrote books on leadership (The John Maxwell Company, n.d.). He has a doctorate in ministry and started his career as a pastor. After 14 years of preaching the word of God, he devoted himself to speaking and writing. He became a religious leader (Christian Books Previews, n.d.). Maxwell has recognized the role of interpersonal relationships in making and breaking a leader. He has also realized the importance of developing personal skills from the people (Victor Books, 2002). In his book, Maxwell explains how a person who follows can turn to a leader by connecting with people and relating to them from a biblical perspective. The author places 50 percent emphasis on others, 25 percent on self and the remaining 25 percent on God in his approach to the followers (Barnes and Noble, n.d.).
According to Paul Carey, “You can take the worst person in the organization and find ways to engage or excite them to make them a better employee and after you do this across the entire organization you entire organization will go up” (P. Carey, personal communication, March 24, 2017). This shows that leaders have the power to improve their followers and transform them into confident people. As a leader, if you do not perform well and help your employees strive to be the best your organization will have issues and employee’s attitudes will be negative. Even if you do not have a leadership title there are ways to have people follow your lead but you can’t be fake. As you take each employee and discuss with them the goals and objective on each
The New Testament leaders are an example of how church leaders of today should also behave and work[8]. They ought to be able to teach, guide the believers in the way of God and nurture their spiritual gifts. The New Testament leaders had to boldly defend the word of God in case of any false teaching. Basing on this New Testament leadership, it is important to make sure that any believer appointed to the leadership office has the laid down qualifications[9].
Leadership and mentoring has generally been mistaken to be the same thing however during the course of this assignment I aim to prove otherwise that although leaders and mentors may share some similar traits they have different definitions and perform different functions.
Countries disintegrate, place of worship and corporation fail, people become dysfunctional, descendants lose their direction, and mankind drift from God on behalf of one distracting reason; insufficiency of leadership. These disappointments are often for the reason that of the deficiency of instruction, appropriate leadership, and misperception on what Christian leadership subsists and exactly how that leadership is pertinent to every component of professional and personal life. From a Christian worldview perspective, Psalm 112:5 explains, “A good man deals graciously and lends; He will guide his affairs with discretion” (NKJ). A Christian manager should always keep in mind that bounteousness and admiration for God, demonstrates that one has placed trust in Him, and not our material possessions.
Nations crumble, churches and business fail, families become dysfunctional, children lose their way, and men stray from God for one disturbing reason; lack of leadership. These failures are often because of the lack of instruction, proper leadership, and confusion over what Christian leadership is and how that leadership is applicable to every facet of business and personal life.
Atkinson (2014) believes effective leadership displays, “No person is less divine than another, and therefore no person is less than another” (p. 145). Throughout the bible, there are many people in scripture that God placed in leadership roles. Jesus, David, Moses, Paul, Peter, Abraham and many others are some of those leaders. There are core attributes discussed in the lecture that personally reflect my opinion of what an effective leader of Christ needs such as, a shared vision, model of the way, empowerment of others, challenge of the process, and encouragement of the heart.
Authentic leaders create healthy enterprises for the long term and almost without exception, emerging leaders have solid values and a sense of purpose. We are looking to make a difference, to contribute to a worthwhile cause through our work and to find a reasonable balance between our work and home lives. In addition, to work where we trust the leaders and share a common set of values is essential to the chemistry involved in organizational leadership. “We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully” (Romans 12:6-8, 1984, NIV).
“There is much that can be learned about leadership from Scripture” (Smith, 1992, p. 39). The Bible provides us with what God not only desires His man of God to be, but requires His under shepherd to meet His character traits.
Effective leadership approaches from a biblical perspective consist of God’s nature in his manifested character. Christian leaders are willing to pay the price to lead in Christ’s affliction. Paul said there is a price to pay in order to lead and Jesus reminded us, “Remember what I told you: 'A servant is not greater than his master. ' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also” (John 15:20, New International Version). Christian leaders need core attributes of God’s styles and approaches, support and linkage from scriptures, and knowledge of his leadership models of truth for effective leadership. However, these perspectives will gave me a better appreciation and insight of who God is and who I can be with his guidance.