Great Leaders : A Great Leader

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.

The essence of Christian leadership is to glorify God by equipping people to fulfill the call of God on their life. Furthermore, Christian Leadership is built upon a divine call to administrate authority through devotion to Christ, humble service, and integrity. Christian leadership is built primarily upon a leader’s complete devotion to Jesus Christ. Further, Anacker and Shoup (2014) contends Christian leadership “requires the Christian to walk by the Spirit and to be devoted to prayer, Bible study and the church” (p. 60). In other words, a leader cannot be claiming to be a Christian leader if he is not a committed follower of Jesus Christ. Additionally, a leader’s humble service is a reflection of the way Christ served. Aubrey Malphurs

Colin Powel had distinct view and understanding of various types of leadership traits and identified ways to use them in conjunction with daily operations. He developed 18 different types of leadership traits that results in true and great leadership. As I study this 18 leadership traits, I side with him on his believe that these traits makes a good leader. I can also relate to almost all of the leadership styles.

McNeal does a great job at giving his readers valuable information about what it takes to be an exceptional leader. It was In the chapter of self awareness that I was really surprised to find so much relevant information to me. I felt that I was good in the area of digging into who you are, family of origin, your blessing—or not, and your hidden addictions, compulsions, and many of the other section in this chapter. However, when I got to your boundaries – or lack of them, the darker side of being a leader, and destructive patterns of leadership I was shocked and relieved all at the same time because I didn’t realize how much these areas played a part in self awareness. I am glad I have read this book because it has really given me insight into my own husband and his ministry. For many years we would argue because he gave so much of himself and his time to ministry. It was so bad that he actually had nothing left for his family after working and doing

In these chapters Banks and Ledbetter draw attention to the raw spiritual, theological, and religious concepts of leadership. Here the authors conduct a case study of a significant author of leadership material, Stephen Covey. It is revealed that many readers are influenced by his Mormon faith without truly understanding or discerning the undertones.[3] This continues with an exploration of other perceived authorities on the topic of leadership. One such study is of Laura Beth Jones, an woman writer with increasing influence as it relates to leadership. Chapter five addresses how to translate practices of leadership into individual context through the use of three basic yet important values: faithfulness, integrity, and a servant-like attitude. Exploration of these three traits is undergirder with discussion of authors such as Robert Greenleaf. He is one of many leaders who brought into popular leadership thinking the idea of ‘servant leadership’.The book closes by offering examples in the form of case-studies. These studies provide deeper insight into the foundational qualities of successful leaders over the span of several years and many different context. This offers the reader a broader view of leadership by showing its success in many different forms and context.

In the book “The Making of a Leader” Clinton discusses what it means to be a leader. He gives us the formula of what it takes to become a leader. Clinton does a wonderful job at revealing the process, and the cost of what it means to be a leader. He makes it very clear, throughout the book that effective ministry flows from who we are and not just what we do.

Information from chapter one comprised of a summary of my assignments reports from the various ministries served and class discussions post. Moving forward to chapter two talks more of the vast amount of lessons learned through the five goals and the effectiveness of actual hands-on application: the practice of communication, pastoral-spiritual care, the practice of leadership, engaging diversity, and handling conflict. There were target events in each goal setting subject. For example, in communication, my target events were in small groups, classes, writings of creative activities curriculum, and counseling. In this process, my practice skills supported an audience of women, youth both boys and girls, and children. The area of pastoral-spiritual care involved Bible studies, home visits, hospital and nursing homes visits, grieving family visits, and prison ministry visits with the Children of Inmates Program. The practice of leadership comprises of attending events, training, and assisting in various ministries in need. Engaging diversity involved observing other ministry leaders engaging in a large church congregation, speaking at women's breakfast or functions, speaking at funeral services, and assisting in the planning of funeral with family members. Handling conflict dealt with counseling of premarital sessions, marriage counseling sessions, counseling child abuse sessions, counseling drug addiction session, counseling depression with childhood sexual abuse sessions and assisting with crisis individuals seeking assistance through the resources at our church Peacemakers office. Consequently, chapter three describes the most life changing events causing major setbacks in this journey of my calling and the solutions involved. Chapter four detailed some specifics on the results of my self-analysis test. Some of the shared data comprised of personal

Next, he clarifies that leadership is, in fact, a spiritual gift, and he proceeds to describe the necessary characteristics

One quality that was highly emphasized throughout the book was the attribute of servant leadership. A servant leader is “the highest expression of the human spirit” (Fisher & Martini , 2004, p. 151) emphasizing on the empowerment of followers to accomplish organizational goals (Lussier & Achua, 2013, p. 345). Ultimately, a servant leader places the needs of others ahead of their own displaying empathy, kindness, honesty, humility and respect for others. Offering methods in becoming a servant leader, Fisher and Martini recommend the imitation of great leaders from the past (Fisher & Martini, 2004, p. 143). An exemplary model for servant leadership is Jesus Christ sense He defined leadership in Matthew 20:26-28, “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first

McNeal, Reggie. Practicing Greatness: 7 Disciplines of Extraordinary Spiritual Leaders. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2006.

This book by Gordon MacDonald can be compared to “Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership: Seeking God in the Crucible of Ministry” by Ruth Barton. Barton notes that some leaders have such an insatiable appetite for approval from others, that it leaves them standing as service providers that suffer from compassion fatigue. They fail to initiate quiet time that creates an uncommon intimacy with God. The pastoral leader must stop and become aware of his/her surroundings while listening for where God is leading them before they try to lead

Leaders decide when they have ‘enough’ information to act. One thing that leaders do not understand is that one cannot be able to assort through all options and risks that are right in front of them. One needs to try and get the right information and use some right instincts in conjunction in order to make a decision (Dearstyne,

If the leader is willing to be transparent and realize their own shortcomings and struggles, it will enable the leader to lead from a place of more passion, emotion, and persuasiveness. This type of honesty can attract many hurting, sad, and brokenhearted people to our churches from dysfunctional backgrounds that will sit under compassionate and relevant leadership. The book further explains that the leader should careful not to let selfishness, self-deception, and wrong motives come alive in leadership as product of the dark side. The fall of many leaders are directly attributable to these components. If this dark side arises, the leader is admonished to open and honestly deal with it before God. This will empower the leader for greater effectiveness. Some leaders may be

Many time people in charge will lead by the motto “Do as I say not as I do”. By doing this one sets across the notion that all an employee has to do is promote then they can slack off. Imagine what will happen to an organization if that mindset was the norm for its managers. A company or organization would hit a screeching halt in productivity. A leader must set the bar for their employees by being the example. Good leaders will often roll up their sleeves with the rest of the organization. Even if you are not in a leadership position you are still a leader. Showing how the expectations are met in a consistent manner and not giving a mixed message to others is vital to good leadership.

1). A description of ideal leadership as you see it and how this description has evolved over the course of the semester. I believe the ideal leader should have a variety of skills and traits that will lead to success in any environment. I think that each environment or setting requires a balance of each depending on the situation. I think these basic skills are required to make an ideal leader.