Principle-Centered Leadership

Steven R. Covey wrote the New York Times #1 Bestseller, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Later he wrote Principle Centered Leadership. This book builds on the principles outlined in his 7 Habits book. He starts out right away in Chapter 1 outlining the characteristics of principle-centered leaders. They:

1. are continually learning
2. are service-oriented
3. radiate positive energy
4. believe in other people
5. lead balanced lives
6. see life as an adventure
7. are synergistic
8. exercise for self-renewal.

This book is really two books in one. The first half is created to help us at the personal and interpersonal level. The second half is created to help us at the organizational level.

I learned a great deal that has helped me with both my personal and my professional life.

This book is still right on the money, even after 17 years. Principle Centered Leadership
by Steven Covey.

Authority & Submission

Leaders and followers. Sometimes we are one. Sometimes we are the other. A Tale of three Kings: A Study in Brokenness by Gene Edwards provides a unique view of authority and submission between leaders and followers.

Edwards has created a dramatic play based on the relationship between Saul, David and Absalom. First, he presents David as a follower of Saul and discusses the issues related to submitting to authority. Then he presents David as a leader of Absalom and discusses the issues related leading the non-submissive.

In all of it, Edwards reminds us to look to the plan of God. He points out that authority comes from God. And that submission is ultimately to God. Other recurring themes are humility and the sovereignty of God.

My favorite quotes:

"Legalism is nothing but a leader's way of avoiding suffering. Rules were invented by elders, so they could get to bed early!"

"One, never learn anything about the fashion-able, easily-mastered art of spear throwing. Two, stay out of the company of all spear throwers. And three, keep your mouth tightly closed."

"God has a university. It's a small school. Few enroll, even fewer graduate. Very, very few indeed. God has this school because He does not have broken men."

"There are always problems in kingdoms, replied Zadok, Always. The ability to see faults is a common and a cheap gift."

A Tale of three Kings: A Study in Brokenness is a short profound read.

Spiritual Leadership: D.E Hoste

If I am to LEAD . . . is a 20 page booklet based on the life and writings of D.E. Hoste. D.E. Hoste was one of the Cambridge Seven. He was also was the successor to J. Hudson Taylor as the General Director of Overseas Missionary Fellowship previously known as the China Inland Mission.

He once said "If I have any gift at all, I feel it is along the lines of applying Christian principles to life."

The main topics of the booklet are:

1. Spiritual Leadership


2. Qualifications for Leadership


3. Preparation for Leadership


4. Relationshi[ to Fellow-workers


5. Ability to Make Use of Men


6. Speaking as the Oracles of God


7. The Practice of Prayer (including fasting)


8. True Humility


9. The Secret of Submission


10. Self-discipline

Noteable quotes:

"The practical point is that they are really men and women of prayer, deeply distrustful of their own judgment and impulses, only forming opinions and expressing them as taught and guided by the Holy Spirit."

"It is a fact that our minds cannot receive correct impressions of God's plan and methods for the carrying on of the work unless much time is given to waiting upon Him."

"To take the lowly place in a misunderstanding; when slighted or hurt to go under the slight or hurt, humbling oneself under the mighty hand of God, relying on Him in due season to exalt one, is faith in operation."

If I am to LEAD . . . by Dixon Edward Hoste is a short, quick shot in the arm.

If I Am to Lead

Spiritual Leadership: Nehemiah

Charles Swindoll takes you through the life and example of Nehemiah in his book, Hand Me Another Brick. Swindoll explains the principles of Biblical leadership as he walks you through the book of Nehemiah in the Old Testament.

We find that after praying about it, Nehemiah had the marks of a competent leader:

1. He had a clear recognition of the needs.
2. He was personally concerned with the need.
3. He went to God first with his problem.
4. He was available to mee the need himself.

Swindoll's style is easy to read. His major points stand out on the page. He then backs them with references from the book of Nehemiah. He also includes simple explanations which illustrate the points he makes.

He sums up his book with Key Principles to Remember from Nehemiah 10:

1. Serious thought precedes any significant change.
2. Written plans confirm right priorities.
3. A loss of distinction and conformity to the world go hand in hand.

I enjoyed this book a great deal. I have applied many of these principles over the years. I will be applying some new ones in the days ahead.

Hand Me Another Brick by Charles R. Swindoll, building character in yourself and others.

Spiritual Leadership

There are a lot of books written regarding leadership in a spiritual context. I have read many of them. Often they take business leadership principles or military leadership principles and discuss how they apply in a spiritual setting.

This book is different. Spiritual Leadership: Principles of Excellence for Every Believer by J. Oswald Sanders discusses practical leadership from a Biblical perspective.

Sanders acknowledges that leading in a environment of spiritual growth and interaction requires a spiritual perspective. Sanders explains that perspective from the Bible and from his years of leadership experience with Overseas Missionary Fellowship.

Spiritual leadership includes servant leadership and much more. Sanders identifies the essential qualities of leadership as:

1. Discipline
2. Vision
3. Wisdom
4. Decision
5. Courage
6. Humility
7. Integrity and sincerity

He also does an excellent job contrasting the differences between natural and spiritual leadership.

Natural Leadership
1. Self-confident
2. Knows people
3. Makes own decisions
4. Ambitious
5. Creates methods
6. Enjoys commands
7. Seeks personal reward
8. Independent

Spiritual Leadership
1. Confident in God
2. Also knows God
3. Seeks God’s will
4. Humble
5. Follows God’s example
6. Delights in obedience to God
7. Loves God and others
8. Depends on God

If you want to learn more about leadership from a Biblical perspective, read Spiritual Leadership: Principles of Excellence for Every Believer

Servant Leadership Illustrated

If you are looking for an example of how servant leadership can work, read The Journey to the East by Herman Hesse.

This is a short novel built around a fictional expedition. The guide and servant for the expedition a man named Leo. Leo is the servant leader. When he disappears, the expedition falls apart. This story can help you understand what servant leadership can look like.

The Journey to the East is relatively short and easy to read. Well worth it if you are at all interested in figuring out how servant leadership my work in your own style of leadership.

I enjoyed reading this book!

The Leader As Servant

Robert K. Greenleaf suggested a concept called servant leadership. He developed this concept in his book, Servant Leadership: A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness 25th Anniversary Edition.

Servant leadership was first suggested by Jesus Christ when he said, "whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister and whosever will be chief among you, let him be your servant." I sometimes think of this as climbing down the corporate ladder instead of up. Because the higher you go in the organization, the more people there are for you to serve.

Since Greenleaf's death in 1990, an center has been developed to carry on his work, The Robert K. Greenleaf Center for Servant-Leadership in Indianapolis, IN.

He talks about leadership in business, education, churches, and other not-for-profit organizations. He discusses how the servant leader can thrive in each situation. He gives examples of contemporary servant leaders.

He even talks about how America can serve as a servant leader around the World.

If you are looking for some new thoughts and views for your own leadership style, consider Servant Leadership: A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness 25th Anniversary Edition.

The Magic of Thinking Big

I read The Magic of Thinking Big when I was a sophomore in college.

As leaders, we need to create, develop and share a vision for the direction we want to go. Personally, I think the hardest part is sharing the vision, or "vision casting." But you can't cast the vision until you know what it is.

The author, David J. Schwartz, believes that the bigger you think, the bigger you live. As leaders, I think we need big visions. The bigger the vision, the more attractive it is to others and they will want to come and join with us. As a sophomore in college, the concept, was way outside my scope of reason. But now, many years later, I have seen this principle in action and I believe in it's true.

The Magic of Thinking Big has 13 great chapters. But by far, my favorite was the first chapter. Schwartz presents Three Guides to Help You Develop the Power of Belief:

1. Think success, don't think failure.
2. Remind yourself regularly that you are better than you think you are.
3. Believe big.

Chapter 2 is pretty good, too, the four most common excuses for not being successful are dealt with:

1. "But my health isn't good."
2. "But you've got to have brains to succeed."
3. "It's no use. I'm too old (or too young)."
4. "But my case is different; I attract bad luck."

Actually, all the chapters are excellent. I recommend you buy the book and find out for yourself!
The Magic of Thinking Big
by David J. Schwartz.

Biography: Sam Walton

One of the best ways to learn about leadership is to read stories about great leaders. My first choice is a good autobiography written by a leader I respect. My second choice is a well-written biography. I think autobiographies are more realistic and include the human frailties and inadequacies better than a biography does.
Anyway, I read the autobiography of the founder of Wal*Mart Sam Walton: Made In America. Near the end of the book he lists Sam's Rules for Building a Business:

1. Commit to your business


2. Share your profits with all your associates


3. Motivate your partners


4. Communicate everything you possibly can to your partners


5. Appreciate everything your associates do for the business


6. Celebrate your successes


7. Listen to everyone in your company


8. Exceed your customers' expectations


9. Control your expenses better than your competition


10. Swim upstream

So here is a guy who drives an old pickup truck to get around, learned to fly an airplane so he could better determine the location of his new stores, loved to hunt and play tennis, and often traveled with his hunting dogs. He changed the face of American business. Wal*Mart doesn't produce anything, but they are the masters of the supply chain. Walton redefined American business by getting the goods from the producer to the consumer. And along the way, he became the richest man in America. He claimed to be a man consumed with a passion for merchandising. I pray that I could be as consumed with a passion, but not for merchandising. Definitely one of my favorite autobiographies, Sam Walton: Made In America.

A History of Reading

Several years ago I asked for a copy of A History of Reading for Christmas. I saw a review for it in my local newspaper and it looked interesting. It was fascinating reading for me. But then you have to remember that I love to read. I remember that Manguel said "a reader must learn to read." Fortunately, most of us learn to read when we are very young and, thus, we can enjoy reading for the rest of our lives. Sadly, statistics show that most people do not take advantage of the gift of reading. Instead they apparently see reading as a school-based chore. While I was reviewing the content of a web site on writing sponsored by Dan Poynter I found some disturbing statistics. He said that surveys showed that fifty percent of high school graduates never read another book during their life. The surveys also showed that fifty percent of college graduates never read another book during their life. In addition, those who did start reading books quit, on average, by the eighteenth page.

A far cry, it seems, from the days when reading first originated and it was reserved for the elite who could find some one to teach them to read. And they had the discretionary time available to devote to reading. Reading was the primary way of learning about things outside your immediate sphere of understanding. And you could learn from great teachers who had already died, but whose teachings had been recorded for future generations. In particular, I enjoyed Alberto Manguel's discussion of reading prior to the development of Gutenberg printing press.

So if you are looking for a good read that will give you some perspective on how your favorite past time helps you fit in with those who have come before you, I recommend A History of Reading.

The Development of a Leader

I once read a book that discussed how to map the development process of a leader. You can use it to map how historical leaders became leaders. You can use the process to map your own development as a leader. You can help your friends map their development as a leader.

The process was described in The Making of a Leader: Recognizing the Lessons and Stages of Leadership Development by Dr. J. Robert Clinton.

Clinton suggests that we view the life of a leader as a big picture, identify the significant events in an individuals life and map those events onto a time line continuum. He suggests that there are six stages for most of us.

1. Phase I: The Foundational Lessons stage where we grow in our inner life. We are becoming the leaders we will be later. We are still sorting through who we are and the claims God has on us for His work.



2. Phase II: Inner-Life Growth. The impact is on our personal lives. We develop the character qualities we will need to lead well later.



3. Phase III: Ministry Maturing. In this phase you try lots of different ministry and serving opportunities. You are trying to determine your spiritual gifts and interests.



4. Phase IV: Life Maturing. This is where your emotional and psychological maturity come to fruition. Your personal issues no longer get in the way of you being able to make your contributions in the world.



5. Phase V: Convergence. This is where all your efforts come together and you are making your optimum contribution to the world. The lessons you have learned, the experiences you have had, the skills you have developed, and the knowledge you have gained all come into alignment. You have become the best you can be and you are doing what you where put here to do.



6. Phase VI: Afterglow. In this phase we are enjoying the contributions we are making. God and others affirm us in the contributions we have made and are making. We are fulfilled.

The Making of a Leader: Recognizing the Lessons and Stages of Leadership Development


I highly recommend this book if you want to understand your own development as a leader.

Four Uses of Language

I love to read.
I think reading is important.
So I decided to start this blog and encourage other people to read.

President Harry S. Truman is reported to have said, "Not every reader is a leader, but every leader must be a reader."

In particular, I want to encourage people who want to be leaders to read. You can learn a lot from reading. It is like having mentors from across the ages available at your finger tips.

Years ago, I read a book by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren called How to Read a Book (A Touchstone Book). This book changed my thinking about how to best read a book. Adler is an academic philosopher. He applies his years of learning and study and his philosophical background to answering the questions related to how to best read a book. He identifies three levels of reading:

1. Elementary Reading
2. Inspectional Reading
3. Analytical Reading

A major part of this book is dedicated to developing analytical reading skills. Once this skill is developed, approaches to reading different types of material are considered. Adler suggests that Practical Books are read differently than Imaginative Literature. Which should be read differently than History, and so on. Finally, he suggests a fourth level of reading, which he refers to as the ultimate goal of reading:

4. Synoptical Reading.

In short, analytical reading applies to the reading of a single book. Synoptical reading applies to the reading of several books related to the same subject. It is a necessary skill for conducting research and reaching your own conclusions on a topic.

Later I read another one of Adler's books, How to Speak How to Listen. In this book, Adler, presents in a rather simple form, how human minds make contact with one another. Physical contact can take place in a variety of ways. But for minds to meet, very specific interactions are required. Adler refers to these as the four uses of language. These four uses fall into two parallel pairs. Regarding the written word, they are reading and writing. Regarding the spoken word, they are speaking and listening. Throughout the rest of the book, Adler explores the different types of speaking. He suggests the best ways to listen to these. He then discusses the concept of listening art and skill. Finally, he explores the possibilities of two way communication where both parties are involved in speaking and listening concurrently. I enjoyed this book every much. I think you will too.