Book Review: Making Room for Leadership

MaryKate Morse's Making Room for Leadership (2008, InterVarsity Press) explores how body language communicates leadership status. Dr. Morse's professional credentials and leadership experience provides her with the necessary critical insight for such a book; she is a professor of leadership and spiritual formation at George Fox Evangelical Seminary who has planted two churches with leadership teams. She also serves as a mentor to church and parachurch leaders.

Using personal illustrations, analogies, and leadership research she documents how people gain or lose the ability to influence others. Particularly helpful is her discussion on how embodied power can be used for good or ill among Christians. She challenges the often popular notion that power is a bad thing, and she convinces her readers about what should be obvious (though many Christians are put off by the notion): if you really want to impact a situation, you must have power.

Thankfully Morse leaves room for the Holy Spirit's powerful influence as well, documenting cases where personal power seemed lacking, yet servant-leaders still influenced situations that needed strong leadership. Her ability to discuss both the physical and spiritual realities for Christian leaders in a manner that refuses to settle for trite statements (all too common in much of the popular literature on Christian leadership) makes her worth reading.

Recommended for thoughtful readers who are interested in connections between faith and leadership, this would make a nice Christmas gift or a resource for the new year.

Book Review: Lead Well and Prosper

When I first got serious about the craft of writing, I purchased a copy of Strunk and White's Elements of Style. Thin, highly readable, and practical, it became a constant companion during writing projects.

If you are looking for a similar book on management, I recommend Nick McCormick's Lead Well and Prosper. McCormick offers practical servant-leadership advice for managers in his brief book. Each chapter begins with a brief case study and ends with a summary list of do's and dont's. There is nothing revolutionary here, but I do appreciate the book's overall tone and style.

Recommended for new managers or those who wish to become managers.

For a link to Nick's website, click here.

Book Review: What Would the Founders Do?

I recently purchased a copy of Richard Brookhiser's What Would the Founders Do? Amazon.com is currently selling it for $5.99. For the price of lunch at Subway, you can hang out with the Founders. Not bad.

Brookhiser is knowledgeable, interesting, and readable. That sets him apart from most academic history texts, and What Would the Founders Do? is certainly intended for a popular audience. The book begins by establishing similarities and differences between the Founders' world and ours - and this section alone is fascinating. After laying that foundation, Brookhiser moves on to asking questions, addressing several hot-button issues (he begins with gun control, the death penalty, and stem cell research). The book is divided into topical chapters, which are further divided into specific questions, so readers need not work through the entire book to find answers to their particular concerns.

Some critics will say that Brookhiser is selective in his illustrations and speculative in his conclusions. Yet all history is such. The question is: does the historian select and speculate responsibly. Since I don't have a PhD in history, I'm reluctant to make a final call on that question, but based on Brookhiser's reputation, I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Additionally, his conclusions will frustrate conservative and liberal readers alike, which makes me think his approach is even handed.

IDEA LEADER: Do you have any historical role models? If so, why do you look to them for guidance? If not, spend this week considering who would make a good role model for you.

Status

Alain De Botton's Status Axiety caught my attention while I was browsing amazon.com this week. Though I have not yet ordered the book, I did spend some time skimming through reviews. Claiming to understand Botton's thesis would be dishonest (since I did not read the book), but the reviews (and the sometimes helpful wikipedia) suggest that status anxiety results from our desire to be well-perceived by others. Our democratic and capitalist society not only allows us to buy our identities via the products we consume, but it also exacerbates status anxiety.

The implications of status issues for leaders are tremendous, especially regarding motives. Pursuing a leadership position so that I can pursue excellence is very different from pursuing a leadership position to improve how others perceive me. Leading by pursuing excellence for its own sake ennobles me, but leading for the sake of other's approval makes me a sycophant.

Frankly, in my roles as husband, father, teacher, and servant leader I need to spend less time worrying about how others perceive me and instead whole-heartedly pursue excellence for its own sake.

IDEA LEADER: How does the pursuit of status motivate you?

Photo: Shyle Zacharias

How smart are you?

Daniel Goleman's Emotional Intelligence asserts that IQ alone is not a predictor of success. While CEO's may be hired for their combination of business sense and IQ, they get fired because of failures in their emotional intelligence.

His claim makes sense. Anecdotally, as a teacher I find that my personal stresses are not related to the intellectual content of my courses, but rather the relational demands of classroom management, parent interactions, etc. (I'd also like to point out that I am very fortunate to work at a school with mutually supportive staff and appreciative parents, so those stresses are much less than what other teaching peers experience). And as far as a correlation between IQ and marital success, well I won't even go there.

So what is emotional intelligence? So far, Goleman's definition includes "being able . . . to rein in emotional impulse; to read another's innermost feelings; to handle relationships smoothly - as Aristotle put it, the rare skill 'to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose, and in the right way'" (xxiii).

Goleman's use of Aristotle reminds me of C. S. Lewis's definition of temperance: "going the right length and no further" (Mere Christianity, 2001, p. 78). So emotions per se are not the problem (Goleman also discusses beneficial physiological responses to emotions), but rather emotions that are allowed to exceed proper limits.

IDEA LEADER: In what areas do you have a hard time allowing your emotions to go "the right distance and no further"? What steps could you take to correct this?

Photo: Julia Freeman-Woolpert

Is it better to be loved or feared?

I'm still reflecting on Chris Lowney this week, who points out the the chasm of opinion that separates Machiavelli (famous for his book The Prince) and Loyola (founder of the Jesuits). The question: "Is it better to be feared or loved?" Machiavelli believes that people are not to be trusted, so it is better to be feared. At the other end of the spectrum, Loyola wants to create a society based on "greater love than fear." So who is right?

Admittedly this is a false dichotomy. Both are right to a point. Yes, people are fickle. Yes, they will sometimes dissapoint you. However, my recent readings (outside of Lowney) suggest that organizations that utilize positive relationship skills are successful because (among other reasons) positive relationships do have power. Anecdotally, I've used both forms of management. Relying on fear was a depressing experience for me, and it certainly wasn't much fun for those I managed.

School teachers across the nation are currently struggling with what some diagnose as an epidemic of cheating. So how should we respond? Do we punish those who are caught cheating? Certainly. But consequences alone do not change culture (as pointed out by Yukl's discussion of coercive power in Leadership in Organizations). I suggest we not only have consequences for those guilty of cheating, but that those consequences include a restitutional element that is designed to repair the damaged relationships cheating can cause (if nothing else, a level of trust is broken). Additionally, I suggest we celebrate those students who choose not to cheat, and that we do all of this in the hopes of creating learning institutions that value love more than fear.

IDEA LEADER: Which does your leadership style utilize more - love or fear?

Celebrate!

I don't celebrate enough. That's one thing I've realized while reading The Leadership Challenge by Kouses and Posner. And though their advice to celebrate is not unique, it is worth heeding.

I tend to expect people to do what they are supposed to do without any notice. Though this makes sense logically, it does not work well emotionally. Let's face it: we live in a fallen world (and yes, I am writing from a Christian worldview at this point). One implication of that fallenness is that it is really hard to do the right thing over and over, day in and day out. So why not celebrate when people consistently do good?

Today my daughter went nearly the entire day without whining. That is a major accomplishment because (1) she was not feeling well and (2) she tends to whine a lot. When I realized her accomplishment this evening, I had two choices: (1) think to myself, "Finally! It's about time our emotions get some control," or (2) celebrate. I chose option 2 and gave her a nickel (when you're 6, a nickel is pretty cool).

IDEA LEADER: Do you celebrate minor successes or become disappointed by minor failures?

Heroic Leadership

Chris Lowney's Heroic Leadership occupies my reading time this week. Though I have not completed the book yet, its key ideas and historical survey make it worth recommending.

Lowney (a former Jesuit and later investment banker) affirms that everyone can be a leader. This is possible because a leader is not simply a person who commands a chain of followers, but rather someone who exerts a positive influence on other people. He then illustrates this thesis at work in the life of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits), a religious order that has an over 400 year history.

Another reason that everyone can be a leader is that leadership begins with self-leadership. Lowney explains that the leaders who last are not necessarily the brightest, but rather those who first understand their strengths and their weaknesses and then take action on that knowledge.

Because I am a student of history and religion as well as leadership I find the book enjoyable, but I chiefly appreciate his decision to write a leadership text that challenges popular notions of leaders as masters and commanders.

To visit Lowney's website, click here.

IDEA LEADER: In what ways am I leading myself?

Focus

When you face conflict, do you view it as an opportunity or a problem? Though that question may sound like a gross oversimplification, it contains a kernel of leadership truth. Leaders are solution-focused rather than problem-focused.

Please don't misunderstand. Leaders are not oblivious to problems. Jim Collins's both praised and maligned Good to Great explains that on the path to greatness, organizations must "confront the brutal facts." Yes, there really are some issues that finite human beings cannot solve directly, but there may be some creative ways around these problems, or even ways to utilize these problems for other successes.

This leadership truth is an empowering truth. Being problem-focused is draining, while being solution-focused is energizing. Yes, leaders have problems like everybody else, but how they view those problems is very different.

IDEA LEADER: Are you problem-focused or solution-focused?

You are what you read

Some people say the glass is half-full. I generally reply that not only is the glass half-empty, but it has a leak. My personality tends to be melancholy, yet I have noticed a growing optimism creeping into my worldview. What could have caused this?

Certainly it is possible that my growing energy (in spite of my full time work, husband, father, and PhD student responsibilities) comes from the joy of focused study (and yes, I really am that nerdy). However, I suspect something else is at work.

One of the benefits of studying leadership is that the tone of what I read is so amazingly positive. When I say "positive" I do not mean that it is Pollyanna-like fluff, but that leadership studies assume that the choices we make have real consequences, and that our actions can contribute genuine good to the world. The books I am spending lots of time with are constantly reminding me that the way I live matters intensely because of the way it can influence others.

I must now confess that I have not recently done a good job reading what some consider to be the sourcebook for this kind of thinking: the Bible. The good news is that I have recently discovered a reading plan that allows a person to read the entire New Testament in just 5 minutes a day, 5 days a week. I am now working this plan into my daily schedule so that I can follow the apostle Paul's advise in Philippians 4:8 and focus on the true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy.

IDEA LEADER: What are you reading and how does it affect you?

Why tell stories?

Stories are important. They provide more than just entertainment - stories are carriers of wisdom. In fact, I believe that story-knowledge is just as valuable as scientific knowledge (though they are addressing different needs).

Howard Gardner's book Leading Minds asserts that stories are important for leaders. Every great leader has a story to tell and is able to embody that story in spite of opposition. These great stories infrom our aspirations as they tell us who we are, where we come from, where we are going, and what we must overcome.

The famous Bible story of David and Goliath in 1 Samuel 17 illustrates this concept. Goliath is a greater threat than King Saul can handle, but David shows up and tells a story about his expereinces of delivery from other predators. David is confident that in the same way that God delivered him from the lion and the bear (allowing David to slay them), "this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them."

IDEA LEADER: What stories are you telling those you lead? Do your actions match the values illustrated by your stories?