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.

Worldview: Origins, Part 3

Let's review. So far, I espouse that the universe is purposeful and that humanity has worth because it was made in the image of its Creator (and I am following the Judeo-Christian tradition in doing so). I suggest that these two concepts are especially beneficial for a servant-leadership mindset.

Now for another thought on human origins: you were made to be productive.

That statement is not simply some line from a motivational seminar. It is the truth. Consider Genesis 1:28, which says "God blessed them: 'Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge! Be responsible for fish in the sea and birds in the air, for every living thing that moves on the face of Earth'" (from The Message, which is a paraphrase - for a more literal translation, I recommend the English Standard Version).

A few observations:

• God blesses humanity with these instructions. They are not burdensome.
• No busywork here. God gives humanity the opportunity to be creative managers who prosper by reproducing and managing other created beings.

Blessed creative management was humanity's original leadership purpose. Though our modern world may be a far cry from the perfect garden of Genesis 1-2, we can still be blessed creative managers.

IDEA LEADERS: (1) Do you assign busywork to those you manage? Why? (2) How can you help those you lead feel creative, productive, and blessed? (3) What personal changes could you make to become more creative, productive, and blessed?

Art: "Adam Names the Animals," from The Aberdeen Bestiary.

Worldview Leadership: Origins, Part 2

Last week I introduced both the concept of worldview and the question "where did I come from." This week I'd like to continue answering that very important question. In the Judeo-Christian worldview, humanity's origins are found in God himself. In fact, we are made in God's image. In Genesis 1:26, God says "Let us make human beings in our image, make them reflecting our nature" (translated in Eugene Peterson's The Message). In The Expositor's Bible Commentary, John Sailhamer points out that during the previous acts of creation in Genesis 1, God says, "let there be." Now God says, "Let us make." God takes a personal interest in the creation of humanity, allowing humanity to somehow reflect part of him.

There are two major implications here for servant-leaders. First: there are no complete idiots. Really.

There are certainly some really frustrating people out there. Yes, sometimes there are really frustrating people in our organizations that we lead. And yes, they may do some idiotic things. But no, they are not complete idiots. Consider Jesus' warning in Matthew 5:22 (and to be frustrating, I'm going to let you look that one up). Somehow, even frustrating people bear the image of God. That image deserves respect.

Implication number two: even when you mess up, and I mean really mess up, you are still not a complete failure. In spite of your failures, you too bear the image of God. And that image is worthy of some self-respect.

This two-fold implication of being made in God's image is one reason Jesus can say, "love your neighbor as yourself." When we do this, we affirm the goodness of God's creation. Although that goodness is marred by the Fall of humanity (see Genesis 3), there is still something in every person that is worthy of respect.

IDEA LEADERS: (1) Among those you lead, in whom do you most clearly see God's image at work? Why? (2) In whom do you least see God's image? Why? (3) How does the fact that you are made in God's image change the way you view your failures?

Worldview Leadership: Origins

As I've mentioned previously, I teach classes at The Brook Hill School in Bullard, Texas. This year I am teaching a class on worldviews. Without giving an extensive lesson here, let me summarize the worldview concept: worldviews are best understood as a "lens" through which we view the world and try to make sense of reality. Worldviews are built by our presuppositions, and they answer the most basic of questions: where did I come from, what went wrong, what is the solution, and where am I going. If you are interested in a thorough discussion of the concept (with special attention to its Christian applications), see David Naugle's Worldview: The History of a Concept. For a recently published brief introduction to the concept and a reflection on its implications, see (Re)Thinking Worldview by J. Mark Bertrand.

Let's spend a few weeks being a bit more philosophical about leadership. That means we need to ask some deep questions and look for some deep answers. This week I'd like to reflect on the leadership implications for how we answer the question, "Where did I come from?" Though the tongue-in-cheek answer, "a mommy and daddy who love each other very much" may be a good start, I'm talking about much bigger issues. How did humanity begin? Are we the product of random chance? Are we simply "dust in the wind"? Or, is there a greater purpose in our lives? How you answer the first worldview question has tremendous implications for your leadership. If there really is a purposeful force at work in the universe, then servant leaders must ask themselves how their leadership fits within the plan of that Divine Purpose.

The standard Christian answer to these questions is that the universe really is purposeful, in spite of its seeming randomness. Additionally, Christians can find both a great hope and a great burden in being part of that purpose. The hope: our trials are only temporary, and they serve a kingdom that will never end. The burden: our king expects us to be diligent servants.

IDEA LEADERS: (1) Do you believe the universe is purposeful or random? (2) If the universe is purposeful, what is its purpose? (3) How does your leadership responsibility fit within that larger purpose?

Faithful Presidents

So how much do you know about the faith of American presidents? Take this quiz to find out.

Religion and Politics

When thinking about the Founders' opinions, it's hard not to think about issues of church and state. Yet productive conversations about such are difficult as nothing seems to bring fiery emotions into a conversation like religion and politics. Such conversations often generate more heat than light. To better understand how you believe church and state should relate, take this quiz.

America is a unique nation that allows unique opportunities for believers of various political persuasions. This is one issue that is definitely worth thinking through.

Blessings to all of us as the 2008 presidential elections begin to go into full swing.

Meet Catherine Booth

Though I don't know a lot about the Salvation Army, I do appreciate their efforts to alleviate human suffering - both physical and spiritual. For a brief introductory article to the Army's co-founder, Catherine Booth, click here.

Muslims, Women, and Servant Leadership

For an interesting article about a muslim woman striving to be a servant leader who empowers other women, please click here.

Smile and the world smiles with you

Mother Teresa's 1979 Nobel Prize lecture suggests that world peace begins with love. That is certainly no new idea and neither is her next assertion: love begins at home. What makes the speech interesting is her insistence that love begins with a smile.

From anyone else, I would dismiss that as pure silliness. However, Mother Teresa's life earns her a second consideration. Teresa says that we should smile even when it is difficult, because true love does the difficult thing.

Now I think she is on target. As I've mentioned before, I tend to be melancholy, so I appreciate the fact that smiling is not always an easy thing to do. Considering the horrors that Teresa saw as she ministered among some of the poorest people in the world, I would think smiling would be difficult for her too.

So after reading her speech I am resolved to smile more. Both at work and at home. And I trust that the effort it takes will also be an effort made toward experiencing peace - maybe not world peace, but more peace at home and at work.

IDEA LEADER: How often do you smile while leading others?

Photo: Darren Hester

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?