3 Reasons Pastors Should Read Leadership Books
Earlier this week, I wrote about some reasons pastors should reject leadership books. There are seasons in a church leader’s life when reading leadership books is a bad idea. If one’s devotional life is weak, Christian worldview is not firm, or compassion for people is waning, then church leaders should flee from leadership books. However, […]
The 10 Commandments of Christian Leadership Development
When it comes to developing as a leader…specifically as a Christian leader, here are ten imperatives for development. Though not an exhaustive or infallible list, these challenges will help develop you as a leader. Follow first. Follow Jesus above all. Jesus is the One who transforms our character. If your love for Him grows cold, […]
The Missing Conviction of Developing Leaders
Often our churches don’t make leaders because we lack conviction. Granted, it’s probably much more than that, but it is certainly not less. Based on the lack of leadership development in many churches it is clear that many church leaders lack a real conviction for developing leaders. If we look at Moses and Joshua, his […]
Why the Church Should Excel in Developing Leaders
In a local community, no other gathering of people or institution should outpace the church at forming and developing leaders because no other collection or gathering of people has a greater mission, a greater promise, and a greater reward. No greater mission Today, even as you read this, leaders are being recruited. There are meetings […]
4 Reasons to Believe in Young Leaders
For a long time, I was the young leader. I took my first role on a church staff just before I turned 19. When I moved to Cincinnati to serve as student pastor, I flew into the airport and was too young to rent a car. I moved to Miami to serve as executive pastor […]
2 Ways Leaders Should Learn from Their Experiences
Leaders who care about their own personal development are like sponges to an array of resources in order to acquire new knowledge and skills. They will read books, consider continuing education, attend conferences, and scour articles that have been sent to them by their leaders. While these are important and can be very helpful, nothing […]
3 Reasons (Some) Churches Don’t Value Equipping
The biblical model for local church ministry is not that pastors would “do ministry” but that they would “equip others for ministry” (Ephesians 4:11-13). Sadly, many churches do not recognize or act on the assignment God has given pastors. For example, peruse the typical job descriptions churches give for their pastors. In many churches, you […]
3 Reasons (Some) Pastors Don’t Equip
The role of pastor is divinely designed to prepare others for ministry, not to perform all the duties in ministry. Pastors are not called to “do ministry” but to “equip believers” to minister to one another (Ephesians 4:11-13). Yet some pastors prefer to hoard ministry to themselves rather than equip others. Some pastors are like […]
The Most Important Leadership Characteristic
In their landmark leadership book The Leadership Challenge, Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner share that the most important leadership characteristic is credibility. Based on extensive research over two decades, they boldly claim that “more than anything, we want leaders who are credible. People must be able to believe in their leaders.” To Kouzes and Posner, […]
5 Crucial Steps for New Leaders
The following is a guest post by Selma Wilson. Selma is one of the vice presidents of LifeWay, leading our B&H Publishing Group. I am honored to serve alongside Selma and consider her to be an incredible leader. Congratulations on your new leadership role. Whatever the process that got you to this point, and no matter the […]