mandela on leadership

I have to admit that I totally love Nelson Mandela. I do believe he is the greatest leader alive today and a remarkable example of grace. Time magazine recently did an article on him and his view of leadership. Interestingly he says that these are not principles but tactics. He is [...]

field of dreams part iv

In passing it is worth noting that one important reason why we should be suspicious of hierarchical top-down notion of leadership is because we know from history and from human nature that institutional systems confer social power and concentrates it at the top. The problem is precisely because of human nature that we should be [...]

field of dreams part iii

The problem with such forms of CEO-type leadership is that it tends to be disempowering to others, and when, for various reasons, that leader should leave the group; it tends to leave the organization weak and under-developed. This is the very thing that apostolic influence is at pains not to do—rather apostolic ministry calls forth [...]

context and socialization in leadership development

I have long believed that leadership, or the lack of it, is a significant key to either the renewal, or the decline, of the church.  If this is true, that leadership critical to our success or failure, then we must ask the question as to why we are in our current state of demise, and [...]

hitting the road with jesus

We are all familiar with the gospel stories where Jesus selects a band of disciples, lives his life with them, ministers with them, and mentors them.  This approach to the formation of followers was common in the Israel of Jesus’ day.  Most rabbis would initiate and develop their schools of thought through similar means.  It [...]

leadership is an extension of discipleship

If this is not already obvious by now let me say it more explicitly: the quality of the church’s leadership is directly proportional to the quality of discipleship. if we fail in the area of making disciples we should not be surprised if we fail in the area of leadership development. I think many of [...]

inspirational v. institutional leadership (take II)

INFLUENCE is a hard thing to quantify. But you know it when you encounter it. It is as interesting as well as profound that the NT word for authority is exousia, which quite literally means “out of oneself’ (out of one’s own substance.) When one probes the nature of spiritual authority in scripture, it [...]

inspirational v. institutional leadership

THE Academy Award winning movie depicting the life of Mohandas Gandhi opens with the state funeral of the remarkable man who had so transformed India. An American radio commentator narrates the meaning of his life to the rest of the world. In his narration, he observes that before them was a man who was [...]

Copyright © 2008 The Forgotten Ways • Linear WordPress Theme • Powered by WordPress • Maintained by Noble Design