Fairness Is Overrated: And 51 Other Leadership Principles to Revolutionize Your Workplace

by Tim Stevens

Discover the tools of leadership to revolutionize your workplace.

Tim Stevens traveled an alternative road—leaving high school and immediately joining a national non-profit organization. He rose quickly through the ranks of leadership, but nine years later left it all behind to help an upstart church get its footing. During the 20 years Stevens served as Executive Pastor at Granger Community Church near South Bend, Indiana, the ministry grew from a congregation of 300 to more than 5,000; from a staff of five to more than 130; with a preschool, restaurant, three campuses and more than 1,800 new churches planted in southern India.

Leaders learn by leading. Stevens knows that creating a healthy and successful organization requires throwing out the conventional instruction manual and writing one that balances practical lessons, spiritual truths, and twenty-first century realities—exactly what you will find in Fairness Is Overrated.

Stevens, now an executive with the Vanderbloemen Search Group, takes his lifetime of service and dispenses with conventional wisdom. Short, powerful chapters end with actionable discussion questions. Four pillars hold up every successful Be a person of integrity. Identify the right people around you. Build a great culture. Lead through crisis.

This is a manual of doing, not talking. No fluff, no stale inspirational platitudes. It’s time to move past planning and kick-start Monday into action.

Genres: Leadership, Nonfiction, Christian

231 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2015

Reviews

[Gwyneth Haas · Rating 2 out of 5]

- Strengths -
Stevens presents many good principles and his book is very practical. It serves its purpose in giving point-blank, administrative tactics with an influence of a christian worldview for those leading in corporate settings. Nearly every chapter ended with a bullet point list of how to put whatever truth he had stated into practice. Some of the best advice and tips that he gave was when he advised leaders to be above reproach in every sense of the word. His chapter titled “Rumble Strips” painted a picture of the important responsibility christian leaders have to protect themselves from being tempted to sin or even allow the appearance of suspicious activity to be perceived by those around them. It would be much better to inconvenience ourselves in cautionary action rather than dealing with the inconvenience and mistrust that may come of an accusation. Steven hammers in the point that no leader is too great that they cannot fall into sin. We all must protect ourselves from temptation or face the consequences.

- Weaknesses -
The title seems a bit of an attention grab and doesn’t match the rest of the book. Going into it, I thought this would be a book about how church leaders have to make difficult decisions for the greater good of a ministry and was disappointed to find that was not the case. I think maybe I would have enjoyed this book more had it been written to christian business leaders or had its goal been to equip believers to lead well in a secular workplace. Instead, Stevens says that his goal for writing this book is that it would, “be a manual you will reach for again and again as you face new challenges,” but for us church leaders, shouldn’t that be the Bible? This leads me into talking about this book’s greatest weakness…it left me with more questions about church leadership than answers. Like, why, as church leaders, is church something that we have to get away from in order to rest? Why are church leaders being encouraged to model themselves after business leaders? Why is the practice of helping those in need being referred to as the “christian business model”? Why are churches putting priority on following hiring strategies over listening to the Holy Spirit and seeking out God’s will for who is to be serving? When giving examples of pastoral job descriptions, why are qualities like “leader at home”, “disciple”, or even “pastor” at the bottom of the lists? Do we just let ministry workers go when they are no longer “producing” the fruits that they did in a previous season? Isn’t there an ebb and flow to ministry? Where does God call the church to be “effective” and what is the definition of “effective”? These are just a few of the questions that clouded my mind as I tried to sort the bad from the good from all of the content talked about in this book.

- Personal Reflection -
I would be lying if I said that this book was not a difficult read for me. From the introduction, I was immediately caught off guard by the fact that this leadership book was written to both church leaders and business leaders. This left a bad taste in my mouth as I ventured through the rest of the chapters. I was forced to ask myself the question, “Has the American church imaged itself so closely to the corporate business world that books are now able to address both at the same time?” This has been very troubling for me to grapple with. Even before this reading book I have wrestled with the entrepreneurial lens which I have seen church leaders view their ministries, churches, and even members with. The effect of this is that people become products, fellow ministry workers become employees and if they aren’t producing at the level expected then they are cut. They advertise themselves and cater to culture as a means to get as many people in the door as possible and then act surprised when they outgrow the space that they are in and it becomes necessary to pay for a new giant building. They call it “God anointing their ministry” when in reality they have just been good salesmen and have made Jesus palatable to the community surrounding them. Please, by no means hear that I think it is wrong to have a growing ministry. However, my fear is that as christian leaders begin to view church more and more as a business endeavor, they will lose sight of the souls in front of them who desperately need to hear the good news about Jesus. My fear is that a schedule will get so full of outreach events that those sick, widowed, or in need of care will get left to fend for themselves. My fear is that pastors who are supposed to be shepherding their flocks will no longer know the faces and needs of their congregation. My fear is that they will turn into a mere vet - giving their flock an injection once a week yet not doing the real work of a shepherd which involves being with their sheep in the day to day and getting their hands dirty as they care for them. I am terrified of ever losing sight of Jesus’ vision, purpose, and deep love for His Church.

- Notable Quotes -
“An unguarded strength is a double weakness.” (Stevens, 22)
“If you narrowly define learning and education by how long an individual spent in a classroom setting, then you greatly misunderstood learning.” (Stevens, 25)
“There is a fine line between being selectively vulnerable and vomiting your problems to anyone at any time…One is a sign of a great leader. The other is the sign of a person in need of therapy.” Stevens, 30)
“Don’t let the lies of Satan lead you to have a mistress called ‘ministry’ who gets more attention than your family.” (Stevens, 39)
“The stakes are high as a follower of Jesus…That’s why it's important to have some personal rumble strips in place.” (Stevens, 44)
“It’s crucial that the people we bring on our team do not have huge flaws in their integrity that could cripple their ability to lead.” (Stevens, 58)
“[Job descriptions] are always incomplete. Nobody's job description contains all the crucial things they do or all their important responsibilities. There’s always more to it than is captured on a paper.” (Stevens, 76)
“It honors God when we take care of those who take care of us.” (Stevens, 91)
“You cannot do anything of real value alone.” (Stevens, 107)
“Authority is the ability to make decisions without asking someone else’s permission…So often we give a leader responsibility without also giving them the authority.” (Stevens, 118)
“A person who doesn’t ask questions comes off as proud and untouchable.” (Stevens 133)
“I wanted staff members who handled the money, took care of the facility, led the kids, and made the decisions to do so with high integrity because it was not only their employer, it was also the place where they worshiped.” (Stevens, 141)
“Jesus wasn’t ‘fair’ when he chose to spend most of his time with his twelve disciples. Furthermore, he wasn’t ‘fair’ when he chose three disciples above the rest of them” (Stevens, 152)
“Don’t confuse fairness with justice. Justice is about doing what is right. Fairness means everyone gets exactly the same thing.” (Stevens, 153)
“Make sure your core leaders truly believe they are serving one organization with one purpose.” (Stevens, 162)
“You pray, seek God, and make the best decision you can, and then you begin to enact change. Sometimes you are wrong.” (Stevens, 179)
“20 percent of leadership is making the right decisions. The other 80 percent is appropriately communicating those decisions.” (Stevens, 199)
“Lead with confidence, and lead with grace. Lead with integrity, and above all, lead with humility.” (Stevens, 224)

[Bèbè ✦ RANT ✦ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fairness is Overrated is definitely one of the books to have on your shelf. From leadership to getting to know yourself, this is the book to highlight, highlight, highlight. The book is pretty much self-explanatory since you do get 52 chapters that are filled with great principles on how to be a better leader and be the best you can be overall.

“No one is going to put rumble strips in your life for you. That is up to you. Your rumble strips may not be the same as mine, and mine may not be the same as yours. But everyone needs rumble strips. It all begins with self-leadership; before we talk about leading a church or a business, we must talk about being a leader worth following.”

What I loved about this book is that it's not your typical "This book will fix all your problems" feel to it but more of a "This is just guidance" style which I appreciated. Many people try to sell you their books to show that they are the best on the market and it will change your life and then you feel ripped off. This is all about the principles that came from author's experience. Great writing, great tone of voice, highly recommend!

[Rachael Knudsen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Leadership in the workplace written by a pastor, a refreshing perspective. Got a bit bored due to the experience I've already had in business and was flipping through to the end. I did like the performance/values matrix. The first chapter provided the insight I was looking for, Live a Life with Margins. "A margin is the portion of the page (your life) that you intentionally leave blank... Mark Batterson wrote, "You need margin to think. You need margin to play. You need margin to laugh. You need margin to dream. You need margin to have impromptu conversations. You need margin to seize unanticipated opportunities."... Margin makes you pleasant; no margin makes you grumpy." Give yourself financial, time, and emotional margins. To finally realize that intended down time with yourself is not only healthy but critical to creativity and ingenuity was a nice "a-ha" moment.

[Richard Angelus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tim Stevens comes from a church leadership perspective but his 52 principles are applicable anywhere because as long as we are in the workplace – company or organization, church or business, managers or workers – we are all leaders. I love the authenticity of the stories in the book. Tim isn't afraid to share his struggles, failures, and humanity.

It's one of those few great books that I read a chapter or two and have to take a small break and come back to it the next day because it's communicated so well. Each chapter has 2-3 questions to think about. So before I proceed to the next chapter, I process through the practical applications :)

To read my summary-review of Tim Stevens' Fairness Is Overrated: And 51 Other Leadership Principles To Revolutionize Your Workplace (2015), CLICK HERE: https://www.richardangelus.me/2018/06...

[Dr Ariel Rainey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is easy to read (each chapter is about 3 pages) and SUUUUUUPER practical. I liked the little evaluation questions at the end of each chapter, so that you could immediately connect the information to your own workplace.

It's billed as a leadership book for "work" but it's really almost entirely about ministry. This is a good basic leadership primer for any church, and would make a good gift for a recent pastoral graduate.

[Clayton Keenon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid. Good fundamentals with a few gold nuggets. I only gave it 4 stars, but I wouldn't be surprised if read it again some day or used it with a team.

[Angel Rose Lalata · Rating 5 out of 5]

Confidence
Grace
Integrity
Humility

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some good lessons to take with me in terms of leadership. Some is self explanatory and I wish others were expounded upon more, but decent book overall

[Robert Durough, Jr. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Right from the start you know what you’re getting with this book: fifty-two chapters, each roughly two to four pages in length, addressing a different principle Tim Stevens has observed and practiced—for better or worse—in his years in leadership positions. Fairness is Overrated (And 51 Other Leadership Principles to Revolutionize Your Workplace) is offered as a “take it or leave it” book of practical wisdom and experience. Few chapters are written expressly for churches and non-profit organizations, but much of the book can be applied for any leadership situation. Though the author and I likely differ in our ecclesiastical approach (I do not see the church primarily as a non-profit business, nor do I believe it ought to be run as such), I can still appreciate the value of some of these points by way of application in another. Of course, Stevens does not claim anything in the book to be a “fix it all,” of sorts, and encourages discernment in the reading and application of each practice, even to the point of writing back-to-back chapters that disagree with one another (because that’s what wisdom calls for at times!). He concludes that “leadership is not an exact science. If you do the same thing twice, it can be exactly right in one instance and the absolute wrong action in the next situation. Leadership requires prayer, discernment, collaboration, intuition, research, experience, confidence, self-control, and guts to take risks” (223).

Stevens hopes the book will be “a manual you will reach for again and again as you face new challenges” (xiii), and, “[w]hether or not you agree with [him], it’s a win if something [he says] creates room for your team to have productive discussion” (xvii). I foresee it being just that.

*Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

[Rand Hall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Face it. You're jazzed about the title and expecting some iconoclastic or contrarian book. It isn't. Hit or miss single point chapters aimed at church leaders with a nod to general business applicability (which doesn't generally work). The value alignment vs ability matrix is worth the price of the book.

[David Haron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely worth reading for any leader, particularly if you are leading in a ministry position of some sort. There were a couple sections of the book that were not relevant for me because I´ve never been directly involved in hiring or firing, but in general a challenging and practical book filled with lots of good advice. It is easy to digest because he writes concisely and clearly.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. The 52 principles provided are great for any staff or leaders of a staff in particular to think through. Not all of the principles may be applicable but most of them probably are. It is an easy read and well worth the time!!

[Seth Channell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most of the principles were helpful. A few times I disagreed, not so much with the principle, but how the author applied it in specific situations. Most readers would grow from reading this book.