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Help! I'm in Charge: Stuff Leadership Experts Didn't Tell You
Do you ever wonder what you don’t know about leadership? Who might be a challenge to work with? What could cause your ministry to go away? Questions like these can be overwhelming. That’s why Pastor Rod Loy shares both practical answers and personal stories on helpful leadership stuff like— • The only sure thing is the unexpected • Why leadership ability alone isn’t enough • How you won’t get very far if people don’t like you • Leading secure and insecure people, and • Coping with the pressure of being in charge Loy lays out his godly wisdom in 10 easy-to-read chapters. He gives practical, real-life examples, and backs up his advice with applicable examples from the Bible. Here’s a brief look at what you can expect from this helpful Chapter 1: Are You Willing to Pay the Price? Loy explains that your rewards are in proportion to the price you’re willing to pay, not just according to your ability. And, the price you pay is more important than the talent you possess. Chapter 2: The One Thing You Can Expect Is the Unexpected Acquire the skills to handle the unexpected. Your response to the unexpected reveals your maturity, your level of trust in God, and your ability to help others when they encounter a storm. Chapter 3: We All Make Monumental Mistakes Discover how to handle forgetfulness, a bad attitude, violation of core values and Scripture, financial mistakes, and more. Learn to identify ways we mismanage our mistakes and how to correct them. Chapter 4: Unresolved Conflict Never Solved Anything Gain common sense solutions for managing and resolving conflicts of all kinds. Chapter 5: Your Ability Won’t Get You Far If People Don’t Like You Find 10 crucial differences between secure and insecure leaders. Chapter 6: A Leader Leads Everybody, Not Just a Select Group Benefit from the 9 techniques that bring out the best in insecure people, and 10 ways to bring out the best in secure people. Chapter 7: Don’t Go into the Pool without a Lifeguard Accountability is paramount. Recognize the things we do to avoid accountability and how to remedy these destructive instincts. Put into practice the 7 helpful tips for choosing an accountability partner. Chapter 8: You Can Respond Stupidly or Wisely to Criticism and Correction Learn to recognize the difference between criticism and correction. Discover 20 ways to wisely respond to both. Chapter 9: Everyone Wants to Be Treated with Respect Recognize the difference between “inclusive” and “exclusive” leaders, and why “inclusive” is always more successful. You’ll find 16 tell-tale signs. Chapter 10: Great Leaders Are Willing to Sacrifice Their Rights Determine to give the right to be a jerk, the right to lose control, the right to have things the way you want them, the right to demand attention, and 6 other rights we need to be willing to set aside. Being a great leader may not be easy, but with the encouragement and advice in Help! I’m in Charge, you can lead—and succeed—with confidence.
- GenresChristian
181 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 5, 2019
20 people are currently reading
26 people want to read
About the author
Rod Loy
15 books6 followersRod Loy's unique approach to leadership has led him to and through many exciting adventures, one of which was working as a volunteer lifeguard at a water park. Rod pastors a church in North Little Rock. He and his wife Cindy have two sons, Parker and Tyler.
Immediate Obedience released in summer 2014. His previous book, 3 Questions: A Powerful Grid to Help You Live by the Grace of God, was released in 2011.
Immediate Obedience released in summer 2014. His previous book, 3 Questions: A Powerful Grid to Help You Live by the Grace of God, was released in 2011.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 7, 2019
The highest compliment I can pay Rod Loy for his leadership is that the better you know him, the better you think of him, both as a person and as a pastor. That’s not always true of Christian leaders, but it’s true of him. I can recommend his new book, Help! I’m in Charge, because I can recommend him as someone to listen to.
Help! I’m in Charge is the fourth book I’ve read by Rod. (The others are 3 Questions , Immediate Obedience , and After the Honeymoon .) According to the subtitle, it examines “stuff leadership excerpts didn’t tell you.” And that’s about right. Most leadership experts discuss mission, vision, and values from a 30,000-foot level, Rod gets into the weeds, talking the nitty-gritty of leadership on the ground.
The book’s chapter titles helpfully identify the practical topics Rod examines:
1. You’ll Need to Get Comfortable Outside Your Comfort Zone
2. The One Thing You CanExpect Is the Unexpected
3. We all Make Monumental Mistakes
4. Unresolved Conflict Never Solved Anything
5. Your Ability Won’t Get You Far if People Don’t Like You
6. A Leader Leads Everybody, Not Just a Select Group
7. Don’t Go into the Poor Without a Lifeguard
8. You Can Respond Stupidly or Wisely to Criticism and Correction
9. Everyone Wants to Be Treated with Respect
10. Great Leaders Are Willing to Sacrifice Their Right
Chapter 5 was the most personally challenging for me. So much so, that I’ve written “Your Ability Won’t Get You Far If People Don’t Like You” on a sticky note and affixed it to my computer screen, which—because I’m an editor—I stare at most of my working hours. Leaders need to turn off their screens, get up off their chairs, and grab face-to-face time with others if they want to be effective. At least I do.
Here are some other passages in Help! I’m in Charge that I’ve dogeared: “How to Handle the Unexpected” (pp. 35ff.), “How to Know Which Person Is in the Right” (pp. 84ff.), “How to Become a Secure Leader” (pp. 101ff.), “How to Bring Out the Best in Insecure People” (pp. 110ff.), and “Reasons People Avoid and Resist Accountability” (pp. 138ff.).
Rod is great at epitomizing matters, so there are a lot of helpful lists throughout the book. Chapter 9, “Everyone Wants to Be Treated with Respect,” outlines the differences between exclusive and inclusive leaders, for example. Sometimes, I’ll write that a particular chapter is worth the price of an entire book. For what it’s worth, I thought this entire book was worth the price of the entire book.
As with Rod’s other books, Help! I’m in Charge combines helpful principles, biblical insights, telling anecdotes, and personal authenticity. For me, this is most evident in the Epilogue, which recounts how Rod and his wife Cindy responded when she was diagnosed with cancer in spring 2017. Cindy is healthy now, but they welcomed that experience as an opportunity to draw closer to God. By sharing it with their church, they invited others to draw closer to Him as well.
A leader who models how to follow God when life is hard is the kind of leader I want to follow, even if only by reading his book, which I think you should.
Book Reviewed
Rod Loy, Help! I’m in Charge: Stuff Leadership Experts Didn’t Tell You (Springfield, MO: Influence Resources, 2018).
P.S. If you found my review helpful, please vote “Helpful” on my Amazon review page.
Help! I’m in Charge is the fourth book I’ve read by Rod. (The others are 3 Questions , Immediate Obedience , and After the Honeymoon .) According to the subtitle, it examines “stuff leadership excerpts didn’t tell you.” And that’s about right. Most leadership experts discuss mission, vision, and values from a 30,000-foot level, Rod gets into the weeds, talking the nitty-gritty of leadership on the ground.
The book’s chapter titles helpfully identify the practical topics Rod examines:
1. You’ll Need to Get Comfortable Outside Your Comfort Zone
2. The One Thing You CanExpect Is the Unexpected
3. We all Make Monumental Mistakes
4. Unresolved Conflict Never Solved Anything
5. Your Ability Won’t Get You Far if People Don’t Like You
6. A Leader Leads Everybody, Not Just a Select Group
7. Don’t Go into the Poor Without a Lifeguard
8. You Can Respond Stupidly or Wisely to Criticism and Correction
9. Everyone Wants to Be Treated with Respect
10. Great Leaders Are Willing to Sacrifice Their Right
Chapter 5 was the most personally challenging for me. So much so, that I’ve written “Your Ability Won’t Get You Far If People Don’t Like You” on a sticky note and affixed it to my computer screen, which—because I’m an editor—I stare at most of my working hours. Leaders need to turn off their screens, get up off their chairs, and grab face-to-face time with others if they want to be effective. At least I do.
Here are some other passages in Help! I’m in Charge that I’ve dogeared: “How to Handle the Unexpected” (pp. 35ff.), “How to Know Which Person Is in the Right” (pp. 84ff.), “How to Become a Secure Leader” (pp. 101ff.), “How to Bring Out the Best in Insecure People” (pp. 110ff.), and “Reasons People Avoid and Resist Accountability” (pp. 138ff.).
Rod is great at epitomizing matters, so there are a lot of helpful lists throughout the book. Chapter 9, “Everyone Wants to Be Treated with Respect,” outlines the differences between exclusive and inclusive leaders, for example. Sometimes, I’ll write that a particular chapter is worth the price of an entire book. For what it’s worth, I thought this entire book was worth the price of the entire book.
As with Rod’s other books, Help! I’m in Charge combines helpful principles, biblical insights, telling anecdotes, and personal authenticity. For me, this is most evident in the Epilogue, which recounts how Rod and his wife Cindy responded when she was diagnosed with cancer in spring 2017. Cindy is healthy now, but they welcomed that experience as an opportunity to draw closer to God. By sharing it with their church, they invited others to draw closer to Him as well.
A leader who models how to follow God when life is hard is the kind of leader I want to follow, even if only by reading his book, which I think you should.
Book Reviewed
Rod Loy, Help! I’m in Charge: Stuff Leadership Experts Didn’t Tell You (Springfield, MO: Influence Resources, 2018).
P.S. If you found my review helpful, please vote “Helpful” on my Amazon review page.
April 8, 2019
This book really helped me to reflect on how to become a better servant. It serves as a practical guide to those who carry responsibilities that sometimes are overwhelming.
Each chapter is a collection of simple statements that are easily applied. Often the writer uses a comparative approach between desirable and undesirable leadership qualities. For example, he delves into be an exclusive leader vs. an inclusive leader. The style is designed for you to reflect as you walk through the chapters and take note of where you are thriving and where you need to press for growth.
I was moved on several points and even wrote the author to thank him for sharing his wisdom. I do recommend this book for anyone willing to take the risk and examine themselves. You will not be disappointed when you lower your defenses and ponder what God could truly do if you just surrender more of yourself to His loving hand.
Each chapter is a collection of simple statements that are easily applied. Often the writer uses a comparative approach between desirable and undesirable leadership qualities. For example, he delves into be an exclusive leader vs. an inclusive leader. The style is designed for you to reflect as you walk through the chapters and take note of where you are thriving and where you need to press for growth.
I was moved on several points and even wrote the author to thank him for sharing his wisdom. I do recommend this book for anyone willing to take the risk and examine themselves. You will not be disappointed when you lower your defenses and ponder what God could truly do if you just surrender more of yourself to His loving hand.
April 30, 2019
I believe this is the best of the books by Pastor Rod Loy. While perhaps more applicable to those in a ministry context, which you can't discern by reading the title alone, this book contains good information which can be applied in any leadership context. Pastor Rod shares stories from his many years in ministry which have helped forge him into the leader he is today, and he shares the insights gleaned from those experiences. Definitely worth the read, especially for those in ministry leadership, and probably valuable for those in secular leadership positions as well.
February 6, 2020
Great read!
This book is great. If you are a leader of any kind and you have a team of people working with you, it would benefit you and your team to go through this book together.
This book is great. If you are a leader of any kind and you have a team of people working with you, it would benefit you and your team to go through this book together.
January 15, 2021
Rod Loy writes exactly how he would teach this. So many great reminders and insights for anyone who leads any team.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews