Christian Reflections on the Leadership Challenge

by John C. Maxwell (foreword), James M. Kouzes (Editor), Barry Z. Posner (Editor)

Christian Reflections on The Leadership Challenge is a faith-based companion to the best-selling leadership book of all time-- The Leadership Challenge .  Grounded in Jim and Barry’s time-tested research, Christian Reflections on The Leadership Challenge describes their Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership ® --Model the Way, Inspire a Shared Vision, Challenge the Process, Enable Others to Act, and Encourage the Heart—and offers practical guidance and inspiring examples about how Christian leaders can have a powerful impact in their workplaces, communities, and congregations by bringing their faith into their leadership. In addition to Jim and Barry’s foundational wisdom, the book brings together five leaders who reflect on the Five Practices from a Christian perspective.  John C. Maxwell, David McAllister-Wilson, Patrick Lencioni, Nancy Ortberg, and Ken Blanchard share insights and stories culled from personal experience and the lives of other Christian leaders who have accomplished extraordinary things in churches, communities, classrooms, and corporations.  Their thoughtful reflections on the role of faith in leadership will propel leaders and aspiring leaders

Genres: Leadership, Business, Christian, Christianity, Religion, Textbooks, Nonfiction

160 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

John Calvin Maxwell is an American author, speaker, and pastor who has written many books, primarily focusing on leadership. Titles include The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership and The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader. Some of his books have been on the New York Times Best Seller List.

Reviews

[Brian Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recently I had the pleasure of reading Kouzes and Posner's book Christian Reflections on the Leadership Challenge. While this was required reading for a class I took on Christian Leadership, it was quite insightful and enlightening for me. Within the pages of this very quick read James Kouzes and Barry Posner highlight the five practices of exemplary leadership, which they state consists of "Modeling the Way, Inspiring a Shared vision, Challenging the Process, Enabling Others to Act, and Encouraging the Heart."
What I love about this is not only how simple of a read this book is, it gets right to the point of each of the key practices that great leaders possess, why it's important, and why we should strive to incorporate these traits as leaders.
What is unique about this book is that right from the start of it, the authors let you know that "leadership is everyone's business". This, for me is the main reason why I am recommending it:
If you have a desire to lead
If you are a leader
If you want to improve as a leader
If you have a desire to model the way for those you lead
If you desire to inspire others
If you wish to enable others
If you hope to encourage those you lead
If you wish to challenge the process.

Leading people always has it's challenges, but having tools such as this resource goes very far in equipping you for the task and enabling you to move from one level to another. I hope that if you choose to pick this up you will equally find it to be helpful and enjoyable.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

READ NOV 2010

Excellent treatment on the five practices framework. The reflections provided by Christian leaders punctuate these practices in meaningful and practical ways.

Best quote, "There is no freeway to the future. No paved highway from here to tomorrow. There is only wilderness" (N.P. on Kindle). I would add that leaders do not fear the wilderness and even find comfort there.

[Joseph · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not think the approach to leadership was very helpful. It assumed leadership practices then read those practices back into the Biblical text. Helpful to see the culture of American Christian leadership, but not helpful for application.

[El · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very helpful book for anyone who wants to improve their leadership skills. It had practical applications of how to actually implement the techniques provided, not just "be friendly" or "have a goal."

[Josh L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simple, linear principles that if lived would obviously go a long way towards influencing others for good.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book. We're using this in our church for a leadership training initiative. it's well written and both biblically and research based.

[Abby Kallas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had to read this for a class. I was super bored and couldn’t keep my attention focused so I had to switch to listening to this book on audible. It had good and useful info, I just didn’t have the energy and patience to sit and read this. I hate reading books like this because I always go in hoping for the best wanting to get so much out of it but then I get stuck and never finish. Sadly for me that was not an option and it was for a class so luckily I was like hey I’m gonna listen to the audio! It helped me get through it because this book is relatively short and I actually enjoyed listening to it while taking my dogs on a walk! I think I’m going to try to listen to more important things that are harder to read more often!

[Conner Crawford · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book's Biblicism is definitely iffy: the scriptural interpretation seems shallow and undoubtedly begins with a certain idea or end in mind. They start with a model and read it into the Bible, which I can't say I like. When scriptural foundations are off, so are many of your arguments.

Normally that would knock it down much more, but I'll give it some credit: the authors know their audience and speak to them. They tell some good stories and ask solid, straightforward questions for leading in secular settings; the overall ideas push folks in the right direction.

Like a house built half on rock and half on sand.

[Rachael · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's been a little while since I've read this book (and I do plan to reread), but I still remember that after reading it, I really didn't feel like I needed to look for other books on leadership because it's really that good. The whole book focuses on the concept of servant leadership (what Jesus embodied in his time on earth).

Bottom line: I would HIGHLY recommend this book to any Christian in a leadership role (even if your job is just to lead 1 or 2 people).

[Megan Lovejoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book !!!

This book has affirmed my call to leadership, how much I love developing as a leader, and has pointed out multiple areas of my life that I could improve on and seek mentorship on.

I enjoyed the accounts from each of the authors/editors, and found all of them to be strong and worthwhile.

I look forward to reading this again one day, and perhaps I will have gained experience and will be able to reflect on my development as a leader.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leadership practices to inspire, influence and enable those you lead including a prison ministry volunteer. Although wheelchair bound, and breathes through a ventilator, a female volunteer ministers in a nasty women's prison. She chooses to lead others rather than let her physical limitations define her.

[Mike Riddell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a required reading book for Bible College. Would recommend it for anyone in leadership, thinking about leadership, or works as part of a team. The 5-frameworks of leadership (practices of exemplary leaders) is super interesting, applicable and thought-provoking. The reflection questions at the end of each chapter are worth the price of standard PD day.

Will read again!

[Stephanie Sheaffer]

Christian Reflections on the Leadership Challenge is a sequel to Kouzes and Posner’s best-selling leadership manifesto, The Leadership Challenge, which was originally published in 1987 and is currently in its 7th edition. The book includes contributions from five leadership experts - one for each of the Five Practices from the original text.

[Missy · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a Christian leader, this book is an invaluable tool. Five well-known Christian leaders reflect on the Kouzes and Posner's Leadership Challenge and how it works with a Biblical worldview. I highly recommend this book.

[Bonita Washington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent guide for Christian leaders. The books helps you to reflect on your leadership style and create goals for yourself and your team. Great anecdotes and instruction that can be easily applied to real life situations.

[Christopher Esget · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are a few common-sense principles one can draw from this book. It is, unfortunately, long on the power of intuition and short on concrete best practices. Scripture is often used out of context to justify an opinion. It was a short book, which is perhaps its best feature.

[Stephani · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had to read this book for a class. I found this book very helpful and one that I will be re-reading as a helpful self-review. If you have dreams of being a leader or even a better team player this is a must-read.

[Paul Herriott · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with most collaborative books, there are some good nuggets and wise insight along the way, but it is difficult to thread a unifying theme that resigns. It was great to hear different perspectives and valuable examples from the various experts.

[Michael Mason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awesome leadership tips from business leaders who are also Christians. Regardless of your faith or beliefs, the leadership principles are sound and applicable.

[Lynnette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of very good principles to develop perspective and techniques to lead teams and better yourself. Read for a graduate class. Highly reccomend!

[J. Tayler Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was an average read for me. It contained some good basic leadership principles, but nothing really stood out.

[Kathryn Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great read for class! I always enjoy practical books and this had a lot of great wisdom that could apply to anyone.

[Ella Venegoni · Rating 5 out of 5]

A read for my leadership class and I ended up really enjoying it! The authors explained things clearly and it was very insightful.

[Makeda Marquardt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book for class and really enjoyed it! It’s so amazing all of the different things that go into being a successful leader and how Jesus so effortlessly modeled the way for us!!

[Michael Vincent · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book could be so much more, but has some good thoughts and summaries on servant leadership throughout. Several of the chapters are more about serving in non-profits than Christian leadership. A nice summary with examples, of the original book.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

The essays are a good summary of basic leadership principles from a Christian perspective. The most important missing principle is the learning habit. Every leader must be in constant learning mode, and the book does not focus on this important leadership principle. If you are reading this book voluntarily, perhaps you already have this habit. If you are reading this book because you have been asked to read it, whether you have the learning habit is an open question

[Mikkee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some interesting and overarching thoughts on leadership. If you are interested in leadership, in either a secular or Christian context, I feel you will glean some good insights from this multi-author book. I read it with my work team, and it suits well for group/work discussions.

[April Disney · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good book about what a true servant leader will do. The list they give in the book about what a good leader will do, is what we should all be looking for in our next President and any other leadership position.

[Emmanuel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great companion to The Leadership Challenge. Help to give Christian examples of how leadership is demonstrated in real-life situations, ministry and secular.

[Gerry Czerak]

My copy is a few years old and well marked up, so I'm planning to reread it and get a fresh perspective.