LeadershipConneXtions

Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership (a Review)

I normally don't do two books back to back, but here is another, entirely different book that I cannot recommend enough to you.

If you are a leader . . .

If you are interested in your own spiritual formation . . .

If you are looking for someone (or a resource) who knows both leadership and spiritual formation and weaves those disciplines together . . .

If you could use a voice that is wise and experienced at helping leaders nourish their soul/heart out of which their leadership flows . . .

If you are slowly burning out and feeling diminished . . .

And if you have any kind of ministry where you must help other leaders pay attention to their inner life . . .

. . . then, Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership: Seeking God in the Crucible of Ministry, by Ruth Haley Barton, is the book you have been waiting for. I have been waiting for a book like this for many years. In fact, if there is a book that defines what Leadership ConneXtions is all about, this is one of those books.

We are deeply interested in the spiritual formation of the inner world of those who are called to lead. Yes we pay attention to the work of leadership, the skills of leadership, all the external, observable, measureable stuff that is the daily grind of leadership. But even more important is the shaping of the life of the one who does all that external stuff.

Barton knows leadership and she knows spirituality and she knows the spirituality that leaders need to address the unique issues leaders face. Here are some of the chapters in her book:

• When Leaders Lose Their Souls
• The Practice of Paying Attention
• The Conundrum of Calling
• Guiding Others on the Spiritual Journey
• Living Within Limits
• Spiritual Rhythms in the Life of the Leader
• The Loneliness of Leadership
• From Isolation to Leadership Community
• Finding God's Will Together
• Reenvisioning the Promised Land

I hope this whets your appetite. I recommend using her book as a devotional guide. Read a few pages a day, note what is speaking to you, reflect, journal, pray through those things.

Blessings on your journey.

Brian Rice

The Trouble With Paris (A Book Review)

Here is the pdf of a lengthy review/essay on The Trouble With Paris by Sayers.

I think Sayers has offered a very important and accessible book that is good missiology on our postmodern culture. I think Sayers is saying some different things than some other emergent authors and I tend to think Sayers has done a better job of interpreting the culture.

You can read about it by cliking on the pdf.

Download TroubleWithParisReview.pdf

Brian Rice

Who Gets to Narrate the World? (A Review)

Who Gets to Narrate the World: Contending for the Christian Story in an Age of Rivals by Robert Webber, was the last book he wrote before he died of cancer.

Webber says there are two main contenders. First is a robust, holistic, biblical narrative of creation, fall, redemption and consummation. Unfortunatelly, this narrative is all but lost in western Christianity.

The other contender is a radical, militaristic Islam, which even though it is in the minority number of Muslims, it has a power far beyond its numbers.

There are other rivals: variations of secular humanism (which have all proved empty and unable to sustain the west), and a privatistic spirituality that has new age, gnostic and Christian versions.

What is very interesting to me is that Webber completely misses what is perhaps the strongest rival and that is the one Barber talks about in McWorld vs Jihad. And that rival is western pop culture which is exported and globalized. Mark Sayers refers to it as hyper-reality.

Webber gives a short but nice overview of Western thought, painting the landscape in broad strokes and showing how we have arrived where we are today. He also provides a brief explanation of how western Christianity lost the biblical narrative. And he provides a brief introduction to the basic tenets of Islam.

Probably the weakest part of the book is his prescription for moving forward. He lists a number of items, but there is no additional thought as to what it might look like to do any of the things he mentions.

Webber's book is best described as a call to awarness and a plea for action, and not so much a strategy or guide to do what Webber believes must be done. It is best used as an introduction/primer for someone who knows very little about what I just described.

Brian Rice

Through the Labyrinth: The Truth About How Women Become Leaders

Through the Labyrinth: The Truth About How Women Become Leaders, by Alice Eagly and Linda Carli is a very substantial work on the subject, published on the Harvard Business School Press.

This book is not written from a Christian or biblical perspective, nor is its audience or subject, that of the biblical discussion on women as leaders.

Rather, the focus is on the role of women in the marketplace, in the highest echelons of leadership. It covers many of the core issues women leaders must deal with, including:

1. the glass ceiling,
2. where are the women who are going to lead,
3. the issue of family responsibilities and how women leaders navigate those responsibilities,
4. issues of discrimination and prejudice,
5. how women in leadership are perceived,
6. the question of differences in leadership between men and women,
7. and more.

The book has about 200 pages of text and another 100 pages of endnotes and indices. It will be a bit of a challenge to read, since it written by two authors who are psychologists studying the themes of leadership and substantiating everything by the research literature that is out there.

Whether you want a good introduction to the subject, or want to engage with the core issues once again, I recommend this book.

Brian Rice

Prince Caspian

This past weekend, Becky, Matt and I went to a late show to see Prince Caspian.  The movie started at 10:30 and we got out sometime after 1:00 a.m.

Overall I liked the movie. I read the book the day before we went to the movie since it has been a long time since I read the book and I wanted to see how close the movie was to the book.

While the movie certainly honors the storyline of the book, it takes more liberty and makes more changes to the book than the first movie -  The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. That makes sense for me. As I was reading the book, I kept wondering how they would handle certain things.

The one thing that I didn't like is that they kept Aslan out of the movie until near the end. In the book, Aslan has more of a role. There seemed to me a playing down of the Christian themes in the book. I find myself wondering how a director (who may have different values and beliefs) will handle the Christian themes in these books.

In particular, I wonder how they will do The Magician's Nephew and The Last Battle since those two, in particular, have dominant biblical themes woven into the book.

Still, it was a worthwhile movie. I did not like it as much as The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

By the way, here is the cover of my old Prince Caspian edition from 1970 which was the first Collier paperback edition.

Brian Rice

The Shack: A Brief Review

The Shack: Where Tragedy Confronts Eternity 

by William P. Young

Okay . . . I've talked with a number of people about this book and I have been recommending it with a little bit of tentativeness.  The reason for my tentativeness is that the book is an allegory/story and the author uses some images in this allegory that will be of concern and maybe even outrage for some readers. The book has been harshly criticized in some Christian circles as "new age heresy," etc.

The book is a story of a man (a Christian) who loses one of his young daughters in a very tragic, horrible, evil situation. I won't give the specifics, but imagine the worst and you're there. He becomes a sad, angry man.

The story is the Trinity inviting him to a meeting at the place (The Shack) which is where the evil took place.

The problem for some Christians is that the author depicts God the Father as an African woman! I can only say this - don't let this bog you down. There is a reason for it.

Here is what I like about the book:

William Young has done a wonderful job dealing with tragedy, suffering and evil and what it does to our hearts. He creates a conversation with God the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit where Mack's deepest heart issues are exposed and the love and wisdom of  God is poured into each of those areas of life.

The book is a combination of theology, spirituality, and a bit of psychology, all without the technical jargon and presented in a very relational way.

The book is all about the love of God and God's intense desire to be in relationship with us.

The book challenges many of the prevailing, "diminished" ways of understanding the Christian faith.

There are a few places where I found myself disagreeing with the author, but far more places where there was a lump in my throat, my eyes were moist, my spirit quickened and God was speaking to me.

Check out www.theshack.com for more on this book.

If you get the book - let me know what you think.

Brian Rice

Inside Steve's Brain (by Leander Kahney)

Inside Steve's Brain by Leander Kahney.

I read this book in two sittings. I loved it. Even though I am not an APPLE guy, I have always been intrigued by the world of Apple and Steve Jobs incredible creativity.

And yet . . . as I read through this book, I felt a real tension, for Jobs' style of leadership is antithetical to what I believe is great leadership. Jobs IS NOT a level five leader, nor is he an emotionally intelligent leader, nor an empowering kind of leader.

His style of leadership is angry, abusive, elitist, arrogant, quick-tempered and reactive, derogatory, humiliating, obsessive-compulsive, dictatorial, fear and shame based, a massive ego and sense of superiority, lacking self-awareness, and the list could go on.

Leander thinks all of this is part of the genius of Jobs' leadership style.

But here is where the tension comes in (for me). It seems as if it is these qualities that pulled Apple back from the brink of failure and it is these qualities that create a culture of fanatical creativity that has produced some of the best technology of the last twenty years!

I'm not sure what to do with this...

Brian Rice

Rapture Ready (A Review by Ben Michael)

Ben Michael is a young, thoughtful leader who I have known for several years.  Ben was a part of the Leading Edge Community this past year.

I recently received a short book review from Ben. I appreciated the review, and even more, I appreciated the leadership development process going on in Ben's life.

(1) Leaders are those who are committed to life-long learning.

(2) Leaders are those who understand the importance of ideas.

(3) Leaders are those who are engaging the culture in thoughtful ways, to understand it and to then dialogue with it.

(4) Leaders are those who seek to imprint and influence others to do the same.

Ben did all of that in his email (which he sent out to a number of people) and review.

And since this blogsite is interested in culture, I asked Ben if I could post his review. He said yes, so just download the pdf.

Download RaptureReadReviewByBen.pdf

Thanks Ben. This book is on my list to get.

Brian Rice

Four Signs of Leadership "Anxiousness"

Rabbi Edwin Friedman (now deceased) wrote a paradigm changing book, A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of Quick Fixes. Friedman also wrote the ground breaking, Generation to Generation.

The theme of A Failure of Nerve was to talk about the importance of the "differentiated self." Now, this is a pretty complex psychological topic that I really can't cover here. But one of the things Friedman addresses is that of anxiousness on the part of leadership and the need for leaders to have a "non-anxious presence" as they engage in their calling.

I found this book very insightful, although not quite as practical as I had expected.

Here are five signs of LEADERSHIP ANXIOUSNESS.

1. Reactivity to problems and crises.
2. Blaming kinds of behaviors.
3. Victimization on the part of the leader and creating a victim mindset in others.
4. Quick fix solutions that do not address the problem but which alleviate the anxiety of the leader.
5. Triangulated relationships.

On the other hand, here are  signs of a WELL DIFFERENTIATED LEADER.

1. An ability to not get lost in emotional processes that are swirling around in the workplace.
2. The ability to be separate from the anxiousness of others and still connected in healthy ways.
3. The ability to be both non-anxious and yet challenging of others who are anxious.
4. The ability not to react to the reactivity of others.
5. The ability to take a stand that displeases others without becoming anxious or remote.

Of course the prime time when all this surfaces is when conflict and criticism are present in the organization (or team, or family).

I'm not sure that I would recommend the book. It is difficult reading.

Yet the non-anxious leadership presence is vital. You may want to do some personal assessment work on the signs that are mentioned above and get some good input on these things from one or two peole who know you well.

Brian Rice

Tim Keller, The Reason for God, and a Few Thoughts on Being Missional

I have a much longer review/essay of Tim Keller's book - The Reason for God on the pdf file listed below.

In that review, I interact with some emergent authors and a few big ideas of the emergent crowd.  I am a bit critical on some things about their thoughts. I do this to set the stage and the contrast for Keller.

I am very positive about Keller's book as a different way to be missional in a post-modern culture.

It is just one more voice (mine) that is added to the conversation that is taking place on blogs everywhere.

Let me know if you have some thoughts.

Download TheReasonForGod.pdf

Tomorrow - thoughts on Narcissistic Leaders.

Brian Rice

Jesus for President (Book Review)

Okay, here is a lengthy review of Jesus for President.

Let me know what you think (not of the review, but if you read the book).

Download jesus_for_presidentbookreview.pdf

As LCI is working among some of the least resourced leaders in the world, I find myself thinking about issues of poverty, justice, shalom and social righteousness. This book stirred those thoughts quite a bit.

Brian Rice

p.s.  I just read the review again and found several wrong words in it! It's amazing how you can read a document to double check it and miss stuff that is so obvious ONCE IT IS POSTED!!!

Amazingly Graceful Servant Leadership

I am currently reading the Amazing Grace biography of Wilberforce by Eric Metaxas. It is quite good. I held off reading it for some time since I had read several other biographies on Wilberforce in past years.

But I liked the movie so much that I decided to read Metaxas' book, and it is very good.

When I was in South Africa a few weeks ago, this movie/book played into our time together in a special way. We had spent all of Thursday morning looking at a "biblical theology of leadership" in the framework of Creation - Fall - Redemption - Consumation. We spent time looking at power and authority, their corruption and their reclamation through Christ. We spent time looking at the counter-cultural, no-so-with-you approach to leadership of Jesus. We considered images and metaphors of servant leadership.

It was a very moving time for the group and I really appreciated how this multi-cultural, post-apartheid group of leaders wrestled with these ideas. Then, in the evening, the group watched the movie - Amazing Grace. And it hit me again . . .

Wilberforce was one of God's counter-cultural, servant leaders who led as a servant, shepherd, steward and sufferer. He walked in the way of Christ and he imitated Christ much as Paul did. The words that Paul said in Colossians 1:24-25, about himself, were also true of Wilberforce.

Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. I have become its servant . . .

It was a powerful evening, as we watched a movie about a Christian politician, whose vocation was the elimination of slavery and the reformation of manners/morality in England. It was a God-moment as this movie showed the life work (and suffering) of a choice servant of God.

I felt privileged to be in the midst of this group as we were motivated by a historic mentor - William Wilberforce.

I'd also like to recommend that you either watch or revisit Amistad, which is one of the most powerful movies of leadership and passion and justice that I have ever seen. It is the story about the slaveship  Amistad and the slave uprising and the legal battle for their lives. Anthony Hopkins plays President John Adams, now retired, who is enlisted to argue the case before the Supreme Court. Even though the ten minute scene near the end of the movie, is not fully historically accurate, it is VERY POWERFUL and well worth watching.

There are great performances by all the actors and Cinque, the African leader, is extraordinary in the leadership role he portrays. Plus, there is one of the most powerful examples of the power of the biblical story to impact people!!!

Brian Rice

The Power of Biographies (Amazing Grace by Eric Metaxes)

I've had several encounters with Gordon MacDonald over the years. He was a professor at  Gordon-Conwell, one of the favorites I might add. I heard him speak at conferences. Our church, Living Word, has been privileged to have Gordon with us on several occasions.

And, I was fortunate to have Gordon MacDonald as a professor for a  D.Min. course I had at  Bethel Seminary. The course was The Private Life of the Public Person. In preparation for that course, we had to read several biographies. And during the course, Gordon emphasized the importance of regular reading of the best biographies for the formation of our inner life.

I mentioned in a previous blog (see this post) that 2008 is a year when I am doing a lot of leadership work in the area of historic mentors and the insights to be learned from great leaders.

I have just finished Amazing Grace by Eric Metaxas and I can say that reading this book was almost a spiritual experience. I cannot begin to communicate the motivation that Wilberforce was for me to be passionate about Christ and passionate about the cause of Christ. Wilberforce had a mission and calling that were incredibly beyond his reach, yet by God's grace, he was sustained in a lifetime of "battle" to fulfill that calling.

Metaxas writes with such skill and feeling that the reader easily moves into the story of Wilberforce.

I am grateful for his contribution to the world of excellent biographies. Reading his book and watching the movie are a powerful tandem.

Brian Rice

Angry Leaders

Anger is a part of life and leadership. People get angry. Leaders get angry. You get angry. And I get angry as well.

Sometimes anger is in a mild form like irritation or being annoyed with someone or something. Other times anger is full blown - ballistic, going off on someone, powering up and out of control.

Marcia Hughes and James Terrell, in their book, The Emotionally Intelligent Team, believe that leaders must learn the skills of dealing with intense emotions and, particularly, that of anger. They encourge leaders to answer the following three questions:

ONE:  How do we (the team) manage our environment so negative emotions do not get out of hand?

TWO:  How does each team member handle her or his anger in a productive way so as to minimize its eruption in a team?

THREE:  How does the team and the tearm leader respond to anger when it occurs?

Good questions. Leaders, we should be proactive in thinking through these questions and being ready to have good answers.

I've been a part of meetings where anger has been inappropriate and harmful to individuals, to the team, and to the outcomes.

I'll close this post with a few statistics they provide from a survey about negativity in the workplace and how people deal with it.

• 53% of workers said they lost work time worrying about the angry person and if that person will get angry again.
• 37% of workers believe their commitment to the organization or team declined because of the angery incident (often anger directed at the worker).
• 28% lost work time trying to avoid the angry person.
• 10% actually spent less time at the workplace to avoid that person.
• 12% changed jobs to avoid the angry person!

Brian Rice

Culturally Savvy Leaders

Be sure to check out Dick Staub.com on Culturally Savvy Christians for a whole lot more of his thoughts.

The Culturally Savvy Christian by Dick Staub is quite a read! Hard hitting discernment of pop culture and the church's almost total capitulation to that culture. Artist, author, critic, subversive, visionary, prophet, priest, pastor - all rolled up in one.

One of the premises we have in Leadership ConneXtions International is that the leader does all of her or his leadership located in a particular cultural setting. We are more influenced by that contextual situation than we realize. The social location we indwell has a powerful formative role in how we think and lead. Therefore, it is incumbent on leaders to "discern their times and their culture."

I'll admit - it was painful listening to some of the things Staub is saying. The sub-title of his book is a "clue" to what is coming: A Manifesto for Deepening  Faith and Enriching Popular Culture in an Age of Christianity-Lite!

He quotes T.R. Glover's explanation of why the early church had the influence it did:  "The early Christians out-thought, out-lived, and out-died their pagan counterparts." Staub adds, "This certainly cannot be said of pop-Christians."

The early church thought better, deeper, longer and wiser than the pagan world they were in.

The early church lived lives that were of much greater substance, love, purpose and power than their pagan neighbors.

And the early church died with far greater passion, dignity, faith and hope than their cultural peers.

So, all Staub (to the right) is inviting us to (and all that the best leaders will invite their people to) is to out-think, out-live and out-die the fallen culture around us!

Such is the task of leadership.

Brian Rice