• Four Points on Faith and Work from Tim Keller’s Book Every Good Endeavor. Matt Perman is reading my favorite book no faith and work. He shares Here are four central points from his overall summary of the book.
• John Maxwell on Influence. In this “Minute with Maxwell” John Maxwell discusses that influence means.
• The Most Popular TED Talks of All Time. I would particularly recommend the talks by Susan Cain and Simon Sinek.
• Balancing Life: How to Stretch Time and Add More to Your Plate. On this podcast, Andy Andrews answers a question about balancing the items in your life and how to know when you’ve taken on too much.
• Live Homeless, Homesick, and Free. Jon Bloom of Desiring God writes “Our vocations are not our home. We often spend the first half of our lives preparing for our life’s work, and then spend the second half of our lives trying to figure out why our life’s work is not working out the way we hoped, or why it went so wrong, or what we weren’t more effective, or why it was so hard.”
• Truth and Reconciliation. Enjoy this excerpt from Steven Garber’s fine book Vissions of Vocation. Garber was the speaker at my graduation from Covenant Seminary last May.
• How to Run a Meeting that’s Not Terrible. Patrick Lencioni shares how to run a meeting that your participants won’t dread.
• The Fastest Way to Get Clarity about Your Future. Michael Hyatt shares a simple, five-step process that helped him regain his clarity and move forward.
• Vocational Discipleship: Helping Men Find Their Callings. Here’s an interview with Jeff Dunbar, Director at Sons of Encouragement, a ministry that helps men discover their gifts, calling and passions.
• How to Find Joy and Meaning in Your Work. Charlie Self writes “Whether we labor in factories or fields, in executive suites or classrooms, as stay-at-home parents or volunteers for charities and missions — we are “full-time ministers” for Christ. Because God is the source of our joy, knowing our work pleases the Lord will fuel inner satisfaction.”
• 2 Essential Behaviors of the Best Leaders. Dr. Alan Zimmerman writes “In truth, leadership has EVERYTHING to do with behavior. If you BEHAVE in certain ways, you can and will be a good leader.”
• Six Things That Can Hide Bad Leadership. Phil Cooke writes “Over the years, I’ve encountered some terrible leaders – many times in situations where their employees and coworkers actually thought they were a genius. Maybe you’ve experienced that as well. I started thinking I was an idiot, and it bothered me for a long time, until I realized that there are some key situations and cultures to watch for in organizations that can actually hide bad leadership.  Here’s the six most damaging.”
• For the sake of the world: A Lenten meditation. From Steven Garber, who delivered the address at my graduation at Covenant Seminary last May.
• Leading with Joy. In discussing leadership, Larry Osborne writes “The fact is, ever since the Fall, every vocation has been riddled with hardship and difficulties. There’s not a garden without weeds.”
• John Maxwell on Follow-Up. In this “Minute with Maxwell” John Maxwell looks at what it means to Follow-Up.
• Is Your Life Like Your Closet? C Patton writes “We don’t allow our faith to enter our workplace for the same reason. Or it might be that we feel our faith will limit our ability to do business profitably. Surely God would not want that, right? Work is for Monday through Friday, family on Saturday, and we give God our Sundays. That is the way it has always been.”
• Great Places to Work: MHBT, an Interview with Bill Henry Bill Peel writes “Founded in 1996, MHBT is one of the largest independent insurance firms in Texas and is among the top 50 Independent brokers in the U.S., serving clients from offices in Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, Lubbock, and Midland. MHBT is consistently recognized as one of the best companies to work for regionally and nationally and their culture has propelled them to the forefront of their industry. They are committed to develop leaders by empowering all of their employees to excel within a framework of mutual respect, commitment to integrity, and dedication to collaborative planning and problem solving.”
• Walking with Giants. John Maxwell writes about his new book Wisdom from Women in the Bible, which will be available on March 3.
• Destroying the Success Ethic. Matt Perman writes “We cannot evaluate whether God is blessing someone simply by their outward success and circumstances. We have to look at character and obedience.” He then offers some helpful related quotes from Leland Ryken’s book Redeeming the Time: A Christian Approach to Work and Leisure.

• Why the Church Should Excel in Developing Leaders. Eric Geiger writes “No one should outpace the church in developing leaders because no one else has the assurance that their contribution will last, that their leadership will matter eternally. No other gathering of people, no other organization, will stand the test of time. Companies that have been declared successful are no longer in existence. Organizations falter as quickly as they rise.”
• How Can Work in the Church and Marketplace be Equally Important? Matt Perman writes “It is an important truth that work in the marketplace is just as important as work in the church.”
• John Maxwell on Change. In this “Minute with Maxwell”, John Maxwell looks at the word change
• Followers First, Leaders Second. This short devotion from Lead Like Jesus helps us to remember that our identity is firmly rooted in Christ, not in our leadership positions.
• Eight Signs of Fearful Leadership. Thom Rainer writes “All of us are subject to moments of fear in our various leadership roles. Can we overcome those moments? Better yet, are there signs or indicators to serve as cautions? I believe there are at least eight such tendencies in fearful leaders. And if we are manifesting any of these, we need an immediate behavioral change.”
• Six Dangerous Explosive Devices Leaders Can Step On. Dave Kraft shares six of them that amount to dangerous thinking that leaders can step on causing great personal and organizational harm.
• 7 Intangible, Seemingly Unproductive Actions Valuable in Leadership. Ron Edmondson writes “Every good leader I know specializes in intangible actions that don’t always produce visible, immediate results”, and then shares some examples from his own leadership.
• 10 Keys for a Great Team. Brad Lomenick writes “There are lots of qualities that make up a great team, but thought I would point out ten that seem to be consistently evident across the board.”
• The Fastest Way to Get Clarity About Your Future. Michael Hyatt shares a simple, five-step process that helped me regain my clarity and move forward.
• The Future of Work Podcast. Bob Chapman writes “Human beings aren’t meant to be managed; they’re meant to be led – by leaders. Jacob Morgan, a contributor to Forbes, and author of The Future of Work: Attract New Talent, Build Better Leaders, and Create a Competitive Organization and The Collaborative Organization recently discussed with me the difference between leadership and management for his Future of Work podcast.”

 

 Faith and Work Book Clubs – Won’t you read along with us?

The Conviction to Lead Book Club

The Conviction to Lead: 25 Principles for Leadership That Matters by Albert Mohler

We’re reading this excellent book from Albert Mohler, one of the best that I’ve read on leadership. It is broken down into 25 relatively short chapters. Won’t you read along with us? This week we look at Chapter 8.

Chapter 8 ~ Leaders Are Teachers: The Effective Leader Is the Master Teacher Within a Learning Organization

• Teachers change the way we see the world, and they often change the way we understand ourselves.
• The leader who wants to effect long-term, lasting, determinative change in an organization has to be its lead teacher, changing minds in order to transform the organization.
• The leader who makes the greatest impact will be a master teacher who trains leaders at every level in the organization to teach with faithfulness, enthusiasm, and confidence.
• We want to change the world by changing the way people think and then deploying them through organizational structures that set them loose in the world to accomplish great things. Leaders are the catalysts for making that happen.
• We do not take up the responsibility of leadership without exposing ourselves to the higher standard of God’s judgment. In the secular world, leaders worry about the judgment of stockholders and stakeholders. Politicians worry about the verdict of history. As Christian leaders we know that we will face nothing less than a divine judgment on our leadership.
• First, the teacher loves those he will teach.
• Second, Augustine taught that the teacher must love what he teaches.
• The third but most important thing that Augustine reminded Christian leaders was that we teach because we first love Christ, who first loved us.
• The old theologian specified that the goal of teaching is to see every student instructed, delighted, and moved.
• Those we lead must be instructed so that they know what they need to know in order to be effective. They cannot be faithful followers and make their contribution to the organization if they lack the necessary knowledge.
• Leadership happens when followers develop nothing less than delight in knowing the convictions that shape the organization, seeing themselves as a part of the organization’s story, and finding themselves in its narrative. They develop their own passions within the organization and its mission, and their delight and excitement becomes contagious to others.
• The most effective leaders are unstoppable teachers. They teach by word, example, and sheer force of passion. They transform their corporations, institutions, and congregations into learning organizations. And the people they lead are active learners who add value and passion to the work.
• To lead with conviction is to seize the role of the teacher with energy, determination, and even excitement.
• Leaders want to see every member of the organization learn what must be done, and why. Leaders are not satisfied until every individual understands the mission, embraces it, and brings others into it.