In our series on leadership attributes, we now look at the legacy that a leader leaves. I’ve previously written an article titled What Will Your Legacy Be? This article will focus specifically on the legacy that we leave as leaders.
In the Law of Legacy from John Maxwell’s classic book The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, Maxwell writes:
“Every person leaves some kind of legacy. For some it’s positive. For others it’s negative. But here’s what I know: we have a choice about what legacy we will leave, and we must work and be intentional to leave the legacy we want.” Continue reading
Category Archives: Faith and Work
FAITH AND WORK: Connecting Sunday to Monday
Faith and Work News ~ Links to Interesting Articles
- Retirement Mentor: A New Type of Mentor. Hilda R. Davis writes “Consider the idea of connecting to a “retirement mentor” who could influence your next steps and encourage you to flourish and bear fruit as you age.”
- A Leader Worth Following. My new book A Leader Work Following: 40 Key Leadership Attributes and Applications to Masteris available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle editions. Read a sample of the book (found under the book cover in the above link).
- A Reflection on Job Security. Russ Gehrlein writes “Work is always going to be harder than we expect. Major job changes can cause us to be anxious about our loss of income or make us afraid of the unknown. The only thing we can do is to remember that God is with us and has promised to provide for our need to support our family.”
- What We Need to Learn and Unlearn About Work. Renita Reed-Thomson writes “After teaching about the theology of work for twenty years and struggling to truly convey to people the importance of what they do every day, I have found it immensely helpful to compare their work to the understanding of common and saving grace.”
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- More links to interesting articles
- The Top 10 Faith and Work Quotes of the Week
- Faith and Work Book Review ~ Never Stop: Life, Leadership, and What It Takes to Be Great by Dan Hurley and Ian O’Connor
- Quotes from the book Creation Regained: Biblical Basis for a Reformational Worldview by Albert Wolters
Leadership Attributes – Kindness
In our series on leadership attributes, we now look at kindness. All Christians should demonstrate kindness as it is a fruit of the Spirit. In Galatians 5:22-23, Paul tells us what the fruit of the Holy Spirit is:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
I was recently reading the daily devotional reading in Tabletalk magazine, something I have done daily for many years. That article stated that kindness should increase in proportion to the amount of authority and power leaders have. Kindness is especially important for leaders since the Bible warns authority figures not to be harsh with those whom they lead (Ephesians 6:4; Colossians 3:19). The article goes on to say that kindness does not mean that hard words are never necessary. It does mean that when offering correction leaders should seek to build up and not to tear down. Continue reading
FAITH AND WORK: Connecting Sunday to Monday
Faith and Work News ~ Links to Interesting Articles
- The Power of Your Words at Work. Russ Gehrlein writes “The Bible is full of commandments and observations about how we use words. Since this topic is highly relevant for Christians who want to work in such a way that they abide in God’s presence and work for His glory, let me address this from a biblical perspective. I think all of us can use some reminders of how we can use carefully chosen words to convey respect, caring, and truth.”
- Business and the Local Church. Joshua Nangle writes “Effective leadership and business practices should be incorporated in local churches, but not at the expense of robust, biblical ecclesiology. The church as a whole has a God-given design and purpose, and any human attempt, no matter how well-intended, that alters its core characteristics and practices will ultimately hurt it.”
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- More links to interesting articles
- The Top 10 Faith and Work Quotes of the Week
- Faith and Work Book Review ~ Redeeming Work: A Guide to Discovering God’s Calling for Your Career by Bryan Dik
- Quotes from the book Creation Regained: Biblical Basis for a Reformational Worldviewby Albert Wolters
FAITH AND WORK: Connecting Sunday to Monday
Faith and Work News ~ Links to Interesting Articles
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- Investing Billions for the Common Good: A Conversation with Robin John, CEO of Eventide. How far can our impact investing go? What if we evaluated the impacts of companies and products by examining supply chains, employment practices, and second-order effects on customers, communities, and the world? Meet Robin John, co-founder and CEO of Eventide, a Boston-based investment firm. Robin joins Dan on this episode of Working with Dan Doriani, to talk about why our investment decisions matter, and how they might change our different corners of the world.
- Work Hard, Be Humble. Paul Tripp writes “Christians ought to be the hardest workers on earth.”
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- More links to interesting articles
- The Top 10 Faith and Work Quotes of the Week
- Faith and Work Book Review ~ Working Blessedly Forever Volume 1: The Shape of Marketplace Theology by R. Paul Stevens
- Quotes from the book Creation Regained: Biblical Basis for a Reformational Worldview by Albert Wolters
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FAITH AND WORK: Connecting Sunday to Monday
Faith and Work News ~ Links to Interesting Articles
- Key Ways to Increase Our Awareness of God’s Presence at Work. Joshua Nangle writes “Proverbs 3:5-10provides timeless truths for raising our awareness of the presence of God in all of life, including in our work. Several principles can be gleaned from this passage, but there are three that call for attention here. When applied, these principles will help us work with God rather than only working for God. He is Lord, but he desires to work with us in our careers.”
- A Leader Worth Following. My new book A Leader Work Following: 40 Key Leadership Attributes and Applications to Masteris available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle editions. Read a sample of the book (found under the book cover in the above link).
- Your Work Is an Apologetic. Jacqueline Isaacs shares the third installment in a series on work as an apologetic.
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- More links to interesting articles
- The Top 10 Faith and Work Quotes of the Week
- Faith and Work Book Review ~ Why Your Work Matters: How God Uses Our Everyday Vocations to Transform Us, Our Neighbors, and the World by Tom Nelson
- Quotes from the book Creation Regained: Biblical Basis for a Reformational Worldview by Albert Wolters
FAITH AND WORK: Connecting Sunday to Monday
Faith and Work News ~ Links to Interesting Articles
- 3 Ways Jesus Reshapes Our Thinking about the Sabbath. In this video, Guy Waters walks through how Jesus changes the way we view the sabbath.
- What Makes Work Redemptive. Steven Graves asks “How does the gospel shape and inform my work?”
- A Leader Worth Following. My new book A Leader Work Following: 40 Key Leadership Attributes and Applications to Masteris available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle editions. Read a sample of the book (found under the book cover in the above link).
- How Does God Lead Us to Our Calling? In this article, which contains excerpts from his excellent book Immanuel Labor – God’s Presence in our Profession, Russ Gehrlein writes “In my current position as a Department of the Army civilian, I know without a doubt that I am serving exactly where God wants me to be.”
Click on ‘Continue reading’ for:
- More links to interesting articles
- The Top 10 Faith and Work Quotes of the Week
- Faith and Work Book Review ~ Five Mere Christians: Binge-Worthy Biographies That Show You How to Glorify God in Your Work by Jordan Raynor and Kaleigh Cox
- Quotes from the book Working Blessedly Forever, Volume 1: The Shape of Marketplace Theology by R. Paul Stevens
FAITH AND WORK: Connecting Sunday to Monday
Faith and Work News ~ Links to Interesting Articles
- Why Isn’t There a Greek or Latin Term for ‘Theology of Work’? Jacqueline Isaacs writes “When working on a writing project recently, I found myself typing “theology of work” and “faith and work movement” many times. This made me wonder why we don’t have an easier shorthand phrase for this increasingly common area of focus.”
- A Leader Worth Following. My new book A Leader Work Following: 40 Key Leadership Attributes and Applications to Masteris available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle editions. Read a sample of the book (found under the book cover in the above link).
- Faithful Business: ServiceMaster and Organizational Faithfulness in Ordinary Work. Kate Martin writes “Most importantly, ServiceMaster wanted to raise the question of God in the marketplace, seeking to honor God in every word and action.”
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- More links to interesting articles
- The Top 10 Faith and Work Quotes of the Week
- Faith and Work Book Review ~ Faith & Work: Galvanizing Your Church for Everyday Impact by Missy Wallace and Lauren Gill
- Quotes from the book Working Blessedly Forever, Volume 1: The Shape of Marketplace Theology by R. Paul Stevens
FAITH AND WORK: Connecting Sunday to Monday
Faith and Work News ~ Links to Interesting Articles
- Work Matters. Here is Bryan Chapell’s sermon from Ephesians 6:5-9.
- A Leader Worth Following. My new book A Leader Work Following: 40 Key Leadership Attributes and Applications to Masteris available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle editions. Read a sample of the book (found under the book cover in the above link).
- Beware Toxic Servant Leadership. Jacob Crouch writes “A view of servant leadership that strips the actual authority of the one leading removes the truest service of the leader.”
Click on ‘Continue reading’ for:
- More links to interesting articles
- The Top 10 Faith and Work Quotes of the Week
- Faith and Work Book Review ~ The Charismatic Leader: 21 Skills to Connect with People by John Maxwell
- Quotes from the book Working Blessedly Forever, Volume 1: The Shape of Marketplace Theology by R. Paul Stevens
Leadership Attributes: Decision Making
In our series on leadership attributes, we now look at decision making. Good leaders take responsibility and know that when those important and difficult decisions have to be made, “the buck stops here”. They gather all information that is needed to make an informed decision, and they lead with sound judgment. But not all leaders are good at making decisions when it counts the most. Sadly, we saw how poor decision making on our country’s evacuation of Afghanistan resulted in the deaths of thirteen Americans.
Leaders must demonstrate courage in making difficult choices. They should surround themselves with talented team members who can provide them input into those areas where decisions must be made. John Maxwell states that no matter how good of a leader you are, you will always miss some details when making decisions. As a result, you should partner with people who see what you don’t. Leaders should be humble in listening to these advisors, and be willing to change their minds when provided with information. Where I worked, we used to refer to leadership courage. This is where leaders make the difficult decisions, even those that will not be popular but which need to be made. Continue reading