Coram Deo ~

Looking at contemporary culture from a Christian worldview

The Leadership Lessons of Jesus: A Timeless Model for Today’s Leaders by Bob Briner and Ray Pritchard

The Leadership Lessons of Jesus: A Timeless Model for Today’s Leaders by Bob Briner and Ray Pritchard. B&H Books. 244 pages. 1997
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In this book, written from the perspective of Bob Briner, the Gospel of Mark is used to teach the leadership lessons of Jesus – the greatest leader history has known – in seventy-five short chapters. The authors tell us that human leaders come and go, but the legacy of Jesus has grown greater with the passing of each century. They believe the leadership principles Jesus embodied are applicable in any area, whether an office, a school, a small business, a multinational corporation, or a volunteer organization, and I agree with that.
This is an enjoyable book on the leadership of Jesus, though certainly not a deep dive. It could be read as a normal book, or devotionally, where  you read one of the short chapters each day.
Here are twenty-five of my favorite quotes from the book:

  • God has specific plans for each one of us, and we must do our best to determine what they are and submit to them.
  • Leaders are always teachers. To be an effective long-range leader, you must teach with authority. You must be prepared. You must know what you are talking about.
  • A leader’s words, as vitally important as they are, will only go so far and impact so many unless they truly represent the reality in his or her life.
  • A leader is disciplined. If you expect discipline among your followers and lack it in your own life, your followers will first lose respect for you and then grow to resent you.
  • Prayer and solitude do not cut into a leader’s time or lessen his or her effectiveness; rather, they add to and multiply that effectiveness.
  • A good manager makes the existing system work to his or her advantage; a good leader questions the system, making the changes necessary for improvement.
  • Unity is essential. Don’t be afraid to eliminate the source of disunity from your enterprise. It’s your responsibility as a leader.
  • Leaders are called to faithfulness more than they are called to success.
  • Leaders need to be aware of the effect they have on those they lead.
  • Nothing will raise a leader in the eyes of his followers more than when he or she effectively handles a crisis.
  • Great leadership is responsive leadership acting on quality information.
  • The ideal leader combines vision with the kind of common sense that makes his vision a reality.
  • The best leaders are the most thankful people on earth because they realize that everything they have is a gift from God.
  • An effective leader understands his mission, is able to articulate it, and keeps both himself and his followers from getting diverted.
  • A wise leader will resist the impulse to do things himself in favor of allowing his followers to learn and grow by doing it.
  • It is important for leaders to understand that it is not only immediate results which count but also the long-range impact the results will have.
  • A quality leader often leads his troops into battle. He doesn’t always just send them.
  • Wise leaders understand that in every human endeavor of any scope or magnitude, there will be tough times. Difficulties will occur.
  • A leader cannot—and should not—tolerate disloyalty.
  • Maintaining focus is one of the most important ongoing responsibilities of leadership.
  • Nothing harms an enterprise and those involved in it more than the unfaithfulness of a leader.
  • Every leader needs to be able to make the enterprise’s purpose known and meaningful.
  • True leadership is not a matter of having a title, a position, or an overwhelming personality. Leadership is first and foremost a matter of the heart.
  • Leaders are the people who show the way because they have a clear sense of where they’re going.
  • True leaders take time for people.