Leadership Prayers (book review)

August 24, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

There are few things that will lead someone to prayer more than being placed in a leadership position! To help leaders pray, Richard Kriegbaum offers some powerful prayers in his book (appropriately titled) Leadership Prayers.

One of the best ways to learn how to pray is to stop talking about prayer and simply start praying. This is one of the things I appreciated about this book. You won’t find sections on why leaders should pray, or even how they should prayer. You will simply find prayers.

Each chapter in Leadership Prayers is devoted to a particular leadership challenge. From leading change in the organization, to dealing with a board of directors, to casting vision, to handling disappointment. Each chapter presents a short verse of Scripture, and then dives right into a prayer. Finally, each chapter is concluded with Mr. Kriegbaum’s reflection on how he learned to pray that particular prayer.

Short. Sweet. Practical. Helpful.

I liked this book a lot!

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Be A People Person (book review)

August 16, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

John Maxwell’s insights into leading people perpetually astound me. He always finds such simple ways to explain what I know I should already be doing. In one of his earliest books, Be A People Person, I (re)discovered some more great people principles.

Be A People Person perfectly describes this book: It’s all about being a person who is trusted and accepted by other people. This, in turn, puts this people-person in a place to be an effective leader. So Dr. Maxwell talks about confidence, motivation, encouragement, empathy, trustworthiness, mentorship, and so many other people principles.

Because this was one of his earlier books, I see many of the seed thoughts that have become books in their own right later on. But that still didn’t take away from the refreshing insights that I uncovered.

Unless you are a solitary hermit, there is so much to discover in this book to help you grow stronger and more effective relationships with family members, coworkers, and friends.

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Whale Done (book review)

August 15, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

I love the business and intra-personal insights that Ken Blanchard shares in all of this books. In Whale Done, I learned from Sea World’s Shamu how I can inspire people to better performance.

Following the story of a frustrated business manager, husband, and father, Ken shows us how catching people doing something right is the key to turning around performance. And in the process, we also create more pleasant work and home environments. Ken’s premise is simple:

“The more attention you pay to a behavior, the more it will be repeated. …If you don’t want to encourage poor behavior, don’t spend a lot of time on it.”

Instead of focusing on what someone is doing wrong, we should be looking for opportunities to say to others, “Whale Done!” In other words, put the bulk of our energy into encouraging people to keep doing the right things, by redirecting our energy away from the mistakes.

It’s revolutionary, but it’s also very exciting. As soon as I finished reading Whale Done, I immediately handed it to my wife and said, “You’ve got to read this!” And I would say the same thing to all parents, pastors, teachers, and business leaders.

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Leadership Is & Isn’t

July 6, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

“Does it make you a king to have more and more cedar? … [Your father] defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know Me?” declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 22:15-16)

Leadership has both an IS and ISN’T component.

Leadership isn’t about me.
Leadership isn’t about getting comfortable.
Leadership isn’t about getting.
Leadership isn’t about a title or perks.
 
Leadership is about others.
Leadership is about being uncomfortable with the discomfort of others.
Leadership is about giving.
Leadership is about serving.

True leaders know God and show God to others.

UPDATE: So many of these thoughts were the seed thoughts for topics I elaborate on in my book Shepherd Leadership: The Metrics That Really Matter.

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Empowering The Team

June 22, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

In reading Leadership Is Dead, one passage particularly stood out to me:

“The wise leader understands that sharing the burden benefits the entire team over the long term. Empowering others makes tasks manageable while also allowing team members to sharpen their skills and build upon their strengths. When a leader refuses to share the load, he brings disservice to the organization because those on his team are not allowed to develop their own leadership skills, and the next generation of leaders are not developed properly for future organizational success.”

Think back to the first two kings in Israel’s history: Saul and David. Both stood out from everyone around them as a strong leader. But only one of them left behind a lasting leadership legacy.

Both Saul and David had men who were immediately attracted to them. Saul was surrounded by valiant men, while David was surrounded by society’s rejects. But clearly David was an empowering leader, and Saul was not. Want proof?

The Bible gives a lengthy list of David’s mighty men, along with quite a résumé of their heroic accomplishments. The list of Saul’s mighty men is: .

I think David was secure in the fact that God called him to lead, while Saul was constantly second-guessing.

  • This made David generous, and Saul jealous.
  • David liberated his men, and Saul contained his men.
  • David encouraged, and Saul controlled.

In the end: David left a legacy, and Saul did not.

What kind of leader do you want to be?

UPDATE: Being secure to serve is one of the main points I tackle in my book Shepherd Leadership: The Metrics That Really Matter. Check out this short clip—

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Leadership Is Dead (book review)

June 21, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

It’s not that we don’t need leaders anymore; actually, we need more leaders. But we also need the right kind of leaders. It is exactly those right kinds of leaders that Jeremie Kubicek calls upon in Leadership Is Dead: How Influence Is Reviving It.

Many leadership books tend to be very head-oriented. That is, most leadership books give you the how to’s. Jeremie takes a different approach. Instead of leading with the how to’s, he leads with the why. From the opening chapter Jeremie wants his readers to look deep inside to find out why they want to be a leader, or a better leader. Then once that is firmly in mind, he begins to dismantle all of the self-serving motivations, and replace them with the ultimate tool for effective leadership: influence.

In many ways this book is as much a people-skills book as it is a leadership book. But, after all, unless you are leading sheep, you need to know about interacting with people. Rest assured, Leadership Is Dead is not a touchy-feely book; it is an in-your-face confrontation about doing reviving true leadership.

The last chapter is called “Why You Probably Won’t Do This.” In this chapter, Jeremie says, “Most leaders never reach the levels of significant influence because their instincts for self-preservation are too strong.” And then he adds, “True influence comes when you change yourself to change the world.”

Do you want to make a lasting impact on your world? It starts when you can make the changes in yourself that will lead to greater levels of influence on those around you. Because in order to change your world, you’re going to need a lot of help from a lot of other people! This book can help.

(Special thanks to Michael Hyatt for selecting me as a winner on his blog, so that I could get a copy of this book. And thank you as well to Howard Books for making these books available to Michael Hyatt.)

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Leadership Gold (book review)

June 8, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

I thoroughly enjoy John Maxwell’s books, as they have opened my eyes to leadership principles more than any other author. And the “duet” of Leadership Gold and Go For Gold easily fit into the category of extremely helpful.

As I pondered it, I think what I appreciate most about Dr. Maxwell’s books is his level of affirmation. He challenges me to get better as a leader by showing me how I can do it. He encourages me to build on what I already know, and keep on growing. He helps me see what I can become and can accomplish as a God-fearing leader.

Leadership Gold is made up of 26 leadership lessons that Dr. Maxwell has learned over decades of leading. Each lesson comes with his personal example — sometimes failures, sometimes successes — along with actionable steps the reader can take. At the end of each lesson there are both application and mentoring exercises. To dig deeper into each lesson, the companion Go For Gold is a short reading for each day of the week that corresponds with the lesson in Leadership Gold. Combined, these books are a powerful one-two punch!

If you are in a leadership position, or if you aspire to be an effective leader, I can highly recommend these two books to you.

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Leadership Tension

June 7, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

Along time ago I was studying the virtues that the Greek philosophers taught. To the Greeks, the virtue was considered the “golden mean” between two opposite extremes. It was the ability to balance the tensions that produced the virtue.

In areas where I have leadership responsibilities, I try to find the virtue of leadership as the balance between these two tensions:

  • Here is a trustworthy saying: Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task. (1 Timothy 3:1)
  • Should you then seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them. (Jeremiah 45:5)

On the one side: desire leadership. On the other side: don’t desire leadership. Do your best at it, but be ready to give it up.

I love this statement on leadership from John Maxwell—

Leadership is the willingness to put oneself at risk.
Leadership is the passion to make a difference with others.
Leadership is being dissatisfied with the current reality.
Leadership is taking responsibility while others are making excuses.
Leadership is seeing the possibilities while others are seeing the limitations.
Leadership is the readiness to stand out in a crowd.
Leadership is an open mind and an open heart.
Leadership is the ability to submerge your ego for the sake of what is best.
Leadership is evoking in other the capacity to dream.
Leadership is inspiring others with a vision of what they can contribute.
Leadership is the power of one harnessing the power of many.
Leadership is your heart speaking to the hearts of others.
Leadership is the integration of heart, head, and soul.
Leadership is the capacity to care, and in caring, to liberate the ideas, energy and capacity of others.
Leadership is the dream made reality.
Leadership is, above all, courageous.

I am trying to balance the pulls of leadership, but while I do I’m loving the leadership tension!

UPDATE: This idea of leadership tension became one of the key seed thoughts for my book Shepherd Leadership: The Metrics That Really Matter. 

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MacArthur (book review)

May 16, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

General Douglas MacArthur was popularly called “America’s General,” and Mitchell Yockelson’s biography—MacArthur: America’s General—does an admirable job in telling us how he earned this well-deserved moniker.

(As an aside: I have really enjoyed all of the books in the Thomas Nelson Generals series. You can read my reviews of George S. Patton here, and Robert E. Lee here.)

MacArthur’s influence is still being felt at West Point as we train our future military officers, and around the world, where General MacArthur had a prominent role in three wars. And, if his advice about Vietnam had been heeded, perhaps his influence would have extended through four wars.

How did he achieve such prominence? It’s the classic debate: are great leaders born or made? In Douglas MacArthur’s case the answer is a resounding “Yes!” Yes, he was born into a family with a strong military heritage. MacArthur certainly benefited from the influence of his grandfather (a judge), his father (a decorated, combat veteran and general), and his mother (who used her charm to sway many influential people). But these family members could only open doors; it was up to MacArthur to march through them.

And, yes, march through them he did! At every opportunity he pressed forward. Sometimes with unconventional tactics, sometimes in opposition to his leadership, and sometimes through sheer willpower. But the results speak for themselves: Without a General Douglas MacArthur to lead our troops in perilous times, the outcome in three wars could have been disastrously different.

The United States of America is viewed as the world’s superpower (and rightly so). It is very likely that without MacArthur’s influence we would not be the prominent power that we are now. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to God for blessing us with the MacArthur family.

A lively and informative read for military buffs and students of leadership. Highly recommended!

I am a Thomas Nelson book reviewer.

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Who’s Following?

March 16, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

I have a rather large segment of my library dedicated to leadership books. They cover everything from team building, to personal leadership, to leading a non-profit organization, to leading a for-profit company. One of the recurring teachings goes something like this:

If you want a picture of your leadership, look at who’s following you.

Do you buy that?

I thought I did, but then I read this:

Later, Levi invited Jesus and His disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. (There were many people of this kind among Jesus’ followers.)

Maybe these tax collectors and other disreputable sinners were attracted to Jesus because they could tell how much He loved them.

So I have to ask myself, “How many ‘disreputable sinners’ are hanging around me?” Maybe I need to take another look at my heart for the lost.

How about you?

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