Archives For Books & Quotes

Book Bite: Who Is This Man?

December 6, 2012 — 1 Comment

Are you looking for a great Christmas gift for under $15 that is stimulating, lightweight, enduring and captures the true meaning of Christmas? You might consider Who Is This Man?: The Unpredictable Impact of the Inescapable Jesus by John Ortberg.

I am finding it a great slow read. Ortberg has done his homework and uses his humor well. He helps us connect the dots between seemingly unrelated events in history to see God’s amazing love and plan for the nations unfold through the life of Jesus Christ. For instance, in our viral age of “bigger, better, faster, more,” we probably wouldn’t even notice if someone attempted to launch a worldwide movement by spending three years with a few men and women in near obscurity. Ortberg observes:

At the end of their time together, they had not caused much of a stir. If you could have been there on the day after he died, if you could have seen the Roman Empire with its Pax Romana and its 250,000 miles of roads and its extension from Asia to Africa to Europe and its history of dominance and its social status that was envied throughout the Mediterranean…. And then if you could have seen a few dozen failed, frightened, demoralized, defeated, confused former followers of an executed carpenter … If someone had asked you to place a bet on which group would still be around in two thousand years, all the smart money would have been placed on the Roman Empire. Which is as extinct as the dodo bird. Who was this man?

Before you spend good money on a gift for a friend or family member, consider this option. After all, this Man is the reason for the season.

 

In Books & Quotes, Culture, Leadership
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Reading Week

July 20, 2012 — 5 Comments

“Leaders are readers, and readers are leaders.”
- Prof. Howard Hendricks

I can still hear Prof’s exhortation ringing in my ears from a class I took from him 25 years ago. Broad reading is crucial to expand one’s leadership horizons. Others agree. Oswald Sanders devotes an entire chapter to “The Leader and Reading” in his classic Spiritual Leadership.

It has been my practice for about the past ten years to devote a week every six months to some serious reading. Of course, like you, I’m reading all the time. Reading week is different, though. It’s a week devoid of meetings, appointments, or any pressure to respond to emails. This mini-sabbatical gives me an opportunities to prayerfully pursue new ideas. This type of mental and spiritual renewal is crucial for successful leadership, otherwise I can easily get bogged down in groupthink or “well, we’ve always approached it such and such a way.”

Just to be clear, I never feel compelled to read every page in a book. Most printed books published today are designed to sell copy and need 200-300 pages to justify the publisher’s cost. The author’s core idea can usually be found in the Preface and Chapter 1, with some really good support sprinkled through the remaining chapters. Much of the rest is filler. If a brief scan of the first 25% of the book doesn’t reward my time or bring new ideas, the book will probably go into the trash can or deleted from my iPad. Life’s too short to read average books.

Here’s the stack I’ll be working through this week, Lord willing, for a few hours each day. Some are new to me, others will be reviewed for key ideas that seem relevant to the next season of ministry.

I’ll read quickly, lingering where I feel like it. I’ll highlight, underline, annotate, and dog-ear like crazy. I won’t feel guilty if I don’t make it through the whole stack. This week is for me and my own development. Above all, I’ll keep the words of the Preacher in mind: “But beyond this, my son, be warned: the writing of many books is endless, and excessive devotion to books is wearying to the body” (Ecclesiastes 12:12).

How do you approach reading for your personal development?

 

In Books & Quotes, Leadership
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My Thesis: A Paradigm for 21st Century Global Leaders

June 8, 2012 — 5 Comments

Do you wake up every day with a calling to lead people you can’t physically see or touch?

Do you regularly engage in team or project work with people from other cultures?

Do you long for the hype of “leader as omnipotent hero” to give way to a more authentic model of “leader as servant?”

If you answered yes to one or more of these questions, you may be interested in scanning through “Servant Leadership Across Distance and Cultures: A New Paradigm for 21st Century Global Leaders.” Catchy title, I know. Such is the nature of academic work. You can also find my thesis on the Downloads tab on my blog. I’d love your feedback.

Here’s the Abstract …

This project addresses the lack of a distance leadership paradigm to adequately prepare servant leaders who are capable of leading well across distance and cultures within Campus Crusade for Christ’s (CCC) global level of leadership.

Research explored three aspects of leadership: servant leadership, distance leadership, and cross-cultural leadership. First, servant leadership builds on and surpasses other leadership models for global work because it seeks first to serve and develop others into mature, autonomous leaders who will, in turn, serve others. Robert Greenleaf’s test for increasing personal autonomy in servant leadership is essential in distance leadership because close supervision is impossible and counterproductive to organizational effectiveness. Second, effective distance leaders learn to overcome relational distance by using advanced communications technology to build and sustain trusting relationships with followers, partners, and other leaders. Third, effective global leaders grow in self-awareness of their own cultural bias and learn how to manage cultural diversity by studying, respecting, and dialoguing about cultural differences.

Field interviews and group discussions with more than 80 of CCC’s global leaders highlighted personal humility and building trusting relationships as two keys to effectively leading across distance and cultures. Helps and hindrances were identified in three categories: communication-rich relationships, integrity and trustworthiness in personal character, and leadership competence in using advanced communications technology. Findings strongly supported biblical servant leadership examples of Jesus Christ and the apostle Paul, Kathleen Patterson’s servant leadership virtuous construct, and the GLOBE study of 62 societies’ culturally endorsed leadership theory (CLT).

The researcher presents a new paradigm for 21st century global leaders.

I welcome your feedback at kcochrum@gmail.com.

 

In Books & Quotes, Culture, Leadership, Productivity, Teamwork
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