SOURCES&RESOURCES
Books to Consider
Books offering insights on Christian leadership.
Visit the Christian Leadership Alliance Resource Center at christianleadershipalliance.org/recommends for information on other insightful books and websites.
Nonprofit Leadership In A For-Profit World
Essential Insights from 15 Christian Executives
Edited by Dr. David Gyertson and Joseph Krivickas (Standard Publishing, April 2011)
Nonprofit Leadership in a For-Profit World is the first release in the Engstrom Institute (EI) Christian Leadership Series. EI is a knowledge resource center of Christian Leadership Alliance. This must-read book, featuring insights of 15 thought leaders from the world of Christian ministry, explores how the nonprofit and for-profit worlds can influence one another in achieving excellence.
Unleashing the Power of Rubber Bands
Lessons in Non-Linear Leadership
By Nancy Ortberg (Tyndale House, 2008)
Ortberg’s engaging insights examine the qualities, attributes, and non-tangibles that make ordinary leaders extraordinary. Her unique and imaginative approach to motivating team members and managing tensions and conflict will stretch and inspire even the most seasoned leader.
Leadership RE: Vision
Looking at Leadership with a New Set of Eyes
By Jim Seybert (Tyndale House, 2009)
This book sets out to challenge the conventional wisdom and premises of what it means to be a leader. It is about examining your leadership habits from a new perspective and using different standards to measure your success as a leader. Biblically based insight that rattles assumptions and challenges the status quo are also provided.
Leading From The Lions’ Den
Leadership Principles From Every Book of the Bible
By Tom R. Harper (B&H Books, 2010)
As Harper saw what leaders lacked, he considered what might happen if they adopted principles from each book of the Bible. Says Harper, "The Scriptures speak of conflict management, motivation, planning, psychology, persuasion, passion, relationship-building, training, and sacrifice—a myriad of skills every leader needs in his or her toolbox.”
Leading With Love
By Alexander Strauch (Lewis & Roth Publishers, 2006)
Leading with Love offers church leaders and teachers a clear understanding of the Bible’s lessons on love. It will significantly empower your relational skills and enhance your effectiveness in ministry, build a healthier church, and promote evangelism.
Unexplainable
Pursuing a Life Only God Can Make Possible
By Don Cousins (David C. Cook, 2009)
What is the real reason behind your accomplishments—whatever you have become and fulfill in life? Do you have a life of such remarkable quality and impact that others claim, "There really is no explanation for it—except God”? Learning to live in that dimension is what Unexplainable is all about.
Breakfast With Fred
Mentor to a Generation of Leaders
By Fred Smith Sr., edited by Brenda A. Smith (Regal Books, 2007)
Combining Smith’s "Weekly Thoughts” with responses from leaders he influenced, this volume sparks, strengthens, and stretches. Brenda A. Smith says, "My dad mentored high achievers as an operation of his giftedness, not as a vocational pursuit. His business career, writing, speaking, and love of stimulating conversations created a strong platform. Men and women sought his thinking for most of his 92 years.”
You Snooze . . . You Lose!
Thriving in These Turbulent Times!
By Gerald H. Twombly (Development Marketing Associates, 2010)
If as a Christian nonprofit leader you wonder what impact today’s economy will have on you and your world, then you should read this. Twombly explores how these times will produce the next "great generation” of entrepreneurial leaders who will build self-sustaining and immensely profitable enterprises that will shape the future.
The Leadership Challenge
By James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner (Jossey-Bass, 2007)
The Leadership Challenge offers a balance between the theory and practice of effective leadership. The authors identify five leadership practices said to be common to successful leaders. These are: (1) model the way, (2) inspire a shared vision, (3) challenge the process, (4) enable others to act, and (5) encourage the heart.
The Leader’s Legacy
Preparing for Greater Things
By David L. McKenna (Barclay Press, 2006)
McKenna offers career-shaping insights on legacy from his own various senior leadership experiences. Leaders just beginning their journey, as well as those transitioning into retirement, will gain key perceptions for their professional, personal, and spiritual lives.
