Spiritual Leadership: Moving People on to God's Agenda

I found this book very engaging and was able to read through it without multiple pickups. By this I mean, that I didn't put it down for a few weeks and then pick it up again. Instead, I read through it in about four days. Overall, the book was very good. The only area I would have liked to have seen greater depth was in the decision making process. This was one of the shorter chapters and I felt the authors could have gone a little deeper here. From a Christian perspective on leadership, this book would definitely be in my top five choices along with The Revolutionary Communicator, The Book on Leadership, Lead Like Jesus, and Christian Reflections on the Leadership Challenge. These other four are fine reads as well.

Having read several leadership books as an Air Force Officer and seminary student, I can honestly say that this is the best book on the subject I have ever read! Blackabay's fluent writing style is consistent with his other titles, notably "Experiencing God" and "The Power of the Call". At the very beginning Blackaby differentiates between worldly leadership and spiritual leadership.Throughout the book Blackaby describes his own leadership experiences and includes interesting stories of famous leaders (Truman, Reagan, Churchill, Thatcher, Napoleon, and Iacocca). As a minister, Blackaby also draws upon several examples from the Bible (Moses, Abraham, Joshua, David, Paul, etc.) and how they prospered and struggled in their God-called responsibilities. Particularly compelling were the descriptions of: the 3 types of worthy and misguided goals, how a leader influences, time wasters, pitfalls of leadership, having God's affirmation, God's ways are different from the world's ways, improving decision-making, taking time for rest, and relying on the Holy Spirit/prayer/God's Word/wise counsel to make and stick with hard decisions.Whenever I read a book I like to list on the inside front covers the page number and synopsis of a particularly interesting point or thought for easy reference. When I finished reading this gem the entire inside front cover was chock full of notes! Needless to say, this text will be referred to several times in the future.Everyone will greatly benefit from this book: the Christian believer will gain great encouragement to lead from a biblical viewpoint while the non-Christian will be encouraged to consider life from the Christian point-of-view. With the failures the world has recently seen in religious and secular leadership, Blackaby's text is a timely arrival. His book is a welcomed relief from the rah-rah-rah motivational hype of other "leadership" books.I recommend anyone in a leadership role (and everyone is a leader in some way) to buy the book, get a pen/pencil to take notes with, and learn how to become a better leader!!!!!

This work by Richard and Henry Blackaby is the absolute best book on leadership I have read. Having recently graduated with a doctorate in evangelism and church growth, and possessing a passion for reading pastoral material, I have read numerous books on leadership. All of them pale in comparison to this volume.The authors focus upon a leader's relationship with God as the key to effective leadership. From this relationship flow a leader's vision, goals, influence, and decision-making. All of the basic leadership principles are covered in this book, but they are addressed from the perspective of one's relationship with God. This perspective is what makes this work so unique and so valuable.I strongly recommend this book to all pastors, church leaders and even to Christian leaders in secular organizations as a "must read." Before reading the volumes of material available from Maxwell, Schaller and other noted leadership authors, try this one! It will transform the way you view leadership as a Christian.

Having recently graduated from a Theological institute with a degree in Leadership, I have come quite well read in the area of Christian/Spiritual Leadership. Richard and Henry Blackaby handle this topic in a fashion unlike any other author. They focus the Christian leader's attention on their own personal life, causing the reader to reflect on their life and their relationship to Christ - and that's where Spiritual leadership begins. In a field inundated with discussion on "Visionary Leadership" the Blackabys remind us of the "vision-giver". We, as Christian leaders "do not sell visions, we share revelations." I would recommend this work to anyone [CEO to pastor, father to deacon] seeking to better their leadership abilities in the Christian arena.

I have been a secular (although I am a Christian) Business Consultant and Leadership Development Consultant for over 14 years and this is BY FAR the best I have yet read. This book has become required reading for ALL of my Leadership Workshops and I have given the books to many Business Leaders as a gift. The Blackaby's have delivered their message in a clear, easy to understand format and totaly absent of the "Author Focus",(diverting the attention to the brilliance of the author rather than the importance of the message)often found in so many contemporary writings. They accurately discribe modern "man made" leadership ideologies and with equal accuracy point to the flaws and shortcommings of those leadership methods. Most all leaders are constantly wrestling with question "why don't more people do what I would like them to do?" and we are forever looking for new and more meaningfull methods by which to lead those entrusted into our care. Simply put, we always are reminded of the shortcommings of our leadership skills, otherwise, why would we be looking for a new book in the first place. The Backaby's challenge all leaders with this dilemna with a simple, yet brilliant question..."What is it about YOUR leadership that makes others NOT WANT to follow you?" Instead of chasing yet another brilliant theory or yet another brilliant method, the authors challenge US... what is at the center of our motivation and what, if anything, is our guidance system? Spiritual Leadership answers that question and brings to life an ideology that will render any future pursuit of a "new way of looking at things", un-necessary. Above and beyond all (the point which literally changed the way I feel, think and teach)they clearly send the message that no matter how brilliant our leadership theories may be, how well read on the subject we all are, how articulate we may be on the subject of leadership and no matter how well intended our leadership efforts may be,if our leadership is not lead by the holy spirit and we as leaders don't ask for his guidance in our roles as leaders...we simply will fall short of where we could be. If a Leader is in fact dedicated to being the absolute most EFFECTIVE leader that he / she would like to be, then this book is an absolute "must read" whether you're a believer or not.