Whether you have a prestigious title or none at all, if you influence someone around you, you are a leader.
Are you a Christian who leads with your hands or your heart?
In their newly-released book, Lead Like Jesus: Lessons from the Greatest Leadership Role Model of All Time, Ken Blanchard and Phil Hodges ask those critical questions.
They assert that the methods adopted by Christians - in the workplace, the community and at home - will have a lasting impact. That means it is vital for followers of the Master Teacher to model the leadership skills he practiced during his earthly ministry.
“Jesus told his disciples if they wanted to lead, they first had to follow,” said Blanchard, a renowned business consultant and the best-selling author of the One Minute Manager and other titles. “It seems a pretty clear mandate.
“If we could get Christians to lead like Jesus, their demonstration of that would be to millions. People would begin to wonder what Christianity was all about.”
Blanchard had that revelation nearly a decade ago, during a leadership exercise with 2,500 pastors from across the country. As the ministers took turns sharing details about their leadership styles, Blanchard was struck by how few referenced Jesus.
Just 10 in the group mentioned Christ, and only another 20 said they practiced servant leadership, he said.
Out of the experience was born The Center for Faithwalk Leadership, an Augusta, Ga.- based nonprofit ministry which now does business as Lead Like Jesus.
