Spiritual Leadership Principles

Principles of Spiritual Leadership

Lesson 1: Introduction to Spiritual Leadership

A. Definition of Leadership

(Extract from “A Leadership Training Manual for the 21st Century Church Leader Based on the Pattern and Principles Jesus Created to Train the Twelve Apostles” by Gregory B. Baxter)

1) Leadership is “the behaviour of an individual when he is directing the activities of a group toward a shared goal.” (Hemphill & Coons, 1957)

2) Leadership is “interpersonal influence, exercised in a situation, and directed, through the communication process, toward the attainment of a specified goal or goals.” (Tannenbaum, Weschler, & Massarik, 1961)

3) Leadership is “the process of influencing the activities of an organized group toward goal achievement.”

(Jacobs & Jaques, 1990).

According to Gary Yuhl, leadership is defined broadly as influence processes affecting the interpretation of events for followers, the choice of objectives for the group or organization, the organization of work activities to accomplish the objectives, the motivation of followers to achieve the objectives, the maintenance of cooperative relationships and teamwork, and the enlistment of support and cooperation from people outside the group or organization.

Leadership has been defined differently throughout the years. The common element of all the definitions is influence in a relationship or group. There are different ways, manners, and means to exercise this influence depending on the particular situation. This course will focus on the subject matter at hand; leadership in the Church.

B. Leadership and the

Leadership “begins with God himself as the ultimate model of leadership. The underlying premise is that, throughout the Bible, God has demonstrated principles for leadership that can be used profitably by all people who are in a position to lead others –whether in business or ministry, in the school or in the home.” (Ken Boa)

4. “Transforming leaders are those who are able to divest themselves of their power and invest it in their followers in such a way that others are empowered, while the leaders themselves end with the greatest power of seeing themselves reproduced in others.” (Leighton Ford)

5. “What is Christian leadership? It is leadership motivated by love and given over to service.” (Ted Engstrom and Ed Dayton)

6. “A Christian leader is someone who is called by God to lead; Leads with and through Christlike character; and demonstrates the functional competencies that permit effective leadership to take place.” (George Barna)

7. Quoting John Mott spiritual, leadership is: “Leadership in the sense of rendering maximum service; leadership in the sense of the largest unselfishness; in the sense of full-hearted absorption in the greatest work of the world: building up the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Oswald Sanders.

8. “Leadership is influence – nothing more, nothing less.” (John