Leadership Lessons from Ted Engstrom, Part 3

At the encouragement of a few friends and fellow General Council members, I am reading through The Making of a Christian Leader by Ted Engstrom. This book was written in 1976 but still resonates with its insights to this day. Talk about retro!

Every week, I will share some quotes and gleanings from my reading for the week. I hope to use this time as an encouragement to myself and to others that being a leader is a calling from Christ and only possible through Christ.




CHAPTER ONE: WHAT IS LEADERSHIP?

"When God creates a leader, He gives him a capacity to make things happen.", p. 19

"...the closest we seem able to come to a broadly acceptable definition of leadership is, it is what leaders do.", p. 19

"...leadership development is the key to...the effective future of the Christian church..." p. 20

"There are three kinds of people in the world - those who don't know what is happening, those who watch what's happening, and those who make things happen." - Nicholas Butler, p. 20

"...swift and clear decision[making] is a mark of true leadership.", p. 20

"It [leadership] is an act by either word or deed to influence behavior toward a desired end.", p. 20

"Men of faith have always been men of action.", p. 20

"Leadership...demands faith.", p. 21

"...they [leaders] perform competently.", p. 21

 Leadership Principles: (p. 21-23)                                                                                       1. Determine your objectives.                                                                                               2. Plan necessary activities.                                                                                                3. Organize the program.                                                                                                    4. Prepare a timetable.                                                                                                        5. Establish control points.                                                                                                  6. Clarify responsibilities and accountability.                                                                     7. Maintain channels of communication.                                                                            8. Develop cooperation.                                                                                                      9. Resolve problems.                                                                                                          10. Give credit where credit is due.

 Distinctives between Leadership and Management: (p. 23)                                                          1. Leadership is a quality; Management is a science and art.                                             2. Leadership provides vision; Management supplies realistic perspectives.                     3. Leadership deals with concepts; management relates to function.                                 4. Leadership exercises faith; Management has to do with fact.                                         5. Leadership seeks effectiveness; Management strives for efficiency.                              6. Leadership is influence; Management is accomplishment.                                              7. Leadership provides direction; Management is concerned about control.                     8. Leadership is about opportunity; Management is about accomplishment. 

"...[A] leader [is]...one who guides activities of others and who himself acts and performs to bring those activities about.", p. 24

Join me in learning with the next post on Chapter 2 (The OT and Leadership) of this book.