Leader

The only fault I would find with this book (and the reason for only four stars) is that it is short in places on reference to Scripture to back up its claims. Our study found support for most (if not all) the claims about leadership through our own study, but the book did not supply it in every place. That may be intentional on the part of the book, but I did not see it stated so.

While this book speaks to leadership in general, our group discussed the principles in relation to our families and found it very helpful in that context. I recommend this book for personal study, but even more for group study.

This new biography of Calvin could only have been written by a Frenchman and Bernard Cottret does a wonderful job. The Calvin who emerges here is a far more complex figure than the cartoon that other historians have drawn. Far from a firebrand, John Calvin was a remote, shy, almost withdrawn figure who had whatever offices he held forced upon him. Geneva had gone in for Reformed Protestantism long before he arrived there and Calvin's Geneva was far from the "theocracy" it is often caricatured as.

Calvin's faults are not papered over; Cottret does not attempt to hide his displeasure at the burning in Geneva of many accused of witchcraft or of the burning of Michael Servetus, for example. But in the case of Servetus which is dealt with extensively here, he points out that Geneva only did what the Roman Church would have done if it had the chance and that Calvin actually cooperated with the Roman Catholic Church in this matter, seeing Rome as less of a threat than certain radical Protestants, rather cutting the ground out from under those who believe Calvin was rabidly anti-Catholic.

All in all, Calvin is an outstanding book that I cannot recommend too highly.

I realize this was written for children, so I won't criticize it for skimming lightly over the issues of Richelieu's life. I will say, though, that at times it paints him in an unnecessarily unflattering light. There are incidents and issues that the book glosses over that would be seen differently if more details were revealed.

For example, there is the recounting of the events of the Day of Dupes. For one thing, the book states the date of this event as November 30th, when really it was the 11th. But beyond that, Richelieu is described as sneaking into the queen mother's room through a secret passage, surprising her and the king in their conversation, and provoking a major outburst from the queen mother. All this indeed happened, but the way it is recounted here makes it sound like Richelieu was up to no good. The author tells us that the cardinal threw himself at the king's feet but neglects to mention that he also burst into tears, which puts a new perspective on things. In fact, throughout the book Richelieu's humanity is barely touched on, and he comes out seeming colder than he really was.

To me it seems like the author has no real love for Richelieu and that she wrote his biography like she was writing a research paper.

A great beginning coach's book.

This book promotes the idea of seeing "giving" as investement in God's mission, which is for the sake of reaching people. And, Callahan suggests that there is a greater "cost" than giving-- that is the "cost" of what we lose when we don't invest in the kingdom-- the cost of rebellious children who are not taught, the cost of marriages that are not healed, the cost of not a community not knowing God. Incredible-- it always goes back to the mission and people-- and how we can invest in the Kingdom.

Chapter 1 is among the best in this book, and details how "mission" actually builds the finances of the church (not that a church does the mission for the finances, but finances to come as a result). More finances provide for a greater investment in mission, which results in more finances, which results in an even greater investment... it's cyclical. And, often, our financial problems in the church MAY result from our missional perspective. That's what I've gathered from the book, and I'm starting to agree with it.

The middle of this book bogs a little, although it does have some practical helpson stewardship campaigns, etc. If you're a church administrator, or the treasurer, chairman of a finance committee, ministry team, etc... you might want to read this one. If you do not directly over see the finances (the nuts and bolts) try reading Callahan's other book on church finances, "Giving and Stewardship in an Effective Church," for it will appeal more to your missional theology (and much of what you find in "Effective Church Finances" is simply a rehash of the other book, some chapters even being copied verbatim).

Dan Hotchkiss, senior consultant for the Alban Institute

This books is an excellent primer on leadership. Pithy. Succint. Only 10 chapters long, this book is a good solid read. I recommend it for all levels, but especially those young, up & comers in your organization.

Among its virtues are terseness, practical aids, and reference to empircially based research. While its use of acronym-style models may not appeal to everyone, the authors mercifully do not push this aspect excessively. Page for page, its ideas are sound, clear and made relevant and applicable.

The book thus quite lives up to its intention of providing a mental model and practical support for "grassroots leadership". Even so, one can expect further advances in such thought, as well as even more popularization capable of absorption by actually "everyone".

This book offers compelling proof that, equipped with proper tools and support, everyone has the potential to be a leader and make a difference. Everyone a Leader is based on a recent study in which 2,000 managers and non-managers from 450 organizations were asked to recall stories and anecdotes about small, often-overlooked turning points in an organization's daily life. These "critical incidents" illustrate the limitless opportunities for any person in an organization to demonstrate good leadership-or poor leadership.

Sixty-eight percent of the incidents described the actions of a manager or supervisor; the rest described non-managers and non-supervisors. The incidents were examined and found to encompass 17 common attributes of leadership. These competencies then were related to five key strategies the authors call the CLIMB model of leader effectiveness:

Create a compelling future. Let the customer drive the organization. Involve every mind. Manage work horizontally. Build personal credibility.

More than a research report A surprisingly large number of the critical incidents described poor leadership. These seemed to indicate that many formal leaders either don't have the needed skills, or aren't aware of the opportunities to "seize the moment." On the other hand, many incidents of "good leadership behavior" came from what the authors call Grassroots Leaders-people in the frontline or in support positions who emerge during critical moments to act as leaders.

Everyone a Leader goes beyond merely reporting the research findings. The book is chock-full of practical how-to's and personal strategies for achieving each of the CLIMB components. Powerful examples from the research underscore each point.

Half the critical incidents were related to the Involve Every Mind strategy described in Chapter Four. And half of these incidents were negative-leaders who minimized individual and team effort, withheld information or missed opportunities to share it, and either sidestepped decisions that could have solved problems or arrived at decisions in a way that made things worse. Most disturbingly, the negative behaviors made a strong and even indelible impression on the respondents but were quickly forgotten by the people who performed them. These leaders were unconsciously poisoning the organization they were supposed to maintain and improve.

Vivid examples of poor leadership described behaviors ranging from thoughtless to rude and even vulgar. The authors show how easily these situations could be turned around using basic people skills: listen, share information, coach, praise, have patience and be persistent. Stressing the importance of gaining active commitment of the entire workforce, this chapter provides in-depth advice on how to win that all-important commitment from peers, subordinates and supervisors.

Even more detail is provided in a "tools" section at the end of the book. The "tools" are step-by-step learning modules that walk the reader through self-improvement activities in the areas addressed in each chapter.

The explore the "emotional labor" required every time someone must make an effort to call up a smile or positive response, or resist the temptation to step in and tell somebody what to do.

The authors provide practical insights into how this works, as well as guidelines for maximizing areas of greatest strength and preparing to assume greater leadership responsibilities.

Grassroots Leadership: tying it all together

Everyone a Leader explores what it means to be a leader in today's organizations-where more and more decisions are getting "pushed down;" where executives, managers, and supervisors are doing more "coaching" and less "directing;" and where employees at every level are taking on broader responsibilities. This book provides theoretical discussion of new directions for leadership; however its most significant contribution rests in the practical how-to tools and leadership "stories" or "critical incidents" that tie the theory to practice.