On this Easter weekend and following Good Friday, we Christians are reflective and grateful that Jesus Christ prayed, “Thy will be done,” recognizing the agonizing death he died as a direct result of our sins.
That sentiment is echoed by Peter Danilchick, who points out, “The fundamental goal of Christian leadership is the simple statement in the Lord’s Prayer: ‘Thy will be done.’” Danilchick has been a deacon in the Orthodox Church for forty years, serving in varied cultures across six different countries. (Check out his site for additional information at https://www.christianleadership.co/.)
While he was educated as an engineer, Danilchick’s work life took him to international business development, negotiations, and management. Most of his responsibilities involved supervision, management, planning, and leadership as an executive for ExxonMobil–one of the world’s largest global corporations.
Danilchick wrote Thy Will Be Done: Strategic Leadership, Planning, and Management for Christians, pointing out that Christian leadership is the conscious working together in faith and in love, in a community of fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, to do God’s will on earth as it is in heaven, and to attain to the kingdom of God, in the love of the God the Father, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the communion of the Holy Spirit.
Danilchick observed that people often make an artificial distinction between leadership, planning, and management. However, when considered strategically, these three fundamental tasks overlap considerably and one implies much of the other two.
And he goes on to point out that strategic planning is the subset of leadership that establishes proper direction, objectives, desired actions, and mileposts.
Let’s explore his advice on Strategic Leadership, Planning, and Management for Christians.
Click here for a summary of Danilchick’s Thy Will Be Done