The Top Ten Mistakes Leaders Make

In a month focused on the Discipline of Confession, I thought it was appropriate to take a look at Hans Finzel’s book The Top Ten Mistakes Leaders Make. (Check out my previous post of his book The Top Ten Leadership Commandments here.)

As Finzel put it, “Leadership can be dangerous. The greater our sphere of leadership influence, the higher our impact on the world around us. And the more people we lead, the greater the potential damage caused through our poor decisions and actions. This is one of the sobering realities we must face when we accept the mantle of leadership.”

Few prepare themselves or volunteer for leadership.  In fact, most people fall into leadership more by accident than by design.

The average leader faces at least five problems in learning to lead.  Today’s leaders:

  1. Replicate the poor leadership habits they have observed in others.
  2. Often lack basic skills for common leadership demands.
  3. Lack good models and mentoring.
  4. Lack formal training in leadership.
  5. Suffer confusion over the conflict between secular and biblical leadership values.

Leaders have incredible power for good or ill in people’s lives. A few control the destiny of many. The privilege of leadership is a high calling…and an adventure!

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Corporate Discipline #1: Confession

In Richard Foster’s Celebration of Discipline, he introduces the Discipline of Confession as the first Corporate Discipline.  You may ask, “How is it that confession is listed under the Corporate Disciplines? I thought this was a private matter between the individual and God.”

Frankly, the answer is not “either/or,” but “both/and.”

Biblical teaching—underscored in the Reformation—pointed out what Paul said in 1 Timothy 2:5, “There is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”  In addition, James 5:16 says to “confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another…”  This teaching seems newly appreciated in our day.  Both of these teachings are from Scripture, and neither need exclude the other.

As Dietrich Bonhoeffer once wrote, “Our brother…has been given to us to help us. He hears the confession of our sins in Christ’s stead and he forgives our sins in Christ’s name. He keeps the secret of our confession as God keeps it. When I go to my brother to confess, I am going to God.”

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