Christian Leadership Archives - Page 163 of 164

Giving Thanks for My Faith, Family, and Fun in 2013!

“Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.”

—Melody Beattie, self-help author of Codependent No More

A few years ago, we created a Family Mission Statement to help guide our priorities and focus our time and energies. At this time of year, this Mission Statement provides a way to measure our success, so I pause to give thanks. As Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

To see how I express my thanks and gratitude for 2013, click here.

What can we learn from “Shepherd Leaders”?

In October 2003, my first professor in Human Resources Management at Texas A&M, Blaine McCormick, sent me a copy of a book he co-authored with David Davenport entitled, Shepherd Leadership. In the book, McCormick and Davenport point out that good leaders aren’t just born…it is possible to learn how to be a better leader.

They took Psalm 23 and crafted a picture of leadership. Now, when you or I think about a shepherd, we may be thinking about a calm, peaceful activity. However, Biblical shepherds like David (author of the 23^rd Psalm) held a dangerous, demanding, around-the-clock job.

McCormick and Davenport note that whereas servant leadership downplays hierarchy and status differences, shepherd leadership places the leader squarely at the front of the followers to serve as role model.