The rich lessons of the Bible can be your leadership guidebook.
Successful leaders don’t rely solely on natural charisma and organizational authority as their tickets to success. Successful leadership is a learned art form and a developed discipline. You can master the art of leadership by examining the pitfalls and achievements of past leaders and penetrating the stories of our cultural and religious heritage. The Bible is the ultimate resource for learning by example: its stories of family relationships, political beginnings and even divine encounters provide valuable lessons about leading effectively.
In this empowering guidebook, Nathan Laufer walks you through the stories at the very beginning of the Bible to examine the portraits of leadership success—and failure—they contain. He reveals the life-affirming values that the Bible uses to measure its leaders beginning in the Garden of Eden; analyzes the ups and downs in Abraham’s, and later Joseph’s, leadership journeys; and scrutinizes the many challenges faced by Moses—and God—in the books of Exodus and Numbers.
Laufer draws out from Bible stories the lessons we can use every day—lessons not only of exemplary leadership, but also of failing to lead, leading with no direction and leading in the wrong direction or to a destructive destination. Through Laufer’s interpretive lenses, these ancient stories come alive to inform and inspire our leadership today and offer us direction for the future.
“Nathan Laufer helps us see the stories of the [Bible] in new ways, he turns them into universal paradigms that relate to situations we all face every day, and he distills his insights into practical and powerful guidelines. There is no algorithm for leadership, no cookbook recipe, but it is hard to imagine a leader at any level of an enterprise whose capabilities will not be enhanced by studying this book.”
—from the Preface by Dr. Michael Hammer
Table of Content
Foreword xi Preface xv Acknowledgments xix Introduction 1 Book I: In the Beginning … : Relationships, Responsibility, and the Primacy of Values in Leadership 7 Defining Leadership 9 Leadership, Trust, and Responsibility 11 Three Circles of Responsibility 12 God, Adam, and Eve 14 God and the Human Condition 17 Know Where You Are Going: The Importance of Foreseeing the Consequences of Your Leadership 22 Heroes Who Fail to Lead: The Case of Noah 24 Self-Reflective Leadership: God and the Flood 27 Misguided Leaders: Babel’s Builders 29 Leaders Are Made, Not Born: The Story of Abraham 32 The Advent of True Leadership: Becoming Your Brother’s Keeper 36 The Long-Term Rewards of Leadership 39 Discerning Leadership 42 The Sacrificial Element of Leadership 43 Becoming the Stranger’s Keeper 44 Leaders Make the Same Mistakes Twice 47 Losing Focus as a Leader 49 Taking Responsibility for the Next Generation 49 Managing Conflict Responsibilities 52 Leadership by Deceit: Jacob and Esau 54 The Sins of Leaders Visited Upon Their Successors: Jacob and His Family, Joseph and His Brothers 62 Leaders Need Mentors: Tamar and Judah 67 The Crucible of Leadership: Joseph in Egypt 69 The Abuse of Leadership: Joseph and His Egyptian Brethren 77 Conclusion 81 Book II: The Ten Guiding Principles of Leadership 83 Leading Change 87 Principle 1: Create Urgency! 89 Principle 2: Care Deeply and Act Courageously 92 Principle 3: Develop Double Vision 99 Principle 4: Recruit a Guiding Coalition 107 Principle 5: Establish Positioning to Secure Legitimacy and Authority to Lead. Build Credibility and Trust by Promising and Delivering 111 Principle 6: Communicate, Communicate, Communicate! 121 Principle 7: Implement the Vision 125 Principle 8: Establish the Vision by Codifying the Values, Policies, and Laws Necessary for Actualizing the Vision 136 Principle 9: Institutionalize the Vision by Building Sacred Space and Carving Out Sacred Times 144 Principle 10: Protect the Vision by Dealing Decisively with Detractors 156 Book III: The Challenges of Leadership 165 Why Leaders Are Responsible for Their Followers’ Decline 167 Challenge 1: To Not Abandon the People Like ‘a Flock without a Shepherd’ 172 Challenge 2: To Halt Losing Streaks ASAP 181 Challenge 3: To “Hold” the People and Not Falter or Otherwise Communicate Indecisiveness in Their Presence 188 Challenge 4: To Fulfill Our Promises and Explain Sudden Strategic Changes 197 Challenge 5: To Maintain the Sense of Urgency 204 Challenge 6: To Not Overmanage and Underlead 207 Challenge 7: To Avoid Unnecessary Hierarchies, Nepotism, and Even the Appearance of Impropriety 212 Challenge 8: To Compromise, Be Flexible, and Not Become Pharaoh 216 Book IV: The Legacy of Leadership 225 Evaluating Leadership Success 227 Ceding Power and Appointing Successors 234 Assuring Multigenerational Leadership 235 Establishing Self-Sustaining Systems of Governance 238 Recording Your Legacy 240 Conclusion 245 Notes 247 About the Author 261
About the author
Senator Joseph I. Lieberman has been representing the people of Connecticut in the United States Senate for eighteen years.
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