Christian Reflections on the Leadership Challenge
Kouzes and Posner continue to be two of my favorite authors when it comes to leadership. Their insights and clarity never cease to encourage and instruct me.
Going through this book, I was struck by the overall framework of the five practices of exemplary leadership:
Practice 1: Leaders Model the Way
Practice 2: Leaders Inspire a Shared Vision
Practice 3: Leaders Challenge the Process
Practice 4: Leaders Enable Others to Act
Practice 5: Leaders Encourage the Heart
It’s simple, clear, and concise, but it summarizes what others spend hundreds of pages on. As I have reflected on it, I think this is a great way to train people in leadership. I’m always looking for tools to use. This book gives a simple framework that is easy for people to understand and can easily be used to train people in the essentials of good leadership. It lays out an observable set of skills and abilities that are useful no matter where you are. And leadership, like any other skill, can be strengthened, honed, and enhanced, given the motivation and desire, the practice and feedback, and the proper role models and coaching.
It’s all too easy to limit leadership to a select few who we deem have high potential. How much more effective would it be to teach leadership to all our people and see who grabs ahold of it? I know I have been surprised at times by which people in a group ended up being the best leaders; first impressions aren’t always correct!
I’m curious. What have you used to teach your people leadership? Anything in particular that has been helpful or particularly effective?
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