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S7E05: Timeless Truths of Effective Spiritual Leadership

Best Christian Workplaces : January, 31 2022

Inspirational Leadership

S7E05: Timeless Truths of Effective Spiritual Leadership

What is your secret weapon as a leader? There are so many important topics in leadership – and voices telling us how to be better leaders. But as Christian leaders, what is distinctive about our leadership? Richard Blackaby, President of Blackaby Ministries International, shares his timeless truths for effective leadership. He addresses the topic of Spiritual Leadership and focuses on how to move people onto God’s agenda.

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In this episode:

Richard – before we focus on Spiritual Leadership – I am interested in your own background. You have a Ph.D. in Church History and enjoy reading biographies. What period of history fascinates you most – and can you suggest a few favorite biographies for us? (02:12)
"When I started out in school there weren't a lot of classes on leadership. The closest I could get to it was biographies and history." (4:01)
Jesus’s example of servant leadership is central for us to live out as Christian leaders. We hear a lot about servant leadership, but what are a few key characteristics that listeners can internalize about this important quality? (04:47)
"We are servants of God that's who we ultimately serve." (05:21)
"The reason Jesus washed his disciples' feet is not because he was their servant but because he was God's servant." (06:00)
"Stay in a posture of humility. You can't be anyone's servant if you're not humble—whether you're serving God or serving people." (06:23)
Many leaders struggle with having enough time to get everything done. This is a practical issue and a spiritual issue. You talk about the leader’s schedule. How can leaders make time for what’s important? (08:48)
"You measure your success not by how much you did but how important the things were that you did." (09:19)
"Lead on God’s agenda" (10:20)
"Great leaders recognize what matters, and what does not." (11:03)
"Avoid time wasters like the plague!" (11:52)
As leaders, we need to make time to develop our people. When you talk about moving people on to God’s agenda, you make a distinction between excellence and perfection. Tell us more about that – how can perfectionism be a problem when you are developing people? (13:15)
"In the revised edition of Spiritual Leadership, you added chapters on leading through change and building effective teams. Let’s start with leading through change – such a relevant topic for today. How can leaders be most effective when they are leading through change in their organization? What should they focus on?" (17:06)
"If change was not required, leadership might not be required. But organizations can't remain stagnant. They've got to respond to changing circumstances around them." (17:47)
"To change things in an organization, you have to change people." (20:41)
"Don't do it alone." (22:39)
So important, and it’s easy to lose focus or get distracted in a change cycle. Let’s move to building effective teams. That’s a topic we work on a lot here at Best Christian Workplaces Institute – to help teams flourish in their work. One of your points is to maximize diversity on a team. Flesh that out for us – why is diversity so important for a healthy organization? (27:02)
Over time, we often see the pitfalls of leadership. How does a leader keep building into their character over time, so they can continue with integrity, rather than failing as a leader? (32:02)
You have worked in ministry and on writing projects with your father, and now your own children are working in ministry and involved in writing. As you think about the next generation – what does Spiritual Leadership look like for them? What principles are timeless, and what might be changing with Christian leadership in the next generation? (37:42)
"Methods are changeable." (38:22)