Book Reviews

Reviews by Walt Brock

“There they go! I must hurry after them, for I am their leader.” I heard that years ago and asked my secretary to lay it out and print it on a 5 x 7 piece of parchment paper, which I framed and hung on the wall of my office. Daily it reminds me of what a poor leader I was at the beginning, and how much I need to keep on learning today. The quality people on our team will be doing something every day; and if I don’t work at leading them in the right direction, who knows where our ministry will end up in a few years!

To that end, years ago, I began a diligent study of the science and art of leadership and management. While certain personalities may have some innate tendencies that give them a façade of being a “natural born leader,” I am absolutely convinced that both leadership and management are learned skills and must be developed and practiced, as much as learning to play a musical instrument is a learned skill aided by practice.

Over the years, I have attended a number of leadership development conferences, asked questions, and learned from other leaders. But by far, the thing that I learned the most from was my reading, which was also cheaper and better fit my need for a flexible time commitment. I rarely went anywhere without a management or leadership book or newsletter with me to read while waiting and traveling; therefore, I would like to share with you some books that have been helpful for me, each giving me a number of seed thoughts that I have been able to adapt to the ministry God has called me to here at Ironwood. Usually ideas I directly incorporated into our ministry failed soon after the big fanfare introduction, but many of the ideas we creatively adapted to our situation are still being used many years later.

My first bibliography of a dozen books is unique for two reasons: 1) They are all over 20 years old or close to it, which means they were some of the first books on the subject I ever read; but I assure you that they are still relevant today, with creative adaptation. 2) They are all on the function or process of leadership and management, and are thus of very practical value in what leaders must do.

Barber, Cyril. Nehemiah. (Neptune, NJ: Loizeaux Brothers, 1976). This is the best book on the study of leadership I have ever read on the life of Nehemiah.

Blanchard, Kenneth and Johnson, Spencer. The One-Minute Manager. (New York, NY: Berkley Books, 1981). This book helped me with two thoughts: 1) To shorten up my job descriptions or list of expectations for any one staff person, and 2) To think about the “feelings” of my team as I communicate
with them (an others-first concept from a secular source).

Dayton, Edward R. and Ted W. Engstrom. Strategy for Leadership. (Fleming H. Revell Company, 1979). From this book, I have used the concept of a growth cycle to great advantage in thinking longterm in a ministry. I have also used the last third of the book extensively for the mechanics of how to run staff planning retreats or meetings.

Engstrom, Ted W. The Making of a Christian Leader. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1980). Where would I be without this book? It is so full of practical ideas and helps that it hurts me to know that it is out of print, and I only have one copy. (Please don’t ask to borrow it; it tests my others’-first quotient.)

Howard, J. Grant. Balancing Life’s Demands. (Portland, OR: Multnomah Press, 1983). This is the best book that I have ever read on the subject of the priorities of life from a biblical perspective. His basic premise is that I always put God first by finding out from the Bible what He wants me to do in relation to each of my life roles, and then obeying Him in that area. This thought-provoking book helped me in my struggle with time, commitments, ministry, and family.

LeTourneau, Richard. Management Plus: The Spiritual Dimension in Leadership. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1974). This is the very first book that I ever read on management or leadership. While it may fit better on the be list in the next issue, the last section of the book on “Special Plus Qualities” is where I first learned the necessity of interpreting secular books on leadership and management in light of Scripture. I also learned that believers have an advantage in managing and leading because of the truth that we hold, the gifts that we have been given, and the Spirit that we have within.

McDonald, Philip M. Going Forward: Strategic Leadership in Christian Ministry. (Cherry Hill, NJ: ABWE Insight Series, 1988). This small pamphlet of about fifty pages was designed specifically to help missionaries develop a strategy for ministry in a new area and apply some leadership characteristics to the strategy. I have probably read this a half dozen times and have it all marked up. Unfortunately, ABWE informed us it is out of print and has no intention of reprinting it, but they have given us permission to reprint it. E-mail me if you would like a copy.

Naisbitt, John. Megatrends: Ten New Directions Transforming Our Lives. (Warner Communications Company, 1982). Most of the material in this book is way out of date; but in looking at the table of contents, it is easy to see that about 90% of the predictions for the next decade basically came true. This book taught me to look at all the things that affect the people to whom I am ministering: this is called “external context” and is absolutely critical as plans for the future are being formulated. The reason I include it on this list is that I strongly recommend such books written by experienced, credible practitioners of the art of projecting current trends into the future.

Peters, Thomas J. and Waterman Jr, Robert H. In Search of Excellence. (New York, NY: Warner Books, 1984). This is a study of what made some good companies of the past really good and has good ideas that can be adapted. Most of the operating principles identified are timeless in nature, and I have read it so often I have to keep a rubber band around it to keep the pages from falling out. A modern day equivalent would be Collin’s book Good to Great.

Phillips, Bob. Dancing With Porcupines. (Ventura, CA: GL Regal Books, 1989). I cannot imagine a more valuable book to me in understanding myself and the people around me. It studies personalities from the viewpoint of leadership styles. Figuring this out changed my leadership for the better.

Rush, Myron D. Management: A Biblical Approach. (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1983). Even after 25 years, I believe this is the best general purpose book on management. It was given to me as a gift in ’86, and it just keeps on giving. Every few years I teach a block class on leadership, and this is still my choice for a basic text.

Thomsett, Michael C. Budgets and Forecasts. (New York, NY: Amacom, 1988). Who understands budgets? Most ministry leaders do not, so how can we learn without taking a whole course in accounting? The best way is to read this book through a few times and use it to develop a “Budget Policy” manual for your ministry. It is accurate, understandable, and relatively complete in giving a non-business person a working knowledge of what, why, and how of budgets.