True North: discover your authentic leadership
By Bill George, with Peter Sims
Jossey-Bass Publishings, 2007
Book Review by John L. Ng
December, 2008
“Follow your compass, not your clock,” Bill George’s quote by Ann Moore, CEO of Time Inc., captures the intent of True North. George, its author, is the former chairman and CEO of Medtronic and the professor of management practice at the Harvard Business School. I want to put his credentials up front because some church leaders may get turn off by market place leadership books. As one seminarian said to me, “I don’t want what Harvard has to say; I want to know what the Bible has to say about leadership.” If the reader has this bias, then True North should take a pass. But we can push aside preconception, I think this monograph is valuable for understanding what is authentic leadership. Having been a church leader and watching other leaders more than thirty years, I realize that leadership work is often out of doing, not being. We lead with what we do, not from who we are. What we do may be inauthentic because it is not from who we really are. Authentic leadership knows it compass’ true north and is able to stay the course despite challenges and disappointments. First and foremost, an authentic leader knows the truer self and is just as concerned about other team members as her/his own interests. Authentic leadership is not perfect. Every leader has flaws, fragilities and faults. However, an authentic leader has a true north.
George defines the five dimensions of true north leadership: one, pursue mission with purpose and passion. Authentic leadership’s center is self awareness. Living a contemplative lifestyle, it explores the true self and pursues its mission with clarity of vocation and commotion of zeal; two, practice personal values and convictions. Authentic leadership sets boundaries (what are the limits), cultivates values (what are important) and refines convictions (what are right); three, lead with heart and mind. Authentic leadership recognizes extrinsic (wealth, power, position, recognition) and extrinsic motivations (calling, meaning, significance, growth) and leads with courage (what is the right thing to do in spite of cost) and compassion (what is the good thing to do for others); four, cultivate and nurture enduring commitment and loyalty from others. Authentic leadership builds a support team to get it done. S/he nurtures a cluster of committed and loyal relationships through empowerment and accountability; five, practice self-discipline with integrity. Authentic leadership seeks a holistic balance between being and doing by integrating various aspects of life into a dynamic union. S/he bridges life’s different contexts – personal and professional, familial and communal, faith and practice.
Following our compass that points to true north ensures and is confirmed by our journey’s end. There is nothing like doing good and finishing well. On the other hand, Journey without compass has its detours and roadblocks. George warns us with five possibilities: without self awareness, we become imposters; without values and convictions, we become rationalists; without true motivations and real meanings, we become glory seekers; without team support, we become loners; without an integrated life, we become shooting stars. Psalm 78 says this of David: with integrity of heart and skillful hands he shepherded Israel. This can be said of authentic leadership.
Jossey-Bass Publishings, 2007
Book Review by John L. Ng
December, 2008
“Follow your compass, not your clock,” Bill George’s quote by Ann Moore, CEO of Time Inc., captures the intent of True North. George, its author, is the former chairman and CEO of Medtronic and the professor of management practice at the Harvard Business School. I want to put his credentials up front because some church leaders may get turn off by market place leadership books. As one seminarian said to me, “I don’t want what Harvard has to say; I want to know what the Bible has to say about leadership.” If the reader has this bias, then True North should take a pass. But we can push aside preconception, I think this monograph is valuable for understanding what is authentic leadership. Having been a church leader and watching other leaders more than thirty years, I realize that leadership work is often out of doing, not being. We lead with what we do, not from who we are. What we do may be inauthentic because it is not from who we really are. Authentic leadership knows it compass’ true north and is able to stay the course despite challenges and disappointments. First and foremost, an authentic leader knows the truer self and is just as concerned about other team members as her/his own interests. Authentic leadership is not perfect. Every leader has flaws, fragilities and faults. However, an authentic leader has a true north.
George defines the five dimensions of true north leadership: one, pursue mission with purpose and passion. Authentic leadership’s center is self awareness. Living a contemplative lifestyle, it explores the true self and pursues its mission with clarity of vocation and commotion of zeal; two, practice personal values and convictions. Authentic leadership sets boundaries (what are the limits), cultivates values (what are important) and refines convictions (what are right); three, lead with heart and mind. Authentic leadership recognizes extrinsic (wealth, power, position, recognition) and extrinsic motivations (calling, meaning, significance, growth) and leads with courage (what is the right thing to do in spite of cost) and compassion (what is the good thing to do for others); four, cultivate and nurture enduring commitment and loyalty from others. Authentic leadership builds a support team to get it done. S/he nurtures a cluster of committed and loyal relationships through empowerment and accountability; five, practice self-discipline with integrity. Authentic leadership seeks a holistic balance between being and doing by integrating various aspects of life into a dynamic union. S/he bridges life’s different contexts – personal and professional, familial and communal, faith and practice.
Following our compass that points to true north ensures and is confirmed by our journey’s end. There is nothing like doing good and finishing well. On the other hand, Journey without compass has its detours and roadblocks. George warns us with five possibilities: without self awareness, we become imposters; without values and convictions, we become rationalists; without true motivations and real meanings, we become glory seekers; without team support, we become loners; without an integrated life, we become shooting stars. Psalm 78 says this of David: with integrity of heart and skillful hands he shepherded Israel. This can be said of authentic leadership.
The Road to Malpsychia
By Joyce Milton
Encounter Books, 2002
Book Review by John L. Ng
September, 2008
Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women is a coming of age story of four sisters. While their father is at war, their mother “Marmee” raises the sisters toward their moral and character maturity. As the family center, Marmee plays a dominant role in their lives. The book has been adapted by several movies of the same title. The 1949 film is fairly faithful to Alcott’s story by keeping the mother as the central figure. The 1994 film takes a drastic departure where the sisters discover their individual selves resistant of and apart from their mother. The films’ thematic changes illustrate how American culture has morphed into radical individualism between those inverted dates.
Abraham Maslow, known for his hierarchy of needs model, surmised early that psychology would shape an entire society where individuals would find “self actualization.” In his last novel Island, a utopian counterpart of his Brave New World, Aldous Huxley posits likewise that psychology indeed is the new religion that will define our individual meaning and significance.
Joyce Milton’s The Road To Malpsychia traces how the humanistic psychology movement has transformed American culture into narcissistic individualism. It is a good and easy read. Milton fluidly weaves biographical anecdotes and cultural impacts of some colorful and less than exemplary characters of the movement. The book reads like the bibliography of Psychology 101. Franz Boas, d. 1942, the father of American anthropology, is the movement’s architect. He promoted cultural relativism – that the notion of good and evil varies from culture to culture – that set the foundation for modern psychology as we know it today.
Boas influenced four major movement players: Ruth Benedict, d. 1948, Abraham Maslow, d. 1970, Margaret Mead, d. 1978, and Carl Rogers, d. 1987. They each took cultural relativism and forged, as expected, to different intellectual directions. Needless to say, their unconventional and often promiscuous lifestyles dramatically explicated their brand of narcissistic individualism. Subsequently, three of Maslow’s followers – Abbie Hoffman, d.1989, Timothy Leary, d.1996 and Betty Friedan, d. 2006 – applied humanistic psychology to political activism, drug experimentation and radical feminism respectively.
The movement has changed the ways we look at self and entitlement, marriage and family, careers and roles, society and community. Today, no one seriously argue that women should only be homemakers and only men can be medical doctors, lawyers and parish ministers. Who in their wildness imagination would envision that a Japanese is the best hitter in American baseball, a Chinese is the best center in the NBA, an African-American and a hockey mom are major party candidates for president and vice president, or Latinos and women are members of the president’s cabinet. No doubt, the evolution of humanistic psychology has gained great stride for individual achievements, irrespective of gender and ethnicity.
On the other hand, it would also take tremendous cognition to believe that not long ago, the family was considered the nucleus of society, homosexuality was abnormal (according to the American Medical Association in 1950’s) and even criminal, marriage was only between a man and a woman, abortion was wrong and illegal, corporate greed was frown upon and all authorities are to be respected. While making great individual strides, humanistic psychology has also deconstructed the traditional family, undermined established social norms and created a culture of narcissism where the self-centered and self-justifying.
No doubt, the pervasive influence of humanistic psychology has likewise permeated the church. To understand our parishioners, we need to acknowledge the impact it has on them. To do parish work, we need to accommodate the dynamics of individualism. At first brush, narcissistic individualism seems incongruous with the requirements of the gospel. There is a generation of sporadic parishioners who seem to lead their lives apart from the requirements of church community and teaching.
But all is not lost. In a strange “parallel pluralism,” these two opposing philosophical paradigms thrive side by side in the church. As individualistic as people are, they still come to God through a leap of faith that leads to a shared cognitive understanding of Christianity in commitment to God and community. To do parish work, we can not ignore nor resist humanistic psychology. We need to accommodate it without compromise. Like the tribal leaders of Issachar, we need to understand the times and know what the church ought to do. (I Chronicles 12:32)
Encounter Books, 2002
Book Review by John L. Ng
September, 2008
Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women is a coming of age story of four sisters. While their father is at war, their mother “Marmee” raises the sisters toward their moral and character maturity. As the family center, Marmee plays a dominant role in their lives. The book has been adapted by several movies of the same title. The 1949 film is fairly faithful to Alcott’s story by keeping the mother as the central figure. The 1994 film takes a drastic departure where the sisters discover their individual selves resistant of and apart from their mother. The films’ thematic changes illustrate how American culture has morphed into radical individualism between those inverted dates.
Abraham Maslow, known for his hierarchy of needs model, surmised early that psychology would shape an entire society where individuals would find “self actualization.” In his last novel Island, a utopian counterpart of his Brave New World, Aldous Huxley posits likewise that psychology indeed is the new religion that will define our individual meaning and significance.
Joyce Milton’s The Road To Malpsychia traces how the humanistic psychology movement has transformed American culture into narcissistic individualism. It is a good and easy read. Milton fluidly weaves biographical anecdotes and cultural impacts of some colorful and less than exemplary characters of the movement. The book reads like the bibliography of Psychology 101. Franz Boas, d. 1942, the father of American anthropology, is the movement’s architect. He promoted cultural relativism – that the notion of good and evil varies from culture to culture – that set the foundation for modern psychology as we know it today.
Boas influenced four major movement players: Ruth Benedict, d. 1948, Abraham Maslow, d. 1970, Margaret Mead, d. 1978, and Carl Rogers, d. 1987. They each took cultural relativism and forged, as expected, to different intellectual directions. Needless to say, their unconventional and often promiscuous lifestyles dramatically explicated their brand of narcissistic individualism. Subsequently, three of Maslow’s followers – Abbie Hoffman, d.1989, Timothy Leary, d.1996 and Betty Friedan, d. 2006 – applied humanistic psychology to political activism, drug experimentation and radical feminism respectively.
The movement has changed the ways we look at self and entitlement, marriage and family, careers and roles, society and community. Today, no one seriously argue that women should only be homemakers and only men can be medical doctors, lawyers and parish ministers. Who in their wildness imagination would envision that a Japanese is the best hitter in American baseball, a Chinese is the best center in the NBA, an African-American and a hockey mom are major party candidates for president and vice president, or Latinos and women are members of the president’s cabinet. No doubt, the evolution of humanistic psychology has gained great stride for individual achievements, irrespective of gender and ethnicity.
On the other hand, it would also take tremendous cognition to believe that not long ago, the family was considered the nucleus of society, homosexuality was abnormal (according to the American Medical Association in 1950’s) and even criminal, marriage was only between a man and a woman, abortion was wrong and illegal, corporate greed was frown upon and all authorities are to be respected. While making great individual strides, humanistic psychology has also deconstructed the traditional family, undermined established social norms and created a culture of narcissism where the self-centered and self-justifying.
No doubt, the pervasive influence of humanistic psychology has likewise permeated the church. To understand our parishioners, we need to acknowledge the impact it has on them. To do parish work, we need to accommodate the dynamics of individualism. At first brush, narcissistic individualism seems incongruous with the requirements of the gospel. There is a generation of sporadic parishioners who seem to lead their lives apart from the requirements of church community and teaching.
But all is not lost. In a strange “parallel pluralism,” these two opposing philosophical paradigms thrive side by side in the church. As individualistic as people are, they still come to God through a leap of faith that leads to a shared cognitive understanding of Christianity in commitment to God and community. To do parish work, we can not ignore nor resist humanistic psychology. We need to accommodate it without compromise. Like the tribal leaders of Issachar, we need to understand the times and know what the church ought to do. (I Chronicles 12:32)
Two Books by Andy Stanley
7 Practices of Effective Ministry
By Andy Stanley, Reggie Joiner, Lane Jones
Multnomah Publishers, 2004
Communicating For A Change
By Andy Stanley, Lane Jones
Multnomah Publishers, 2006
Review by John L. Ng
May, 2008
Some time ago, I attended Sunday worship at the North Point Community Church. Its senior pastor, Andy Stanley, was the minister of the word. As a recovering cynic, I have to confess how impressive I was of his effective communication. His performance was engaging, lucid, precise and profoundly simple. My companion and I found ourselves talking about his sermonic idea throughout the day and for many weeks. When I got back to New York, someone per chance gave me two books written by Stanley and his leadership team. Still stewing in the impact of his ministry of the word, I viscerally took a long morning and read his two books.
It was not difficult reading them in one sitting. Both books, from North Point Resources, a ministry arm of the church for professional ministry, have the same format. Each has two parts. The first tells an imaginary, illustrative story; the second presents the principles based on the story. Like that Sunday morning’s sermon, the two books are engaging, simple (maybe simplistic) and precise. The chapters are kept short and dotted with stories and repetitive phrases. I could not help but to think that the books were written for readers who don’t like to read. So if you don’t like to read, I have two books for you to improve your communicative ministries.
7 Practices of Effective Ministry deals with the practices of leading and running a ministry organization. Having written that ministry leadership is more art than science, the book provides a template for strategic planning, program implementing and vision communicating. These practices are: one, clarify to win – make clear the destination of your organization; two, think steps, not programs – define the incremental steps clearly and measurably to get there; three, narrow the focus – reduce every ministry to one or two things that it does well; four, teach less for more – communicate only what is necessary to those who need to hear and see it; five, listen to outsiders – focus your efforts on those you’re trying to reach, not on those you’re trying to keep; six, replace yourself – prepare now for the future to let someone else do what you are doing; seven, work on it – maintain relevance and effectiveness, make time to improve yourself.
Communicating For A Change focuses on a communication strategy on the traditional homiletic task. With the premise that most sermons have too many ideas, the seven imperatives seek to reduce a sermon into a single, grand and manageable idea. Those who are familiar with Haddon Robinson’s Big Idea will see nothing new here. One, determine your goal – what are you trying to accomplish with the sermonic text; two, pick a point – what is the simple, single idea you are trying to say; three, create a map – with a simple idea determine what is the best way to bring your point across; four, internalize the message – make the sermon yours by internalize its contour and contents; five, engage your audience – make plans to capture and keep their attention with literary devices; six, find your voice – no one style fits all, each preacher needs to find an unique voice that works; seven, start all over – work over the notes to make them more palatable for listening. Always write for listening, not reading.
By Andy Stanley, Reggie Joiner, Lane Jones
Multnomah Publishers, 2004
Communicating For A Change
By Andy Stanley, Lane Jones
Multnomah Publishers, 2006
Review by John L. Ng
May, 2008
Some time ago, I attended Sunday worship at the North Point Community Church. Its senior pastor, Andy Stanley, was the minister of the word. As a recovering cynic, I have to confess how impressive I was of his effective communication. His performance was engaging, lucid, precise and profoundly simple. My companion and I found ourselves talking about his sermonic idea throughout the day and for many weeks. When I got back to New York, someone per chance gave me two books written by Stanley and his leadership team. Still stewing in the impact of his ministry of the word, I viscerally took a long morning and read his two books.
It was not difficult reading them in one sitting. Both books, from North Point Resources, a ministry arm of the church for professional ministry, have the same format. Each has two parts. The first tells an imaginary, illustrative story; the second presents the principles based on the story. Like that Sunday morning’s sermon, the two books are engaging, simple (maybe simplistic) and precise. The chapters are kept short and dotted with stories and repetitive phrases. I could not help but to think that the books were written for readers who don’t like to read. So if you don’t like to read, I have two books for you to improve your communicative ministries.
7 Practices of Effective Ministry deals with the practices of leading and running a ministry organization. Having written that ministry leadership is more art than science, the book provides a template for strategic planning, program implementing and vision communicating. These practices are: one, clarify to win – make clear the destination of your organization; two, think steps, not programs – define the incremental steps clearly and measurably to get there; three, narrow the focus – reduce every ministry to one or two things that it does well; four, teach less for more – communicate only what is necessary to those who need to hear and see it; five, listen to outsiders – focus your efforts on those you’re trying to reach, not on those you’re trying to keep; six, replace yourself – prepare now for the future to let someone else do what you are doing; seven, work on it – maintain relevance and effectiveness, make time to improve yourself.
Communicating For A Change focuses on a communication strategy on the traditional homiletic task. With the premise that most sermons have too many ideas, the seven imperatives seek to reduce a sermon into a single, grand and manageable idea. Those who are familiar with Haddon Robinson’s Big Idea will see nothing new here. One, determine your goal – what are you trying to accomplish with the sermonic text; two, pick a point – what is the simple, single idea you are trying to say; three, create a map – with a simple idea determine what is the best way to bring your point across; four, internalize the message – make the sermon yours by internalize its contour and contents; five, engage your audience – make plans to capture and keep their attention with literary devices; six, find your voice – no one style fits all, each preacher needs to find an unique voice that works; seven, start all over – work over the notes to make them more palatable for listening. Always write for listening, not reading.
LeadershipNext: changing leaders in a changing culture
By Eddie Gibbs,
InterVarsity Press 2005
Review by John L. Ng
January, 2008
In some ways, some materials in this monograph, published three years ago, by Eddie Gibbs, the professor of church growth at Fuller Theological Seminary, are already outdated if you take the author’s premise. We live not only in a changing world but in a rapidly changing one. As a seminary professor, I realize too well that what my students are learning today is for a world that will no longer exist tomorrow. How do you prepare pastors to lead churches that are not yet? Gibbs wants us to be like the elders of Issachar in I Chronicles 12.32. We need to understand the changing times and know what to do.
Today’s atmosphere of the church is shaped by seven trends (not all from Gibbs, a few are from me): 1 church attendance is in decline, especially among those who are under thirty who believe without belonging; 2 smaller churches, two in three in America, struggle with adequate ministry due to limited resources, human and financial; 3 while the western and northern hemisphere churches in the world are declining, churches in the southern hemisphere and Asia are growing. We can learn from them; 4 almost half of seminarians are women. This demographic has already changed the alignment of pastoral leadership; 5 after decades of silent exodus, middle-agers are returning to church with families seeking faith roots and meaningful community; 6 the consumer approach to church ministry in the past decades has produced a generation of irresponsible, non-committal members. The seeker friendly model is not working; 7 the church local is more diverse than ever in faith and practice, life style and experience, cultural values and social tastes. This diversity challenges the church to be more inclusive and forgiven.
These changing trends in church and culture demand a change in pastoral leadership. The traditional model of teaching and preaching is obsolete. The new model seeks to pastor others by networking relationships. Pastoral work is done, therefore, through the pastor’s character, charisma, competence. First, integrity and authenticity are foundational in pastoral leadership. Second, pastoral work can only be accomplished with a ministry team led and nurtured by a pastor who is dynamic and genuine. Third, competent leadership requires intentional management of goals, people and resources. To supplement these three C’s, Gibbs gives a top ten list of leadership qualities: long-suffering, passion, non-conformity, creativity, curiosity, hope, humility, inclusiveness, relational and forgiving.
Because the making of a leader is both nature and nurture, Gibbs also urges that every pastor-leader cultivates mentoring relationships. Since the high cost of leadership demands intense, intentional and sacrificial choices, seasoned mentors are needed to guide a pastor through the stages of his/her growth and development
InterVarsity Press 2005
Review by John L. Ng
January, 2008
In some ways, some materials in this monograph, published three years ago, by Eddie Gibbs, the professor of church growth at Fuller Theological Seminary, are already outdated if you take the author’s premise. We live not only in a changing world but in a rapidly changing one. As a seminary professor, I realize too well that what my students are learning today is for a world that will no longer exist tomorrow. How do you prepare pastors to lead churches that are not yet? Gibbs wants us to be like the elders of Issachar in I Chronicles 12.32. We need to understand the changing times and know what to do.
Today’s atmosphere of the church is shaped by seven trends (not all from Gibbs, a few are from me): 1 church attendance is in decline, especially among those who are under thirty who believe without belonging; 2 smaller churches, two in three in America, struggle with adequate ministry due to limited resources, human and financial; 3 while the western and northern hemisphere churches in the world are declining, churches in the southern hemisphere and Asia are growing. We can learn from them; 4 almost half of seminarians are women. This demographic has already changed the alignment of pastoral leadership; 5 after decades of silent exodus, middle-agers are returning to church with families seeking faith roots and meaningful community; 6 the consumer approach to church ministry in the past decades has produced a generation of irresponsible, non-committal members. The seeker friendly model is not working; 7 the church local is more diverse than ever in faith and practice, life style and experience, cultural values and social tastes. This diversity challenges the church to be more inclusive and forgiven.
These changing trends in church and culture demand a change in pastoral leadership. The traditional model of teaching and preaching is obsolete. The new model seeks to pastor others by networking relationships. Pastoral work is done, therefore, through the pastor’s character, charisma, competence. First, integrity and authenticity are foundational in pastoral leadership. Second, pastoral work can only be accomplished with a ministry team led and nurtured by a pastor who is dynamic and genuine. Third, competent leadership requires intentional management of goals, people and resources. To supplement these three C’s, Gibbs gives a top ten list of leadership qualities: long-suffering, passion, non-conformity, creativity, curiosity, hope, humility, inclusiveness, relational and forgiving.
Because the making of a leader is both nature and nurture, Gibbs also urges that every pastor-leader cultivates mentoring relationships. Since the high cost of leadership demands intense, intentional and sacrificial choices, seasoned mentors are needed to guide a pastor through the stages of his/her growth and development