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Dr. Mohler lives in Louisville, Kentucky, with his wife, Mary. Visit his website at www.albertmohler.com.
Acknowledgments 13
1 The Conviction to Lead 15
True Leadership Starts With a Purpose, Not a Plan
2 Leading Is Believing 21
The Leader Is Driven by Beliefs That Lead to Action
3 Convictional Intelligence 29
The Leader Develops the Capacity to Think in Convictional Terms and Leads Followers to Do the Same
4 Leadership Is Narrative 37
The Leader Draws Followers Into a Story That Frames All of Life
5 Leaders Understand Worldviews 43
The Leader Shapes the Worldview of Followers
6 The Passion to Lead 51
Passionate Leaders Driven by Passionate Beliefs Draw Passionate Followers
7 Leaders Are Thinkers 59
Leadership Begins When You Learn to Think Like a Leader, and Leadership Is Not Achieved Until Followers Learn to Think as Well
8 Leaders Are Teachers 67
The Effective Leader Is the Master Teacher Within a Learning Organization
9 Leadership Is All About Character 75
Leaders Are Trusted When Their Lives Are in Alignment With Their Convictions
10 Leadership and Credibility 83
Leadership Happens When Character and Competence Are Combined
11 Leaders Are Communicators 91
The Leader's Most Essential Skill Is the Ability to Communicate … Over and Over Again
12 Leaders Are Readers 99
When You Find a Leader, You Find a Reader, and for Good Reason
13 The Leader and Power 107
The Faithful Leader Knows That Power Is Never an End in Itself
14 Leaders Are Managers 115
Not All Managers Are Leaders, but All Leaders Are Managers
15 Leaders Are Speakers 123
Leaders Give Voice to Conviction and Mobilize Hearts and Minds With a Message
16 Leadership as Stewardship 133
Leaders Never Lead for Themselves; They Are Stewards in Service of Another
17 The Leader as Decision Maker 141
Organizations Expect Many Things From Leaders, Most of All the Trusted Ability to Decide
18 The Moral Virtues of Leadership 149
Leadership and Morality Are Inseparable
19 The Leader and the Media 157
The Medium Is Not the Message, You Are-and the Leader Must Know How to Deliver That Message
20 The Leader as Writer 167
The Written Word Remains One of the Most Powerful Ways to Lead, so Leaders Write
21 The Digital Leader 175
Leaders Understand That the Digital World Is a Real World-a World in Which They Are Called to Lead
22 The Leader and Time 183
Leaders Know That Time Is the Great Equalizer of Humanity
23 Leadership That Endures 191
The Leader's Goal Is Not Only to Last but to Endure
24 The Leader and Death 199
Mortality Frames the Horizon of Leadership
25 The Leader's Legacy 207
In the End, the Leader's Goal Is to Leave a Lasting Imprint
Notes 215
Anonymous
Posted May 8, 2013
This lines are a great eye opening and are helping me strength my convictions. Thank you Lord Jesus for using this man.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.saabawatkins
Posted February 18, 2013
25 Principles For Leadership That Matters – Book Review
I am a book reviewer of 13 years and I was sent a free copy of this book to review. This is an outstanding book written on leadership. Especially leadership for the 21st Century using digital avenues.
Leadership is always a theological enterprise in the sense that our most important beliefs and convictions are about God.
Dr. Mohler mentions several leaders on a national level good and not so good. I loved the comment that he made about the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
For the Christian leader, the frame of reference for leadership is infinitely greater. Our leadership is set within the context of eternity.
In Daniel 4 we learn of Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, one of the most powerful monarchs in human history. God judges Nebuchadnezzar for his arrogrance and pride, and he takes Nebuchadnezzar’s kingly sovereignty away from him. Later, after a humbling lesson, God restores Nebuchadnezzar to his former greatness.
After all this happens, Nebuchadnezzar speaks of the lessons he has learned about who is truly sovereign, and he testifies that sovereignty belongs to God alone, stating that “his dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation” (Daniel 4:34)
No one can truly thwart God’s plans or frustrate His determination. It means that we are secure in the knowledge that God’s sovereign purpose to redeem a people through the atonement accomplished by his Son will be fully realized.
Those who lead are entrusted with a stewardship that comes ultimately from God and in the end will be judged by him alone.
We know that character matters when we hire a baby-sitter. How can it not matter when we are calling a leader?
You should read a book or article only for what it is worth. If you find that the book is not contributing to your life and leadership, set it aside. Time is more valuable than money.
Keep a couple of books ready for reading, and take a couple with you as you travel.
Test everything you read by viewing it through the lens of biblical truth and your convictions. Those who would lead with conviction must read with conviction.
We can learn a great deal from the secular world and its studies and practices of leadership, but the last thing the church needs is warmed-over business theories decorated with Christian language.
The requirements of stewards is that they be found faithful. That’s why leadership is only for the brave.
Leaders are subject to the same laws, morals, principles, and expectations as the rest of humanity, but the moral risks are far higher for them.
When difficulty comes, and it will come, loyalty is what we give to each other and to the cause we serve. That loyalty has to start at the top.
Loyalty is hard to maintain in a world of no-fault divorce, broken contracts, and collapsing corporations -but it remains essential.
Leaders have unique abilities, but they received these talents and the ability to develop them as gifts from God, given for the good and welfare of others.
It’s not about us – even though we are given the platform, the position, and the prominence within the organization. The gifts were given to us in order that we might serve others.
Those who follow you know that you have weaknesses and foibles, so let them share in the humor you direct at yourself.
Humor is the virtue of allowing people to see your humanity and your comfort in being fully human, quirks and all.
Leaders know how to laugh with their team, with the public, and at themselves.
Humor must never be crude or disrespectful, but it can build respect.
Dr. Mohler saw an example of this when President Barack Obama welcomed former President George W. Bush to the White House for the unveiling of his presidential portrait. The political tensions were incredible. Obama had run against the record of Bush in 2008, and Bush would be doing everything possible in 2012 to prevent Obama from a second term in office. That’s politics.
Humor was brilliantly used by both presidents to humanize the occasion. Obama paid tribute to Bush, and then jokingly thanked him for leaving “a really good TV sports package” on the White House cable system. “I use it,” Obama said. Bush, in turn thanked Obama and then told the incumbent president that he could now look at the portrait from time to time and ask, “What would George do?”
Leaders who want to make a a difference, and make that difference last, must write.
Email has now become the standard means of communication, displacing not only the printed letter but also meetings, phone calls, and oral discussion.
Leaders write newsletters, memos, correspondence, articles, columns, and books in order to extend their reach and deepen the impact of their leadership.
While writing is demanding, its rewards are truly great.
The digital world is driven by its entrepreneurial and ideological pioneers and cheerleaders, and they are a multitude.
Cell phones, originally the toys of the rich and powerful are now more popular than landline phones in the poorest regions of the globe.
Facebook, the central fixture of social media (for now), was launched in February 2004 and now links more than 900 million users worldwide. Twitter, the micro-blogging sensation, was launched in May 2006 and boast 140 million users who post 340 million tweets each day.
For many Americans, Twitter represents the leading edge of news and communication.
A teenager with a computer can create a blog that looks more authoritative than the blog written by a CEO of a Fortune 500 Corporation – and perhaps read by more people as well.
If you want to influence the future, brace yourself and get in the fast lane.
Content is king.
Your web presence advertises to the world who you are, what your organization is all about, and the seriousness of your commitment to that mission.
No book can broadcast ideas as quickly and inexpensively as a blog.
Learn how to use links, images, and social media to drive people to your blog.
As with the digital world as a whole, there are dangers and traps. Social media can be used for good or evil. Social media will soon dominate all other forms of digital communication.
If you are not on Twitter, and if you are not working and following it regularly, you are missing a massive leadership opportunity.
The old media are tightly contained and controlled by large corporations or organizations. The digital world opens the opportunity for you and your organization to become a producer of video and audio content without the massive investment.
Creating a podcast is a powerful opportunity for a leader, but you can start small.
A leader ready for influence and leadership in the digital kingdom needs, at the very least, access to the Internet and support for a presence there. You do not have to own a computer, but you do need one close at hand that is connected to the Internet.
Leaders are readers, whether in print or on screen. Leaders have a message, and should be ready to use every appropriate platform and technology to get it out to others.
In the book of Ecclesiastes, we find a breathtakingly beautiful testimony to the meaning of time. (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8)
The first thing that we learn about time in the Bible that God created it and that time is contrasted with eternity. God is not bound by time, and he created time as a feature of the creation that reveals his glory.
The Christian leader knows that our time is in God’s hands. We cannot add time; we can only exercise stewardship over the time we are given. (Matthew 6:27)
Everything humans build will one day be reduced to ruins, but our lives and our leadership will, in Christ, have eternal consequences and impact.
The leader knows a time to work, a time to rest, a time to plan and a time to act, a time to read and a time to speak, a time to play and a time to fight.
Leadership requires maturing, learning, adap
Leadership books are very enlightening and empowering, however, as I began to read this book, I felt as though the author was very repetitive. As I continued to read, I found the information discussed to be very valuable. Leaders can be found in all walks of life and they have the choice of leading in a positive or negative way. Every leader is not tasked with leading a large organization but the principles discussed in this book can be beneficial to a variety of leaders. Leadership qualities combined with Christian beliefs produce outstanding leaders. Leaders, whether Christian or secular are influential to those they lead. As stated by the author, leaders are teachers and those they teach benefit from their knowledge. The author makes some very valid points. Leaders should be trustworthy, confident in their ability to lead, competent in decision making and capable of using the power that they have been entrusted, understanding that the power is not for the purpose of glorifying themselves. Christian leaders do have to be mindful that they are followers of Christ and will be held accountable and judged accordingly. And finally we get to the leader’s legacy. Convictional leaders endure until the end. Striving to see their fundamental beliefs passed on to others. The Conviction To Lead plants the seed to lead faithfully and with conviction as leaders are called to do. This book will serve leaders or potential leaders well. Thank you Bethany House for allowing me to share my opinion. Also for giving me the opportunity to select a great book and providing copy free of charge.
Albert Mohler in his new book, “The Conviction to Lead” published by Bethany House Publishers provides 25 Principles for Leadership that Matters.
From the back cover: Change the Way You Think About Leadership
At the age of thirty-three, Dr. Albert Mohler became the youngest president in the 153-year history of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He was the driving force behind the school’s transformation into a thriving institution with an international reputation characterized by a passionate conviction for truth. In the process he became one of the most important and prominent Christian voices in contemporary culture.
What will it take to transform your leadership?
Effective leaders need more than administrative skills and vision. They need to be able to change the hearts and minds of those they lead. Leadership like this requires passionate beliefs that can stand up to pressure from without and within.
Now for the first time, Dr. Mohler reveals 25 principles to crystallize your convictions, revolutionizing your thinking, your decision-making, your communication, and ultimately those you lead.
Want to hear something really interesting? There is more to leading than just being the person in front that everyone is following. Dr. Mohler feels that true leadership has been lacking and that other books and speakers have not really addressed the issue. I have to say I agree with him. Dr. Mohler provides 25 principles that will transform your thinking on how leaders should lead. One of the principles that is presented is that leaders should create other leaders that will create other leaders. Far too often the leader feels that he is in charge and that all the decisions should be made by him. Dr. Mohler teaches us a new way. If you feel that you are called to be a leader then you absolutely need this book. Not only will you read it once but you should keep it handy on your bookshelf. More than likely you will refer to it again and again. That is how needful “The Conviction to Lead” is.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book for free from Bethany House Publishers. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
TheStuffofSuccess
Posted December 2, 2012
Every leader or soon to be leader should read this book. It definitely does not need to be church leadership - leadership is leadership and the principles are the same. There is the age old question - management versus leadership. Mohler highlights the attributes of effective leaders and their passion to lead. He breaks the church down into Believers and Leaders with the goal of making the Believers into Leaders. And on the other hand, the Leaders may not necessarily be Believers - he also has the goal to turn them into Believers. What is different about this Leadership book? Many things - you will just have to read it for yourself to find out. He presents much more than can be found in other Leadership books (and I have read many).
I received a copy of this book from Baker Publishing for an honest opinion.
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