If you are in any level of leadership or a position of responsibility, you probably know the importance of continually learning, reflecting, and adapting. We live in changing and challenging times. There is such a plethora of resources available—books, podcasts, articles, people to learn from—that there’s never enough time to absorb and apply it all.
The two books below are ones I recommend adding to your 2024 reading list. They have been helpful to me as a leader, and I hope they will help you as well.
Tempered Resilience by Tod Bolsinger
In Tempered Resilience, professor and former pastor Tod Bolsinger attempts to help leaders understand how resilience as a leader is formed through practice and perseverance.
What is resilience? Resilience for leaders is “the ability to wisely persevere toward the mission God has put before them amid both external challenges and the internal resistance of the leader’s followers” (35). He continues, “Resilience requires both strength and flexibility; both toughness and adaptability to endure and to bring transformation” (35).
I found two particular points to be especially helpful:
First, resilience develops through a cyclical process of leading and not leading. In terms of the metalsmith analogy Bolsinger uses throughout the book, he argues that the “heat of the crucible of leadership is only intensified through reflection” (196). He explains:
“This rhythm is the process for a tempered leader: heating through work and reflection, holding of good relationships both personally and professionally, the hammering of spiritual practices and the practices of leadership, and the tempering that comes through cooling periods of rest and release from leading, and then repeated” (196-197).
Extended to our spiritual lives, yes, there are times when we actively serve the Lord, but we are foremost followers of Jesus called to be led by the Spirit (Galatians 5).
Second, leaders must attend to their inner lives. Bolsinger addresses this in his explanations on hammering and tempering. This includes listening to God, listening to those who care for us, and learning. He also invites leaders to craft a rule of life—a set of rhythms and relationships in one’s life that serve as a trellis to support the weight of a fruit-bearing life. I am personally working to incorporate a rule of life and have already found it helpful as a sort of skeleton providing structure, support, and relief.
Leader, be encouraged that resiliency and adaptive leadership are capacities that can be developed.
Leadership as an Identity by Crawford W. Loritts
In this excellent book from retired pastor Crawford Loritts, Loritts argues that true leadership is about character and identity rather than competency and skills.
He reviews four key characteristics of Christian leaders:
1) Brokenness: Brokenness is living with a desperate need for God and responding to that desperation with a life surrendered to God. Because leaders inevitably will go through seasons of difficulty, he encourages leaders to walk with “a limp, not a strut” (78).
2) Uncommon Communion: Uncommon communion refers to a leader’s personal relationship with God. But it means more than one’s times of prayer and Bible study. Uncommon communion is “God leveraging the very assignment He has given to us to accelerate the leader’s sanctification. It is allowing the enormity of the task–the awareness of what we don’t know . . . and need–to drive us to be absorbed in His presence” (101).
3) Servanthood as an Identity: Although the term “servant leadership” is fairly commonplace, Loritts argues that servanthood is not just a leadership strategy but an identity. He explains how there cannot be genuine servant leadership apart from genuine and authentic humility. The by-product of this identity is an environment where others grow, succeed, and are empowered.
4) Radical, Immediate Obedience: Finally, Loritts unpacks the necessity of complete, radical, and immediate obedience to God. He says, “God is about the business of doing through us what He wants done” (182). If we believe God places leaders in authority, we should appreciate that leadership is the “stewardship process by and through which God’s assignments are implemented” (182). Because of God’s proven faithfulness, we should be inspired to completely trust and obey.
A thread underscored in both books is the exhortation to ground yourself in your identity in Christ, not in your success, role, title, or accomplishments. May that be an encouragement to you today as you fulfill God’s calling on your service as a leader.
