The Top 10 Leadership Conversations in the Bible: Practical Insights from Extensive Research on Over 1,000 Biblical Leaders

I found myself with an open day in Rwanda and decided to re-read Steve Moore’s book. I am inspired afresh to continue basing my life and leadership on scripture. This book accurately and wonderfully summarizes my many years of study under Dr. Bobby Clinton. I recommend it to any current or aspiring Christian leader.

Moore strikes a balance between Spirit and systems in this approach to engaging Scripture. If you are looking for a plan that will inspire you to hunger for more knowledge of the Bible, read this book. If you are looking for an example of someone who promotes thoughtful study to grow in relationship with Jesus, read this book.

nOT GIVEN

easy to read and great ideas for people who want to be leaders

Excellent. Steve Moore brings together current organizational and leadership theory with comprehensive exegetical work. And he's easy to read. I'm adding this book to my top five for leadership mentoring, just made my second Amazon order. Well done Steve.

Easily the most inspirational and rock solid Biblical exposition that I have read. Very thought provoking and useful in self-reflexion.

Steve Moore embarked on a two-year search for leadership gold from Genesis to Revelation. Good news! He struck gold and he’s sharing the loot with us!“The Top 10 Leadership Conversations in the Bible: Practical Insights From Extensive Research on Over 1,000 Biblical Leaders” is amazing. Moore’s book lands in my “chewable book” category. I’ll explain.When a friend recommended Ruth Haley Barton’s book,  Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership: Seeking God in the Crucible of Ministry (Transforming Resources) , he warned me: “At the end of every chapter, you’ll need to take a long break to pray and reflect on the convicting insights.” He was right. I eventually meditated through the entire book. Whew. I named it my 2009 book-of-the-year. Chewable—but chew slowly. A Year with Peter Drucker: 52 Weeks of Coaching for Leadership Effectiveness  by Joseph A. Maciariello, is another chewable book. I read a chapter a week for a year.My suggestion: don’t rush through “The Top 10 Leadership Conversations in the Bible.” Add it to your chewable list.Disclosure: I fully read every book I review. I don’t scan, skip, or speed-read. I underline, highlight, and write notes (by page number) on the blank pages—as prep for my reviews. But not this book. I sensed I should slow down—not for the review, but for the chew.Last month, a fellow board member presented our regular lifelong learning segment in the board meeting, “10 Minutes for Governance.” His assigned topic was board humility—and he gifted every board member with a copy of Andrew Murray’s 68-page gem,  Humility (Essential Christian Classics) .So when I joined Steve Moore’s trek for leadership gold, wondering what themes made his Top 10 list of leadership conversations in the Bible—I skipped to “Chapter 8: Humility.” Did I mention—chewable?--“Pride hides from the consciousness of leaders behind a mask of overconfidence. Overconfidence isn’t just annoying to followers. It is dangerous for leaders.”--Did you ever read this parenthetical note in Numbers 12:3? “(Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone on the face of the earth.)”--“I find it easier to admit my lack of patience than my lack of humility.”There’s more from Moore:--He references Larry Osborne’s insights: “The journey to accidental Phariseeism begins with a blind spot, not a sin spot.”--“Busyness is one of the most common ways to reinforce leadership status, so survival and status become symbiotic, to everyone’s detriment. The leader thinks, I must be important or I wouldn’t be so busy.”--And this insight from Dallas Willard: “God never gives anyone too much to do. We do that to ourselves or we allow others to do it to us.”Is Your Board a “Zombie Board?”--“The survival instinct for leaders is automatic. The more our work thrives, the more we want to protect it. That’s why the first expression of groupthink in a nonprofit board is making organizational perpetuity, rather than mission effectiveness, its highest objective. These kinds of nonprofits, even faith-based ones, are like zombies. They can get scary ugly, but they are nearly impossible to revive and hard to kill.”Pages 130-143 on humility are so, so chewable. Warning! The chapter includes five very convicting questions.But before you skip to the humility chapter—scan the context, “The Reason and the Research Behind This Book.” Moore identified 1,181 leaders in the Bible (including 108 in the New Testament) and mined for gold with six core questions, including: Who is the leader? Who are the followers? And What is the leadership situation? Each chapter includes a helpful diagram of these elements using Moore’s “Leadership Triangle.” Brilliant!Join me in chewing through this special book. For now, it’s on my summer vacation reading list.

Steve Moore aims “to stimulate [readers’] passion to engage the Bible as a primary source for leadership insight.” To do that, Moore studied 1,090 “leadership conversations” in the Bible, focusing on three elements: “the leader, the followers, and the situation.” He then lists “the ten most important leadership conversations” as they appear in the Bible’s canonical order: favor, perspective, change, failure, burden, worship, risk, humility, mobilization and judgment.By studying these conversations, Moore hopes the reader will take greater steps to becoming a Bible-centered leader, “whose leadership is informed by the Bible, and who has been personally shaped by biblical leadership values, who has grasped the intent of Scriptural books and their content in such a way as to apply them to current situations and who uses the Bible in ministry so as to impact followers.” (This is Bobby Clinton’s definition, which Moore quotes and endorses.)The Top Leadership Conversations in the Bible is an engaging book that will repay thoughtful reading.

In der evangelikalen Welt gibt es zwei Extreme. Die einen orientieren sich stark an gesellschaftlichen Leiterschaftspraktiken und übertragen diese oft unreflektiert auf das Gemeindeleben. Die anderen lehnen jede Art solcher Praktiken ab, weil diese ungeistlich seien. Steven Moore vermeidet beide Extreme. Er hat gleichermaßen ein Anliegen für gelebte Leiterschaft und für die Zentralität der Bibel. In seinem Buch bringt er beides zusammen.Das Buch ist gewissermaßen das Ergebnis eines intensiven Bibelstudiums, in dem der Autor die Bibel nach Leiterschaftsgesprächen durchforstet hat. Moore setzt dabei auf klare Definitionen und kategorisiert die Gespräche. In den vier großen Epochen der Geschichte Gottes (Patriarchal Era, National Era, Transitional Era, Spiritual Era) kommt er dabei insgesamt auf 1.090 Gespräche. 10 zentrale Gespräche davon greift für sein Buch heraus und zeigt anhand der Gespräche Eigenschaften bzw. Verhaltensmuster, die geistliche Leiter aufweisen sollten. (1) Favor, (2) Perspective, (3) Change, (4) Failure, (5) Burden, (6) Worship, (7) Risk, (8) Humility, (9) Mobilization, (10) Judgement. Das letzte Kapitel „Becoming a Bible Centered Leader“ betont die Wichtigkeit, aus der Bibel zu lernen.Steve Moore schreibt sehr strukturiert und bleibt stets nah an den biblischen Texten die er auslegt und anwendet. Es ist überraschend wie viel man aus der Bibel zum Thema Leiterschaft lernen kann. Gelegentlich hätte ich mir mehr Verweise auf Kommentare oder Nachschlagewerke gewünscht. Er begründet seine Auslegung zwar regelmäßig, aber das Buch ist nunmal auch keine exegetische Ausarbeitung. In der Regel sind die Argumente gut nachvollziehbar, manchmal wäre ich einer Argumentation aber auch gerne nachgegangen. Insgesamt ein erfrischendes Buch. Es ist knapp geschrieben und regt doch zu tieferer Reflexion an. Eine kostenlose Website mit Datenbank-Zugang zu weiteren Leiterschafts-Gesprächen ergänzt das Ganze.