Friday, June 5, 2009

Leading in the leadership field

It's been a terribly long time since I've blogged, and that's not due to negligence or worse, apathy. I was ill for over 18 months. Don't ask. The point is, after a 14-hour surgery and 2 month recovery time and some amazing new dope I'm BETTER! I returned to full-time work officially this month.

So the blogger is baaaaaaaack!

Unfortunately, I missed the golden window following my book launch to market the thing. Now I'm pitching it to some publishers for a new edition and working on book proposals as well as some spin-off books.

The United Church of Canada, like most mainline churches is lacking in three key areas: people, money and leadership. The one that interests me most, of course is leadership. I want to envision what it will take to be a leader in our church in the field of leadership. Indeed, it is the same theory within the rest of the world. What will it take to lead in the field of leadership?

Leadership gurus abound but many of them are full-time academics. They're not in the trenches; some have never been. Big-time business "leaders" lead with charisma or personality, catapulting their organizations forward on their own energy. They leave or retire and they cannot be replaced. The organization fails. They spend their retirement peddling a leadership theory that doesn't work. And making millions.

The true voice of leadership in our time must come from leaders in the trenches. Leaders mired in the muck of economic recession, conflict, personnel hassles, apathy and lack of productivity. Leaders who are invisible, silently plodding along empowering others who shine brighter than they.

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