Leading people, adapting to change and staying healthy

Launching a Leadership Revolution: Mastering the Five Levels of Influence by Chris Brady & Orrin Woodward (Business Plus, 978-0-446-58071-7, 2007)

Sooner or later, we are all called to lead in some capacity. Leadership skills are vital in corporate settings, small businesses, church or community organizations and even within the home. Brady and Woodward have recognized this need and have jointly created an in-depth, step-by-step guide for developing leadership skills.

Utilizing an abundance of historical examples, the authors have developed a unique five-step plan that charts a course for creating and maintaining strong leadership in any organization. The plan guides the reader through the “Five Levels of Influence”:

• Learning: a leader must be able to learn from anyone
• Performing: persevere through failure to find success
• Leading: extend your ability by expanding your team
• Developing Leaders: learn to trust your people 
• Develop Leaders who Develop Leaders: create a legacy

This book is full of prescriptive advice, quotes and anecdotes that illustrate the authors’ principles.

This is the best book I’ve read on leadership to date! It addresses the priorities and practical issues of what a leader is, what a leader brings to his team/organization, what a leader does and how a leader grows, all the while using historical examples from real people like Winston Churchill, William Wilberforce, the apostle Paul, Theodore Roosevelt and more.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Steven R. Covey (Free Press, 978-0-743-26951-3, 2004)

Covey presents a holistic, integrated, principle-centered approach for solving personal and professional problems. With penetrating insights and pointed anecdotes, he reveals a step-by-step pathway for living with fairness, integrity, service and human dignity—principles that give us the security to adapt to change and the wisdom and power to take advantage of the opportunities that change creates.

When I first read this book as a young man, it completely changed the way I viewed managing time and leading people. This is an absolute must-read for future leaders. Just last week I gave this book to my nephew, who is a youth pastor in a small church in Michigan.

Spiritual Leadership: Moving People on to God’s Agenda by Henry & Richard Blackaby (B&H Books, 978-1-433-66918-7, 2011)

Drawing on their own extensive leadership experience as well as their ministry to leaders in all walks of life, the authors Blackaby offer insightful counsel into the ways God develops, guides and empowers spiritual leaders. Clear guidance is given as to how leaders can make a positive impact on the people and organizations they are currently leading.

One of the best reads on vision came from this book in the chapter “The Leaders Vision: Where Do Leaders Get It and How Do They Communicate It?” The other chapter that spoke to me was “The Leader’s Schedule: Doing What’s Important.” These two chapters alone were worth the price of the book!

None of These Diseases: The Bible’s Health Secrets for the 21st Century by S.I. McMillen, M.D., & David E. Stern, M.D. (Revell/Baker Publishing Group, 978-0-800-75719-9, 2000)

Asserting that the truth of the Bible holds the key to healthy living, None of These Diseases identifies how many life-threatening medical conditions could be prevented through living a committed Christian life and following the instructions in the Old and New Testament.

As a young man, the examples in this book of how we get and prevent diseases served to strengthen my faith in the creator God and validate the more obscure passages in the Bible, particularly in Leviticus. They also helped me understand the absolute and profound wisdom of God in the creation of the human race and how I could better care for my body as the temple of the living God.