Practicing Greatness: 7 Disciplines of Extraordinary Spiritual Leaders

by Reggie McNeal, Ken Blanchard (Foreword)

Based on his extensive experience as coach and mentor to many thousands of Christian leaders across a broad spectrum of ministry settings, Reggie McNeal helps spiritual leaders understand that they will self-select into or out of greatness. In this important book, McNeal shows how great spiritual leaders are committed consciously and intentionally to seven spiritual disciplines, habits of heart and mind that shape both their character and   The discipline of self-awareness ―the single most important body of information a leader possesses   The discipline of self-management ―handling difficult emotions, expectations, temptations, mental vibrancy, and physical well-being   The discipline of self-development ―a life-long commitment to learning and growing and building on one's strengths   The discipline of mission ―enjoying the permissions of maintaining the sense of God's purpose for your life and leadership   The discipline of decision-making ―knowing the elements of good decisions and learning from failure   The discipline of belonging ―the determination to nurture relationships and to live in community with others, including family, followers, mentors, and friends   The discipline of aloneness ―the intentional practice of soul-making solitude and contemplation  

Genres: Leadership, Christian, Nonfiction, School, Religion, Self Help, Church

192 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2006

About the author

Reggie McNeal enjoys helping leaders pursue more kingdom-focused lives. He currently serves as a senior fellow for Leadership Network and city coach for GoodCities. In his consulting and speaking, Reggie draws on his experience as a pastor, denominational leader, seminary teacher, and leadership development coach for thousands of church leaders across North America and the world. His books include The Present Future, Missional Renaissance, A Work of Heart, and Kingdom Come.

Reviews

[Nikki Peterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book for any Christian who desires to grow in leadership.

[Karla Renee Goforth Abreu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reggie McNeal gives insight to the topic of developing leadership from his experience of coaching and mentoring leaders. There are seven steps to extraordinary spiritual leadership, which is distinguished from simply great leadership.
While the author is correct, the book had little new or inspiring words about leadership. Rather, it was more of the many other advice manuals in the topic. Also, it becomes burdensome to continue reading about steps to this and steps to something else. One author's vital steps will vary from another's but generally entail similar advice.
If researching or studying leadership principles, this book is mediocre but some enrichment will be gleaned from it.

[Michael Galarneau · Rating 3 out of 5]

REFLECTION

    As a fan of Richard Foster’s Celebration of Discipline, I was intrigued by Reggie’s book. The seven disciplines that Reggie presents are similar in many ways to the spiritual disciplines that Foster puts forth. The importance of spiritual disciplines is paramount to Christian life, so it only makes sense that spiritual leadership would require essential disciplines as well. With this in mind, there is a lot of value to be found in Reggie’s work.

    Through describing the seven disciplines, Reggie will challenge the reader’s ideas about leadership. Specifically, the reader will be challenged to look at how they handle leadership. The discipline of self-awareness is probably the most valuable discipline Reggie provides. The insights that can be gained from understanding one’s self will affect every aspect of a person’s leadership and life. Until someone sits and analysis it, they may never really realize how the dynamics of their family life growing up, or the major events of their lives really shape the way they interact with everyone.

    The major downside to Reggie’s text is that it seems to be repetitive. There are a number of themes that seem to repeat in the various disciplines. Reggie actually points this out in the self-awareness chapter: “Self-awareness touches all other disciplines because it is foundational to every other element of greatness.” That being said, there is a feel, at times, that things are repeated just to extend chapters in order to get a book length work. This does not really outweigh the usefulness of the book. The repeated material just lends a feel of deja vu at times.

[Benjamin · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book runs counter Christ and then places Jesus interjections on top of the provided wisdom to make it appropriate for the Christian book seller's market. It's better in the self help section of Barnes and Noble since the center of the book is self rather than the call of Christ, to release the self in order that Christ might dwell freely within.

The advice here is street pedaled wisdom, but, you know, sometimes even that is a helpful token now and then.

Yet, while touting the title "spiritual leadership," this book lacks any reflection of spiritual wisdom whatsoever. There's an occasional quote from Jesus but those are reduced from the greater teaching of Jesus, like picking the warm fuzzy parts that augment the self but never read the wisdom of Jesus where the self is called to be reduced or lost.

[Teresa Aysan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was mandatory reading for Tyndale Seminary LEAD0510. I like the 7 disciplines, I thing Reggie did a good job in tagging those: Self-Awareness, Self-Management, Self-Development, Mission, Decision Making, Belonging and Aloneness. However I got bored. I've read a lot of leadership books and the only thing that was new that jumped out at me was the Discipline of Belonging. I never thought of it as a discipline to be worked on. I thought the book could have been half the size. I didn't see the relevance of many of the stories, and as others have pointed out, they were repetitive in context and flavour.
I was disappointed that there was nothing in the book on how spiritual leaders today have to adjust their disciplines to meet the challenges of evangelization in our post modern world.

[Ryan Dufoe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm usually allergic to the genre of "leadership" books, but most of the content in this book is worth getting over that phobia. McNeal packs this book with incredible Christian leadership wisdom, like recognizing your own limits and becoming more self aware. I gave it four stars because of one thing that I deeply disagreed with McNeal about: the place of talent in spiritual leadership. He claims that Jesus didn't pick the twelve because of their lack of talent, and that he secretly knew they'd be fit to lead the church. From my own study of scripture, I think that that is exactly what happened so that, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1, "[God's] might shame the wise through those who are fools." Overall, I think that he vastly overstates the place and importance of talent.

[Nelson R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was pair with Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership: Seeking God in the Crucible of Ministry for my leadership group, I finish it and it had a lot of good advice for spiritual leaders. I tend to be a leader of some sort and I will practice the disciplines that Dr. Reggie McNeal shares with the reader.

[Brittany · Rating 2 out of 5]

The content is forgettable, and it wasn't very well written. The short narratives interspersed every few pages (except in chapter 6 where they were oddly absent) were distracting and often didn't even provide enough detail to be helpful.

The conclusion stated that “Leaders who achieve greatness are not only blessings; they feel blessed.” This sounds too much like the prosperity gospel; I think there are many great leaders who do not FEEL blessed at certain times.

I was required to read this book for a class.

[Justin Laskowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Super helpful section on Strength-Based leadership. McNeal says that only focusing improving your weaknesses and attempting to be "well-rounded" is actually likely rooted in pride. God created the body of Christ to need each other — no one part is "well-rounded" enough not to need others. Leaders who strive to be the best at everything are limiting themselves from being truly great in one area — and probably hindering others on their team from contributing in meaningful ways.

[Francis Judge · Rating 2 out of 5]

Both the tile and the structure of this well written book peaked my imagination when I picked it up and read the introduction. However, unless you live in the US and have embraced a business-style church-leadership model it has limited value. Full of truism that are, generally speaking, ungrounded in scripture, it lacks the credibility of grounding to make the seven habits compelling to embrace as life values. A disappointing read.

[Johnathan Nazarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great concepts. Sections are really enjoyable. Some sections feel like they were drug out a little to hit that 20 page Mark. Concepts were great concepts and illustrated well.

Foundational for leaders who want to be great.

[anderson]

Needed more depth.

It covered a ton of critical areas. But Little depth.
It's frustrating to raise a critical issue... Only to move to another topic. There is no resolution and maybe that is the goal of the book to pursue the real 1:1 help we need.

[Spencer Rice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fine read on leadership. The book focuses on 7 disciplines that great leaders must master. They’re not all disciplines in the classical sense, but the seven are: self-awareness, self-management, self-development, mission, decision making, belonging, and aloneness.

[Hope Mango · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book. Some really good insight on leadership and learning your strengths

[Kendra]

Excellent book for leaders and pastors. Ive read multiple times. Great reference book

[Yonasan Aryeh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reggie McNeal writes this brief definitive book on extraordinary spiritual leaders with the belief that great leaders are direly needed. A great leader has certain characteristics that make them unique from mediocre leadership: humility, effectiveness, and the willingness to serve. A problem is that these traits are often missing in leaders today. This book is the answer: in these pages are seven specific disciplines needed to foster great leadership.

The first discipline covered the self-awareness. McNeil provides examples of biblical leaders demonstrated self-awareness, specifically David, Paul, and Y'shua. Evaluating the reader's personal history, addictions, and compulsions, McNeil looks at the boundaries to help the reader be more self-aware. The second discipline is self-management. Self-management includes: managing feelings (these include depression, anger, hostility, grief, fear, and bitterness), managing expectations (those the reader places on themselves and those others have on the reader), managing money, and staying healthy (physically, mentally, and spiritual). The third discipline is self-development. This includes the lifelong learning and the unlearning curve, as well as establishing best practices for learning and networking appropriately. In this process, the reader can become aware of their strengths and develop a culture that supports their strengths, as well as avoiding burnout. The fourth discipline is mission. This section helps the reader understand their mission/call, by evaluating their passions, talents, and personality. A mission must have meaning and significance, focus on excellence, improve energy, and be intentional.

The fifth discipline is decision-making. Leaders must have the elements of good decision-making, which include: asking the right questions, getting enough of the right kind of information, considering timing, involving the right people, operating with the right motives, understanding intended outcomes, making accurate decisions from debriefing sessions, and learning from mistakes. The sixth discipline is belonging. The leader must have appropriate belonging within their family, which includes: being at peace with family of origin, working toward intimacy in marriage, and blessing their children. A leader must also appropriate belonging within a friendship network, ensuring friends have beneficial qualities and knocks detrimental qualities to the friendship. A leader should have appropriate belonging to coworkers, investing in their team. The leader must also have a mentor to help with life coaching, professional matters, and spiritual life. This can be accomplished out of peer mentorship if needed. Leaders must also have belonging to their followers. The seventh, and last, discipline is the discipline of aloneness. A reality of life is a leadership is often times lonely. This includes the wilderness experience – which can often be a life-changing experience for leaders. During alone times, leaders should observe the Sabbath, have extended prayer times, fast, and journal. Having alone time is needed, and can often be violated by mismanagement of time, inappropriate boundaries, and unnecessary distractions.

By the end of the book, readers have become leaders, but not just that – leaders practicing greatness.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very good book on leadership that was more practical in its approach. Many leadership books tend to be more philosophical in nature, focusing on the ideas of leadership but leaving out practical application and steps. McNeal does a good job of balancing the two. He approaches leadership from a biblical perspective and explains that as Christian leaders we are called to be excellent. God does not call us to be mediocre, but to represent Him in a way that honors Him. We need to be great leaders.

McNeal goes on to lay out practical areas of application to help leaders be great. He addresses issues that leaders face in all areas of their lives and brings some good understanding to the right questions to ask and good steps to take in those areas to become better leaders. He uses real examples from his experiences to make his points come to life. His illustrations give traction to the ideas he is proclaiming. I particularly enjoyed the chapters on the discipline of belonging and the discipline of aloneness. I love the way he explains both areas and sees both of these disciplines as complimentary and necessary. I tend to drift toward isolation at times, but that is different from aloneness. McNeal helped me to understand that aloneness is good when practiced correctly, but that does not take away the need to belong to others. He was clear that belonging comes on different levels and will look different for different people.

I highly recommend this book for every Christian leader. While his illustrations are geared mainly toward those in church ministry, the principles and explanations are applicable for all leaders in any situation. This book has helped me think through different areas of my life and different disciplines that I need to address to become a much better and effective leader.

[Brian Watson · Rating 2 out of 5]

What kind of book is this? This is the kind of book that a self-proclaimed "leadership expert" writes while flying on a plane to and from a conference on leadership. There is little evidence that McNeal conducted any research for this book. On the plus side, there were bits of common sense wisdom interspersed throughout the book. Nothing revelatory, but some good bits of advice.

On the negative side, there were a lot of little "case studies" that read something like this: "Bill was the pastor of a church. He never took time off and became increasingly negative, ineffective, and burned-out. Then someone told him he should take a day off. Now he's hopeful, full of energy, and his church has doubled in size." I have no idea if these are real stories or things that McNeal made up. Honestly.

Also, the theology can be awful. Consider the following paragraph:
"When Jesus asked his disciples, 'Who do people say that I am?' he was not just trying to get more scripture written. When he followed up his disciples' responses with, 'Who do you say that I am?' he had not adopted an argumentative, persuasive posture. He was honestly gauging how his message was coming across, both with the public and with his most trusted followers. This information helped him know how to calibrate his message and his methods to achieve his mission. If Jesus went to such great lengths to gain good information, mere human spiritual leaders surely must do the same" (p. 107).

Uh, no. Jesus was always in complete command of his action. He didn't need to "gauge how his message was coming across."

[Shaun Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thankfully, this book was a compulsory course reading requirement and proved to be a joy to read! It made me consider wanting to purchase other titles from the same author. The book consists of some thoughts and processes that (as I observe how my new church functions), I could possibly highlight for consideration to the pastoral team. As an instinctive problem-solver, I unconsciously seek out more efficient methods and processes of my surroundings. I thought that the notion of benchmarking was brilliant, with its potential for vision, modelling and affirmation to be caught from a posture of rest from service.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved Reggie McNeal's [The Present Future:] but had a hard time getting into this book on spiritual leadership. When it touches on some of Reggie's key themes (passion, talent, the missional transition) the book sings; other parts of the book read more like a well-thought-out conglomeration of ideas on leadership from Maxwell, Stanley & Hybels.

This would be a good starting place for someone reading about spiritual leadership - it's a great compilation of disciplines & ideas. It's probably not as effective for those who've read extensively on the subject.

[Brett · Rating 2 out of 5]

McNeal identifies seven disciplines that hold the potential to transform one’s leadership from good to great: self-awareness, self-management, self-development, mission, decision-making, belonging, and aloneness. While these disciplines doubtlessly serve as catalysts to greatness in leadership, McNeal’s insights are generally stale and uninspiring. There is little here to disagree with, but, likewise, little that will adequately motivate or equip leaders (McNeal’s comments on debriefing as a form of discipleship offer a thoughtful exception). C

[Aaron · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's chocked full of good strategies for Godly leaders. The only problem is that I don't get the "leadership-ese" that it's written in. Also, it seems to be a little too broad in it's prescriptions for it to be applicable.

[Derek · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love Reggie McNeal but did not really enjoy this book. His whole concept on changing the scorecard and missional thinking is a breath of fresh air but this book seems to be more generic leadership book in style. Would not recommend this book.

[Chuck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good read from Reggie McNeal. Good overview of a spiritual leader's life and needs. Helpful review of areas in which to be personally disciplined in order to be effective.

The Introduction is worth the time to read by itself.

[Gary Cousins · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was attracted to this book by the really good list of 7 disciplines, but I was a little disappointed as I found some of the chapters quite dry. I had my highlighter to hand but it didn't get much use. Still well worth the read if you are studying leadership development.

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read a lot of leadership books. This one is good but not great. I read it a few years ago and cannot remember a single one of the disciplines now.

[John]

Very good! It focus on discipline of greatness and defines greatness biblically of what Jesus taught...humility, service, and good skills defines greatness.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. I used it with my 2008/09 Leadership team. Greatness requires discipline and Reggie outlined 7 Principles of Greatness...Will reread this book.

[Carla Calvert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! Great practices to put into practice!

[Zeke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Challenging and encouraging. Well written in my opinion and very inspiring. If there is anything to critique, I would say it gets a bit overwhelming at times. So much good advice in one place!