Leadership Secrets from the Bible: Management Lessons For Contemporary Leaders

by Lorin Woolfe

Millions have been inspired by the Bible's spiritual lessons. Now, Lorin Woolfe provides a unique way to view the Bible . . . for leadership lessons that can be applied to our modern business world. Consider David's courage and innovation in slaying Goliath with just a stone and a sling; Moses' outstanding "succession planning" in picking Joshua; Joseph and the political skills that brought him to the seat of power; and of course, Jesus' compassion, communication skills, and vision that launched Christianity (a long-term success by any measure). These are leaders among leaders. Their achievements, and their inspired methods of achievement, offer a wholly different perspective on business leadership.

Genres: Leadership, Christian, Business, Nonfiction, Religion

240 pages, Hardcover

First published June 18, 2002

Reviews

[Nathan Albright · Rating 5 out of 5]

The world, and my bookshelf in particular, are pretty full of books that seek to mine the Bible for contemporary business lessons.  Some writers have even tried to make a career of the practice [1].  This book, thankfully, manages to successfully navigate the tensions that such books often bring.  On the one hand is the desire to make the Bible relevant to contemporary readers, especially businesspeople, by bringing in corporate examples which can lead to problems because the human examples chosen end up being bad examples rather than good ones.  A chief example of this was John Maxwell's warm praise of the ethics of the upper management at Enron.  On the other hand, though, is the fact that such writers also want to show the timeless appeal of practices by notable contemporary business leaders, which requires the writer to have a good understanding of biblical law and practice.  This is something that cannot be taken for granted among business writers.  In this book, though, we have a solid example of what happens when this type of approach of looking for both timeless and relevant leadership principles from the Bible and contemporary business practice is done well.

This book, at slightly more than two-hundred pages, is divided into ten chapters that each deal with a different principle that is important for leaders.  Starting with honesty and integrity, the author moves to purpose, kindness and compassion, humility, communication, performance management, team development, courage, justice and fairness, and leadership development--or would could be considered legacy.  The author shows a skillful blend of biblical exegesis as well as corporate history.  The author, although he uses some examples like Jack Welch that have soured a bit in recent years, makes no egregious errors, although it is clear that just as in biblical times, it can be a problem for companies to maintain their ethical core after the original owner(s) divest control to a larger company.  This book, therefore, while full of biblical stories well told and corporate stories also well told, is more an invitation to a conversation and to reflection rather than the last word on any of the subjects it refers to.  A surprising mixture of corporate jargon and a concern for matters of justice marks the author's writing here, and provides a degree of balance that is striking and remarkable.

Overall, this is a book I can strongly recommend.  It achieves a difficult task of writing with knowledge and appeal both to those who know and care about what the Bible says as well as those who are interested in books related to business and management.  This is the sort of book that can be found in a bargain bin at a Barnes & Noble, like I did, and simultaneously be a place where one can mine information for a sermon or Bible study or a case study about business leaders.  This is an author that I want to read more of, and although he is not particularly famous or well-known, at least by my knowledge, this book is a definite work of quality.  By and large, the author's approach praises leadership, but also recognizes that true leaders look out for the best interests of everyone in their organizations, making this book a far more humane one than many others of its kind.  The author even manages to find a way to tie Harley owners and famed hippy entrepreneurs Ben & Jerry to a Christian message, and that is no small achievement.

[1] See, for example:

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2012...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015...

[Darryl Wyrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this book you’re definitely fed spiritually but it goes beyond that; you get the practical part as well. Being that times are different than the B.C. days, this book does a great job of relating the biblical principles to how CEO’s lead in today’s time. I recommend this book to anyone who one day hopes to lead in some capacity, especially in the workforce!

[Bobby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Starts off terrible, has a good middle with a few great spots, and then limps to a finish.

the great spots are the only reasons I have the book three stars. This seems to be more of an academic paper from business school that the author links Biblical stories to fit a book selling genre. Most of the knowledge gleaned from this book comes from the studies of modern businesses and not Biblical case studies.

Overall I am disappointed despite learning some good lessons. Basically, the title is misleading.

[Grace Ha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ý tưởng của cuốn này khá hay nhưng mình mong nó được trình bày đặc sắc hơn. Lưu ý khi đọc quyển này: bạn cần rành rẽ mọi câu chuyện cổ s trong Kinh Thánh hoặc để cuốn Kinh Thánh kế bên để đọc ngay tình huống được nhắc đến.

[Sue Reifsnider · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would recommend this book to both the small business owner and the corporate manager. It is a worthwhile read.

[Troy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not bad at all. I like the format of this book. Each chapter ends up being a principle that you can see clear examples from biblical characters to business leaders. The principles in my opinion are not in order from least to greatest or greatest to least but arranged in a way that you question which should be developed first. I love the examples from the bible compared to the people in the business world, but it is kind of hard to believe that the people in the world adopted these principles because of strong Christian beliefs. Some people mentioned in this book do not proclaim that the reason they adopted these principles were not because of Christian beliefs but good business practices. Which is to say that they instinctively used a "what works best for me" approach until it yielded dividends. Overall it is a good read and I recommend it to anyone looking to parallel the two worlds.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was ok...maybe I was expecting something more because of the subject potential. I thing that Rabbi Labin's book is a much more insightful treatment of the subject. This book isn't bad...just not very filling.

[Jon Mellberg · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't finish it. I liked how it was written but it ended up being more redundant (and too many variations on a theme) for me to want to finish it.

[Richard Willsea]

It is often inferred that the Bible, being such an old book. Can not be relevant for modern problems. It is an attitude expressed, in my opinion, by those who have little knowledge of it and thus are wholly unprepared to applied the bible to their life. More than once I have found myself totally exasperated at hearing a leadership or business expert pontificating their knowledge and vast business experience. I grumble, sometimes loudly at those who think they invented or at least discovered integrity, honesty, and virtue, when these are the very things God has been directing us to for thousands of years.
Mr. Woolfe book is so attractive for he takes 10 common Judea-Christian ventures: Integrity, Purpose, Kindness, Humility, Communication, Performance, Team building, Courage, Justice and Leadership and lays those virtues open for definition and discussion. Then he lays out Gods word and wonder on the subject. With creditable examples of Biblical figures who struggled with the Virtue or succeed relying on the virtue. Like Solomon on thinking big, Moses on purpose and Jesus on delegation.
But Mr. Woolke does not stop there. The topic is closely woven together with a multitude of examples and stories from leading CEO’s like Steve Jobs, Firestone, Ford, Bill Gates even Ben and Jerry. Stories like that of Konosuke Matashita the founder of the international Conglomerate that bears his name. His purpose was to “over come poverty…to bring society wealth… thus enhancing the quality of life thought out to world.” He stared with an unpatented bicycle light in the 20’s.
On Kindness consider the golden rule and Dennis Bakke, who founded AES on overtly Christian principles “the bible teaches us that each person is holy, special and unique … Treat each person with respect and dignity… I would love to get the world back to Eden…”
On courage we have a parade of biblical figures, Noah and the flood Jonah and the wale, Esther and Hamma. Not to mention Jan Carzon of SAS, David Johnson of Campbell’s soup, or Barry Diller’s laugh out loud ideal of a cable “Shopping channel”.
This book may not be for every one. I certainly had to drag my way thought it. However, if I worked in an office/business environment I might have worked though it with more enthusiasm. It is a wealth of information. Biblically astute and well end noted.