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The Leader's Journey: Accepting the Call to Personal and Congregational Transformation
Many books describe elements of church leadership-- what it is and how to do it-- but very few focus on the process of personal transformation that is central to being able to lead well. The Leader's Journey provides a blueprint and the practical tools needed to transform the lives of pastors and congregational lay leaders so that they can become truly effective leaders. Blending the best of sound psychological research, solid Biblical principles, and proven congregational experiences-- authors Jim Herrington, Robert Creech, and Trisha Taylor offer step-by-step guidance for engaging in the personal transformation journey as part of effective congregational leadership.
192 pages, Hardcover
First published January 23, 2003
22 people are currently reading
185 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
May 22, 2018
I really can’t say enough about this book and the impact it has had on me already. It came at just the right time in my life and has opened my eyes to my interactions with family, others, and myself. It’s God’s voice offering words of encouragement, reflection, and validation.
July 26, 2013
Great book on understanding your church, leadership, and family as a living system. You will see your part in the transformation of those groups, and it will leave you hungry for more.
August 26, 2023
I read this book for a summer class I took. It had some excellent ideas about self differentiation and relational triangles that I have been mulling over for awhile. But the book was geared primarily towards pastors, so the examples in it fell a bit flat for me. And the discussions towards the end about the place of science in Biblical counseling again, seemed more intended for the professional vs. the layperson.
October 31, 2018
LIFE CHANGING!!! This has got to be the best book on leadership I’ve ever read. While written specifically to pastors, you will gain a TON from it even if you think you have no area of leadership in your life. Some of these concepts are new to me & the analytical, yet simple way the systems are laid out are helping me understand some things at a deeper level. It is a must read!
August 8, 2018
This book is truly life-changing if you read and then re-read and seek to live the principles.
Amazing insight on anxiety!! Possibly the best book on leadership I’ve ever read. If teams could live these principles - wow!
Amazing insight on anxiety!! Possibly the best book on leadership I’ve ever read. If teams could live these principles - wow!
July 28, 2017
Hands down the best book on leadership I've ever read.
August 10, 2018
One of the best books on leadership I’ve ever read.
November 3, 2014
This book aims high in its hope to ‘offer a practical pathway to transforming the lives of pastors and congregational leaders’. The method it uses to do this is based on understanding the role of leaders as part of a living human system, a method that draws heavily on Bowen Family Systems Theory. In order to navigate this system, leaders must cultivate both their awareness of the system and their capacity to manage themselves within it.
The authors begin with the need for personal transformation, outlining the following three essential beliefs:
1. ‘Personal Transformation happens best as an inside-out process of committing to obey Christ.
2. Personal Transformation happens best in the context of a loving community that extends grace and truth.
3. Personal Transformation happens best when we develop a reflective lifestyle.’
The authors foundational assumption is that we experience pressure to behave in certain ways in relationships due to the normal emotional connections relationships create. The authors call this being ‘wired together’ and point to the ways in which we are affected by the anxiety and behaviour of others. Using the example of Jesus Christ, the authors make the case for the need for ‘self-differentiation’. That is, the capacity to choose our responses in the face of the pressure of relationships and the ability to remain in these relationships without them determining our behaviour.
In part two of the book the authors explore two important variables that govern the function of the emotional system, they are: emotional maturity and the level of anxiety and tension within the system. They trace the roots of emotional maturity back to the family, they differentiate between acute and chronic anxiety and outline the five majors responses to it. In this context, the focus of effective leaders should be on being clam, recognising patterns of chronic anxiety and identifying how the leader and indeed each person in the system contributes to keeping the anxiety in place.
In part three the authors emphasise that in order for leaders to understand these dynamics within themselves they must ‘go back home’, to their family of origin to understand more deeply the fundamental dynamics that have shaped them and that they continue to act out. They argue that change must happen across all of the systems in which leaders are entwined to be sustainable, and that none is more significant than our roles and responses in our family system.
The forth and final part of the book addresses how spiritual disciplines are essential if we are to be transformed from the inside out by the Holy Spirit into the likeness of Christ. Spiritual disciplines are also critical to emotional maturity as they support the process of the differentiation of the self. The authors conclude by briefly touching on the need for support in this journey, highlighting how coaching relationships, learning communities and supportive peer relationships and be useful.
The authors begin with the need for personal transformation, outlining the following three essential beliefs:
1. ‘Personal Transformation happens best as an inside-out process of committing to obey Christ.
2. Personal Transformation happens best in the context of a loving community that extends grace and truth.
3. Personal Transformation happens best when we develop a reflective lifestyle.’
The authors foundational assumption is that we experience pressure to behave in certain ways in relationships due to the normal emotional connections relationships create. The authors call this being ‘wired together’ and point to the ways in which we are affected by the anxiety and behaviour of others. Using the example of Jesus Christ, the authors make the case for the need for ‘self-differentiation’. That is, the capacity to choose our responses in the face of the pressure of relationships and the ability to remain in these relationships without them determining our behaviour.
In part two of the book the authors explore two important variables that govern the function of the emotional system, they are: emotional maturity and the level of anxiety and tension within the system. They trace the roots of emotional maturity back to the family, they differentiate between acute and chronic anxiety and outline the five majors responses to it. In this context, the focus of effective leaders should be on being clam, recognising patterns of chronic anxiety and identifying how the leader and indeed each person in the system contributes to keeping the anxiety in place.
In part three the authors emphasise that in order for leaders to understand these dynamics within themselves they must ‘go back home’, to their family of origin to understand more deeply the fundamental dynamics that have shaped them and that they continue to act out. They argue that change must happen across all of the systems in which leaders are entwined to be sustainable, and that none is more significant than our roles and responses in our family system.
The forth and final part of the book addresses how spiritual disciplines are essential if we are to be transformed from the inside out by the Holy Spirit into the likeness of Christ. Spiritual disciplines are also critical to emotional maturity as they support the process of the differentiation of the self. The authors conclude by briefly touching on the need for support in this journey, highlighting how coaching relationships, learning communities and supportive peer relationships and be useful.
September 3, 2013
Anxiety... We all have it, but how often do we think about how it affects the various spheres in which we operate...home, work, church, community organizations... How often do we consider what raises the level of anxiety in a system and what lowers it? How often do we consider why certain situations cause certain reactions on certain people and how their family of origin radically shapes those reactions. This book is a very practical tool for thinking about anxiety in systems and how better understanding our personal life story affects the way we react to every word or action we encounter. As we gain understanding of our own emotional story and tendencies it gives us a double-edged tool for dealing with life situations with more perspective and emotional maturity. We are no longer confused victims of our own emotions and we have more tools for understanding when the reactions of others seem perplexing. This is an extremely practical book for better understanding and more calmly engaging the emotional systems operating all around us.
March 27, 2024
Update 2024: 4.5 stars. I read this a second time as an assigned book for a cohort. I'm so glad I read it again! I wasn't so put-off by the pastor analogies, and I was able to see how the principles apply to everyone.
Original Review: I FINALLY finished this book after 1.5 years. I was supposed to read it for a cohort at church. It was such a long, tedious read that I skipped the chapters I knew I would he out of town for. Some of the information is very good. However, it was hard for me to wade through it. Also, it's clearly written for pastors, and I no longer work in a church. Yes, the elements can be applied to anyone, but it was a bit distracting reading about how all of this relates to pastors and congregations. That being said, I did glean a lot from this book.
Original Review: I FINALLY finished this book after 1.5 years. I was supposed to read it for a cohort at church. It was such a long, tedious read that I skipped the chapters I knew I would he out of town for. Some of the information is very good. However, it was hard for me to wade through it. Also, it's clearly written for pastors, and I no longer work in a church. Yes, the elements can be applied to anyone, but it was a bit distracting reading about how all of this relates to pastors and congregations. That being said, I did glean a lot from this book.
October 28, 2012
This book is an introduction to Bowen System's Thinking for Christian pastors and leaders. Rather than conforming the Gospel to some new trend in psychology, the authors have plumbed the depths of this innovation as a means of thinking more clearly about how we relate to each other and God. Pastors will find it excellent because it puts pastor-church relations in a whole new light, a healthy light! Most of us are "entangled" in our relationships with others, mindless repeating patterns we learned in our family of origin which have been passed on for generations. I highly recommend this book for ANY Christian, not just pastors.
September 10, 2009
Perhaps a little over the top in some spots, in its fascination with living systems. But it connected with where I am at the moment, concerned for my own inner transformation/character as a leader (over against the tricks and tops of leadership gurus).
The most poignant moment for me was when they referred to Henri Nouwen's observation of how Jesus' temptations in the wilderness were the same temptations spiritual leaders face:
(1) to be relevant (turning stones to bread)
(2) to be spectacular (jumping from the pinnacle of the temple)
(3) to be powerful (compromising in order to rule)
The most poignant moment for me was when they referred to Henri Nouwen's observation of how Jesus' temptations in the wilderness were the same temptations spiritual leaders face:
(1) to be relevant (turning stones to bread)
(2) to be spectacular (jumping from the pinnacle of the temple)
(3) to be powerful (compromising in order to rule)
July 25, 2012
I am one of the authors of this book. It is an attempt by three people - a pastor, a counselor, and seminar prof - to help make Bowen Theory (or family systems theory) assessable to pastors and congregational leaders. It is used as a text book on pastoral leadership in seminaries across the country.
October 23, 2014
READ OCT 2014
Nice piece for those in full-time ministry. Best quotes, "The least mature members among us begin to attract most of our attention...in a living system, whenever a problem is chronic, just about everyone has a part to play in keeping it going" (p. 31), "The starting place for transformation is always at the point of changing oneself, not the other" (p. 125).
Nice piece for those in full-time ministry. Best quotes, "The least mature members among us begin to attract most of our attention...in a living system, whenever a problem is chronic, just about everyone has a part to play in keeping it going" (p. 31), "The starting place for transformation is always at the point of changing oneself, not the other" (p. 125).
July 27, 2018
The most valuable aspects of this book to me were it's summary and references to emotional or family systems theory, the concept of the "calm leader" and related material, and the discussion of family history, or genograms.
April 21, 2011
This book is based partially on Failure of Nerve by Friedman, so if you haven't read Friedman, then be sure to read the original as well.
Outstanding! Must read for leaders, we are all on a journey! Enjoy the journey, and keep me accountable!
Outstanding! Must read for leaders, we are all on a journey! Enjoy the journey, and keep me accountable!
August 5, 2013
Leader's Journey is a powerful and insightful look into the challenges of Christian leadership from a biblical perspective. Suggested for all leaders to take you time reading through and truly work through the discussion questions in the book, really helpful for reflection.
January 21, 2014
It was ok, but most of the information I read when I studied family systems in seminary. I recommend reading Friedman's classic Generation to Generation + Foster's classic A Celebration of Discipline instead.
October 18, 2016
This book has the potential to shock you when you realize how dependent and how influenced people are by the systems they live in.
I'd almost prefer that it would not quote the Bible at all because of how poorly it does that, but it was a good introduction to human process and systems.
I'd almost prefer that it would not quote the Bible at all because of how poorly it does that, but it was a good introduction to human process and systems.
August 27, 2008
Best book I think I've ever read on ministry. Certainly the most personally helpful.
October 7, 2009
A wonderful, thoughtful must read for every leader to do some heart and life processing in the midst of their call.
Read
September 2, 2011Excellent book on leadership and thinking about system dynamics within organizations - especially churches and ministries. Highly recommend.
January 31, 2012
Great book. Very helpful to spiritual growth.
Everyone should read this one.
Everyone should read this one.
June 26, 2012
Excellent! This is a book I would require for anyone studying for pastoral ministry. I wish I would have read this book 10 years ago! (although I guess it didn't exist then).
May 29, 2014
A helpful resource for pastors which will help them be more emotionally aware at all times.
October 13, 2014
I think there are many other books that are more helpful than this one for the same topic...
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews