Leadership books can be complicated, giving loads of leadership principles that can leave leaders feeling bogged down and helpless. While these books are helpful additions to any leader’s library, sometimes it’s nice to hear leadership laws boiled down to the essentials. What does it look like on a daily basis to be an effective leader?

That’s why I’ve boiled hundreds of leadership books and articles down to what I call the “Leadership Rhythm.” Every leadership tidbit I’ve found falls under one of these sub-headings, and when I find something useful, I tuck it under one of them. Invest in these four rhythms on a daily basis, and you’ll keep yourself doing what leaders are supposed to do while magnetically attracting followers along the way:

1. Direction. Leaders, first and foremost, know where they’re going. In a world lost in apathy, we gladly submit ourselves to someone who’s carved a clear picture of the future, and resolutely sets a steel face toward that end. It doesn’t matter if it’s building a Fortune 500 company, or WWII – people flock to those who know exactly where they’re going:

• Do you have clear, written goals in your personal and corporate life?
• Do you embrace core values in your own life and in your organization?
• Do you keep appointments, accomplish tasks on time, and keep your project/action lists updated?
• Do you regularly spend time reading, studying and memorizing the Bible for spiritual direction?
• Do you regularly seek out wisdom from others in your field?

2. Connection. The new IQ is EQ (Emotional Quotient), and the reason is: people with IQ know what to do, but people with EQ get things done. Leadership is all about relationships. If you can’t connect, you can’t lead. Personally, I’ve come up with a “relationship flow” that I try to incorporate into my daily life, that looks something like this:

• Greet – Do you look people in the eye, smile, and use their name when you see them?
• Listen – Do you ask good, conversation-geared open-ended questions? Do you regularly re-articulate what others say in your own words?
• Affirm – Do you regularly affirm people’s positive qualities and accomplishments, publicly and privately?
• Memory – Do you remember people’s names, goals, and prayer needs?
• Sharing – In all of your tasks, connections and activities are you constantly thinking, “Who else can benefit from this?”
•  Asking – Do you know people’s strengths, and regularly invite them to use those strengths?
• Reconciling – Do you honestly apologize when you make a withdrawal from a relationship, or do you make excuses?

3. Expression. Great leaders don’t just have a clear picture of the future in their heads – they paint it in the most compelling way imaginable. If you can’t express your vision creatively and powerfully, all the direction/connection in the world won’t induce followers, just friends (which are great!)

• Do you regularly spend time writing out your thoughts on topics, issues and problems?
• Do you spend time learning expression through literature, non-fiction and great speakers?
• Do you connect through social media (twitter, facebook, blogging)?
• Do you make strategic time to communicate to your vision to your organization at least once a month?
• Do you have a personal journal in which you express your thoughts/feelings about life?

4. Energy. Finally, for the above three components to work, a leader needs incredible drive and energy. I think of celebrities like Robin Williams and Will Smith – these guys don’t necessarily give us a clear vision of the future, but their pure energy makes them magnets for millions

• Do you regularly exercise?
• Do you know how much sleep your body needs, and carve out time for it?
• Do you understand how your personality is energized (introvert/extrovert, etc.)?
• Do take at least one day off a week to find energy for the rest of the week?
• Do you know your body’s diet needs for maximum energy?
• Do you regularly retreat to find energizing beauty in nature, literature, music, movies, art, etc.?

Take some time today to evaluate which areas are weak and strong. Then, plan some strategic time tomorrow to carve out for each rhythm. Not only will you become a more effective leader, but at the end of the day you’ll discover a happier, healthier you.

Nicholas McDonald is passionate about creatively communicating timeless truth. You can visit his daily blog, www.scribblepreach.com, learn about himhere, or connect with him on Twitter @NicholasMcD

But as Noreena Hertz explains at the Harvard Business Review, “a vast body of research now points to the import of contemplating diverse, dissenting views. Not just in terms of making us more rounded individuals but in terms of making us smarter decision-makers. Dissent, it turns out, has a significant value.”

When group members are actively encouraged to openly express divergent opinions they not only share more information, they consider it more systematically and in a more balanced and less biased way. When people engage with those with different opinions and views from their own they become much more capable of properly interrogating critical assumptions and identifying creative alternatives. Studies comparing the problem-solving abilities of groups in which dissenting views are voiced with groups in which they are not find that dissent tends to be a better precondition for reaching the right solution than consensus.

Honest Feedback
It’s extremely hard for a leader to get honest feedback due to the fact that most people’s tendency is to say what the leader wants to hear. Yet how many leaders actively seek out and encourage views alien and at odds to their own? Not many. And, as Hertz demonstrates, this has damaging consequences.

President Lyndon Johnson notoriously discouraged dissent, with many historians now believing that this played a significant role in the decision to escalate U.S. military operations in Vietnam. Excessive group-think is now recognized to have underpinned President Kennedy’s disastrous authorization of a CIA-backed landing at Cuba’s Bay of Pigs. Former employees of the now defunct Lehman Brothers have talked about how voicing dissent there was considered a career-breaker. Yale economics professor Robert Shiller explained that when it came to warning about the bubbles he believed were developing in the stock and housing markets just before the financial crisis he did so only “quietly” because: “Deviating too far from consensus leaves one feeling potentially ostracized from the group with the risk that one may be terminated.”

Hertz urges leaders to actively signal that they want to hear views different and diverse and in opposition to their own and cites a number of encouraging examples.

Eric Schmidt, the Executive Chairman of Google, has talked about how he actively seeks out in meetings people with a dissenting opinion. Abraham Lincoln’s renowned “team of rivals” was comprised of people whose intellect he respected and were confident enough to take issue with him when they disagreed with his point of view. Stuart Roden, Co Fund Manager of Lansdowne Partners’ flagship fund, one of the world’s largest hedge funds, tells me he sees one of his primary roles as being the person who challenges his staff to consider how they could be wrong, and then assess how this might impact on their decision-making.

Of course, for Christian ministry, we’re not talking about encouraging people to challenge core biblical doctrines and practices. We’re speaking more of vision, direction, strategy, administration, problem-solving, management, etc.

Who is your Challenger in Chief? Who questions your choices? Who contradicts your positions?

And are you listening to them, or shutting them down?

You can read Noreena Hertz’s article here, although you probably need a free subscription to get access.

I know I shouldn’t, but I tend to grudge every minute I have to spend compiling reports, answering email, filing paper, answering email, writing references, and answering email. Did I mention answering email?

I’d far prefer to be preparing sermons and lectures, writing blogs and books, and shepherding believers and unbelievers.

That’s why I am so, so, so grateful for those God has called to be administrators, especially those I work with at Puritan Seminary. I have huge admiration for their gifts and for their servant hearts. I’m stunned at the enthusiasm with which they go about their jobs, the quality of work they produce, and the extra miles they are always willing to run.

What a blessing for any church or institution to have men and women like this. Most of them have no idea how immensely and immeasurably valuable and vital their work is. But for every minute they spend on administration, that’s one more minute for pastors to spend on ministry (Acts 6:4). Every minute they give to paper is one more minute for pastors to give to people.

One of the greatest services you could do for your pastor is to ask him, “Is there any administration that I could take off your desk? Is there any office work that I could remove from your to-do list.” You’ve no idea how much that might help to improve his sermons and increase his counseling availability.

And if you’ve got one of those weird creatures, a minister who actually loves and seeks out administration, you’ve got to take him by the scruff of the neck and force him to hand over the paper, the files, and the paper clips. There are sermons to write and souls to be evangelized.

Administrators need ministers and ministers need administrators. As pastors already have an “Appreciation Day,” I’d be all for organizing an “Administrator’s Appreciation Day,” except of course that would involve me in administration.

A fearful leader is not a leader. I’m not saying a leader never fears. Of course he does. I wouldn’t follow anyone who never felt afraid. Such a man is not brave but a fool. When I say “a fearful leader is not a leader,” I’m describing someone who is characterized by fear, overwhelmed with fear, never gets past fear, is dominated by fear, and makes decisions based on fear.

A positive leader is someone who fears but doesn’t stop there, paralyzed and useless. Rather, he takes his fear to the Lord, confesses it, seeks courage to overcome it and to act bravely.

Animals can smell fear. But so can humans! People will be able to tell when cowardice is dominating and directing your decisions, words and actions. They will smell the fear behind your favoritism, excuses, and waffle. They will lose respect for you, stop following you, and even start intimidating you. That’s why I said, “A fearful leader is not a leader.” No one is following him, regardless of his title.

If we focus on pastoral ministry, courageous leadership is demonstrated in evangelism, in preaching the whole counsel of God, in dealing with discipline cases without prejudice, in reforming the church, and in taking unpopular stands against sin in the church and in the world.

Compassionate Leadership

This vision of positive leadership may have built up a caricature in your mind of a person who is self-assured, self-confident, and maybe a bit self-centered. However, I want to demolish that by emphasizing lastly that a positive leader is a caring and compassionate person. He is not self-centered but other-centered.

Speaking of pastors in particular, I’ve seen people try to lead congregations through preaching alone; leading from the pulpit. Others have tried to lead through being effective administrators; leading from the computer, you might say. Still others have tried to lead through their growing international reputation; leading a local congregation through non-local accomplishment.  And then of course there are the dictators; leading through tyrannical abuse of power.

However, none of these work long-term. A positive leader is out among his people, present with them, caring for them, and providing for them. And that’s not just when illness, bereavement, or problems arise; that would be reactive leadership. No, positive leadership means getting out in front of the problems and trials, getting to know people in the calm, not just appearing in the storm. It’s building relationships over years so that trust and credibility is present when the real difficulties do arise. The positive leader is not just waiting for trouble, he’s positively investing in lives and families over the long-term.

Previous posts in the Positive Leadership series:

1. Cheerful leadership
2. Climbing Leadership
3. Confident Leadership
4. Clear Leadership
5. Communicative Leadership

Clear Leadership

The positive leader has clear principles and convictions that He will not compromise. Yes, there are secondary issues and debateable questions, but there are also non-negotiables. The positive leader does not hide these things or waffle when asked about them. People who have known him for a while know where he stands on the most important questions.

He also has clear language. He states His understanding of God’s word with as clear language as he can. He strives to use language that is as simple as possible without sacrificing accuracy. He uses short rather than long sentences; short words rather than long words; concrete rather than abstract terms; illustrations rather than philosophical terms. His motto is “Brevity + Simplicity = Clarity.”

Clear principles and clear language are impossible without a clear conscience. This was something Paul strove for constantly (Acts 24:16). Whenever I hear someone waffling or prevaricating on whether something is right or wrong, or whether something is true or false, I immediately wonder about the person’s conscience. Is there some compromise in that person’s life that’s making it difficult for them to explain their position without their conscience protesting.

The leader also communicates positive energy by having a clear vision. He doesn’t need a vision statement, but everyone can state his vision. They know what he is trying to accomplish, where he is taking people, and why.

Why not ask people to state in one sentence, “What do you think am I all about?” or “What do you think I’m trying to accomplish?”

Communicative Leadership

Weak, negative, fearful leaders hear the phrase “Knowledge is power” and think, “Yes, the more I know and the less they know, the more powerful I’ll be.” The positive leader hears “Knowledge is power” and thinks, “How can I empower people by sharing knowledge with them.”

I’m still amazed at the way some pastors and elders try to keep people from knowing what’s going on in the church. Of course there are some things that should not be shared, but the default should always be share, inform, communicate.

So much trouble results in churches when elders and pastors try to starve people of information, when there’s a “We know what’s best for you” kind of attitude.

It’s almost impossible to keep people from knowing things today. So what’s the point in trying? They only get suspicious and then feel angry and distrusted when the information does eventually get out to them. Then you are on the back foot trying to explain and defend yourself.

The positive leader gets on the front foot and defaults to communicate rather than conceal.

In Scotland, there’s a hobby called “Munro-bagging,” A Munro is a mountain that is over 3000 feet high and “Munro-baggers spend their leisure time “bagging” (climbing) these Munros. They plan, organize, train, buy supplies, enlist friends, rise early, drive many hours, and then they climb…and climb…and climb. After bagging their first Munro, most usually aim for 10, then 100, then 200, until, after many years, all 283 peaks are conquered. And all this while the rest of us are enjoying our Saturday morning sleep-ins.

Positive Christian leaders are Munro-baggers rather than sleep-ins. They are not content with the comfortable status quo nor with managing gradual decline. They are looking out for, planning, or taking on the next Munro.

Helping others climb
I’m not talking here of personal ambition or careerism. No, this Munro-bagger’s passion is to help others climb higher, grow stronger, move onward, upward, outward, etc. in their Christian faith and life.

He doesn’t want to leave people where they were when He found them. He wants to help them “bag some Munros.” He can look back on a congregation’s past achievements and attainments with pleasure, but he doesn’t rest on that. He’s looking for new challenges, new “Munros” to climb with his people.

Moral and spiritual summits
He looks at each individual and family, as well as the whole congregation, and asks how he can help them to progress, grow, and mature. What aspects of a person’s character could be developed? What areas of a family’s life could be improved? What service opportunities can be provided for this person? What unexplored area of Scripture should be studied? What outreach or mission can we attempt? What relationships can be strengthened?

Isn’t that the spirit of Christ’s leadership? And the apostles?

And it’s not just pastors who can do this. Young people and women can do this too to some degree in their own spheres of responsibility.

What spiritual Munros are you planning to bag? For yourself? Your family? Your congregation? Your friends?

Confident Leadership

I once attended a mountain-climbing church camp in the Scottish Highlands where we were trying to bag a number of Munros.

On the second day, we set out on a fairly ambitious trek. About halfway through, the mist and rain enveloped us, separating us into small detached groups going in different directions, and very soon all of us were lost.

At one point, a bedraggled handful of us us decided that the way back to base was over a particular mountain. We started climbing, but when we got about half-way up we could hardly see in front of our noses and decided to re-trace our steps. On the way down, we were relieved to meet our camp leaders on the way up the mountain.

“Oh!” we said, “So we were heading in the right direction after all?”

“I don’t know,” replied the Commandant, “We were just following you. You seemed to know where you were going.”

Lost confidence
Needless to say, we immediately lost any remaining confidence in our leaders, and spent the rest of the week, which was filled with similar disasters, doubting, second-guessing, and double-checking all our leaders’ plans. It was not enjoyable.

A positive leader has to convey a certain degree of confidence. He knows where he’s going, how he’s going to get there, and what he’s going to do when he arrives. Without this, who’s going to be inspired to follow his direction and instruction?

This is not about self-confidence, a confidence in personal abilities, but a confidence founded in the sovereignty of God and the promises of His Word.

Demonstrating confidence
We can build people’s confidence by demonstrating a high degree of consistent competence in our calling (in administration, communication, organization, etc), by living a holy life, and by developing a reliable steady witness. But we especially build confidence by how we react in times of crisis.

When a respected elder falls into immorality and apostatizes, the positive leader doesn’t panic, throw in the towel, and wonder out loud, “Where’s God?” No, while grieving over the sin, and the shame brought upon the church, He expresses confidence in God and His providence. He will say with the apostles, “They went out from us, because they were not of us….There must also be heresies among us so that they who are of God will be approved.” He demonstrates His calm faith in Christ’s promise: “I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.”

When a little child dies of cancer, of course he sympathizes and weeps with those who weep, but He also directs the distressed mourners to the sovereign, good, and wise character of God, to the sufferings of Christ, and to the sure hope of eternal life. He doesn’t fall to pieces and misrepresent God as helpless, clueless, and loveless.

Doubting, hesitating, prevaricating leaders will replicate themselves in others. But a confident leader inspires confident people, their confidence not being in the leader, but in the One who leads the leader.

See Part 1 of “Positive Leadership”: Cheerful Leadership

• Mr Passive
• Mr Crisis
• Mr Dictator
• Mr Inconsistent
• Mr Fearful
• Mr Pessimist
• Mr Boastful
• Mr Academic
• Mr Sociable
• Mr Administrator

If you click on over to my monthly column at Christianity.com, I’ll introduce you to these 10 men.

1. Reading improves intelligence and leads to innovation and insight: it increases vocabulary, world knowledge, abstract reasoning skills, and creativity (especially for those reading in many fields)

2. Reading makes you more effective in leading others: it enhances verbal intelligence, deepens empathy, and ramps up productivity, often leading to pay rises and promotions.

3. Reading relaxes and improves health: reading for six minutes can reduce stress by 68%, and may even fend off Alzheimer’s!

As, despite these attractions, people are reading less widely and less deeply, Coleman closes with five ways to help us improve personal literacy and, therefore, leadership skills. Read the whole article here.

• The #1 hiring mistake is not taking enough time in the interview/hiring process
• Every year we increase the time we spend in hiring and every year our turnover goes down and productivity goes up
• Some of our people were interviewed 10 times over a period of 6 months.
• Sometimes we hire someone in less than 30 days but that’s very unusual.
• If you don’t spend enough time in hiring someone, you’ll eventually spend much more time in dealing with their short-comings, and hiring their replacements

Ramsey then spoke of the two essential Christian characteristics of every hire:

• Opportunistic motivation: People who are fired up and excited about working really hard for a growing and expanding business.
• Philosophical motivation: People who see this work as a Christian ministry of hope to needy people.

“If people just buy into one of those, we’re in trouble,” warns Ramsey. And what’s the most common missing element? “Most get the philosophical motivation but not the opportunistic.”

Some want to work in Christian ministries but think that means work rate and work standards don’t matter so much as in the private sector. Ramsey tells potential hires: “We work hard, really hard. We view part of our spiritual walk to be excellent in the marketplace. If you can’t cope with Superbowl level of play you aren’t going to be happy here.”

The podcast goes on to a fascinating interview with Clint Smith, CEO of myemma.com, a business that helps 40,000 business around the world with email marketing. His hiring process has 14 steps!

Churches, Christian ministries, Christian employers and business people, we have much to learn!

Listen to the podcast on iTunes here (it’s about #9 on the list).

1. What’s your biggest failure?
“I won’t hire someone for my company who doesn’t acknowledge failure and I would insist on the same from our presidential candidates.”

2. What’s the biggest risk you’ve taken and would you do it again?
“Whether in business or government, the hallmark of a successful leader is often courage. The question is, which risks are worth taking and how are these decisions made?”

3. When have you taken an unpopular decision against special interest groups?
“I want a candidate who can demonstrate that he has taken a position that serves the broader public in the face of adversity.”

4. What’s the most unconventional thing you’ve done?
“It’s undeniable that the success of most entrepreneurs is connected to the fact that they were innovative and often unconventional. I am convinced that this is an important qualification for solving any nation’s problems.”

Read Jeff’s full exposition of these questions here.

Then there’s Julian Birkinshaw’s piece on the Seven Deadly Sins of Management. His point is:

I continue to be a little puzzled about why so many managers do such a poor job. We have known what “good management” looks like for decades, and enormous sums have been spent on programs to help managers manage better. And yet the problem endures: In a recent survey I conducted, less than a quarter of respondents would encourage others to work for their manager.

He proposes that instead of focusing leadership training on platitudes and mottos, we should “focus on the bad behavior we are trying to get rid of.” Again, here’s a list with some summary quotes, but you should really read the whole piece:

1. A greedy boss pursues wealth, status, and growth to get himself noticed.
2. Lust is also about vanity projects — investments or acquisitions that make no rational sense, but play to the manager’s desires.
3. Wrath doesn’t need a whole lot of explanation. “Chainsaw” Al Dunlap, Fred “the shred” Goodwin, and “Neutron” Jack Welch were all famous for losing their cool.
4. Gluttony in the business world is where a manager puts too much on his proverbial plate. He needs to get involved in all decisions, he needs to be continuously updated, he never rests.
5. Healthy pride quickly tips over into hubris — an overestimation of your own abilities.
6. Envy manifests itself most clearly when a manager takes credit for the achievements of others….or does not promote a rising star, for fear of showing up his own limitations.
7. Sloth…They are inattentive, they don’t communicate effectively, and they have no interest in their team’s needs. Instead, they focus on their own comforts and quite often, on personal interests outside of the workplace.

Birkinshaw provides a test for evaluating our own leadership sins, and then supplies questions for those who are brave enough to conduct a 360-degree assessment.

Application to ministry
And why am I blogging about this? Well, since my first years of working life were spent in finance, I’ve always had an interest in management and leadership. But I also think that there’s valuable material here for pastors and churches, both in assessing potential candidates for Christian ministry, and in ongoing accountability of Christian leaders.