“Good leaders are those, with or without titles, who take initiative to move with God and retain a Christ-centered moral compass.” (p. 1) So begins a just released new book on Christian leadership ‘The Christian Leadership Dilemma’ by F.D. Magnelli (2022, Morgan James) that takes a different and at times confronting perspective on leadership within the Christian context.
The Christian Leadership Dilemma that Magnelli refers to is where leaders are following worldly business practices rather than the example of Jesus and have trouble distinguishing right from wrong. This book is heavy on Biblical foundations for its direction, which includes helping Christian leaders to stand up to bad leadership practices.
The book begins by reinforcing the calling of leaders to be servants and helpers, then tackles the tough issues of facing criticism and standing up for right when few around you are. The emphasis is very much on the importance of keeping the Work of God foremost in our service as leaders, and guarding against self-absorbed service.
Interestingly there is a section on avoiding personal success at the expense of collective success, again highlighting the leader as servant approach.
I found the book a challenging read, mainly because it really forced me to re-evaluate my own leadership and leadership ideas. Sadly, I think many leaders will either not read this book, or give up on it too early because of its uncompromising and direct approach. However, I believe that to be a strength and would readily recommend this to all leaders as a reminder of what Christian leadership is really about.