04.15.09
Posted in Recent Publication, Spiritual Books at 7:54 am by Wayne
The Catholic Vison for Leading like Jesus Owen Phelps
Owen Phelps gives us a refreshing new leadership book. This treatise applies principles of The One Minute Manager, Servant Leadership, and Lead Like Jesus to the Catholic church. As an experienced manager and trainer, I am impressed.
Some background: In the 1980s, when I was teaching management skills, I praised the One Minute Manager as an example of simple but highly effective leadership. In the 1990s I became aware of servant leadership when I attended a League of Women Voters seminar and when my parish leadership learned effective management from Trustee Leadership Development. The Servant Leadership became our byword and Robert Greenleaf our mentor. Recently the Leading Like Jesus movement has successfully applied the techniques of The One Minute Manager and Servant Leadership to The Holy Scriptures for use by Christians. Phelps, in The Catholic Vision for Leading Like Jesus, has carefully applied the lessons to the Catholic Church.
This text is competent. Starting with the scriptures of the Last Supper, Phelps uses the actions and words of Jesus to teach wonderful leadership principles. What results are the three “S’s”: Servant, Steward, and Shepherd. This may be a perfect fit for the Catholic Church where there are two separate “leadership challenges”, clergy and laity. Phelps suggests, because of our priest shortage younger priests, with little previous experience, are put in charge of parishes. In addition, our lay people have higher expectations and have become more involved in the church.
Phelps helps us discover what Jesus would do as a leader and what we can do to follow His example. His meditations and exercises make this an excellent study guide for parish groups wishing to improve their service to the church.
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