Learning to Lead at the Feet of Jesus

Todd Poulter

Description

Redefining the Posture of Leadership 

 

Despite our best intentions, many of us struggle to consistently reflect Jesus in our leadership. We look for answers in current Christian best-sellers, the latest business trends, or the newest leadership theories. But the Gospels suggest a very different starting point: a new posture. No matter how lofty our title, status, or renown as leaders, we can never rise higher in the kingdom than to the feet of Jesus.   

  

Building on Jesus’s intimacy with the Father, Learning to Lead at the Feet of Jesus highlights the rich relational setting in which Jesus exercised leadership and developed his followers into leaders. In the context of his intentional “with-ness,” Jesus generously shared his life and authority with the Twelve.  

  

Poulter draws on a wide variety of cross-cultural experiences and invites leaders to a refreshing journey of discovery, intimacy, and transformation. With reflective questions designed to provoke insight and self-awareness, this book challenges readers to deepen their understanding and appreciation of Jesus, and evaluate their own beliefs, assumptions, and cultural expectations about leadership. 

Foreword  

Preface  

Introduction  

Before Starting the Journey  

Part I: Jesus: Son, Shepherd, and King  

1 A Submissive Son: Pleasing the Father  

2: A Long-Awaited Shepherd: Revealing the Father’s Heart  

3: An Unexpected King: Redefining Reality from the Father’s Perspective  

Part II: Jesus Created a Kingdom-shaped Community and Culture  

4: What Was the Weather Like Around Jesus?  

5: Purposeful Proximity  

Part III: Power and Authority in the Hands of Jesus  

6: Positive, Purposeful Power and Authority  

7: Protecting the Powerless, Provoking the Powerful  

8: Whoever Would Be Great  

9: Reflections on Power and Authority  

Part IV: Emerging Leaders Under the Influence of Jesus  

10: Jesus: God’s Primary Instrument  

11: What Was Jesus Thinking?  

12: Jesus Retrains Our Reflexes  

13: Jesus Shares the Keys  

Part V: Leading in the Image and Authority of Jesus  

14: The Transforming Posture  

15: Learning to Lead at the Feet of Jesus  

16: Exercising Our Power and Authority at the Feet of Jesus  

17: Shepherds After God’s Own Heart  

Part VI: Leaders Journeying Together  

18: Senior Leaders Hold the Keys  

19: Sustainable Leadership Development: Leader to Leader to Leader  

20: Running a Marathon—Together  

Bibliography 

Sujets

• Religion
• Christianisme
• Christian Living
• Mentoring
• Philosophie et théologie
• Leadership

Informations

• Publié par: William Carey Publishing
• Date de parution: 12 juillet 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781645084167
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

Endorsements
Learning to Lead at the Feet of Jesus has been Todd Poulter s consistent desire and pursuit for the nearly two decades I have known him and worked with him. I am glad he has made what he has learned available through this book. Christians leaders around the world can do no better than to live out the attitudes and practices that exemplify leading at Jesus feet.
A LEX A RAUJO (Brazil/United States)
Cross-Cultural Partnership Consultant First Executive Director of COMIBAM
I have been waiting expectantly to read this book and share it with others. Todd has been the most impactful person I have known on modeling and teaching Jesus leadership. He integrates character, knowledge, experience, and practical ways of applying learning. This book contains his reflections and experiences as a leader and teacher for many years in missional contexts around the world. Todd carefully expresses what today's leaders from all cultures and generations need to build a life and ministry on the best possible platform-at the feet of Jesus. Our world is crying out for such leaders.
P ASTOR D AVID C ARDENAS , DMin (Colombia)
Americas Area Director, Wycliffe Global Alliance
Former President, COMIBAM International
Todd has been my leadership mentor for many years. He took the time to get to know me, asked me good questions, listened to my stories, and created a safe space for me to share openly about how much pain I was carrying. He did not give me a lecture on leadership or direct advice about how I could solve my problems. He simply talked about Jesus example, prayed with me, and waited silently before the Lord with me. After that, I knew something inside me had changed and that I had learned something very important. That conversation with Todd would be the first of many that would help shape the way I serve the people I lead and work with.
This book captures Todd s experience in working with leaders from many cultures, the values he has lived by, and the spiritual insights he has gained from his meditations on the life of Jesus as a leader. It is an essential guide for leaders who want to grow personally and have a godly, transforming influence on the people they serve in a variety of contexts.
B AMBI C ATALUNA (Philippines)
Mission Consultant and Trainer
Developer of the Youth Kairos Course
Todd Poulter brings us a book that I wish I had read decades ago as a young emerging leader. I ve known Todd for almost two decades, as a co-worker and special friend, and I cannot think of anyone more qualified to gift us with such a precious treasure. This is a book written by someone with a vast and deep experience in multicultural ministries and leadership, with a unique ability to discern the greatest needs in Christian leadership today. Todd has led, trained, coached, and personally interacted with senior and emerging leaders from all parts of the world for over four decades. Throughout his life, he has been a leader who actively listens, reflects, and deeply treasures the lessons of a lifetime of ministry. And now, for our benefit and for generations to come, Todd shares his heart with us. After you read this book, you will understand what is at the heart of true and transformative Christian leadership.
R OBERTO L AVER (Argentina/United States)
Founder/Director, FIDES (Anti-Corruption NGO)
I heard Todd s teachings on biblical leadership at a recent international conference. Since then, God gave me the privilege, along with other leaders, to learn from him about the leadership of Jesus. Todd's teachings gathered throughout his years of service and interaction with leaders of all ages and nationalities, along with the biblical and counter-cultural perspective contained in Learning to Lead at the Feet of Jesus , have revolutionized my life and profoundly transformed the way I lead. This is not just another book about how to be a successful leader; it is a journey into the heart of God and into his eternal principles to lead others.
D EINIS M ALL (Panama)
Sending Team Director, Panamanians Reaching the World
I was fortunate to have been discipled by leaders who sat at the feet of Jesus. Leaders who not only taught me the whole counsel of God but imparted their own lives as well. And when the time was right, they freely stepped off the stage, so that those they had trained could step into the limelight. It s a wonderful thing when leaders believe and inspire you long before you believe in yourself.
I have known Todd for forty years, as he and Karla served as Wycliffe missionaries on behalf of our church. Like the generation of leaders before us, he exemplifies everything he has written in this book. I have never met a man more unassuming, welcoming, and human than Todd. Todd reminds me of Eugene Peterson in message and presence. Though he is a first-rate scholar, you d never know it: when you first meet him, his humility and gentleness disarm you, making you utterly attentive to anything he has to say. Such leaders do not seek to impress, intimidate, or coerce. They ask questions and listen, gently uncovering the hidden motives and longings beneath our words. It is rare to find Jesus model of leadership in our world today, but it has been captured and lived by the author of this book.
B RIAN M ORGAN (United States)
Pastor, Peninsula Bible Church Cupertino
We were thrilled when we learned that Todd Poulter was writing this book. We have learned a lot from Todd as we have discussed biblical leadership. Insights from those discussions have made their way into our leadership practice and leadership training. This book, engaging deeply with the life and teachings of Jesus, will enable leaders to further integrate their faith with their leadership. A leader must never stop sitting at the feet of Jesus, gaining insights, and putting them into practice. This book will enrich leaders from any background in that quest.
R ICHARD M ARILYN S CHLITT (Canada)
Director, OMF Canada; Leadership Development Trainer
God has used Todd to impact leadership around the world. He has been a coach, mentor, and friend to me for the better part of a decade. I know him best through our own personal interaction and observing his work with our organization.
I met him not long after joining Beyond as their China Director. Todd was consulting with the leadership of Beyond as we were going through a major change of vision and direction. Such changes are never easy, so I was surprised how relatively smoothly ours went. Todd's input, I'm convinced, played a significant role in this successful transition.
During that time, Todd approached me due to his deep regard for intergenerational leadership and his desire to help me navigate this odd world of Christian leadership. The leadership books of John Maxwell, Patrick Lencioni, Spencer Johnson, and James Collins apply to Christian ministry, and yet somehow, they don't. Their application in Christian mission always seemed to fall short at best, and all too often ended up leading me astray. Coming from a corporate world, the popular leadership principles left me stumbling and tripping over myself.
In this way, Todd and I have shared countless phone calls, emails, and lately, video chats, exploring what it means to be a Christian leader. Todd has been a person I continuously return to because there's always something to be gained. Most recently, I was on a conference call where someone from the Global South (Majority World) quoted Todd, saying, God, from the moment he created people, has been about sharing his power and authority with them. I rushed for a pen and paper to capture the words before they evaporated. As so many times before, these were the exact words I needed for a multi-cultural, intergenerational, thorny Christian mission leadership issue. In short, I look forward to Todd's book being published.
D EREK S EIPP (United States)
Author, Innovation in Mission ; East Asia Director, Beyond Global Church Planting Coordinator, KRIN North Korea Network
If ever there was a need for a book like Learning to Lead at the Feet of Jesus , it is today, when it seems that leaders around the world crave celebrity status and where principled, sacrificial leadership has taken a backseat to leadership driven by personality and power. Faithfully applying the principles taught by Jesus and the example lived out by him can stand all of us, but especially the next generation of leaders, in good stead. The book is a great tool to assist us on our own leadership journey.
I have worked with Todd Poulter on various projects and have often encountered him at global events. Todd s commitment to developing the next generation of leaders has always been a stand-out feature of his ministry. His deep passion for Jesus is evident and he doesn t just talk about shepherd leadership, he lives it! The book that he has just written will be a welcome contribution to the global church in a world crying out for authentic leadership!
P ETER T ARANTAL (South Africa)
Associate International Director, OM International
Chair of the Global Leadership Council, World Evangelical Alliance
Mission Commission
A book on the leadership of Jesus is not only much needed, but I can think of very few leaders who could write such a book with authenticity and Todd is one of them. In all my encounters with Todd in diverse situations and cultures around the world, the primacy of Christ has always been evident in his own leadership and interaction with others.
We have a Zulu greeting Sawubona translated I see you. Jesus always noticed people as he went about life, and it is one of the traits I have noticed about Todd-his ability, like Jesus, to notice people and to minister to them in applicable ways. In a busy and broken world, now more than ever, leaders need to be reminded to see, live, and lead like Jesus, and I believe Todd has the insights to help us do so.
R EINHOLD T ITUS (Namibia)
Director of Strategy and Inclusi