Saturday, May 25, 2013

Review: Next Generation Leader by Andy Stanley


Christianaudio.com has recently released Next Generation Leader by Andy Stanley. In the book, well-known pastor Andy Stanley teaches five traits that he sees as essential to the development and success of any leader. As the title suggests, the book is aimed to provide helpful advice to those who are emerging as, or desire to be, the next generation of leaders. The book is clearly written, easy to follow, and the narration by Lloyd James is excellent.

Stanley explains and gives examples of the following five essential leadership traits:
  1. Competence
  2. Courage
  3. Clarity
  4. Coaching (even leaders need coaches)
  5. Character

Much of the advice found in the book is helpful and practical. The lessons are good but anyone who has read almost anything else on the subject of leadership will have heard most of this already. There is nothing revolutionary about Stanley’s suggestions.

As someone who is both a business manager as well as serving in ministry, I was disappointed that Stanley indiscriminately applied general leadership ideas that are common in the business world to ministry. He used the Bible more often to furnish illustrations of how to apply common management wisdom than using it as the source of a distinctively Christian view of leadership.


* I received a free copy of this book from christianaudio.com as part of their Reviewers Program. Reviews are not required to be positive and the opinions I have expressed are my own.

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