Practicing Greatness

Often spiritual leaders do not aspire to greatness for fear of seeming to lack humility. Yet greatness in spiritual leadership is just what we need-in our churches, our businesses, in education, in the social sector, in every sector of society. The question is how do good spiritual leaders become great leaders? Based on his extensive experience as coach and mentor to many thousands of Christian leaders across a broad spectrum of ministry settings, Reggie McNeal helps spiritual leaders understand that they will self-select into or out of greatness. In this important book, McNeal shows how great spiritual leaders are committed consciously and intentionally to seven spiritual disciplines, habits of heart and mind that shape both their character and competence: The discipline of self-awareness-the single most important body of information a leader possesses The discipline of self-management-handling difficult emotions, expectations, temptations, mental vibrancy, and physical well-being The discipline of self-development-a life-long commitment to learning and growing and building on one's strengths The discipline of mission-enjoying the permissions of maintaining the sense of God's purpose for your life and leadership The discipline of decision-making-knowing the elements of good decisions and learning from failure The discipline of belonging-the determination to nurture relationships and to live in community with others, including family, followers, mentors,and friends The discipline of aloneness-the intentional practice of soul-making solitude and contemplation Practicing Greatness goes beyond mere clichés and inspirational thoughts to be a hard-hitting resource for leaders who aspire to go from being just good enough to being a great leader who blesses others.