Spiritual Leadership - Chapter 13 - The Leader and Reading

1 Timothy 4:13, "Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching." At the time of this verse the line referred to reading the Old Testament, but reading is an essential tool that any leader has in their arsenal. To grow and develop spiritually and intellectually we must read. In this day and age of technology, the world is at our fingertips. Anything you want to know about can easily be searched on computers, tablets and phones. The question is, what are you reading about? Is it something for enjoyment? Self development of yourself or others? Something someone is forcing you to read to further your education? One must find a balance in the types of reading you do. It is recommended to spend at least 30 minutes a day reading books that feed your soul and stimulate your mind. I've seen the Chicken Soup books expand to cover just about any topic in just a few short years.

Why Read?

Harold Ockenga, a Presbeterian preacher, says that reading refills the wells of our own inspiration. We do not have to re-invent the wheel when it comes to being inspired, there are many writings out there that we can get ideas from. Reading opens up the avenues or side streets that we may never have gone down on our own. We learn through this process. Sometimes the topic we are focused on is difficult to comprehend, but once in a while you can find passages from another source that could not be any clearer to understand. The only way to find these gems is to read. There is a warning in this section of the study. One should not read to become superior to anyone else. This superiority mentality will result in your failure to lead.

What to Read

What you read should be an outward appearance of your inner most desires. Read to forward your mission. We should strive to read things that are beyond our understanding. This stretches our minds and enables the passion for our own development. Don't be afraid of new ideas, but also do not get lost in them.

How to Read

By meditating on the themes that we read, we are able to feed our minds and nourish our souls. Re-reading books you have already read can also provide ideas we have missed or gain a deeper understanding of concepts we already know. It is recommended that the books you read should be chosen as if you were choosing friends. Will it be worth the time to read? Are you ready to spend time reading it? Don't read past a section where you do not understand the words. Research the words you are unfamiliar with. It will either have a major impact on your understanding or will make no sense at all leading to frustration. I heard the following statement at a leadership conference, read every book at least times. The first read is to give your mind an overview of the concepts. The second read you should take notes. The third read, you should be able to provide an analysis.

Reflection

What book(s) has had the biggest impact on your life? Why?

The two books that had the biggest impact on me is Acres of Diamonds and Who Moved My Cheese. Acres of Diamonds talk about looking for those hidden opportunities in your life. I occasionally run across a post on facebook where there are two guys digging tunnels. The post is shown below. The guy on the top has the don't quit, must work hard mentality. The guy on the bottom was so close to reaching his goal but quit not knowing how close he actually was.

The book Who Moved My Cheese talks a lot about how we live in our daily lives. You can train a mouse to navigate a maze by using cheese, but if you move the cheese the mouse becomes lost and doesn't know what to do. This is a great representation that we, as leaders, should not become complacent where we are. We should change up our routines from time to time to avoid falling into a never ending rut. We can achieve this by reading more and expanding our knowledge, trying something different or stepping out onto a limb and taking a chance once in a while.

Chapter 14 - Improving Leadership - Pre-Reading Questions

what does it mean to lead with intensity? How does this relate to the word "Zeal" as the Bible uses it? How does a person learn to do this?