Leadership As Stewardship

Steward leadership is a form of leadership that focuses on others, the community and society at large, rather than the self. Many senior leaders and executives across the globe appear to ‘naturally’ move into a stewardship mindset at a ripe age or when their careers have matured, whereas executives of around 30 years old, on average, are typically focused on their personal self-interests. The authors of Steward Leadership: a maturational perspective, who teach MBA courses around the world, wondered how to develop stewards at younger ages and set about creating a framework for stewardship and its requisite behaviour. Their research was conducted among a group of MBA students, testing nine stewardship attributes: personal vision, personal mastery, vulnerability and maturity, risk-taking and experimentation, mentoring, raising awareness, shared vision, valuing diversity, and delivering results. The outcome of the study, which is explored in this book, provides a base-line of attitudes which were tested against various demographic variables. In addition, the authors interviewed industry leaders from around the world to gauge their perspectives on and experience with the concept of stewardship and some of its dimensions, to gain qualitative insights. The results of their research provide the theoretical as well as consulting tools with which organisations can develop stewards, whether through training programmes, mentoring programmes, coaching initiatives and/or personal development practices. The authors believe that stewardship is a more viable and indeed better alternative to current leadership concepts. This book provides a roadmap by which contemporary and upcoming leaders can be guided into developing their leadership abilities – and become the stewards of the future.

In this book R. Scott Rodin offers a unique and profoundly theologically informed model of leadership forged out of his extensive experience and theological studies. This model is personal, dynamic and transformative for the leaders themselves, for the people they work with and for the institution or organizations in which they serve.

Kent Wilson presents a comprehensive model for steward leadership, where leaders act as stewards or trustees rather than owners, managing resources on behalf of others for the good of others. Designed by a nonprofit leader for nonprofit leaders, this fresh approach to leadership gives you a new focus to lead your organization with excellence.

Block presents models of stewardship, both for entire companies and for individuals, to produce reforms in such areas as human resource practices, performance appraisal, and the role of staff groups.

In The Age of Thrivability, Michelle Holliday offers a bold reinterpretation of human history and a clear course to a better future. At the root of every major problem we face - individually and collectively - is the need for a new way of understanding ourselves, our work and the purpose and patterns of our lives. In contrast to the still-dominant mechanistic paradigm of the Industrial Era, an expanded story is emerging, this time with life solidly at the center of its plot. This new narrative invites us to see our organizations, communities - and even all of humanity - as dynamic, self-organizing, living systems. To embrace this view and to operate effectively within it, you need to understand how to support a living system's ability to thrive - its thrivability. With this knowledge, you can step into wise stewardship of life wherever you find it-and you find it everywhere. As real-life stories throughout the book demonstrate, viewing our businesses and communities through this lens reveals tremendous new possibilities for success and sustainability. With mounting threats to the continued existence of life on Earth, nothing could be more important. The Age of Thrivability represents a comprehensive guide, describing the nature of the transition humanity is undergoing and outlining a straightforward framework for enabling life to thrive within it. As real-life stories throughout the book demonstrate, viewing our businesses and communities through this lens reveals tremendous new possibilities for success and sustainability. In fact, in an increasingly complex world, aligning with life's elegant core patterns is the only viable option. And with mounting threats to the continued existence of life on Earth, nothing could be more important. In all, The Age of Thrivability offers profound insights, practical guidance, and plenty of inspiration for organizational and community leaders-and for anyone who is deeply concerned about the future of humanity. Visit www.ageofthrivability.com to learn more and to share your own thoughts and observations.

From INSIGHTS ON LEADERSHIP . . . Robert K. Greenleaf from "The Servant as Leader" "The servant-leader is servant first. Becoming a servant-leader begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. . . . The best test is this: Do those served grow as persons? Do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants?" Stephen R. Covey from "Servant-Leadership from the Inside Out" "You may be able to buy someone's hand and back, but you cannot buy their heart, mind, and spirit. And in the competitive reality of today's global marketplace, it will be only those organizations whose people not only willingly volunteer their tremendous creative talent, commitment, and loyalty, but whose organizations align their structures, systems, and management style to support the empowerment of their people that will survive and thrive as market leaders." Ken Blanchard from "Servant-Leadership Revisited" "With the traditional pyramid, the boss is always responsible and the staff are supposed to be responsive to the boss. When you turn the pyramid upside down, those roles get reversed. Your people become responsible and the job of management is to be responsive to their people. That creates a very different environment for implementation. If you work for your people, then what is the purpose of being a manager? To help them accomplish their goals. Your job is to help them win." INSIGHTS ON LEADERSHIP CONTRIBUTORS Stephen R. Covey * Larry C. Spears * Robert K. Greenleaf * Ken Blanchard * Elizabeth Jeffries * Joe Batten * Lawrence J. Lad and David Luechauer * Jack Lowe Jr. * Ann McGee-Cooper * Peter Block * Susana Barciela * John J. Gardiner * Richard P. Nielsen * Jill W. Graham * Bill Bottum with Dorothy Lenz * Robert E. Kelley * Judith A. Sturnick * Parker J. Palmer * Diane Cory * Diane Fassel * Thomas A. Bausch * Christine Wicker * James Conley and Fraya Wagner-Marsh * Joseph Jaworski * John P. Schuster * Ken Melrose * John S. Lore * James A. Autry * Irving R. Stubbs * James M. Kouzes * Jeffrey N. McCollum * Margaret J. Wheatley * Don M. Frick "It is one of the great ironies of our age that we created organizations to constrain our problematic human natures, and now the only thing that can save these organizations is a full appreciation of the expansive capacities of us humans." --Margaret J. Wheatley from "What Is Our Work?" Leadership without hierarchy? Organization in a whirlwind of change? Community and shared responsibility in a global village? Soul in a free-enterprise world? Robert Greenleaf's visionary theory of Servant-Leadership continues to engage many of the best minds in and out of business. Greenleaf's prescriptions for employee empowerment and organizational change continue to achieve nothing short of miraculous results in organizations worldwide. As one enthusiastic observer wrote in Fortune magazine, "Once the consensus is forged, watch out: With everybody on board, your so-called implementation proceeds 'wham-bam.'" In this sequel to the critically acclaimed Reflections on Leadership, many of today's most respected business thinkers share their insights into key aspects of Robert Greenleaf's revolutionary thinking. Over the course of 33 essays, a dream team consisting of such luminaries as Stephen Covey, Ken Blanchard, Peter Block, Margaret Wheatley, John Schuster, and James Autry explore how Greenleaf has influenced today's business leaders and discuss a range of leadership principles at the heart of his philosophy, including stewardship, the spirit of the workplace, and the concept of healing leadership. A source of inspiration and instruction, Insights on Leadership is required reading for senior executives, community leaders, and managers in for-profit and nonprofit organizations.

Change the Way You Think about Leadership At the age of thirty-three, Dr. Albert Mohler became the youngest president in the 164-year history of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He was the driving force behind the school's transformation into a thriving institution with an international reputation characterized by a passionate conviction for truth. In the process he became one of the most important and prominent Christian voices in contemporary culture. What will it take to transform your leadership? Effective leaders need more than administrative skills and vision. They need to be able to change the hearts and minds of those they lead. Leadership like this requires passionate beliefs that can stand up to pressure from without and within. In this updated edition Dr. Mohler has added a new introduction and conclusion based on an additional 10 years of leadership. He has also completely rewritten the chapter "The Digital Leader." The Conviction to Lead will crystallize your convictions while revolutionizing your thinking, your decision-making, your communication, and ultimately, those you lead. "Dr. Al Mohler has written a book that shakes us up and challenges our thinking. The Conviction to Lead is poised to become one of the all-time classic works on Christian leadership."--JIM DALY, President - Focus on the Family "Having rarely thought about leadership, I was hooked from the first chapter--to my complete surprise. This is a powerful book and gracefully written."--FRED BARNES, Executive Editor--The Weekly Standard

The term “teacher leadership” is not without its problems, since some interpret it to have both corporate and hierarchical implications. Stewardship as Teacher Leadership: Portraits from the Profession discusses the impact of changing that language to stewardship, a term that is more inclusive, more professional, and more morally-based. At a time when the work of teachers is critiqued and denigrated, the concept of stewardship within the profession better supports the efforts of all teachers, but particularly early career teachers. Stewards have the best interests of the profession at the forefront of their actions. Through the “portraits” of a variety of teachers, readers of Stewardship as Teacher Leadership will engage with and recognize how teachers are stewards as they make intentional and deliberate choices in their daily work that have lasting impacts on their relationships with colleagues, their school programs, and the profession in a multiplicity of ways that traditional teacher leadership models often miss. Perfect for courses in: Foundations of Education | Introduction to Teaching | Student Teaching Seminars | Teacher Leadership | Educational Leadership

Transform from leader to steward to drive growth and make an impact Inspiring Stewardship helps leaders drive sustainable development and growth by balancing short- and long-term objectives amidst competing interests. By examining a range of exceptional individual and organisational stewards alongside insights from quantitative studies, this book unlocks the contributions you can make to enhance your influence and secure your legacy. Profiles of leaders from Ratan Tata to Bill Gates illustrate what stewardship really means, and the attributes and characteristics of steward leaders. Are they fundamentally different? Where do they get their exceptional drive and resilience? Why do they shoulder such huge responsibility? Risks, rewards, motivations and actions are explored in depth to give you a real-world view of stewardship, and to show you how to embody these principles in your own everyday life. The notion of stewardship has never been more relevant to business than it is today, as managers struggle to balance present and future interests. This book provides clarity, direction and guidance for more purpose-driven action. Understand the concepts and principles of stewardship Discover characteristics of steward leaders across cultures Learn how stewards have shifted the course of their organisations Examine the capabilities that deepen organisational resilience Today, ownership of firms is increasingly fragmented, investment structures are more and more complex and the time horizons of investors, executives and owners do not always coincide. Inspiring Stewardship helps you break through the tension and drive sustainable growth through adaptability and good leadership.

Learn how to lead like Jesus, whether in the home, the church, the community, or the marketplace; moving not only from success to significance but taking a step beyond significance--surrender.