McNeal Book Review Final Essay

AbstractThis paper leave alone constitute a review of Practicing greatness 7 Disciplines of Extraordinary spectral leadership,1 with attention given to the compensates themselves, as well as the rationale and method that McNeal believes will lead to leadership success. The hold out begins with a quotation from Elton Trueblood that sets the tone for the nurses table of contents. Trueblood states that Deliberate mediocrity is a sin,2 and to be mediocre is to be without discipline. McNeal penned this produce to highlight the disciplines that lead to niftyness, both spiritual and in leadership. Interestingly, the listedDisciplines ask a course of action on the part of the reader and this implies non being idle or in the words of Trueblood, mediocre. The Disciplines comprise s nonetheless chapters and atomic number 18 noted as follows The discipline of selfaw arness is crucial as it safeguards the leader against unhealthy views of self and needs as well as from assign orient ed rather than people oriented. The discipline of selfmanagement supports the claim that great leaders are great buss, not merely of others but, primarily and chiefly, of themselves.The discipline of selfdevelopment is indicative of all great leaders. They will never stop learning and developing. The discipline of mission honors the propensity of great leaders to pay themselves to great causes. The discipline of decision making sets great leaders apart from good or average leaders. The discipline of be ampleing characterizes great leaders office to retain and nurture significant relationships that in turn nurture their lives. The discipline of aloneness celebrates great leaders ability and grace not only to remain the loneliness of leadership but to actually build solitude into their lives.The over-arching theme of the book, is the spiritual leader that is truly great, achieves that distinction not for what they do for themselves or even as a way to become recognized as great le aders. Their end game is about expanding the kingdom of divinity fudge.3 Great leaders are cognizant of their inner selves and the signals they send to others via actions. In Boundaries, Cloud and Townsend list four boundary personalities that can derail a leaders ability to maintain assertion and influence in those they lead. These boundaries are noted as Complaints, Avoidants, Controllers and Non-responsives.4 To augment the supra, McNeal cites Gary McIntosh and Samuel Rimas identification of the leaders dark-side comprised of the following characteristics1. Compulsive Leaders2. Narcissistic Leaders3. Paranoid Leaders4. Co-dependent Leaders5McNeal notes that Great leaders are great managersnot just managers of projects or other people but mostly of themselves.6 besides they are also distributors of blessing and encouragement7 with their work done in humility and in a servant mentality, guaranteeing extraordinary characterand olympian competence developed over cadence.8 The au thor writes with people in view first, and then delves into the varied aspects of leadership based on the disciplines listed in the contents of the book. McNeal draws from years of ministry and teaching experience to demonstrate from intelligence that biblical leadership is possible if one is committed to looking at themselves in light of what parole states regarding our condition.Current patterns and preconceptions must be dealt with before change can be implemented and McNeal provides support from biblical characters who, while not perfect, heeded sound wisdom and intimate from experiences so that they would be able to become prepared for what perfection had planned for them to do. In this regard, McNeal states that all spiritual leaders must flesh out superlatives to state the essence of their call from God to ministry. Questions to be asked in this regard below, will aid the future/current leader in providing answers to questions he/she might come regarding their present m inistry or avocationa. What people or cause do you feel drawn to?b. What do you want to help people do or achieve or experience?c. How do you want to help people?d. What message do you want to deliver?e. How do you intend to serve or take over an impact on the world? f. Why did you say yes to God to begin with?9Mc Neal expounds on leadership and those who will seek to maintain it out. the work is not overtly religious, yet it is equipoised in the biblical references included. The illustrations of real people in real situations and with real leadership styles are subservient in bringing clarity and condense to an exhaustive subject. The author has clearly demonstrated his objectives set out in the introduction, and has provided examples for leadership that are able to be implemented in all business applications and not merely the church only. This work is to be commended for anyone interested in not only what makes leaders great but as well, how they arrived at the summit and are able to remain there. Two things are clear from a complete reading of this book 1. Great spiritual leaders are committed consciously and intentionally to the spiritual disciplines 2. Great leaders feel blessed, have an attitude of gratitude and have chosen uprightness before God and men.ResponseOne major lifetime experience that this book triggered involves the section of Managing Expectations in The Discipline of self-Management.10 I had recently been promoted to assistant manager at my place of employment where I was to be responsible for the implementation of new sales protocols. In reading McNeal, and in retrospect, I realize that because an perceptiveness of self-awareness was lacking, I set expectations so high my natural and learned abilities could not stay even with them. I failed in goals I set and therefore missed confidence in my ability to manage others who worked under me. I knew that there were things which were wrong in how I was doing things yet I could not fig ure it out.I arrived at the layover where I felt that I would become ill anytime I had to make decisions on the job. I sat down and cried because things seemed to have no solution where it seemed, I was able to find solutions and fix things. I remember hearing a preacher once who was teaching on the wisdom of God and the finiteness of the mind of men. I took my Bible out and went to the concordance where I searched for words and phrases relating to wisdom, mind and knowledge, and I was led to Proverbs 35-6 which states to 5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths (KJV).After canvass these verses, I realized that not only was I lacking understanding of self-awareness, I was lacking in acknowledging God faithfully considering his infinite wisdom and sovereignty. This was the point where I had to confess my sins of ingratitude and ignorance of God and his power and wisdom. I kne w in my heart that I would have to pray and listen to God through his excogitate more(prenominal) than I ever had and I knew that I would have to be disciplined so that I would not find it easy to revert to where I had been before in my working life without him.ReflectionOne question that immediately came to my mind the further I went in this book was why McNeal did not incorporate more Scripture references than he did, or at the least alluded to? The disciplines of extraordinary spiritual leaders, one might think, would be found in Scripture with an excursus into what these disciplines entail. Were the decision left to me, I would havedrawn especially from the teachings of Christ and from various leaders found within the pages of the sacred text.11 In retrospect, McNeal gave considerable attention to various disciplines within the teaching (illustrating) and ministry (practical) of Christ yet the reader would likely desire more from the author in these regards than what he did pr esent. There were areas of this work that read more as a psychological development course than the dynamics of spiritual development as the sanctified life of the leader will become apparent within his or her duties regardless the arena they work in. In reading and discussing this book with my husband, I feel that a sense of balance would have been achieved were McNeal delved a bit more into biblical application of the topics he presented throughout.In terms of fleshing out the ordinary from the extraordinary, McNeal provides generous circumstances and situations from his own ministry life to demonstrate that every aspect of self-awareness and development hinge upon how the person views him/her-self in light of the truth. These truths are the non-negotiable prima fasciae of obedience to God and his will. In terms of readability, this work does not pose difficulty in determining where the author is headed in his teaching. The main issue is that more references to biblical characters might help to balance the illustrations of ultramodern day people within various ministry or organizational structures.ActionOne of the first things I aim to accomplish in my life is to focus more on God and his wisdom rather than my own. It is so easy and tempting to second guess what one should do to achieve desired results and more often than not, I have been guilty of over-guessing what I should do to the point that I am correcting every aspect of something to the point of micro-management and monarchial temperament. In the second place, I must set aside daily and consistent times to be alone with God in prayer and meditation on him rather than myself and my needs. I realize that most issues may be solved with remembering that he must increase while I decrease (Jn. 330). The power of God is not going to be neither availed nor prevalent if one does not fully relinquish the reins of their life to him, thus following rather than leading him.The above can have no time-table for mea surement, so it seems best to state that it is a daily discipline that only grows and developsproperly over a course of time never ending. My ministry now and in the future will very likely utilize vast sections of this work with a focus on the three Selfs Self-Awareness, Self-Management and Self-Development. I must commit to long-term developed and sustained growth interspersed with bench-marks as a measurement to demonstrate that I am festering and ministering properly.The people I will eventually teach and lead have a right to know what will be expected of them they also have a right to point out the missteps leaders can make. Here is where I need to be receptive to criticism and rebuke not exhausting my emotions on my sleeve, rather, considering what is being said and then praying to God for the mind to take the necessary steps to corrective action and further development. I know where I am at now, even if I have not fully figured out everything about myself. I do anticipate a long road ahead toward restructuring and complete discipline yet I believe that the race does not belong to the swift, but to those who will never quit (Eccl. 911).BibliographyMcNeal, Reggie. Practicing Greatness 7 Disciplines of Extraordinary Spiritual Leaders. San Francisco, CA Jossey-Bass, 2006.