Book Reection: Summoned to Lead

I found Leonard Sweet to be of the same caliber as Brennan Manning in terms of his
understanding of concepts. But I think Brennan Manning was more of a communicator in that he
made sure he articulated his points clearly and eloquently while Leonard Sweet was more of an
artist in that he left a lot to the imagination of his readers and didnt explain many of the context
from which he made his observations (primarily, music).

The book caused a lot of introspection and self-evaluation on my part. Snippets of memories
would unexpectedly pop out as I read through various sections of the book, at crawling speed.
Some parts of the book afrmed the things Ive realized about leadership while others made me
cringe as they pointed out the error of my ways and taught me how differently I should have
behaved in those situations.

What was refreshing to me about his approach to the topic of leadership is that he obviously did
it from the point of view of a Christ-follower. But having done so doesnt mean that he had a
totally unique view of leadership from what the secular world teaches because I dont believe
that Christians have a monopoly of Gods truth and principles. (In fact, I think the world
sometimes sees Gods truth more clearly than us Christians.)

I like how he elevated leadership into an art form instead of reducing it to a mere set of
principles or formula that leadership gurus claim can be mastered or perfected. I also appreciate
how he gave emphasis in Chapter 6 on the invaluable help of the Holy Spirit to those who feel
summoned to lead. For Christians, we know that the inner voice is the Holy Spirit while for non-
believers, they know it as intuition or instinct.

The following statements he made in that chapter made me nod my head in agreement:

If you're listening, your inner voice will tell you the next step, not some authority. The inner
voice is your guide and leader. Instead of depending on power relationships, depend on spirit
relationships. After all, who's the best mentor in the world? The Holy Spirit, hands down. (p.
144)

Leadership listens with all senses peeled to the voice within. (p.145)

Intuition is both a gift and a skill. Intuition is a eld skill that brings together many different
applications: the rationality of breaking things down and analyzing component parts, the
imagination of putting the whole back together again, the semiotics of pattern recognition and
assumption making, the discernment of the greater thans in the sum of a whole's parts. (p.
145)

If we can just master the habit of listening to God and obeying Him in our everyday lives during
our preparation stage, the battle will have already been half won by the time God calls us to
leadership. And if we can also obey Gods command in Mark 12:29-31 (You shall love the Lord
your God with all your heart, with all your mind, and with all your strength You shall love your
neighbour as yourself.), He can certainly take care of the rest (i.e. equip us with the rest of the
skills we need) as we answer His summon to lead.