Just finished a fantastic book that presents a fresh take on servant leadership. It’s called The Hospitable Leader: Creating Environments Where People and Dreams Flourish by Terry Smith, and the book highlights how true biblical leadership should always reflect hospitality.
This book really expanded my thinking about the biblical concept of hospitality and how to incorporate it into my leadership. I especially appreciate the fact that the author references – on almost every page – biblical proofs and reasoning for his arguments and explanations. I found myself often opening my Bible and digging deeper into the topic at hand, and learning much in the process.
Here are a few highlights of the book from my personal notes:
Hospitable leaders are obsessed by helping others find their place.
The author really drives this point home in several ways, using examples from the life of Jesus and how He led hospitably. Jesus was always welcoming people, always coaching, always guiding, always helping people find their place in God’s plan. This is so important in the life of a believer. I’m passionate about people finding their Divine Ideal, and I’ve written and spoken about it extensively.
We cannot be anything we want to be. We can be anything we were made to be.
Like most kids I grew up hearing that I can be whatever I want to be. But that’s a dangerous misnomer. I’m going to try to stop saying this to me kids, and instead guide them to discover their spiritual gifts and talents and how God wants to use them.
We are wired to work with others and enjoy working with others
Jesus used questions because He wanted His followers to engage, to think, to feel, to participate. You get the sense that He is all about what we are doing together. Working with others on an important vision – co-creation – is important from the start.
Happiness is experienced in the anticipation.
Happiness is the pleasure we feel living our lives in light of ultimate meaning. Happiness is an eternal mindset based on our hope for the future as promised by God (Romans 5:1-2).
In conclusion, if these topics seems of any interest to you, I can highly recommend getting a copy of The Hospitable Leader.