The Collaborative Leader [Paperback]

Loughlan Sofield (Author), Donald H. Kuhn (Author), Dolores Leckey (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1995

Loughlan Sofield and Donald Kuhn offer recommendations on how those in formal ministry might examine their own approach to leadership and how they meet the needs, expectations, and challenges of their people. Highlighting the comments of those who say that what they do in the workplace is not recognized or supported as ministry, the authors argue persuasively that the church is overlooking a powerful resource. Sofield and Kuhn urge church leaders to listen to the different voices in their own parishes and institutions, contending that they will find in these people dynamic, if sometimes unheralded, witnesses of the Christian message who daily carry the good news to the marketplace.

Editorial Reviews

Review

How can church leaders (ordained, religious, or lay) be more competent and dynamic? The Collaborative Leader: Listening To The Wisdom Of God's People identifies and interviews forty-two lay Christians who are outstanding leaders in diverse fields like medicine, politics, business, and education, and who truly live their Christian values in the marketplace. Their responses can perhaps best be summed up in one word: collaboration. These "wisdom people" stress that the primary tasks of a leader are to listen, establish a vision, respond to needs, and empower others to use their gifts and abilities. They emphasize that the collaborative leader is above all, a person of character who seeks to develop qualities such as integrity, generativity, compassion, and hope. Building on the insights of the wisdom people, Sofield and Kuhn offer recommendations on how those in formal ministry might examine their own approach to leadership and how they meet the needs, expectations, and challenges of their people. They urge church leaders to listen to the different voices in their own parishes and institutions, contending that they will find in these people dynamic, if sometimes unheralded, witnesses of the Christian message who daily carry the Good News to the marketplace. -- Midwest Book Review

Product Details

• Paperback: 228 pages
• Publisher: Ave Maria Press, Inc. (January 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0877935440
• ISBN-13: 978-0877935445
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #605,645 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not as advertised, April 4, 2010

By 

Carl A. Fahringer "Carl the Catechist" (Kentucky) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Collaborative Leader (Paperback)

This book would have made two good journal articles, but the authors chose to pad and repeat, pad and repeat.
The subtitle refers to those the authors selected as "wisdom people," but the criteria for choosing them is not honestly presented. Virtually all of these are people with axes to grind against the Church, usually with vitriol and demands for changes in unchangeable doctrine, and sometimes with downright dishonest claims. Some of the "wisdom people" even claim the Church doesn't help the poor--an area where the Catholic Church has done more than any other organization.
The concept of collaborative leadership, here a re-working of other Sofield books, is valid, but following the dictates of often anti-Catholic "wisdom people" is a farce.