The Next Generation Leader: Five Essentials for Those Who Will Shape the Future (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "It is both natural and necessary for young leaders to try to prove themselves by doing everything themselves..." (more)
Key Phrases: good leadership coach, leader worth following, next generation leader, Andy Stan, King Nebuchadnezzar, Stone's Throw Away (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Stanley, pastor of the North Point Community Church ("median age of 30") and author of Like A Rock, has made a ministry out of giving advice to people slightly younger than himself, and in this tepid leadership sermon he distills his wisdom into five core principles. Competence, Courage, Clarity, Coaching and Character, he says, are the keys to influencing future leaders. Stanley's advice-focus on what you do best and delegate the rest, seek out the counsel of coaches, don't let success blind you to what's right and wrong-is very sound, if not much of a departure from any other brand of leadership advice. His precepts are often illustrated with Bible stories about leaders like David (courage), Joshua (clarity) and King Rehoboam (paying heed to elders). Less stirring are Stanley's first-hand leadership anecdotes, too many of which involve the travails of boosting seating capacity in the worship center, unsnarling traffic flows in the church campus or shipping inspirational books and tapes during the Christmas rush. (Such examples impart an unintended lesson, which is that the size and complexity of today's mega-churches and multi-media ministries force Christian leaders to view them through the lens of business administration.) And, while studiously cultivating one's leadership abilities is good for the character, reading about such growth can be a dull task.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description

A growing number of next generation Christians are eager to learn, grow, and lead in ministry or in the marketplace. Mentoring young leaders, as they face the unique issues of a changing world, has been pastor and Visioneering author Andy Stanley's passion for more than a decade. Here, he shares material from his leadership training sessions, developed to address essential leadership qualities such as character, clarity, courage, and competency. This is the perfect guide for any new leader -- or for the mentor of a future leader!

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Multnomah Books; First Printing edition (January 2, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590520467
• ISBN-13: 978-1590520468
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #345,710 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful Punch, August 11, 2006

By	R. Kirkham "jrkirkham" (Rushville, Illinois USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

The last section is worth the price of the book. Actually, the first four sections were good, but not outstanding or unusual. They dealt with competence, courage, clarity, and coaching. I've read many leadership books and after awhile they begin to sound similar. The last chapter of this book makes a pointed statement, "Character determines the leader's legacy." Something about these last three chapters struck a chord with me. Andy writes from experience and with authority.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book!, March 5, 2003

By A Customer

I've read a number of these leadership/personal growth books and the first thing I noticed about this books was how slim it was. Other books of similar topic are usually weighty volumes with lots of 50 cent words.

I appreciated the author's down-to-earth style and while some of these concepts are covered in other leadership books, Andy Stanley's approach has a fresh conversational style I immediately enjoyed.

Stanley covers 5 basic principles of leadership (he's the first to tell you there are many more, but these 5 seem to be the most essential). The two I most enjoyed were clarity and character. Clarity doesn't mean we'll have all the answers, but we should always be clear in our purpose. The character portion was well reasoned and made me wonder if corporate leadership in the US wouldn't benefit by reading this?!?

Loved it! Easy to read and reread. I find myself thinking about the principles on a regular basis.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Leadership Book Available, February 19, 2003

By	David Tarkington (Orange Park, FL United States) - See all my reviews

Absolutely the BEST book on leadership I've ever read (this includes Maxwell's books, too.) It's only 136 pages long, but is packed with more understandable and relevant information than many leadership books twice the size. This book would be beneficial to those in corporate leadership, but is invaluable to pastors and those in ministerial leadership. I believe every pastor, deacon, committee member, and Sunday School leader should have to read this book. Finally, in understandable terms, the characteristics of godly leadership are mapped out.

The most eye-opening statement in the book for me was that "authority does not equal competency." Get the book and you'll see what I mean.