Organic Leadership: Leading Naturally Right Where You Are [Hardcover]

Neil Cole (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2009

Is it possible that the division between the clergy and the laity is unnecessary and, in fact, harmful to the church? In Organic Leadership, Neil Cole fervently says yes. But rather than doing away with the clergy, Cole argues that the answer is to raise up organically grown leaders from ordinary Christians and make everyone "clergy." Using examples from modern cinema, personal experience, and the Bible, Cole sets out to change our view of what a leader is and how one is formed. This fresh and revolutionary alternative will transform readers and equip them to challenge themselves and others to find the vision God has for them.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Neil Cole is one of the founders of today's organic church movement, which has given rise to thousands of churches around the world. Here he builds on his previous work, offering insight on church leadership today. In Organic Leadership Cole •addresses how the church has carried on for far too long with faulty leadership ideas, without questioning them •shows how healthy and growing disciples can emerge naturally as leaders in God's kingdom •presents simple leadership development practices to raise up homegrown leaders from the harvest for the harvest •introduces us to real-life leaders who exemplify the ideas he presents

From the Back Cover

Grow more leaders for a greater harvest! What are the weeds that hinder the natural growth of godly leadership? Are programs, people, and money truly the signs of a successful church? Where can you find an unlimited source of leaders? How do you mentor leaders so that they multiply? In Organic Leadership Neil Cole asks these questions and more, boldly challenging many of the ideas about leadership and church life that we all take for granted. After developing hundreds of leaders for thousands of new churches, he reveals how to grow leaders that multiply naturally. "It has been a very long time since I've read a book on leadership that moved me, challenged me, gave me fresh insights, and went beyond the typical 'here's how you get it done' approach. Neil takes the person, the context, and God's Word, and mixes them in a powerful way for a life of leadership."--Bob Roberts Jr., senior pastor, Northwood Church; author, Transformation and Glocalization "Organic Leadership will trouble you--but more importantly, it will challenge you. And you should read it because the church could use some troubling and a new challenge."--Ed Stetzer, author and researcher "This book is a prophetic call for a more discipleship-based, grassroots, and inspirational form of leadership in our time. And it further proves why Neil Cole is one of the most important voices in the Western church today."--Alan Hirsch, author, The Forgotten Ways and ReJesus; co-founder, shapevine.com "Neil isn't afraid to examine presuppositions that can paralyze the church, especially since we naturally gravitate toward centralization, institutions, models, and calcified attitudes."--Dave Gibbons, author, The Monkey and the Fish "In Organic Leadership you will find insights and tools to help you and your church expand your kingdom reach."--Bob Buford, founder, Leadership Network; author, Halftime and Finishing Well

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Baker Books (February 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0801013100
• ISBN-13: 978-0801013102
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #885,283 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Neil Cole was born and raised in Los Angeles, CA. While studying at CSULB he encountered the Good News of Jesus Christ and turned his life over to Him, never looking back. His journey in God's kingdom brought him to serve in a mega church, a local community church and now small rapidly multiplying organic churches that meet in homes, campuses and places of business all over the world. Neil travels around the world sowing the seeds of God's kingdom, catalyzing the development of organic church networks and coaching leaders. He has been married for over 27 years to Dana and has three adult children--Heather, Erin and Zach.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tomorrow's church today, February 17, 2009

By 

Dr. Larry Richards (North Carolina) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Organic Leadership: Leading Naturally Right Where You Are (Hardcover)

A Theology of Church Leadership
Organic Leadership is an important book. The renewal movement of the 70's identified the flaws in the institutional church and called for a return to more a biblical and authentic shared life for the Christian community. That was a good initial step, and many biblical essentials were identified then. And hesitant steps toward renewal were taken in many churches. But the weight of institutional forms and expectations shaped by decade upon decade of "doing church" the wrong way was too great. Today however is a new day. The yearning for reality is causing many to question and to leave our churches. And the churches, having lost their way, like the ordained leadership and the schools which purport to prepare it, flail blindly.
That's why this book, and others explaining the growing "organic church movement" are so significant. True Christian leadership emerges only from a rightly functioning church. And this book places the development of leaders in the context, and for leadership of, rightly functioning churches! I highly commend the book, and others are produced by those in the organic church movement. They are sharing with us how to recover the dynamic that swept through the world with the Gospel, and are modeling for us all what the church can be once again.
Lawrence O (Larry) Richards

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Honest and gritty, July 15, 2009

By 

William E. Berger - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Organic Leadership: Leading Naturally Right Where You Are (Hardcover)

I read Organic Church and really enjoyed the no non sense style of Neil Cole, it helped form and foster some philosophy of church that was missing for me. I have now read Organic Leadership and I have worn out 5 yellow high-liters! This book was more like a manuel on being a leader that is committed to the teaching and releasing of people to do effective, long term ministry. I enjoy Neil's "pull no punches" style. This is not a book trying to create rock star pastors, this is a book for those who really see the call of a pastor as more of a cheer leader and resource provider for congregants to do ministry for themselves. One of my favorite quotes, "The goal should always be to get congregants to think for themselves by simply teaching the truth and letting them draw conclusions with the help of the Holy Spirit." Yahtzee! That is what we need from pastors today, the ability to empower, encourage and release! I strongly encourage anyone who wants a church to become a movement in their community to get this book and do what it says.
Hey Neil, when is the next book coming out!

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perhaps one of Cole's best books to date, December 11, 2009

By 

mikeandleslie "mikeandleslie" (San Francisco Bay Area) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Organic Leadership: Leading Naturally Right Where You Are (Hardcover)

I've read all of Neil Cole's books to date... and written glowing reviews of most of them. But this one might be one of his finer works to date (though I suspect Church 3.0 will break that trend soon).

Neil, as a Church Planting Movements guy, has always been about simplicity and reproducibility. These values, to no surprise, come out here in Organic Leadership as well; but he uniquely directs them to the topic of Christian leadership. The result is a book unlike the run-of-the-mill, 10 steps book on leadership. He doesn't come across as a John Maxwell does where you feel like you have to buy more of his stuff or be like him or else fail. Nor does he come across as a typical Christian preacher talking about leadership with perfectly alliterated points that sound good but lack authenticity and personal stories of provenness in the real world. Instead, when you read Organic Leadership, it feels like he REALLY wants and needs you to be the leader God may you to be, so he'll tell you about the passing of his father-in-law, tell you about his "low point" of being a pastor AND a paper boy, and other things that a true spiritual parent would roll up his sleeves and tell you over breakfast. There is a different level of weight or authority that you will sense in this book, and I suspect it has to do with the fact that these are not just ideas, but the communication of a way of life learned over the years -- a way of life that he wants us to grasp for the times ahead.


The first section (120 some pages) is incredibly convicting and offers a prophetic critique of the way leadership is understood and practiced in the West. This is the underbrush that needs to be cleared away to go further in the organic leadership journey. We must get through this before we talk about tools and new paradigms. But be warned! Neil pulls the veil off the truth that most of us, leaders, have never contemplated: WE are part of the problem! Since many of us have never gone there before, I anticipate a feeling of discomfort during this section. Like me, you may have to stop reading at points in the book to pray, to repent or to contemplate further. Neil courageously asks us what most parishioners would never dare say to us. And for that reason, we need to listen all the more. Neil, coming from the organic point of view, asks new questions like: have you ever considered that the content, setting, frequency and manner of our "teaching" is actually having the opposite effect of what we want: stunting the church's growth?! Traditions like these go unquestioned in our evangelical cultures, but if they were indeed true, would we listen and change course? The whole section has a feel of a heavier and more radical version of J. Oswald Sanders' Spiritual Leadership where he asks such important questions like are you spiritually plateaued? are you acting more like Jesus or the Pharisees? But it's not coming from self-righteousnes or anger but out of a burden to see the world reached for Christ through leaders like us.

Once you get through these hard questions and topics, you will find an illuminating section on paradigms and perspectives that cause us to lead off center: like the unnecessary and unbiblical separation between secular and sacred or between clergy and laity. There is also a great section on starting leadership development with not-yet-Christian folks instead of with the usual more mature Christians we recruit. This part is worth paying attention to because it links leadership development to MISSION instead of to the shepherding of the local church where we develop or recruit existing leaders to our programs -- thereby creating no new leaders in the net cause! Neil humorously mentions that some of the best leaders of tomorrow are waking up with a hangover and in the wrong bed today! The playing field significantly widens without separating "evangelism" from leadership development; they become part of the same disciple-making activity. Sounds biblical, doesn't it?


After that is my favorite part, there is a fantastic section on mentoring. I think the price of the book is found here. It is filled with profundity and experience... and, again, elegant simplicity. I have "discipled" my share of people over the last 20 years, but never did I think to do it as he recommends -- with an eye towards obedience and multiplication over content. Neil gives advice like:

don't teach them anything new until they followed through on the last thing.
never teach a skill unless there is a felt need for it.
a skill is never learned until it is taught to another person

He simultaneously lowers the bar on mentoring while also raising it by taking us back to the way of Jesus and Paul. After reading this section, I immediately made changes in the way I was relating to a not-yet-Christian I am doing a Life Transformation Group with.


I also like the concluding section where Neil offers examples of new kinds of leaders in the movement who have given up traditional structures and roles for the sake of mission. Real life examples always help flesh out the multi-faceted look of what the author is describing and help open up our imagination to what the future holds for a new breed of leaders.


One final thing that I like about this book (and about Neil on the whole) is that he is not a mission deconstructionist who is just saying everything is broken. We don't need more of those! Neil Cole is very much a reconstructionist who is showing us a better way that 1.) he has lived out and seen reproduce internationally, and 2.) is actually rooted in Scripture. I think this is why he has been so readily embraced by people across the world as an ambassador of a more missional way. This reconstructionist orientation shows up in Organic Leadership quite often as he recommends [here it comes] simple and reproducible tools like the Seven Signs of Jesus from John's gospel, or Mentoring sheets that are profoundly simple, or Life Transformation Groups that are leaderless and multiply, or Truth Quest which teaches theology in community and with different points of view. Not a lot of Simple Church people are recommending alternative ways, but Neil is -- and churches across the world are multiplying as a result.

If you, like me, have long thought that something is off on the way that we "lead" in the church and long to know God's natural design for leadership that can truly transform the world, then I heartily recommend Organic Leadership for direction in this new way for a new time.