Customer Reviews

Overcoming the Dark Side of Leadership: The Paradox of Personal Dysfunction

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(7)
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2 star:		(1)
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As a church leader, I found this book to be revealing and extremely helpful. It helped me in my continuing attempts to walk closer to the Lord. Thus, I feel that this is an excellent book that should be read by all pastors and church leaders. In these days when churches are more concerned with numbers, church growth and attracting people through programs, this book is one which all church leaders need to read and absorb. The authors carefully examine the dark side of the individual, that part of the personality which often colors or determines the course or tone of one's ministry. They present ways an individual can gauge the extent and nature of his or her dysfunctional personality structure. They maintain that the dark side can be harnessed so that it can be used in a positive manner. They do not provide any easy solutions, but ones, which if followed, will allow an individual to grow in holiness day by day. McIntosh & Rima pull no punches. They maintain that character is more important than looks, ability, or charisma. Those who think otherwise, wind up denying their dark side. They become immature and dishonest leaders who, through manipulation and spiritual abuse, lead hurting and needy people away from God's grace. They can do so even with the most altruistic of intentions. Pastors and church leaders who want to make an honest evaluation of themselves and their relationship with God can begin by reading this book.

Overcoming the Dark Side of Leadership is a sobering account of what can happen when we refuse to allow God to deal with our inner being.

Indeed, with the moral failures we have seen in the ministry, business, and politics, anyone can benefit from this book. Among the important points the authors cover include:

1. Characteristics of particular types of leadership personalities.
2. Denying our dark side is dangerous to us and those around us.
3. Examining our past should serve not to assign blame to others, but to understand the influences in our lives and allow God to help us overcome those influences.
4. Beware of unrealistic expectations! (yours or others).
5. The importance of a daily quiet time and periodic retreats.
6. Our position in Christ is much more important than our position on earth.
7. No one is immune from the dark side.
8. Pride, selfishness, and self-deception are some of the tendencies that relate to our dark side.

Definitely a recommended read for anyone in a position of leadership or anyone who perceives the need to honestly examine their lives before God.

I've reviewed many books here, and seldom do I say that one is a must-read for every pastor. This title however, falls into that category. Not only is it of enormous benefit to pastors, but it will be very helpful in granting insight to others who want to understand better the enormous challenges we face and the dark side we all possess.

For pastors, this book is eye-opening in asserting that all of us must deal with a dark side in one form or another. For people supportive of us, this volume takes us off any super-human pedestal (we never really belonged there in the first place). It does so by providing insight into our very unique humanity that we too often deny.

This book is the first of its kind, and hopefully not the last. It is well worth the small investment required to purchase and the short time required to read.

I found this book very indepth because the author's careful attention to study the examples used. Being that the authors used some very strong figures in life makes this book very compelling. There is alot to learn with Overcoming the Dark Side of Leadership and it doesnt take long to read this book. I believe this is not only a book for leaders and Pastors but for all people. The idea everyone has a darkside or shadow or character defects or liabilities that can hurt us has been long talked about in different theories from 12 programs to just about anything. However in Overcoming the Dark Side of Leadership puts personal dysfunction as a asset and liability if gone undiscovered in such a easy and accepting way. Using successful leaders was a good job well done. It is not one of those depressing dysfunctional books but rather an enjoyful mirror to feel good while reading. It has good information about spiritual and non-spiritual leaders at its best.. I would say I enjoyed this book and especially the choiced leaders used in their representation..I will say good homework Rima and McIntosh...

This book has been very helpful to me personally. I think most all American leaders ought to read this or something similar.

It did not so much show me something new about myself as distill many things which I knew to be true, and show me how they influenced me as a leader.

A more thorough philosophy of the meaning of leadership psychology would have been helpful. At the same time, this would have likely dampened the 'peer to peer' feel of the book.

I highly recommend a careful, introspective reading of this book.

I'm impressed with this book. It came to me in the hardest time of my ministry. God have used this text to work in my life and, I hope, prevents fall. Can other leaders be impacted by this approach of personal dysfunction in ministry. God bless the authors.

Overcoming the Dark Side of Leadership is a book that, if it is read with any honesty, must be very personal. There is no Christian who is not in a position of leadership one way or another. Many simply do not realize that position. But regardless of whether or not you find yourself in an obvious position of leadership or not, this book offers a journey into your personal darkness and, paradoxically, the light that it can bring. It is convicting and troubling while also relieving and motivating. Anyone could do well to use the guidelines herein to examine their own heart.

But I still have a few reservations about the book. I felt as if, in once sense, it suffered from excess, and in another sense, it was incomplete.

I felt like the first section of the book could really have been written as a separate book in of itself, perhaps with the second section as a long appendix. The third section seemed extraneous, almost as if the authors knew they should add something more, give some explanation of where to go, but they almost seemed unsure themselves.

The other trouble I had was the thought that there are these five major issues that can bring trouble. There was a nagging feeling throughout that there have to be more, but the possibility is never dealt with. I do not recall the door even being left open to say that there could be more or that these were the five most significant issues but others existed. That unsettled me slightly.

Regardless, the first two sections of the book are excellent, perhaps essential to those who aspire or find themselves at all in positions of leadership, and the five issues that are brought to light are important, maybe vital. It's not a perfect book, but many pastors, teachers, and spiritual leaders should be required to read it regardless.

In the light of the many failures and downfalls of Christian leaders, this book examines what may be the cause of many of these downfalls. The failures of Christian leaders have actually put many barriers between the general public and the savior. The cause of Christ is losing ground if Christians cannot stop this alarming trend. The first step in overcoming these problems in Christian leadership is to first recognize the problem, and this book labels the problem the `dark side'. This obviously represents the defeated sinful nature inside every believer, but it also represents the different traumatic experiences that the sinful nature can use in our lives. The author argues that the ability to `overcome' the dark side is much more important than the managerial or leadership skills that are so often espoused in contemporary leadership thought.

The book does an excellent job of showing the painful reality of victory that leaders' dark sides have accomplished over many Christian leaders. The dark sides of these leaders do not develop and appear over night, but downfalls of Christian leaders happen slowly, often so subtlety that the leaders often are blind to the development. A lot of psychology is used to explain how the different types of `dark sides' develop and control leaders. And self-tests available in the book are helpful to discover if you personally may be susceptible to one of the different types of `dark sides'.

The last part of the book is the most helpful, showing HOW to overcome the dark side of leadership. Five helpful steps are provided for leaders to follow in order to prevent the dark side from gaining control. First, the leader must recognize the dark side. Second, the leader must examine his or her past. Third, the leader must resist unrealistic expectations. Fourth, the leader must be continually feeding himself or herself and checking himself or herself. And finally, the leader must have a strong sense of self-identity in Christ. I believe these are very helpful and a chapter is devoted to each of these steps.

The book is written very well, and especially helpful are the numerous examples and illustrations (including the lives of the authors). The book does a great job of showing the urgency of this issue, but it doesn't stop there. A well thought `remedy' is given for overcoming the dark side, and it isn't an easy fix that you find in many self-improvement books. I believe any Christian leader would do well to read this book and apply it to his or her life.

I have always recognized the existence of my dark side, but I have never understood the complexity of it. Although I had a hard time placing myself into one of the four types of the dark side given in the book, I could see things that I could possibly be susceptible to and I also saw things that I have actually experienced in the past as a result of my dark side.

Especially helpful were the five steps at the end of the book. I believe these steps are founded upon biblical principles, and they are very simple, but it is amazing how hard it is for Christians (and leaders specifically) to apply these truths. I learned that more accountability would be helpful in my life. I was also reminded that having a firm, continual acceptance of my identity in Christ is vitally important. So many problems from the dark side come from insecurity issues and issues with our relationships, but if the Christian leader understands his identity and security in Christ and also that this relationship is the most important relationship that can possibly be cultivated, these problems can be avoided. This leadership was a great encouragement to me.

As I was working on an MA at Southeastern University-Lakeland, FL, I was asked to read this book as part of a class on "Leadership Development". You've heard this a million times: "This is a must read book." Well, it is! I can honestly tell you that as a pastor, this was a wonderful read and allowed me to instrospectively analyze my leadership style. I really enjoyed the fact that McIntosh did not just outline the leadership styles but he cited Biblical and secular examples to prove his point. This makes for a really good sermon series on Leadership. Just a few weeks ago, one of our high profile leaders was exposed for his darkside. What I really appreciated from Dr. McIntosh's observation was the fact that we cannot deny that we have a dark side... it's called the sin nature. We will wrestle with this until that day when we are called home. Paul struggled with it, and we can't deny that we all struggle with it. If you are a pastor, read this book, get it into the hands of your younger staff, if you are a church member, I really think that you pastor will appreciate this insightful, easy to read tome.

"Overcoming the Dark Side of Leadership" looks at the paradox of personal dysfunction. The book addresses three issues, understanding how the dark side develops, discovering the issues experienced most often by leaders to help the reader determine their dark side, and a five-step plan for redeeming or overcoming the dark side.

The authors, Gary McIntosh and Samuel Rima speak from their own discovery of personal dysfunction and share how they recognized their dark side and began a life long journey of self discovery, healing, and fulfillment in their ministries.

Stories from the lives of well known public figures, from Biblical leaders, and from classical stories are used to illustrate the dysfunctions of the compulsive leader, the narcissistic leader, the paranoid leader, the codependent leader, and the passive-aggressive leader.

I personally found the "targeting insights," and "applying insights" features at the end of each chapter to be excellent tools for self examination and self discovery. The appendix listing available personality profiles, an accountability group covenant, a sample personal constitution, and a performance evaluation were also helpful resources.

Significant and relevant, this is an important and helpful book for pastors, and leadership at every level of church ministry.