Leading with a Limp: Take Full Advantage of Your Most Powerful Weakness (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for Leading with a Limp

“There are good books on leadership, but this one is profound. It is better than a ‘how to do it’ book; this is a ‘how to be it’ book for leaders. Dan Allender offers serious wisdom rather than simple platitudes.”
–Mark Sanborn, speaker, leadership consultant, and best-selling author of The Fred Factor

“Not only is Dan Allender a good friend, he is a great leader. In Leading with a Limp, he has shown us how we can effectively lead those allotted to our charge. Read this book...it will bring a lot of things into perspective for you.”
–Dennis Rainey, president of FamilyLife and coauthor of Moments Together for Couples

“After reading this book, the first two words out of my mouth were ‘At last!’ Amid a deluge of spiritual gifts inventories, at last there is someone who understands how God’s strength is made perfect in our imperfections. At last someone has brought spiritual strengths and spiritual weaknesses into conversation. For Dan Allender, the limp is a limpid way of walking that leads into the very presence of God.”
–Leonard Sweet, author of The Three Hardest Words and Out of the Question…Into the Mystery

“Leading with a Limp is not your basic, cafeteria-brand manual on how to ‘do’ leadership. It is a call to openly face your shortcomings as a leader. Dan Allender reminds us that our greatest asset as leaders is not our competence but the courage to name and deal with our frailties and imperfections.”
–Dr. Crawford W. Loritts, Jr., author, speaker, and senior pastor of Fellowship Bible Church in Roswell, Georgia

“Once again Dan Allender has propelled us headlong into the paradoxical wonders of the gospel of God’s grace. Leading with a Limp exposes the thin veneer of respectability we leaders try to stretch over our destructive idols of control and pragmatism. In so doing, Allender invites us to the freeing humility of leading as “the chief sinner” in whatever context God has placed us.”
–Scotty Smith, founding pastor of Christ Community Church in Franklin, Tennessee, and coauthor of Restoring Broken Things

“I often wonder if other people feel the way I do when they read books on leadership. Most of the books are heavy on motivation or strategy or positive thinking. Dan Allender looks at how anyone can move his team–and himself–forward when he is pummeled by circumstances and his heart is fainting. This is real-world stuff, but you’ll have to take off the rose-colored glasses to read it.”
–Bob Lepine, cohost of FamilyLife Today

“Leading with a Limp will have a lasting impact on me; it addressed several issues I’m struggling with at this point in my life and leadership. I thank God for this honest and insightful book!”
–Brian McLaren, pastor, author of The Secret Message of Jesus and A New Kind of Christian


From the Hardcover edition.

Product Description

Put your flawed foot forward.

Pick up most leadership books and you’ll find strategies for leveraging your power and minimizing your areas of weakness. But rather than work against your weakness, why not draw from a deeper well of strength? God favors leaders who make the most of the power that comes from brokenness.

Go ahead and take full advantage of your flaws. The most effective leaders don’t rise to power in spite of their weakness; they lead with power because of their weakness. It is their authenticity in limping leadership that compels others to follow them. Flawed leaders are successful because they’re not preoccupied with protecting their image. They are undaunted by chaos and complexity. And they are ready to risk failure in moving an organization from what is to what should be.

If you are a leader–or if you have been making excuses to avoid leading–find out how to get the most from your weakness. A limping leader is the kind of person God uses to accomplish amazing things.

To go deeper, check out the Leading with a Limp Workbook.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: WaterBrook Press (January 15, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1578569524
• ISBN-13: 978-1578569526
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #39,963 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "It is through leading that I've known the greatest need for a deep, personal, and abiding relationship with Jesus.", January 15, 2008

By	Readers Favorite "Readers Favorite" (Hawesville, KY USA) - See all my reviews

Leading is never easy--whether it is in business, family, or church. Leading can be a thankless job, and the chances are someone is going to angry with you and might even hate you. "It is through leading that I've known the greatest need for a deep, personal, and abiding relationship with Jesus."

To be an effective leader we must face our weaknesses and not hide them. Allowing our weakness to show will bring respect among those you lead. Acknowledging our weaknesses allows us to utilize the gifts/tools God has given us. We can learn to allow others to use their talents by delegating and working closely with others. God uses the most unlikely. The best leaders seem to be the ones that flee from the call to leadership and then submit to God's will by returning to follow the call. For those are the leaders that are not after personal gain but are God-centered.

Dan Allender points that God calls all followers to lead. The capacity in which you lead will vary from another's. A mother leads her children. A Pastor leads his congregation. "Every leader must count the cost of leadership, and the cost includes six realities: crisis, complexity, betrayal, loneliness, weariness, and glory." Serving God makes it all worth it.

Leading With A Limp by Dan B. Allender, PHD is written in simple, easy- to- understand terms. He approaches leadership from a stance I had never heard before. His ideas make sense. This book came to me at just the right moment. I was facing a leadership position that I knew would be very difficult. With the information present in Leading With A Limp, I pray that I can be an effective leader and serve God. I think all leaders ,whether in business, family or church, will benefit from Leading With A Limp.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dealing with Flawed Leaders, January 19, 2009

By	J. Nolt - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If you ever feel isolated and alone as a leader, this book is for you. If you ever wonder how you can lead in the midst of your many flaws as a person, then this book is for you.

Dan Allender does a fantastic job helping the reader become more comfortable with the weaknesses he/she has as a leader. Most leadership books are how-to...this is not. This is not simple steps to becoming more effective. This book is more of a gentle consolation. More than instruct you it sympathizes with you...and in the process, guides you. The takeaways are realizing other leaders are just as flawed as you. When you begin to realize this and lead in the midst of your weakness, not avoiding them, you become a more trustworthy leader.

Allender encourages us to stop avoiding the shortcomings we have, to face up to them, and to lead in the midst of them in a way that is courageously humble. A must read for all those in leadership who think if their weaknesses are exposed no one will follow (actually, it's quite the contrary).

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Comforting. healing. profound, June 15, 2008

By	Woodspoet (Cambridge, MA United States) - See all my reviews

This is such an honest, helpful book.

It is more accurate and truthful to the reality of leading than other's I've read, and I've read many. Dan's ideas are paradoxical in the best sense.

I bought it the other day on a whim in Barnes & Noble, after reading a bit of it standing up at a shelf. Today is Father's Day, and I enjoyed two hours reading it this afternoon, on "my day" when I can do pretty much anything I want. A gentle page turner. I'm smiling as I write this review.