Ruth Haley Barton, Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership: Seeking God in the Crucible of Ministry. IVP Books, 2009.
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LifeandLeadership.com Summary
I recommend anything by Ruth Haley Barton. She is the author of several excellent volumes, including Sacred Rhythms: Arranging Our Lives for Spiritual Transformation and Invitation to Solitude and Silence. This one, Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership, is an excellent, contemplative look at the importance of maintaining the “soul” of one’s leadership. The focus is on the life of Moses.
This book is good for those who are on the verge of burnout, or who if not burned out, are caught up in a flurry of activity that has left their inner lives malnourished. Here are a few highlights:
A leader who was raised in a punishing environment where there is an inordinate emphasis on “being good” and behaving develops perfectionist tendencies that keep feelings of shame and inadequacy at bay. The longer this perfectionism remains unacknowledged, the more likely she is to hurt herself and others with unrealistic expectations and ideals. (50)
A leader who has lived with significant emotional or physical deprivation in childhood may have developed a scarcity mentality that causes him to be stingy and ungenerous. The emptiness he experienced may also result in narcissistic tendencies, which as expressed in an insatiable need to be in the limelight or to be associated with a person or an organization that is in the limelight. Eventually others tire of his self-centered approach and no longer want to be around it. (50-51)
Solitude is the place of our own conversion. In solitude we stop believing our own press. We discover that we are not as good as we thought but we are also more than we thought. (51)
God’s call on our life is so tightly woven into the fabric of our being, so core to who we are, that to ignore it or to refuse it would be to jeopardize our well-being. If we were to try to compromise or to live it only halfway, we’d run the risk of plunging into emptiness and meaninglessness. (74)
The soul of leadership begins with who we are – really. Not who we think we are, not who we would like to be, not who others believe us to be. God’s call includes (yet is not limited to) the particularities of our life, our heritage, our personality, our foibles, our passions and deepest orientation, and even our current life situation. Being called by God is one of the most essentially spiritual experiences of human existence, because it is a place where God’s presence intersects with a human life. Our calling emerges from who we really are – in all the rawness and sinfulness of it as well as in all the glory and God-givenness of it. (76)
When people start to fix blame on the leader for all that is going wrong, the loneliness and disillusionment can be blinding. And yet this is one of the predictable patterns we encounter in leadership. (140)
Any leader who cannot endure profound levels of loneliness will not last long. (163)
This kind of loneliness – being in a position where we must take total responsibility for ourselves and for what God is calling us to do not matter what others are doing – is an absolute truth of leadership. (164)
It is easier to belong to a group than to belong to God. (164)
From the Publisher
“I’m tired of helping others enjoy God.” “I just want to enjoy God for myself.” With this painful admission, Ruth Haley Barton invites us to an honest exploration of what happens when spiritual leaders lose track of their souls. Weaving together contemporary illustrations with penetrating insight from the life of Moses, Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership explores topics such as
- Responding to the dynamics of calling
- Facing the loneliness of leadership
- Leading from your authentic self
- Cultivating spiritual community
- Reenvisioning the promised land
- Discerning God’s will together
Each chapter includes a spiritual practice to ensure your soul gets the nourishment it needs. Forging and maintaining a life-giving connection with God is the best choice you can make for yourself and for those you lead.
About the Author
Ruth Haley Barton is a spiritual director, teacher, author and retreat leader trained at the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation (Washington, D.C.). She is cofounder and president of The Transforming Center, a ministry to pastors and Christian leaders.
Educated at Wheaton College and Northern Seminary, Barton has served at several churches, including Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois. Her books include Invitation to Solitude and Silence, Sacred Rhythms, Longing for More (all InterVarsity Press), An Ordinary Day with Jesus: Experiencing the Reality of God in Your Everyday Life (with John Ortberg, Willow Creek Resources), Ruth: Relationships That Bring Life (Shaw) and a series of articles called The Transforming Leader in Christian Management Report.
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