Calvin Miller, The Empowered Leader: 10 Keys to Servant Leadership. Broadman and Holman Academic, 1997.
Referenced in: Servant Leadership
LifeandLeadership.com Summary
This insightful book is a valid addition to the plethora of leadership resources. Like most Christian literature on the subject, Miller takes the servant/empowerment oriented principles from the corporate arena and looks at them through the lens of Christian leadership. He puts this in the framework of ten keys: fostering an honest servant image; perceiving yourself as a leader; networking; vision; decision; defining, structuring, and motivating; avoiding abuses of power; coping with difficult people; delegation and team building; and surviving a visible mistake. The book contains some helpful unique pieces:
- New Testament words that form the boundaries of servant leadership – diakonos, doulos, and huperetes (15)
- Three tenses of success – letting your past guide your future while your future instructs your present (30-32)
- Four functions of pier decisions – divide life into manageable segments, create new beginnings, authenticate servanthood, and weld us into a strong relationship with God (78-81)
Readers will also find help in the five evidences of power abuse (130-134), the six difficult souls and the four key questions in analyzing our coping efficiency (140-153), the three attitudes that make your future sins forgivable (185), and the three steps of spiritual healing (199).
Miller’s book functions more like a leadership coach than a how-to manual. Interspersed throughout are gems one expects in those pregnant informal moments one has with a caring mentor. With this book you get to see leadership through the eyes of a seasoned seminary professor, author, and leader. Another good feature are the “Dear Leader” letters at the beginning of each chapter that help one see leadership through the eyes of followers. This work is mentioned at the top of most suggested reading lists on Christian leadership, and for good reason.
From the Publisher
God blessed King David as a leader only after David submitted himself to God’s strength. In The Empowered Leader, Dr. Calvin Miller shows how following David’s example can turn you into the leader you can be, the leader God wants you to be.
About the Author
For nearly thirty years, Calvin Miller has charmed readers with his incisive, winsome writings. He is currently professor of preaching at Beeson Divinity School of Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. Prior to that he was professor at Southwestern Seminary in Ft. Worth, Texas. An English stylist on the Holman Christian Standard Bible translation team, Dr. Miller is also the author of more than 25 books including The Christ We Knew, Until He Comes, The Book of Jesus, and The Empowered Leader, and he is the writer of devotions in The Millennium Bible.
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