Forget about Presidents, Queens and CEO’s. The most important leaders in the world are Moms. Think about it for a minute. Mothers often have more influence and impact (good or bad) on the future leaders and “regular” people of the world than almost anyone else.
Whether you realize it or not, you and your spouse are leaders. You have the responsibility for leading your children. If you are a Christian, hopefully you are leading your kids towards worshipping and obeying God, and living the lives He wants them to live.
Yet moms are often ignored when it comes time for leadership training. There is usually no paycheck for being a mom and Mother-of-the-Year awards are few and far between. In fact if they were honest, most people who write leadership books would smirk just a bit at the idea of a mom with three kids under the age of three needing leadership development. And yet, we do.
I was interested when offered the opportunity to review Perry Noble’s new book, The Most Excellent Way to Lead. Noble, a well known minister in South Carolina even mentions parents occasionally in the book. In spite of the shout-outs though, it still reads more like a leadership book for people in full-time ministry or business.
Don’t let that keep you from reading this book if you are reading it for “mom” leadership skills. His lessons are easily translatable to characteristics you will need to lead your children well. I love the framework he uses for his tips – I Corinthians chapter 13. Each chapter takes a phrase from the famous “Love is…” verses and applies it to leadership. His premise is these verses were in a letter about leadership. They were not just about romantic love, but the love leaders should exhibit as they lead others.
All of Noble’s stories, points and tips are easy to understand and often tied back to examples in the Bible. I would say it covers the basics of leadership, but sadly even many leaders with years of experience are still making these rookie mistakes in leading. In addition, some of his ideas may make even the best leaders stop and think a bit. “Jesus wasn’t fair” (He had obvious “favorites” like Peter, James and especially John.), “kindness demands we tell the truth” and “embracing the time and processes it takes to become a leader”, may be some of the new ideas mom leaders want to consider carefully.
I really only had two complaints about the book. The first was relatively minor. Perry has written such a strong book with essential discussions on leadership, I hated it when on a couple of occasions he relied on the humor of a sixth grade boy. More crass than ungodly, I just felt it was unnecessary and distracted from his points when it happened.
The other is major, but if you don’t read the appendix, you will miss it entirely. It breaks my heart when someone obviously spending so much time in studying God’s Words chooses to ignore all of the commands and examples of baptism being necessary for becoming a Christian. I hope he has some conversations with other ministers like Frances Chan, Max Lucado, Terry Rush and others on the topic of baptism. Perry took a wonderful opportunity and fell short of giving people the tools necessary to really become a Christian.
I would highly suggest reading the book (and skipping the appendix). It has so many good tips and thoughts, that even if most of it is review for you, it’s still worth your time and effort. Strengthening your leadership skills can only help you and your kids.
This book was given to me for free in exchange for my honest review. It contains an affiliate link for your convenience.