"Practicing Greatness," Reggie McNeal (Jossey-Bass, Leadership Network, April 2006)

Learning to be a great leader begins with the choice to be great, according to author Reggie McNeal, who sparked awareness of seismic spiritual shifts with his previous book, "The Present Future: Six Tough Questions for the Church." His newest title, "Practicing Greatness: 7 Disciplines of Extraordinary Spiritual Leaders," (Jossey-Bass, Leadership Network, April 2006), obviously emanates from his years of experience as a church leader.

The director of leadership development for the South Carolina Baptist Convention, McNeal stockpiles his book with illustrations from his church consulting practice. Through hundreds of real-life examples, we see the good, the bad and the ugly in leadership.

From his observations, McNeal has distilled seven key disciplines for spiritual leaders: 1. self-awareness, 2. self-management, 3. self-development, 4. mission, 5. decision-making, 6. belonging, and 7. aloneness. (Many chapters could serve as smaller leadership development texts.)

A central theme of honing leadership strengths appears in the self-development chapter, where McNeal speaks to leaders and managers. He recommends a simple philosophy change that can help any church or business staff avoid the problems that arise from placing people in an environment that exploits their weaknesses instead of capitalizing on their strengths. Though not a revolutionary idea, McNeal says this approach is lacking among numerous unhealthy church leaders.

(Read an excerpt on Developing the talent you already have, here.)

This insight also relates to the idea of mission, which McNeal discusses as the calling in a Christian’s life. He says equating a calling with a specific vocation or geography is a misinterpretation that "reduces the spiritual depth of genuine call." Instead, he suggests seeing calling in terms of "a spiritual dynamism that transcends a vocational career path." In his view, a calling can be answered through multiple ways, professions, or pursuits.

Suggestions McNeal offers throughout the book continually underscore the idea of putting an authentic, personal aspect back into spiritual leadership, a role that too often resorts to a "stoic" model.

McNeal sees culture norms impeding spiritual leadership in other ways as well, specifically regarding the discipline of aloneness: "We are substituting frenetic activity for genuine spiritual vitality." To counteract this habit, McNeal encourages spiritual leaders to observe a Sabbath by choosing a day, time and place to retreat.

While much of "Practicing Greatness" dog paddles across a shallow pool of modern self-help with a nod to psychology, McNeal keeps returning to biblical character examples as proofs to his points. However, neither the psychology nor the biblical studies are treated with much depth.

McNeal does paint a complete portrait of a spiritual leader, though, by touching on the multiple facets that make up an individual. In the end, readers are offered a generous look into the church consulting work that has shaped the author’s understanding of leadership.