Gordon Cosby on Leadership
(I borrowed a big part of this post from the NextReformation website (http://www.nextreformation.com/new.htm) because it's really good info and I wanted to pass it along. Check out NextReformation if you get a chance!)
The following are quotes from Gordon Cosby, of Church of the Savior in Washington, DC and were taken from Elizabeth O'Connor's book, "Call to Committment". Here are Cosby's thoughts on leadership:
"The first quality of leadership is to understand that the real issue is always an internal one... 'What in me blocks the coming of the Holy Spirit?'"
"The second quality of leadership is the capacity to take hostility. Any situation where there is hostility has the potential of being a step in a person's spiritual growth if that person has the capacity to receive anger without lashing back. Hostility is the consequence of fear which has its origin in separation from God.
"The third quality is the capacity to accept another person where he or she is. There is a bit of the manipulator in all of us, and a bit of the perfectionist.
"A fourth quality of leadership is the perspective which enables us to sort the little issues from the big ones. We need perspective; little issues act as smoke screens.
"The fifth quality of leadership is a willingness to fail and to let others fail. If God does a new thing through us, we must necessarily be trying that which has not been tried before, and there will be no way of knowing the outcome in advance.
"The sixth quality of leadership is a deep caring for people -- not just those who are important to us, those who can give us something, but for all people. Unless there are two or three persons at the heart of a community with the capacity to truly love, it is doomed."
If you're not familiar with Cosby and Church of the Savior, their story is quite remarkable. Here are some links to more into about them:
http://www.thefallschurch.org/audio/luke/going-deep.htm
http://www.whatischurch.com/toolbox/cos.html
http://www.vineyardusa.org/publications/newsletters/cutting_edge/2001_fall/cosby_interview.htm
The following are quotes from Gordon Cosby, of Church of the Savior in Washington, DC and were taken from Elizabeth O'Connor's book, "Call to Committment". Here are Cosby's thoughts on leadership:
"The first quality of leadership is to understand that the real issue is always an internal one... 'What in me blocks the coming of the Holy Spirit?'"
"The second quality of leadership is the capacity to take hostility. Any situation where there is hostility has the potential of being a step in a person's spiritual growth if that person has the capacity to receive anger without lashing back. Hostility is the consequence of fear which has its origin in separation from God.
"The third quality is the capacity to accept another person where he or she is. There is a bit of the manipulator in all of us, and a bit of the perfectionist.
"A fourth quality of leadership is the perspective which enables us to sort the little issues from the big ones. We need perspective; little issues act as smoke screens.
"The fifth quality of leadership is a willingness to fail and to let others fail. If God does a new thing through us, we must necessarily be trying that which has not been tried before, and there will be no way of knowing the outcome in advance.
"The sixth quality of leadership is a deep caring for people -- not just those who are important to us, those who can give us something, but for all people. Unless there are two or three persons at the heart of a community with the capacity to truly love, it is doomed."
If you're not familiar with Cosby and Church of the Savior, their story is quite remarkable. Here are some links to more into about them:
http://www.thefallschurch.org/audio/luke/going-deep.htm
http://www.whatischurch.com/toolbox/cos.html
http://www.vineyardusa.org/publications/newsletters/cutting_edge/2001_fall/cosby_interview.htm
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