Product Description

Put your flawed foot forward.

Pick up most leadership books and you’ll find strategies for leveraging your power and minimizing your areas of weakness. But rather than work against your weakness, why not draw from a deeper well of strength? God favors leaders who make the most of the power that comes from brokenness.

Go ahead and take full advantage of your flaws. The most effective leaders don’t rise to power in spite of their weakness; they lead with power because of their weakness. It is their authenticity in limping leadership that compels others to follow them. Flawed leaders are successful because they’re not preoccupied with protecting their image. They are undaunted by chaos and complexity. And they are ready to risk failure in moving an organization from what is to what should be.

If you are a leader–or if you have been making excuses to avoid leading–find out how to get the most from your weakness. A limping leader is the kind of person God uses to accomplish amazing things.

To go deeper, check out the Leading with a Limp Workbook.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #49596 in Books
• Published on: 2008-01-15
• Released on: 2008-01-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781578569526
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review
Praise for Leading with a Limp

“There are good books on leadership, but this one is profound. It is better than a ‘how to do it’ book; this is a ‘how to be it’ book for leaders. Dan Allender offers serious wisdom rather than simple platitudes.”
–Mark Sanborn, speaker, leadership consultant, and best-selling author of The Fred Factor

“Not only is Dan Allender a good friend, he is a great leader. In Leading with a Limp, he has shown us how we can effectively lead those allotted to our charge. Read this book...it will bring a lot of things into perspective for you.”
–Dennis Rainey, president of FamilyLife and coauthor of Moments Together for Couples

“After reading this book, the first two words out of my mouth were ‘At last!’ Amid a deluge of spiritual gifts inventories, at last there is someone who understands how God’s strength is made perfect in our imperfections. At last someone has brought spiritual strengths and spiritual weaknesses into conversation. For Dan Allender, the limp is a limpid way of walking that leads into the very presence of God.”
–Leonard Sweet, author of The Three Hardest Words and Out of the Question…Into the Mystery

“Leading with a Limp is not your basic, cafeteria-brand manual on how to ‘do’ leadership. It is a call to openly face your shortcomings as a leader. Dan Allender reminds us that our greatest asset as leaders is not our competence but the courage to name and deal with our frailties and imperfections.”
–Dr. Crawford W. Loritts, Jr., author, speaker, and senior pastor of Fellowship Bible Church in Roswell, Georgia

“Once again Dan Allender has propelled us headlong into the paradoxical wonders of the gospel of God’s grace. Leading with a Limp exposes the thin veneer of respectability we leaders try to stretch over our destructive idols of control and pragmatism. In so doing, Allender invites us to the freeing humility of leading as “the chief sinner” in whatever context God has placed us.”
–Scotty Smith, founding pastor of Christ Community Church in Franklin, Tennessee, and coauthor of Restoring Broken Things

“I often wonder if other people feel the way I do when they read books on leadership. Most of the books are heavy on motivation or strategy or positive thinking. Dan Allender looks at how anyone can move his team–and himself–forward when he is pummeled by circumstances and his heart is fainting. This is real-world stuff, but you’ll have to take off the rose-colored glasses to read it.”
–Bob Lepine, cohost of FamilyLife Today

“Leading with a Limp will have a lasting impact on me; it addressed several issues I’m struggling with at this point in my life and leadership. I thank God for this honest and insightful book!”
–Brian McLaren, pastor, author of The Secret Message of Jesus and A New Kind of Christian


From the Hardcover edition.

About the Author
Dan B. Allender, PhD, is a founder of Mars Hill Graduate School near Seattle, where he serves as president. He also is a professor of counseling, a therapist in private practice, and a popular speaker. He is the author of a number of books, including To Be Told, How Children Raise Parents, The Healing Path, and The Wounded Heart. Dan and his wife, Rebecca, are the parents of three children.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Introduction: What are You In For?

The assumption that guides what you are about to read is simple, yet for some reason it is almost always left unsaid. And when it is said, it is hinted at in terms that are far too polite and too highly polished. As a result the hints are not heard.

But this assumption is far too important for us to settle for window-dressing, for sugarcoating. So here’s the hard truth: if you’re a leader, you’re in the battle of your life. Nothing comes easily, enemies outnumber allies, and the terrain keeps shifting under your feet. If you’ve already tried the “easy” solutions, you have found that they come up empty. I know unvarnished truth like this is never easy to hear, but it’s the only truth that will help you lead with inner confidence.

And you need confidence because nothing is more difficult than leading.

Nothing else in life compares to the hardship of firing a friend or telling people that their work was necessary for a season but their employment has now reached an end. The graduate school I lead has been threatened with lawsuits, and my reputation has been sullied beyond repair by disgruntled employees.

At times, the cost of leading an organization doesn’t seem that different from the slow, insidious attrition of trench warfare.

Yet I have stumbled on moments of glory in the process of leading, moments that come from remaining in the game despite the apparent absurdity and incredible personal cost. At times all systems have hummed harmoniously– but only after days, if not weeks, of metal grinding against metal. At other moments complete failure has been imminent: the graduate school came within inches of being closed down because an absurd law was reinterpreted by a state employee who had just taken over the job from her predecessor.

(The predecessor, in fact, had worked to help us succeed.) A stay of execution came at the last moment, giving us a chance to mount a defense that eventually prevailed.

Grace. Loss. Fortune. Hardship. Victory. Sometimes the worst seat is the best seat in the house, and it comes as a result of leading. I have been asked many times if I would repeat the process of starting a graduate school. I’ve said, “Never. I don’t hate myself that much.” Yet while I have no regrets, I do have much grief and brokenness to show for the effort.

The bottom line is simple: it is in extremity that you meet not only yourself but, more important, the God who has written your life. It is through leading that I’ve known the greatest need for a deep, personal, and abiding relationship with Jesus. I wouldn’t trade that for all the money, fame, glory, and honor in this life. I suspect the same is true for you.

You may wonder how you arrived at your leadership position. You may wonder even more if you can continue in it. You may also be at war with wanting to be successful no matter the cost. But if you will ponder the call of your loving God as the core of your labor and life, I believe this book will guide you to a new and profound joy in leadership.

Leading is very likely the most costly thing you will ever do. And the chances are very good that it will never bring you riches or fame or praise in exchange for your great sacrifices. But if you want to love God and others, and if you long to live your life now for the sake of eternity, then there is nothing better than being a leader.

THE CORE ASSUMPTION
Since we’re talking straight, let’s cut to the core assumption upon which everything else in this book is built: to the degree you face and name and deal with your failures as a leader, to that same extent you will create an environment conducive to growing and retaining productive and committed colleagues.

Sometimes the quickest path up is down, and likewise, the surest success comes through being honest about failure. This is definitely not an easy path, but consider the alternative. If you don’t have the capacity to confess, acknowledging in real time how much you mess up, the result will be a workplace that becomes more cowardly and employees who grow more self-committed, more closed to you and to one another, and more manipulative. They will look out for themselves, not for you or the organization or their colleagues.

The leader’s character is what makes the difference between advancing or de-centering the morale, competence, and commitment of an organization. The truth about confession is that it doesn’t lead to people’s weakness and disrespect; instead, it transforms the leader’s character and earns her greater respect and power. This is the strange paradox of leading: to the degree you attempt to hide or dissemble your weaknesses, the more you will need to control those you lead, the more insecure you will become, and the more rigidity you will impose–prompting the ultimate departure of your best people. The dark spiral of spin control inevitably leads to people’s cynicism and mistrust. So do yourself and your organization a favor and don’t go there. Prepare now to admit to your staff that you are the organization’s chief sinner.

But there is more. Much of the current literature on leadership is swelled with the notion of self-disclosure, the importance of authenticity, and the need to own one’s weaknesses as a means of bolstering credibility. To connoisseurs of leadership literature, this is nothing new. What I am calling you to, however, is far more than the mere acknowledgment of your shortcomings. I’m suggesting an outright dismantling of them–in the open and in front of those you lead.

THE CHALLENGE
Leadership is far from a walk in the park; it is a long march through a dark valley. In fact, leadership has been described as wearing a bull’s-eye on your chest during hunting season. Crises erupt at the least opportune moments, many times the result of poor preparation, a lack of planning, or faulty execution. Your people will keep messing up just like you do. And, yes, every crisis involves people, will be managed by people, and will be resolved–or intensified and prolonged–by people in your organization.

Few crises–and even fewer of your routine decisions–will be simple. Complexity is the byword of our day. Each decision you make is a jump into the unknown, creating challenges that cost your organization time, money, and possibly morale. Few leaders escape the second-guessing or, worse, the adversaries that materialize in response to their decisions. Many times conflict escalates into assaults and betrayal–with the heartache that comes when confederates turn against you. No wonder leaders feel exhausted and alone. No wonder they suspect that other members of the team are withholding the very information they need to make better decisions. No wonder the intensity of the challenge causes so many to burn out or quit.

I won’t be so naive as to say the long, dark valley of leadership can be avoided simply by learning to name your failures. In fact, new and, at times, more difficult challenges will arise simply because you begin admitting your status as your organization’s head sinner, and the normal challenges will remain whether you confess your flaws or try to hide them. But realize that most leaders invest too much capital obscuring their need for grace, which not only keeps their staff at arm’s length but also subverts their trust and steals energy and creativity they could otherwise devote to the inevitable crises that continue to arise. And, perhaps even more dangerous, hiding failure prevents leaders from asking for and receiving the grace they most desperately need to live well, not to mention lead well.

THE WORST REASONS TO HIDE
Why is it so rare for leaders to name their failures? What keeps leaders trapped in a siege mentality, cut off from the data they need in order to make better decisions? Three primary reasons–fear, narcissism, and addiction–come immediately to mind. If you are convinced that none of these affects your ability to lead, keep reading. You very likely will change your mind.

Fear
Most leaders avoid naming their failures due to fear, and fear is a completely understandable motivator. If a leader were to openly acknowledge that he is frequently mistaken, that he is deeply flawed, and that he will continue to miss the mark on occasion, the ramifications could be disastrous. A leader with that much candor could lose the confidence of his staff, his clients could take their business elsewhere, and his board could fire him. At least those are the fears that keep us silent.

But what actually does happen when we overcome this fear and come clean about our personal flaws? What happens when we begin to name our cowardice and admit our inclination to hide? Paradoxically, when we muster the courage to name our fears, we gain greater confidence and far greater trust from others. Still, confronting your fears involves risk. In certain environments any honesty about one’s failures can be the kiss of death. So if you love truth and are bound to its proclamation, flee the cults of pretense and Christian artifice.

Seek out a new context in which to lead. If you find a church or organization that is not bound to pretense but might simply be ill equipped to admit what the Scriptures teach about our struggle with sin, you will be in a place where honesty has the greatest potential to alter the culture of latent deceit.

Narcissism
A second reason we hide is narcissism. It takes humility to name our narcissism, and we’re too married to our image to come clean about how messed up we are. This focus on self strangles authentic confession.

What happens, then, when we finally find a way to divest ourselves of image and ego? When at last we admit flaws and failure, we gain a stronger personal center and greater peace. Fitness ...

Customer Reviews

"It is through leading that I've known the greatest need for a deep, personal, and abiding relationship with Jesus."
Leading is never easy--whether it is in business, family, or church. Leading can be a thankless job, and the chances are someone is going to angry with you and might even hate you. "It is through leading that I've known the greatest need for a deep, personal, and abiding relationship with Jesus."

To be an effective leader we must face our weaknesses and not hide them. Allowing our weakness to show will bring respect among those you lead. Acknowledging our weaknesses allows us to utilize the gifts/tools God has given us. We can learn to allow others to use their talents by delegating and working closely with others. God uses the most unlikely. The best leaders seem to be the ones that flee from the call to leadership and then submit to God's will by returning to follow the call. For those are the leaders that are not after personal gain but are God-centered.

Dan Allender points that God calls all followers to lead. The capacity in which you lead will vary from another's. A mother leads her children. A Pastor leads his congregation. "Every leader must count the cost of leadership, and the cost includes six realities: crisis, complexity, betrayal, loneliness, weariness, and glory." Serving God makes it all worth it.

Leading With A Limp by Dan B. Allender, PHD is written in simple, easy- to- understand terms. He approaches leadership from a stance I had never heard before. His ideas make sense. This book came to me at just the right moment. I was facing a leadership position that I knew would be very difficult. With the information present in Leading With A Limp, I pray that I can be an effective leader and serve God. I think all leaders ,whether in business, family or church, will benefit from Leading With A Limp.

Dealing with Flawed Leaders
If you ever feel isolated and alone as a leader, this book is for you. If you ever wonder how you can lead in the midst of your many flaws as a person, then this book is for you.

Dan Allender does a fantastic job helping the reader become more comfortable with the weaknesses he/she has as a leader. Most leadership books are how-to...this is not. This is not simple steps to becoming more effective. This book is more of a gentle consolation. More than instruct you it sympathizes with you...and in the process, guides you. The takeaways are realizing other leaders are just as flawed as you. When you begin to realize this and lead in the midst of your weakness, not avoiding them, you become a more trustworthy leader.

Allender encourages us to stop avoiding the shortcomings we have, to face up to them, and to lead in the midst of them in a way that is courageously humble. A must read for all those in leadership who think if their weaknesses are exposed no one will follow (actually, it's quite the contrary).

Comforting. healing. profound
This is such an honest, helpful book.

It is more accurate and truthful to the reality of leading than other's I've read, and I've read many. Dan's ideas are paradoxical in the best sense.

I bought it the other day on a whim in Barnes & Noble, after reading a bit of it standing up at a shelf. Today is Father's Day, and I enjoyed two hours reading it this afternoon, on "my day" when I can do pretty much anything I want. A gentle page turner. I'm smiling as I write this review.