DESCRIPTION:

Good leadership requires a variety of skills - the ability to understand human behavior, to communicate effectively, to analyze needs and set agendas, etc. Underlying those skills, leadership requires two primary elements: the knowledge of oneself, and a recognition of the worldview(s) that one brings to a particular setting or circumstance. Neither of these elements, nor a consistent Christian worldview, is easily gained. This course, while addressing the content matter of leadership and worldviews from a Christian perspective, will also emphasize the analysis of individual perspectives and assumptions.

This course will attempt to provide learning experiences that aid in deepening the cognitive, affective, and behavioral understandings of leadership as Christians in a pluralistic world.

The class sessions will be a combination of brief lectures, discussion of readings and outside assignments, group work, and student project presentations. The class meets weekly for three-hour sessions.

A novel, biography, or autobiography selected from bibliography (available after March 1 in the School of Theology Academic Programs Office).

Lingenfelter, Sherwood G. & Marvin K. Mayers. Ministering Cross-Culturally. Baker, 1986.

Volf, Miroslav. Exclusion and Embrace. Abingdon, 1996.

One of the following books (students may wait until first class meeting to make choice):

Barna, George. Leaders on Leadership. Regal, 1997.

Drucker, Peter. The Effective Executive Revisited. HarperBusiness, 2002.

Gardner, John W. On Leadership. Touchstone, 1993.

Heifitz, Ronald. Leadership Without Easy Answers. Belknap, 1994.

Hersey, Paul and Kenneth Blanchard. Management of Organizational Behavior. Prentice Hall, 2000.

Bolman, Lee and Terrence E. Deal. Reframing Organizations. Jossey Bass, 1991.

Dyrness, William. Learning About Theology from the Third World. Zondervan, 1990.

Gudykunst, W. B. and Young Yun Kim. Communicating With Strangers. McGraw-Hill, 1992.

Kegan, Robert. In Over Our Heads: The Mental Demands of Modern Life. Harvard, 1994.

Thomas, R. R., Jr. Beyond Race and Gender. AMACOM, 1991.

1) The "15 minutes a day" activity plan (reading, surfing the Internet, listening to radio, watching a movie, attending concerts, conversing, a mini-excursion). Keep a log, and each week, write a brief (1-page) reflection about what you have learned about yourself and/or a culture based on your activities. These reflections will form the basis for an assigned ten-page paper. 2) Assigned readings completed prior to the class when due, leadership in class discussion at least once during the quarter. 3) An applied project that focuses on a particular interest/ministry (cultural, ethnic, or other as approved by instructor). 4) A final paper in which a "leadership classic" is analyzed for underlying worldview perspectives (10-15 pages).

Meets requirement in Leadership Ministry for M.A.C.L.; meets requirement in Ministry Foundations (MINF) for M.A. degrees.