Book Review: The Life Giving Leader

“Leaders, what if your greatest legacy was that people found life through your leadership?  Imagine if your fingerprint was seen not only in your organization, team, and family but also in many organizations, teams, and families?” p. 2 Tyler Reagin, The Life Giving Leader

I know that one day I will stand before the Lord and give an account for the way that I led in the leadership roles that God gave me.  I’m in my 10th year as Upper School Principal at North Cobb Christian School.  At the beginning of every year, I read a letter to our team sharing my expectations for the year ahead based on the love that God has given me for those on our team.  One thing that I share with them is that I hope their time on our team, living out their calling, is one that brings them great joy.  The only way that can ultimately happen is if we are all pursuing Jesus first and foremost and if I am daily choosing to be a Life Giving Leader.

Tyler Reagin has put together a great handbook for leaders who desire to truly make a difference from a place of understanding who God has called them to be in his latest work The Life Giving Leader.  He challenges the reader to dive deep into the study of how God has wired them and even takes that a step further in calling the reader to find people who can speak into their leadership on a regular basis through a 360 degree review.  This is all based on Psalm 139:23-24 Investigate my life, O God, find out everything about me;  Cross-examine and test me, get a clear picture of what I’m about; See for yourself whether I’ve done anything wrong—then guide me on the road to eternal life. (The Message).

Reagin shares a good bit of his own story beginning with how he was led and what he learned from those influences as well as what he has learned in a variety of leadership roles he has held over the years.  Fortunately he shares a good mix of what worked…and what really didn’t!  This book is one that I plan to buy a few extra copies of to share with friends.  It will definitely find a spot on my shelf in area where I keep books that I need to re-read on a regular basis!

I highlighted several things while reading and have posted those notes below…

• The pursuit of life-giving leadership begins and ends with Jesus. p. 1
• Leaders, what if your greatest legacy was that people found life through your leadership?  Imagine if your fingerprint was seen not only in your organization, team, and family but also in many organizations, teams, and families? p. 2
• Let’s lead as if people’s lives depend on our leadership, because they do. p. 5
• People are worth your best. p. 5
• Grace should flow from leaders to those around them. p. 10
• When leaders steward the small amount of influence they have in a God-honoring, life-giving way, it is no surprise when they are handed more influence and more opportunities to bring hope to others.  Everyone has influence over someone.  Great leadership involves stewarding or managing that influence over others to the best of our ability. p. 11
• Leadership should be a radical reflection of the life that flow from God to us and then overflows from us to those around us. p. 13
• Self-awareness allows us to regulate our actions, our words, our attitudes, and our behavior.  It is a gatekeeper between our minds and our mouths.  A joke or other comment might come to mind, but self-awareness tells us it’s not appropriate.  Self-regulation helps us leave it unspoken.  That internal gatekeeper gets our attention and tells us to stop before we make an inappropriate, untimely, or hurtful comment. p. 19
• How you lead affects people’s faith. p. 21
• As a leader and a believer, what are the things you consider priorities, the things that come ahead of everything else? p. 23
• Life-giving leaders make the people around them shine.  They create places filled with leaders who have shiny eyes as well as leaders who feel loved and operate from a place of fullness and joy.  Shiny eyes show hope, passion, and excitement.  The mission is worth the pain, the challenge, and the striving. p. 24
• One of the most attractive elements of life-giving leaders is the they know what they are about and who they are when at their best.  Usually, it’s when they are leading others.  They give others their best, and that’s life-giving leadership. p. 26
• Leaders, you cannot give what you do not have.  If you are depleted of life and grace, you cannot give it.  It will not flow from you, and you cannot have a lasting influence without consistent flow. p. 34
• Investigate my life, O God, find out everything about me;  Cross-examine and test me, get a clear picture of what I’m about; See for yourself whether I’ve done anything wrong—then guide me on the road to eternal life. Psalm 139:23-24 The Message p. 45
• I believe most life-giving leaders understand the emotional toll, good and bad, their decisions and their words have on the people around them. p. 55
• What is it like to be on the other side of me? p. 56
• Life-giving leaders aim for positive and life-giving tone. p. 64
• Awareness opens the way for life to flow.  And then influence grows. p. 66
• Life-giving leaders embrace who they are and avoid chasing other people’s uniqueness. p. 72
• When you chase other people’s uniqueness, you will never be satisfied.  Only the pursuit of your relationship with God can ultimately fulfill you.  p. 74
• Life-giving leaders lead from a place of confidence.  Wen you show confidence in your own calling, your team will find it easier to have confidence in you.  They will trust you.  Moreover, they will trust your confidence in them and their calling.  When you push them to be confident, it will make sense to them.  p. 84
• When we keep our eyes on Jesus, we see people the way we are supposed to. p. 86
• When the leader is well, the team can tell. p. 102
• Life-giving leaders work alongside their team instead of hearing about it from someone else.  p. 118
• “Conflict is inevitable but combat is optional.” Max Lucado, p. 130

1. HOW GOD DESIGNED YOU-You lead best when you lead from your true self.
2. YOU RESPOND TO THE CALL TO SWEAT-You can’t give life as a leader unless you work much harder than most people alive today.
3. YOU ANSWER THE CALL TO SACRIFICE-The best leaders know that none of this is about them; it’s about the people they lead.
4. LIFE-GIVING LEADERS SURRENDER TO GOD’S WILL-We could never figure all this out on our own.  We have to be following a guide, which for us is the will of God.
5. WE HEAR AND FOLLOW A CALL TO SERVE-Life-giving leaders know they do not hold a post, rank, or title that indicates they deserve for everyone else to take care of their needs.  Instead, life comes from leaders who serve people.  When you put others first and let life flow from you, you receive the blessing. p. 134

• Illustration: Upstairs and Downstairs from Downton Abbey (p. 135-137) WOW!
• Love one another with brotherly affection.  Outdo one another in showing honor. Romans 12:10 p. 150
• When people buy in and embrace a lifestyle characterized by these four calls—to sweat, to sacrifice, to surrender, and to serve—lives are changed.  Life flows.  Grace flows. p. 154
• Life-giving leaders are the splash of color in a monotone organization. p. 160
• “Where there’s a gap in information, you have a choice.  You can choose to trust the person or you can choose to be suspicious.  Great teams choose to trust each other when there is a gap in information.” Andy Stanley, p. 167
• When something comes up that could cause conflict, I tell my team, “Fill the gap with facts, then we don’t have to make a choice.” However, if we, as a team, have to make a choice, we choose to believe the best.  We choose trust. p. 168
• Leaders, the pursuit of life-giving leadership begins and ends with Jesus. p. 179
• My charge to you is to go and lead as if people’s lives depend on your leadership, because they do.  Pour life into others to build a life-giving leadership legacy.  There is no greater pursuit for our leadership.  Seek first the kingdom and lead from that posture.  God all serve alongside you, and it will be the most fulfilling adventure of your life.  People are worth our best.  Go and be a life-giving leader! p. 180

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through their book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”