{"id":10544,"date":"2017-01-11T22:15:21","date_gmt":"2017-01-12T03:15:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/?p=10544"},"modified":"2017-01-11T22:15:21","modified_gmt":"2017-01-12T03:15:21","slug":"book-review-leadership-pain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/?p=10544","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: Leadership Pain"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"leadership-pain-3d\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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Leadership Pain<\/em> <\/a>by Dr. Samuel R. Chand was recommended to me by my pastor along with a few other books that he had been reading. \u00a0Powerful read as Chand describes leadership pain as “the classroom for growth”. \u00a0Isn’t that true? \u00a0If you want to get stronger, you have to deal with the pain of exercise. \u00a0If you want to be debt-free, you have to deal with the pain of making tough financial decisions. \u00a0If you want to earn that degree, you have to deal with the pain of late nights and hard work. \u00a0If there is any one resource that every leader has an unending supply of…it’s most likely pain. \u00a0The stewardship of leadership comes in how you deal with the pain and use it to help you understand the grace and mercy of our Lord and use it as a catalyst to love and serve others well. \u00a0So…no pain, no gain I guess! \u00a0One major benefit of pain is the understanding that those things that used to be painful, tend to be those same things that ultimately made you stronger and more resolved. \u00a0Have you thanked God lately for the pain that He allows as He brings us closer to His perfect plan for our lives?<\/p>\n

I highlighted several things while reading and have posted those notes below…<\/p>\n

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  • “We must embrace pain and burn it as fuel for our journey.\u201d Kenji Miyazawa p. 1<\/li>\n
  • Often the difference between where I am and where God wants me to be is the pain I\u2019m unwilling to endure. \u00a0Doing what\u2019s right, no matter how difficult, is a rare trait in ministry. \u00a0Most choose easy. \u00a0We must choose right over easy. \u00a0p. 4<\/li>\n
  • \u201cI am not a theologian or a scholar, but I am very aware of the fact that pain is necessary to all of us. \u00a0In my own life, I think I can honestly say that out of the deepest pain has come the strongest conviction of the presence of God and the love of God.\u201d \u00a0Elisabeth Elliott p. 6<\/li>\n
  • Paradoxically, Christians often have more difficulty handling personal pain that unbelievers. \u00a0They look at the promises of God and conclude that God should fill their lives with joy, love, support, and success. \u00a0That\u2019s reading the Bible selectively. \u00a0The Scriptures state\u2014clearly and often\u2014that enduring pain is one of the ways, perhaps the main way, God works his grace deeply into our lives. \u00a0p. 11<\/li>\n
  • Making friends with your pain is a part of leadership. \u00a0Our pains tell us we\u2019re moving in the right direction. \u00a0New pains will always be a part of your life as you continue climbing the ladder to your destiny. \u00a0p. 14<\/li>\n
  • Being a Christian leader in any organization is one of the most difficult jobs in the world\u2014full of risks, strains, and challenges for the leader and his family\u2014but it\u2019s also the one that offers the greatest hope to make a difference both now and for eternity. \u00a0p. 51<\/li>\n
  • \u201cNever trust a leader that doesn\u2019t walk with a limp.\u201d \u00a0Dr. J. Robert Clinton p. 53<\/li>\n
  • Liminal space<\/i> is a concept in theology and psychology. \u00a0It is the intermediate, in-between, transitional state where you cannot go back to where you were because a threshold has been crossed, and you have yet to arrive where you are going because it is not yet available to you. \u00a0Essentially, it is the hallway between the past and the future. \u00a0I can tell you quite candidly: it\u2019s hell in the hallway. p. 56<\/li>\n
  • \u201cIt is easier to find men who will volunteer to die, than to find those who are willing to endure pain with patience.\u201d \u00a0Julius Caesar p. 67<\/li>\n
  • \u201cEvery time we make the decision to love someone, we open ourselves to great suffering, because those we most love cause us not only great joy but also great pain. \u00a0The greatest pain comes from leaving. \u00a0When the child leaves home, when the husband or wife leaves for a long period of time or for good, when the beloved friend departs to another country or dies\u2026the pain of leaving can tear us apart. \u00a0Still, if we want to avoid the suffering of leaving, we will never experience the joy of loving. \u00a0And love is stronger than fear, life stronger than death, hope stronger than despair. \u00a0We have to trust that the risk of loving is always worth taking.\u201d \u00a0Henri Nouwen, Can You Drink the Cup?<\/i> p. 70<\/li>\n
  • Perfectionism is a fairly rare theological conviction among a handful of Christians, but functionally is an epidemic among leaders and pastors of all theological stripes. \u00a0Tenderhearted and often insecure leaders absorb criticism from others, and they compound it with negative self-talk. \u00a0p. 76<\/li>\n
  • \u201cThis is what all the work of grace aims at\u2014an even deeper knowledge of God, and an ever-closer fellowship with Him. \u00a0Grace is God drawing us sinners closer and closer to Him. \u00a0How does God in grace prosecute this purpose? \u00a0Not by shielding us from assault by the world, the flesh, and the devil, nor by protecting us from burdensome or frustrating circumstances, nor yet by shielding us from troubles created by our own temperament and psychology; but rather by exposing us to all these things, so as to overwhelm us with a sense of our own inadequacy, and to drive us to cling to Him more closely. \u00a0This is the ultimate reason, from our standpoint, why God fills our lives with troubles and perplexities of one sort or another\u2014it is to ensure that we shall learn to hold him fast.\u201d \u00a0J.I. Packer, Knowing God<\/i>, p. 227 \u00a0p. 79<\/li>\n
  • God never wastes our pain. \u00a0p. 81<\/li>\n
  • We must keep loving people. \u00a0We can\u2019t allow ourselves to lead from bitterness. \u00a0Sometimes the greatest pain produces our greatest lessons. \u00a0p. 87<\/li>\n
  • Stand firm. \u00a0Let nothing move you. \u00a0Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. 1 Corinthians 15:58 NIV p. 87<\/li>\n
  • Be kind and gracious, but always hire for at least the next level of growth. \u00a0p. 95<\/li>\n
  • \u201cSettling is no fun. \u00a0It\u2019s a malignant habit, a slippery slope that takes you to mediocrity. \u00a0The art of leadership is understanding what you can\u2019t compromise on.\u201d \u00a0Seth Godin, Tribes<\/i> p. 97<\/li>\n
  • \u201cNot everything that is faced can be changed. \u00a0But nothing can be changed until it is faced.\u201d \u00a0James Baldwin p. 99<\/li>\n
  • Pain is inevitable, but misery is optional! p. 113<\/li>\n
  • Insecure, threatened, stressed-out leaders give, but they don\u2019t know how to receive. \u00a0Secure leaders receive with humble, thankful hearts, and the grace multiplies in glad giving and sharing. \u00a0p. 124<\/li>\n
  • \u201cTo live by grace means to acknowledge my whole life story, the light side and dark. \u00a0In admitting my shadow side, I learn who I am and what God\u2019s grace means.\u201d \u00a0Brennan Manning, Ragamuffin Gospel<\/i> p. 127<\/li>\n
  • Many people only seek covering when they are in trouble and find themselves trying to deal with long-term problems with short-term friends. \u00a0Being uncovered isn\u2019t just inconvenient, it\u2019s dangerous. \u00a0p. 133<\/li>\n
  • \u201cThe worst thing that can happy to any of us is to have a path that\u2019s made too smooth. \u00a0One of the greatest blessings the Lord ever gave us was a cross.\u201d \u00a0Charles Spurgeon p. 135<\/li>\n
  • \u201cThe authority by which the Christian leader leads is not power but love, not force but example, not coercion but reasoned persuasion. \u00a0Leaders have power, but power is safe only in the hands of those who humble themselves to serve.\u201d \u00a0John Stott p. 176<\/li>\n
  • \u201cAt the timberline where the storms strike with the most fury, the sturdiest trees are found.\u201d \u00a0Hudson Taylor p. 185<\/li>\n
  • Failure isn\u2019t the end of the world for those who are open to God\u2019s tender, strong hand. \u00a0It\u2019s the beginning of a new wave of insight, creativity, and effectiveness\u2014but only if we pay attention and learn the lessons God has for us. \u00a0p. 195<\/li>\n
  • \u201cThere are two pains in life: the pain of discipline, or the pain of regret. \u00a0You choose.\u201d \u00a0Wayne Cordeiro p. 199<\/li>\n
  • Don\u2019t run from your pain. \u00a0Don\u2019t deny it exists. \u00a0It\u2019s the most effective leadership development tool the world has ever known. \u00a0You\u2019ll grow only to the threshold of your pain, so raise it! p. 241<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Leadership Pain by Dr. Samuel R. Chand was recommended to me by my pastor along with a few other books that he had been reading. \u00a0Powerful read as Chand describes leadership pain as “the classroom for growth”. \u00a0Isn’t that true? \u00a0If you want to get stronger, you have to deal with the pain of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,14,35,25,16,23,28,17,32,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10544","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible-study","category-book-review","category-creative","category-education","category-family","category-generosity","category-integrity","category-leadership","category-marriage","category-north-cobb-christian"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10544","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10544"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10544\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}