“Extraordinary leaders call others to their extraordinary best.”

This is simply one of dozens of insightful quotes by Jenni Catron in her latest book, The 4 Dimensions Of Extraordinary Leadership.

One of the leading voices in Christian leadership today, Jenni exposes readers to four dimensions of leadership through the lens of the Great Commandment.  She takes how we are to love God (with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength) and challenges us to lead others through the same dimensions.  Not only is it Biblical, it makes sense.  Think about it.  By focusing our leadership efforts in this way we are honoring, thus loving, our Heavenly Father.

  “When I consider my life as a leader, it means leading with all of who I am                    for the benefit of God and others.”

I don’t know about you, but I really like tools.  Well, Jenni Catron offers a free online assessment tool that will help you discover which dimension(s) you naturally lead from.  I suggest taking this assessment before reading the book.  If you’re like me, this can be beneficial in focusing additional attention on the chapters which relate specifically to you.

Where do I lead from?  SOUL!  Some leaders determine a mixed percentage between a couple of the dimensions.  Mine, however, came up 100%.

Let me share just a couple highlights with you from chapter 5.  This is where she writes about leading from the Soul.  “Following Christ is who we are, and it should overflow to our leadership.”  Yes…yes…yes!  Preach it, Jenni.  I can’t even begin to tell you how many times I’ve witnessed church leaders make major decisions entirely from a worldly corporate mindset.  Prayer and spiritual discernment must always guide those of us who lead in the Church.  When these are absent we are essentially communicating to God that we don’t require his input and assistance.

“Great leaders serve. They recognize everything they do isn’t for them.”  This is so true.  Self-serving leaders never breed health in a corporation.  Leaders who intentionally build accountability into their network of mentors are a step ahead of the rest.

Grab a copy of this book for yourself, or take your teams through it together.  I promise it will create some powerful conversations.  Here’s one final quote:

“Extraordinary leaders lead through the tension.  Then don’t get lost in it.”