Learning to Lead at the Feet of Jesus: Encounters with Grace and Truth
Ebook
Redefining the Posture of Leadership
Despite our best intentions, many of us struggle to consistently reflect Jesus in our leadership. We look for answers in current Christian best-sellers, the latest business trends, or the newest leadership theories. But the Gospels suggest a very different starting point: a new posture. No matter how lofty our title, status, or renown as leaders, we can never rise higher in the kingdom than to the feet of Jesus.
Building on Jesus’s intimacy with the Father, Learning to Lead at the Feet of Jesus highlights the rich relational setting in which Jesus exercised leadership and developed his followers into leaders. In the context of his intentional “with-ness,” Jesus generously shared his life and authority with the Twelve.
Poulter draws on a wide variety of cross-cultural experiences and invites leaders to a refreshing journey of discovery, intimacy, and transformation. With reflective questions designed to provoke insight and self-awareness, this book challenges readers to deepen their understanding and appreciation of Jesus, and evaluate their own beliefs, assumptions, and cultural expectations about leadership.
Foreword
Preface
Introduction
Before Starting the Journey
Part I: Jesus: Son, Shepherd, and King
1 A Submissive Son: Pleasing the Father
2: A Long-Awaited Shepherd: Revealing the Father’s Heart
3: An Unexpected King: Redefining Reality from the Father’s Perspective
Part II: Jesus Created a Kingdom-shaped Community and Culture
4: What Was the Weather Like Around Jesus?
5: Purposeful Proximity
Part III: Power and Authority in the Hands of Jesus
6: Positive, Purposeful Power and Authority
7: Protecting the Powerless, Provoking the Powerful
8: Whoever Would Be Great
9: Reflections on Power and Authority
Part IV: Emerging Leaders Under the Influence of Jesus
10: Jesus: God’s Primary Instrument
11: What Was Jesus Thinking?
12: Jesus Retrains Our Reflexes
13: Jesus Shares the Keys
Part V: Leading in the Image and Authority of Jesus
14: The Transforming Posture
15: Learning to Lead at the Feet of Jesus
16: Exercising Our Power and Authority at the Feet of Jesus
17: Shepherds After God’s Own Heart
Part VI: Leaders Journeying Together
18: Senior Leaders Hold the Keys
19: Sustainable Leadership Development: Leader to Leader to Leader
20: Running a Marathon—Together
Bibliography
I heard Todd's teachings on biblical leadership at a recent international conference. Since then, God gave me the privilege, along with other leaders, to learn from him about the leadership of Jesus. Todd's teachings gathered throughout his years of service and interaction with leaders of all ages and nationalities, along with the biblical and counter-cultural perspective contained in Learning to Lead at the Feet of Jesus, have revolutionized my life and profoundly transformed the way I lead. This is not just another book about how to be a successful leader; it is a journey into the heart of God and into his eternal principles to lead others.
Deinis Mall (Panama)
Sending Team Director, Panamanians Reaching the World
If ever there was a need for a book like Learning to Lead at the Feet of Jesus, it is today, when it seems that leaders around the world crave celebrity status and where principled, sacrificial leadership has taken a backseat to leadership driven by personality and power. Faithfully applying the principles taught by Jesus and the example lived out by him can stand all of us, but especially the next generation of leaders, in good stead. The book is a great tool to assist us on our own leadership journey.
I have worked with Todd Poulter on various projects and have often encountered him at global events. Todd’s commitment to developing the next generation of leaders has always been a stand-out feature of his ministry. His deep passion for Jesus is evident and he doesn’t just talk about shepherd leadership, he lives it! The book that he has just written will be a welcome contribution to the global church in a world crying out for authentic leadership!
Peter Tarantal (South Africa)
Associate International Director, Operation Mobilization
Chair of the Global Leadership Council, World Evangelical Alliance Mission Commission
Todd Poulter brings us a book that I wish I had read decades ago as a young emerging leader. I’ve known Todd for almost two decades, as a co-worker and special friend, and I cannot think of anyone more qualified to gift us with such a precious treasure. This is a book written by someone with a vast and deep experience in multicultural ministries and leadership, with a unique ability to discern the greatest needs in Christian leadership today. Todd has led, trained, coached, and personally interacted with senior and emerging leaders from all parts of the world for over four decades. Throughout his life, he has been a leader who actively listens, reflects, and deeply treasures the lessons of a lifetime of ministry. And now, for our benefit and for generations to come, Todd shares his heart with us. After you read this book, you will understand what is at the heart of true and transformative Christian leadership.
Roberto Laver (Argentina/United States)
Founder/Director, FIDES (Anti-Corruption NGO)
Todd Poulter brings something special to the field of leadership literature. I’ve worked with Todd on various teams and a wide range of projects over the past couple of decades. In every context, during good times and difficult times, I’ve seen Todd’s creativity and intelligence, and his sincere interest in and love for people. He listens! He has a deep commitment to the God he serves and truly seeks his direction. I’ve read more leadership books than I can count and have served with a number of exemplary leaders. But Todd, and what he has to share, stands out because of his willingness to be vulnerable, his eagerness to make every experience a learning experience, the integration of his faith with his leadership, and his constant efforts to contribute to the growth of new leaders and younger leaders from all across the globe. So many of those he’s mentored not only appreciate his leadership but also speak of desiring to lead like him, because they see Christ in him.
Susan Van Wynen (United States)
Strategy Consultant, Wycliffe Global Alliance
Learning to Lead at the Feet of Jesus has been Todd Poulter’s consistent desire and pursuit for the nearly two decades I have known him and worked with him. I am glad he has made what he has learned available through this book. Christians leaders around the world can do no better than to live out the attitudes and practices that exemplify leading at Jesus’ feet.
Alex Araujo (Brazil/United States)
Cross-Cultural Partnership Consultant
First Executive Director of COMIBAM
I have been waiting expectantly to read this book and share it with others. Todd has been the most impactful person I have known on modeling and teaching Jesus’s leadership. He integrates character, knowledge, experience, and practical ways of applying learning. This book contains his reflections and experiences as a leader and teacher for many years in missional contexts around the world. Todd carefully expresses what today's leaders from all cultures and generations need to build a life and ministry on the best possible platform—at the feet of Jesus. Our world is crying out for such leaders.
Pastor David Cardenas, DMin (Colombia)
Americas Area Director, Wycliffe Global Alliance
Former President, COMIBAM International
Todd has been my leadership mentor for many years. He took the time to get to know me, asked me good questions, listened to my stories, and created a safe space for me to share openly about how much pain I was carrying. He did not give me a lecture on leadership or direct advice about how I could solve my problems. He simply talked about Jesus’ example, prayed with me, and waited silently before the Lord with me. After that, I knew something inside me had changed and that I had learned something very important. That conversation with Todd would be the first of many that would help shape the way I serve the people I lead and work with.
This book captures Todd’s experience in working with leaders from many cultures, the values he has lived by, and the spiritual insights he has gained from his meditations on the life of Jesus as a leader. It is an essential guide for leaders who want to grow personally and have a godly, transforming influence on the people they serve in a variety of contexts.
Bambi Cataluna (Philippines)
Mission Consultant and Trainer; Developer of the Youth Kairos Course
God has used Todd to impact leadership around the world. He has been a coach, mentor, and friend to me for the better part of a decade. I know him best through our own personal interaction and observing his work with our organization.
I met him not long after joining Beyond as their China Director. Todd was consulting with the leadership of Beyond as we were going through a major change of vision and direction. Such changes are never easy, so I was surprised how relatively smoothly ours went. Todd's input, I'm convinced, played a significant role in this successful transition.
During that time, Todd approached me due to his deep regard for intergenerational leadership and his desire to help me navigate this odd world of “Christian leadership.” The leadership books of John Maxwell, Patrick Lencioni, Spencer Johnson, and James Collins apply to Christian ministry, and yet somehow, they don't. Their application in Christian mission always seemed to fall short at best, and all too often ended up leading me astray. Coming from a corporate world, the popular leadership principles left me stumbling and tripping over myself.
In this way, Todd and I have shared countless phone calls, emails, and lately, video chats, exploring what it means to be a Christian leader. Todd has been a person I continuously return to because there's always something to be gained. Most recently, I was on a conference call where someone from the Global South (majority world) quoted Todd, saying, “God, from the moment he created people, has been about sharing his power and authority with them.” I rushed for a pen and paper, to capture the words before they evaporated. As so many times before, these were the exact words I needed for a multi-cultural, intergenerational, thorny Christian mission leadership issue. In short, I look forward to Todd's book being published.
Derek Seipp (United States)
Author, Innovation in Mission; East Asia Director, Beyond
Global Church Planting Coordinator, KRIN North Korea Network
We were thrilled when we learned that Todd Poulter was writing this book. We have learned a lot from Todd as we have discussed biblical leadership. Insights from those discussions have made their way into our leadership practice and leadership training. This book, engaging deeply with the life and teachings of Jesus, will enable leaders to further integrate their faith with their leadership. A leader must never stop sitting at the feet of Jesus, gaining insights, and putting them into practice. This book will enrich leaders from any background in that quest.
Richard & Marilyn Schlitt (Canada)
Director, OMF Canada, and Leadership Development Trainer
A book on the leadership of Jesus is not only much needed, but I can think of very few leaders who could write such a book with authenticity and Todd is one of them. In all my encounters with Todd in diverse situations and cultures around the world, the primacy of Christ has always been evident in his own leadership and interaction with others.
We have a Zulu greeting “Sawubona” translated “I see you.” Jesus always noticed people as he went about life, and it is one of the traits I have noticed about Todd—his ability, like Jesus, to notice people and to minister to them in applicable ways. In a busy and broken world, now more than ever, leaders need to be reminded to “see,” live and lead like Jesus, and I believe Todd has the insights to help us do so.
Reinhold Titus (Namibia)
Director of Strategy and Inclusion, OM Ships
I was fortunate to have been discipled by leaders who sat at the feet of Jesus. Leaders who not only taught me the whole counsel of God but imparted their own lives as well. And when the time was right, they freely stepped off the stage, so that those they had trained could step into the limelight. It’s a wonderful thing when leaders believe and inspire you long before you believe in yourself.
I have known Todd for forty years, as he and Karla served as Wycliffe missionaries on behalf of our church. Like the generation of leaders before us, he exemplifies everything he has written in this book. I have never met a man more unassuming, welcoming, and human than Todd. Todd reminds me of Eugene Peterson in message and presence. Though he is a first-rate scholar, you’d never know it: when you first meet him, his humility and gentleness disarm you, making you utterly attentive to anything he has to say. Such leaders do not seek to impress, intimidate, or coerce. They ask questions and listen, gently uncovering the hidden motives and longings beneath our words. It is rare to find Jesus’s model of leadership in our world today, but it has been captured and lived by the author of this book.
Brian Morgan (United States)
Pastor, Peninsula Bible Church Cupertino
- Title: Learning to Lead at the Feet of Jesus: Encounters with Grace and Truth
- Author: Todd Poulter
- Publisher: William Carey Publishing
- Print Publication Date: 2022
- Logos Release Date: 2023
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9781645084167, 9781645084143, 1645084140, 1645084167
- Resource ID: LLS:9781645084167
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2024-06-21T01:39:44Z
Todd Poulter has served for four decades with Wycliffe Bible Translators in a variety of leadership roles in Ghana, Kenya, Malaysia, and globally. He has also been associated with International Partnering Associates for fifteen years, helping ministries work together well, especially in ministry to least-reached peoples. He earned a doctorate in Transformational Leadership from Bakke Graduate University, exploring how to build intercultural, intergenerational communities of leaders. He and his wife Karla have two adult sons, and love to befriend and invest in younger men and women. They make their home in Hawaii.
Visit Todd Poulter's website here. mobiusband.org