Education for more effective leadership remains a challenge in the church. This article…emerged from a request for a review of contemporary leadership literature. It quickly evolved into a thematic exploration of competencies for leadership, based on four premises. First, leadership is in no small part learned. It might better be defined in terms of skills and competencies to develop, rather than abstracted ideals and ultimate aims to attain. Second, leaders across human enterprises have committed themselves to learning better strategies and skills for effective leadership; the church proceeds at its own peril of foolishness if it ignores this body of learning. Third, leadership is indeed a relational reality, but is most effective with a primary focus on creating an environment of continuous development rather than control or warmth. And fourth, the work of continuous development in leadership has some of the qualities of spiritual practice-a habitus of mindfulness, a continuous “study” of one’s context, a commitment to development, and a learned discipline of change.
