My interview with Gene Habecker was very timely for my day job. My favorite quote from Gene was “A leader should absorb chaos, give back calm and provide hope.”
The book addresses two key questions.
- How is mature Christian leadership developed?
- What and how effective Christian leadership look like at work and home.
One of his tips is to take some quiet time or building a sacred space to develop your thoughts.
Specifically, each chapter summarizes the big ideas and then how to put them into practice. To that end, you can read the summaries and decide where you want to focus.
In addition, this book is also for you if you do not work outside the home. As a matter of fact, Gene has received several responses from parents that said this book will help them in their families.
If you missed Gene’s live interview in Nashville, you can watch the replay here.
https://www.facebook.com/morethanareview/videos/1759327037482473/
The Softer Side of Leadership
Many who aspire to be organizational leaders focus on developing “hard” skills related to quantitative action and analytical thinking. These are important, but over his many decades of executive leadership, Dr. Eugene B. Habecker has learned to value the “softer” side of leadership. Unfortunately, these “soft” skills and behaviors are often neglected, to the detriment of both leadership and organizational development.
In The Softer Side of Leadership, Dr. Habecker, president emeritus of Taylor University, makes a case for these skills. He provides practical ways to develop them and put them into action. He draws from his own experience, other leadership experts, and from the Bible.
The Softer Side of Leadership has two main sections. The first section focuses on the soft skills that effective leaders develop in a more personal dimension. These skills help leaders build and maintain a healthy spiritual, mental, and physical foundation. This foundation will benefit them personally as much as professionally. The second section naturally builds on the first. It focuses on skills that effective leaders foster in the organizational dimension, such as creativity, trust, and forgiveness.
Many of these skills, practices, and attitudes may be difficult for readers whose business education has been driven by numbers and immediate results. But to be effective, they must commit to continuous learning. That includes understanding the softer side of leadership. These soft skills support what hard skills cannot, at least not on their own: a culture that better promotes robust mission fulfillment.
Each chapter includes key takeaways and action steps. This equips readers to immediately develop and employ the skills presented. As readers develop the skills and behaviors presented in The Softer Side of Leadership and pair them with hard skills, they will become stronger, more well-rounded leaders.
Purchase The Softer Side of Leadership
Author Bio
Dr. Eugene B. Habecker quite literally possesses a world of knowledge and experience. He traveled to more than 90 countries in Asia, Africa, the Americas, Eastern/Western Europe, and the Middle East. He holds degrees from Taylor University (BA), Ball State University (MA), and the University of Michigan (PhD). Dr Gene earned a law degree (JD) from Temple University. In 1974, Gene admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar Association. Dr. Gene graduated from the Institute for Educational Management (IEM) program at Harvard University. He received nine honorary doctorates. Eugene and his wife Marylou have been blessed with a wonderful family of three children and seven grandchildren.