How important is ‘charisma’ to leadership?

I posed this particular question to two national leaders from different countries in South Asia recently. I want to share some of their reflections here. The first leader responded: "Joe...

CHARISMA includes a strong foundation and a strong set of core values. Charisma is more than just having charismatic personality. It involves strength of character, trustworthiness, and a faithful presence. Charisma is vital to effective...

Vision Festa Church Multiplication Conference

The Church in Japan faces a crisis. And Japan’s pastors and church leaders are stepping up to face it head-on. The crisis? Unless the Church begins to grow immediately, it is possible that the Christian community in Japan will literally die out within 30 years. It’s stark evidence that illustrates how difficult it has been for the Gospel to impact the Japanese culture. The encouragement? Leaders in Japan are collaborating to explore new ways to plant and multiplying churches. In October, over 100 leaders from throughout Japan came together at VisionFesta...{addthis off}

Qualities of a Great Leader, Part 4: Seventeen Essential Qualities

This is the final post of my 4-part series about great leaders that took me 36 years to write. Here is a summary of what I've shared: Six Foundational Qualities, Five Spiritual Qualities, Two Relational Qualities, and Seventeen Essential Leadership Qualities. Having studied leaders, it is clear to me that when God wants to get something done, He finds a person, but not just any person. He looks for a person with certain qualities.

MY THESIS: Great leaders who achieve great things are characterised by certain...

Qualities of a Great Leader, Part 2: Five Spiritual Qualities

This is the second entry in a 4-part series about great leaders that took me 36 years to write. Here is the outline of the 30 leadership qualities I will cover: Six Foundational Qualities, Five Spiritual Qualities, Two Relational Qualities, and Seventeen Essential Leadership Qualities. As I shared in Part 1, when God wants to get something done, He finds a person, but not just any person. He looks for a person with certain qualities...

You can say this about Christian leaders in the Philippines—they have vision. In 1974, there were around 5,000 churches in the entire nation. Then, a key church-growth conference was held in Manila. Out of this conference was birthed the Disciple A Whole Nation (DAWN) movement. DAWN’s vision? By the year 2000—a mere 25 years away—there would be 50,000 churches in the Philippines—a 1000% increase...

It's been a terrific week here in Seoul. I love coming here because of the vibrancy of the city and one of the cleanest and best airports in the world. I was here for the Asian Leadership Forum and on the way in learned that several old friends were in town for different events as well.

So, we got together for some awesome Korean BBQ. It was fun catching up with friends Erwin McManus, pastor at Mosaic Church, and A2 reference council member Dave Gibbons, pastor at Newsong Church. We hadn't seen each other in quite some time so hanging out was loads of fun. These guys are doing catalytic work, and I'm proud of what they are doing for the good of Christ...