becoming

Change Agents
25 Hard-Learned Lessons in the Art of Getting Things Done
By: Steve Chalke

Book blurb:

Change Agents are pioneers, entrepreneurs, innovators. They can be difficult, annoying, and demanding, but their calling is demanding too: to take a vision and wrench it into reality.

When Steve Chalke was asked to be the senior minister of a dying inner-city church, he knew what he wanted: to make it into a Christian equivalent of a first-century synagogue. A place where community gathered, not just to pray and hear sermons, but to be educated, entertained, and find help.

In Change Agents, the author shares twenty-five lessons he learned during this work. He had to teach himself to respond, not react; say no more than yes, give up being everyone’s friend, and accept that any success was only a short respite between two crises.

Employing wry humour, persoanl examples, and a large helping of practical advice, Steve Chalke reminds us our enterprise, not our caution, with the Word of God is what’s rewarded.

And what are the 25 lessons about?

lesson 1 ‧ others only ever see your mountaintop experiences
lesson 2 ‧ respond, don’t react
lesson 3 ‧ you can’t be everyone’s best mate
lesson 4 ‧ every ‘yes’ implies at least one ‘no’
lesson 5 ‧ people matter more than programmes
lesson 6 ‧ action leads to insight more often than insight leads to action
lesson 7 ‧ the journey with others is slower than the journey alone
lesson 8 ‧ under promise, over deliver
lesson 9 ‧ nothing is ever quite as good or as bad as it first seems
lesson 10 ‧ vision and frustration are the same thing
lesson 11 ‧ success is three days between two crises
lesson 12 ‧ great leadership is measured by what’s left after you’re gone
lesson 13 ‧ individualism is the enemy of individuality
lesson 14 ‧ approach every problem with an open mind rather than an open mouth
lesson 15 ‧ admiration works best from a distance
lesson 16 ‧ trust evolves, it is never a simple ‘on’ or ‘off’ affair
lesson 17 ‧ praise is the miracle tool
lesson 18 ‧ keep the main thing, the main thing
lesson 19 ‧ people follow people not disembodied principles
lesson 20 ‧ inclusion never demands conformity
lesson 21 ‧ nothing is so simple that it cannot be misunderstood
lesson 22 ‧ followers expect easy answers, leaders know there are none
lesson 23 ‧ no progress without process
lesson 24 ‧ you can’t do what you can’t imagine
lesson 25 ‧ if it ain’t broke, break it

[sample: chapter 1]
[Zondervan link]