Leadership

John Stanko is passionate about leadership and devotes much of his time studying and teaching leaders all over the world. John believes, as do many others, that there is a leadership crisis today, especially in the Church. John is certified to administer 360-degree feedback profiles and many other assessments and tools that provide leaders accurate information on how well they are leading and where they can improve.

Governing Values

If you are a current or future leader, you will make decisions based on your governing values. If you have a value to honor and esteem your employees, for example, then you will make decisions concerning those employees based on that personal value system. If on the other hand you value making as much money as possible or building the biggest church in town, then you will treat people in a way that promotes and furthers those particular values. That is why it is critical that you first define, then prioritize and finally ensure that you are leading according to what is most important to you.

We urge you to base your values on the timeless principles found in the wisdom books of history. John Stanko’s book for wisdom is the Bible. You will see that he uses biblical principles as a source for his value identification.

To learn more about values and how to define them, you can download this article, Your Governing Values.

Leadership Philosophy

You should not wait until you are leading to decide what kind of leader you will be. Once you have your values clearly defined, then you should develop a simple and relevant leadership philosophy that clearly describes what kind of leader you intend to be.

Some of your philosophy will be based on the experiences you've had, especially at the hands of less-than-adequate leaders. You must learn and grow from all your experiences so your leadership philosophy will be a full expression of who you are. Your integrity will be determined by how closely you follow your values and philosophy on a day-to-day basis, in good times and in bad. 

To learn more about how to spell out your leadership philosophy, you can download the article, Developing a Leadership Philosophy.

Servant Leadership

In 1998, John Stanko’s life was changed when he read Robert Greenleaf’s, The Power of a Servant Leadership. Since then, John has taught and written extensively on the subject. He is particularly concerned that this concept is missing in modern Church life, where people are either servants or leaders but seldom both.

Servant leaders learn how to use their power to empower others, to serve their highest priority needs. They are good listeners, not just to be polite, but to learn and identify with those around them. They are secure in their own leadership so they can promote and equip others for success.

The Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership continues at the forefront of the servant-leadership movement.  John has made his own contributions through two books, The Price of Leadership and Strictly Business. To learn more about the concept of servant leadership, you can download the article Servant Leaders. 

Coaching and 360 Degree Feedback Profiles

It is easy for followers to enable leaders in bad behavior due to all kinds of fears – fear of losing a job, fear of anger or retribution, fear of being wrong, and fear of the Lord, believing that the leader is God’s anointed and cannot be approached or confronted. 

That is why leaders must be diligent to obtain the most accurate feedback on their leadership style and development. That is where coaching the 360 feedback profiles can come into play. This is particularly important where leaders are trying to change organizational culture, for the leaders must embody the changes they seek and not just talk about them or legislate them for everyone else. John is also certified to administer the DISC profile, which he has done with teams and leaders the world over since 1992.

To learn more about enlisting John to conduct your 360-degree profile or to serve you and/or your team as a leadership coach, send him an email from the Contact page. 

Recommended Reading

Leaders are readers. John has written several books on leadership along with video presentations available on the Video Series page of this site.

Connected: Colleagues on Purpose

Strictly Business: Soft Skills to Help You in the Hard World of Business

The Price of Leadership: Paying the Price to be a Great Leader

Don’t Read This Book (Unless You Want to Become a Better Leader)

Changing the Way We Do Church: 8 Steps to a Purposeful Reformation

Also, you can follow John’s blog for regular book reviews as he finishes new books. 

John has other articles on leadership in the Archives section. 

 

 

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