Margaret Diddams, an industrial and organizational psychologist who studies leaders and leadership failure, and Shirley Mullen, a historian and the former president of Houghton University, wrote Tried and True together. Using the life of John Wesley as a tutor, they describe the virtues that help Christian leaders last for the long haul.

THIS EPISODE'S HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:

• Why John Wesley's failure in Georgia emptied him and prepared him for Aldersgate.
• Why leaders are ridiculously in charge but not in control.
• The difference between surrender and sacrifice, and how sacrifice can be a controlling form of surrender.
• Why leaders burn out when they are so busy doing for God that they forget to be with God.
• What it means to steward a role rather than embody it, and why leaders should take the initiative in bringing closure to their work.
• Why accountability with peers who tell the truth is critical, and where Wesley fell short.
• Why servant leadership means serving the mission, not avoiding tough decisions.
• How charisma serves a mission or turns into a brand.
• Why hope is different from optimism: optimism looks to the future, hope looks to eternity, so leaders keep working toward shalom (wholeness: joy, purpose, character, good relationships, justice, and spiritual well-being) even if they never see it, like medieval cathedral builders.

RELEVANT RESOURCES AND LINKS:

• Margaret Diddams and Shirley Mullen
  • Margaret Diddams on Amazon
  • Shirley Mullen on Amazon
  • Christian Scholars Review (Margaret Diddams, editor)
• Books mentioned
  • Tried and True: The Countercultural Virtues of Christian Leadership

RELATED EPISODES:

• The Light and Dark Sides of Power, with Nicole Massie Martin, author of Nailing It
• Leadership That Smells Like the Gospel, with Jason Jensen, author of Formed to Lead
• Letting Go in Leadership to Move Forward in Life, with Adam McHugh, author of Blood From a Stone

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