Objective: Compare your own thinking traits to those of effective leaders.

Instructions

We started with looking at Paul and his thought regarding right leadership thinking. Now we move on to Maxwell’s thought regarding the same. Again, one of our course objectives is to examine spiritual and personality characteristics for effective leadership. Thus, we look not only to Paul, but to Maxwell as well.

This learning activity involves you, the student, taking an intense look at your current thinking traits. You have looked at Paul’s admonitions regarding thinking in Philippians 4:8. You have looked at Maxwell’s descriptions of how successful people think. Now it is time to compare what you have learned with what you are currently doing internally – how you approach leadership cognitively.

Now is the time for deep self-examination. Consider this: Before you write your action plan, or perhaps while you are writing it, I encourage you to take some time to pray a prayer of examination, or as Richard Foster calls it, the prayer of examen, from the Latin “conveying the idea of an accurate assessment of the true situation” (Foster, 1992). Take a good, long, deep look at yourself.

• Review Philippians 4:8.
• Write a response, comparing your own current thinking traits to those of effective leaders.
• Specifically, consider the following:
  • As you look at Paul’s admonitions regarding thinking in Philippians 4:8, what is most apparent as you compare that passage to your own thought life?
  • As you look at Maxwell’s thought regarding how successful people think, what is most apparent as you compare that text to your own thought life?
  • What adjustments do you need to make? Please be honest with yourself. This exercise will only be as beneficial to you as your ability to be frank about your own current leadership thought.