week 5

Leadership Audit Analysis

Attached Files:

·

 LEAD 510 Leadership Audit Grading Rubric

(17.351 KB)

·

 Leadership Audit- Sample Paper

(24.919 KB)

You will submit a 9-page paper during this course that contain a personal analysis (sample provided) pertaining to the various leadership audits stemming from the Malphurs textbook readings.

Each paper must contain a 1-page introduction, 1/2 page per audit, and a 1-page conclusion describing 2 personal action points stemming from the analysis.

If you are a School of Divinity student, a current Turabian style title page, pagination, footnotes, and bibliography are also required. If you are a student in a program other than School of Divinity, use current APA or AMA citations and formatting.
The paper should include the following 14 audits:

· Christian Leader: p. 173

· Servant Leader: p. 180

· Credibility: p. 182

· Spiritual Gifts: p. 184

· Natural Gifts: p. 191

· Passion: p. 193

· Character Audit (men/women): pp. 195/198

· Relational Skills: p. 201

· Task Skills: p. 203

· Leadership Style: p. 205

· Structure: p. 214-
please note pp 112-114

· Values (leader’s/church’s): pp. 215/217

· Circumstances (ideal/current): pp. 219/222

· Fit: p. 225

LIBERTYUNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF DIVINITY

Leadership Audit Analysis

1

Submitted to Dr. XXXXX
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of

LEAD 510– B01

Biblical Foundations of Leadership

by

Student’s Name

Month, Day & Year

ii

Introduction

Leaders are people who are in charge of others. They are the ones that have the end-goal in mind to accomplish and they can be found in almost any business as well as in the church. There are differences in a secular leader and a Christian leader in many topics. First is that to be a Christian leader one must first be a Christian.[footnoteRef:1] Not all leaders are Christian and therefore they do not have the same characteristics of a Christian leader. The most prominent characteristic of a Christian leader is they are committed to Jesus Christ.[footnoteRef:2] [1: Aubrey Malphurs, Being Leaders: The Nature of Authentic Christian Leadership, (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2003),15.] [2: Ibid., 15.]

This paper will look at different characteristics and traits and discuss the importance of having these if one is to be a Christian leader. Within this writing will be the results of surveys taken by this student-author in the topics of being a servant leader. Another survey will score this student on his credibility among others as well as with himself. Survey three will help to identify the spiritual gifts of this student and discuss how he can use them to grow God’s kingdom. God gives up both spiritual gifts as well as we have natural gifts, maybe known as interest of life skills. This student-author will learn the hobbies and vocations that he really loves to do or would like to do in the future. The fifth questionnaire will help this student to identify his passions in the field of ministry. What is the calling on this student-author and what group or groups of people has God asked him to minister to? The final audit will be of his character and how he is when no one is watching. Is this student the same outside the home as in the home? Does this student really practice what he preaches? These and many more questions will be answered and discussed as this student-author takes the audits.

Christian Leader

In the Christian leader audit, the very first state was asking if this student-author had trusted Christ as his savior. The answers ranged from true, more true than false, more false than true and false. Each answer was associated with a numeral score ranging from 1 being true to 4 being false. The answer to this statement was true, this student-author has trusted Jesus as his Savior. I was only twelve when I accepted Jesus, although shortly thereafter I had strayed away from living for him. That all changed May 18, 2002 when this student-author had an experience of the Holy Spirit that changed his life. Now this student-author is trusting Jesus for the very breath he breaths. Secondly the statement of, “I’m a committed Christ follower.”[footnoteRef:3] Again the answer was true, this student-author is a follower of Christ. I became committed to follow Christ fully on May 18, 2002, when I was shown that God had a job for me to do. It is hard for this student-author to accept sometimes that God would use me, but I trust him in all aspects of my life, so I do not worry anymore about tomorrow. [3: Ibid., 173]

Servant Leader

Going to the grocery store is sometimes the best place to show others how to be a servant of Christ. Opening doors for people, young and old, helping someone load their groceries into the trunks of their cars can really have a shocking result on people in today’s world. When servants of Christ help other people that they do not even know, it makes those people wonder why. In doing this, they do not know your name thus there is no way a person can give praise to the servant.

In this audit of servant leader this student scored really low, which means that he was a strong servant. Getting credit in this world means nothing to this student. In Matthew 25:23 Jesus said, “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.”[footnoteRef:4] Getting credit for act of service is not why this student-author serves as a servant leader. Doing service and not expecting anything in return is just what Jesus did, and if Jesus did it for us, then this student can do it for him. [4: Unless otherwise noted, all biblical passages referenced are in the English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2008).
]

Credibility

When it comes to credibility, it takes time and proven results to establish someone’s trust. In this student-author’s case he just surrendered to the calling or mission of his life in Christ in the last two years. So, he has not been in the ministry long enough to establish trust with all the people in the church. This is simply due to the fact he has not been able to engage all of them on an individual level. When it comes to knowing what he needs to do as a leader, he is ready for the next steps. This student has been a leader for most of his life. The first real leadership role was in the Boy Scouts of America, first as a patrol leader and then as the senior patrol leader. In his high school he was in the Student Council, Key Club among other leadership clubs. In his career he was an assistant store manager at the age of 22 with Winn Dixie. Those were all secular leadership roles which were good, but now it is time to be a leader for Christ.

Spiritual Gifts

Spiritual gifts in ministry, are gifts that are given by God.[footnoteRef:5] The key to success for a Christian is to identify these gifts and begin to ask God to use them for his kingdom. It is important that these gifts are identified and them applied, “because they position the leader to do something eternally significant for God and his kingdom, to have kingdom impact.”[footnoteRef:6] This student has taken several spiritual gifts test both while in school and at several churches. The results are the same every time. The top three gifts are administration, leadership and evangelism. [5: Aubrey Malphurs, Being Leaders: The Nature of Authentic Christian Leadership, (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2003), 58.] [6: Ibid., 74.]

Natural Gifts

This student was raised in the country on a farm by parents who themselves come from a rural farm family. With that type of family history, one would think that the business type topics would not be some of the natural gifts of this student. With a rural country childhood, it was easy to become a farmer, learn how to build structures around the farm. With a grandfather that was an electrician, and a great teacher also, this student was taught about electricity. Being a part of a family that had plumbers, carpenters, farmers, welders, mechanics, deputy sheriffs this student was exposed to many of vocations as a young man. Most of these he learned about in some form or another. As a young adult the farming and handy man vocations were less important to the student and they gave way to the business-oriented vocations. In high school the student entered into the business path of studies where he excelled in his studies.

Passion

People who do not know Jesus Christ as their personal savior is defining a passion for this student-author. In addition, the young adults are a passion of this student’s ministry. As a young adult there were not many saints around the church that he attended that had a passion to grow the young adults. Some people must have thought that this age group did not need any spiritual food other than the Sunday morning message. This group covers both young married couples and those young adults that are in their college years or recently graduated. This student along with his spouse wants to help young couples get the tools they need to combat the evil one and all his tricks. The world seems to be against marriage and family and someone has to begin to make a stand for God in this arena. This student is ready to take that stand and in August he and his spouse will officially begin the journey of ministering to young married couples.

Character

“The first ingredient for building leadership credibility is character.[footnoteRef:7] Although this is the last of chapters in this first audit for this student-author, this element is the foundation for the credibility and trustworthiness of the person.[footnoteRef:8] Character is critical to leaders that are effective in their ministry.[footnoteRef:9] This student-author was given a plaque with the saying, “your name is without blemish son, only you can place an “x” on it. So always think before you act or say things that might tarnish your name.” His father and mother gave the plaque to him and he will always remember that quote. The bible states in Matthew 23: 12, “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” [7: Ibid., 56.] [8: Ibid., 56.] [9: Ibid., 195.]

Relational Skills Audit

Malphurs’ Relational Skills Inventory identified a number of “critical people skill-sets for leaders” that can be ranked as strong, above or below average, or weak.[footnoteRef:10] The inventory encouraged seeking ways to use the stronger skills in ministry while being mindful of areas of weakness.[footnoteRef:11] I ranked myself as strong in eight relational skills, below average in three relational skills, and above average for the others. Not surprisingly, my spiritual gift of administration gives me strong administrative skills, such as managing/administering, leadership, and decision-making. I also ranked myself as strong in relational skills, such as conflict resolution, inspiring/motivating, and conducting meetings. The third area where I am strong is in risk-taking and problem-solving, both of which lead me to analyze a situation, make a decision, and move forward. [10: Ibid., 201.
] [11: Ibid., 202.
]

Task Skills Audit

Malphurs’ Task Skills Inventory identified a number of “critical task skill-sets for leaders” that can be ranked as strong, above or below average, or weak.[footnoteRef:12] As with the Relational Skills Audit, this inventory encouraged seeking ways to use the stronger task skills in ministry while being mindful of areas in which I might want to seek help.[footnoteRef:13] I ranked myself as strong in twelve task skills, above average in thirteen, and below average in one. I have been developing my task skills for decades in the corporate world and have transitioned many of those skills over to ministry. [12: Ibid., 203.
] [13: Ibid., 204.
]

Leadership Style Audit

Malphurs’ Leadership Style Inventory required me to consider clusters of four statements and select which one was the “most like me” and which was the “least like me.”[footnoteRef:14] Sometimes two or more sounded very much like me while other clusters might not have any option that sounded like me. My dominant style is inspirational with a secondary style of diplomat. This result surprised me because I am task-oriented by nature, but when I read the descriptions of the different leadership styles, I agreed that inspirational-diplomat sounds the most like me. [14: Ibid., 205.
]

Inspirationals “are people-oriented leaders who . . . lead best in ministry situations that call for an inspiring, motivational, compelling, exciting, sincere person,”

Structure Audit

Malphurs’ discussion of “the effect of the ministry’s structure of power” was particularly enlightening because this is my greatest challenge in my current position.[footnoteRef:15] Malphurs identified two options: (1) “a centralized ministry structure arranges its power vertically . . . in the form of a chain of command;” and (2) “a decentralized ministry structure arranges its power horizontally . . . where power is disseminated from the top leaders outward to others who are closer to or involved in ministry” (emphasis in original).[footnoteRef:16] This ministry has a dysfunctional decentralized ministry structure. This ministry is set up to operate using a decentralized ministry structure. [15: Ibid., 112.
] [16: Ibid., 113.
]

Values Audit

Malphurs provided two audits for comparison and contrast: the leader’s core values and the church’s core values.[footnoteRef:17] In my case, I serve a parachurch ministry, so the results for the church’s core values audit likely varied from the results of those who serve in churches. My most important values as a leader were bible knowledge, community, encouragement, prayer, and worship, and my least important values were status quo and tradition. My ministry’s most important values are fairness, community, encouragement, team ministry, lost people, and other values (prison ministry), and its least important values are mobilized laity, tradition, obedience, innovation, and initiative. Overlaps between the two are community and encouragement as very important and tradition as least important. [17: Ibid., 215-218.
]

Circumstances Audit

Malphurs’ circumstances audits were perhaps the most enlightening for me. The audits compared and contrasted the leader’s ideal ministry circumstances with the circumstances of the ministry being served.[footnoteRef:18] Most of my ideal circumstances aligned with the ministry I serve. The differences were as follows: (1) I prefer an organization being revitalized while this ministry is established (but declining); (2) I prefer the primary leader to be established whereas the organization’s primary leaders are new; and (3) I prefer being a volunteer point person whereas this ministry has the staff as the point person. My rating has less to do with my preference in an organization’s structure and more to do with my own comfort zone: I am new to professional ministry, enjoy leading small group Bible studies as an autonomous volunteer, and am still in the process of aligning my desires with God’s plans. In other words, I am in professional ministry because of God’s calling rather than my own desire to do it. The most enlightening part of this audit was recognizing that I am drawn to parachurch ministries that are declining, dysfunctional, and in need of revitalization. Without this audit, I do not believe I would have taken this honest look at myself. [18: Ibid., 219-224.
]

Fit Audit

Malphurs’ Pastor-Organization Fit audit helps determine to what degree the leader is a good match for the organization he or she is leading.[footnoteRef:19] The audit guides the leader to consider the degree to which nine core beliefs and values align or misalign. My score was twelve, which was in the middle range of this ministry being a good match. The first six audit statements are in alignment with my core beliefs and values. However, I marked the last three as “more true than false:” (1) receiving sufficient trust to lead effectively; (2) power people supporting me; and (3) church demographics.[footnoteRef:20] Overall, my working relationship with those I lead, both at the Board and local levels, is strong. However, I inherited much dysfunction from my predecessors due, in part, to a lack of sufficient communication, which I am actively trying to heal through meeting with each of the local coordinators individually by inviting them out for “thank you lunches.” [19: Ibid., 225.
] [20: Ibid.
]

Conclusion

My audit scores for relational and task skills, leadership style, structure, values, circumstances, and fit provide a holistic view of the many ways that God has developed me to lead this statewide parachurch prison ministry effectively. My inspirational-diplomat leadership style, balanced by my spiritual gift of administration, empowers me to be effective in leading this declining ministry out of its current state of dysfunction and back to a place of health. God is clearly working through this ministry to bless inmates across the state of North Carolina.

One action point I will focus on is using my inspirational leadership style to develop a strong sense of community among volunteers across the state. I am “an inspiring, motivational, compelling, exciting, sincere person,” and I need to remember to use these strengths as I lead this ministry and not get bogged down in the day-to-day tasks.[footnoteRef:21] Because I only work twenty-five hours a week, I begin each day prioritizing my to-do list, which always seems to grow longer. I can become distracted by the tasks and lose sight of the importance of relationship. I need to continue to remind myself that the ringing phone is not an interruption but rather an invitation to inspire others to continue following God in unity as the volunteers accomplish his purpose of sharing Christ with inmates across the state. [21: Ibid., 96.
]

The other action point I will focus on is brainstorming ways to better meet the needs of the demographics of this ministry. A majority of the volunteers are over age sixty and do not communicate using modern means, such as email. I need to consider ways to deepen a sense of community among the volunteers, even though placing personal phone calls will take more time.

Bibliography

Malphurs, Aubrey. Being Leaders: The Nature of Authentic Christian Leadership. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2003.

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