Leadership as an Identity: The Four Traits of Those Who Wield Lasting Influence Paperback – January 1, 2009

I have read many books on Christian leadership and this one is one of that after reading, I have bought and given to young leaders and recommended to more seasoned saints as a "go to" reminder of the call to lead. Rather than a book that focuses on trying to build a leader using secular approaches and adopting humanistic strategies, this book is a breakdown of what the call to leadership is about, its price, its purpose, its Source, and its legacy.BrokennessUncommon communionServanthoodRadical and Immediate obedienceThis is a classic that should be read by all leaders, regardless of title or position, as a reminder of what God exalting leadership is all about.

The book will change monumentally change your approach to leadership as a Christian. It hits all the highs and lows of leadership and offers biblical answers for navigating them. Have recommended it to several friends, coworkers, and family members who have all found it extremely helpful.

This book is incredibly rich for any Christian who wants to take their leadership seriously. It is filled with personal testimonies and Scripture passages that challenges the leader to pull up their socks and submit to the will of God. I am at a place in my leadership that I needed to hear the principles and the four traits mentioned in this book. If you are a leader, especially in a Christian ministry, please take time to read this book!

This is an important book for today's culture. The author presents leadership as an assignment from God. This perspective provides an entirely different starting point from where most modern leaders start. As a result, the overwhelming pride and sense of entitlement that many current leaders display is shown to be antithetical to the type of leader that Crawford Lorritts describes.The four identity characteristics that the author descibes and elaborates upon are (1) brokenness (2) uncommon communion with God (3) servanthood and (4) radical & immediate obedience. I will highlight just a few valuable statements that make me want every pastor and government leader to read this book.A quotation from Dr. Joseph Stowell who said, "leaders fall when they stop following"(p.44). The implication is that if a leader is not following God, then he can quickly go astray. But, the author doesn't merely stop there, he points out the solution "When you can embrace mistakes - and even failures - you've opened the door for growth and a different outcome for the next time." (p.68)Lorritts also offers some important questions that a leader should ask himself/herself including "are you concerned with visibility and recognition, or with significance?" (p.136) Another insight expressed is "Sometimes God has to send us a painful reminder that His assignments are not meant to be about us." (p. 139) I hope this provides you with a picture of the contents of the book and why I believe it can be a helpful tool to all leaders and potential leaders.

I read this book in the Kindle edition on my iPad when it went on sale following The Gospel Coalition Conference.Crawford Loritts writes a helpful book on spiritual leadership. He focuses on four character qualities he describes as Brokenness, Uncommon Communion, Servanthood as an Identity, and Radical, Immediate Obedience.A strength of this book is that it really emphasizes the leader's life and walk with God, in the context of the responsibilities given by God. This book is not a book on practical management skills with "how to" tips, but rather a book on what to be. I personally found helpful Loritts' encouragement that God uses people who know they desperately need Him, and the reminder to not be a quitter.A weakness of the book is that each chapter concludes with multiple quotes from other leaders personally known to Crawford Loritts, but not necessarily to the reader. It seams Loritts sent out an informal survey and includes here leaders' responses. After a few chapters, I just began to skip over the quotes at the end, as they all began to blur together. Better would have been one or two "pearls" than so many survey responses.It also seems that the Kindle edition may have a number of typos and formatting errors that detract from the reading experience.In all, this is a helpful read, though I think there are better books out there on the topic of Spiritual Leadership. I would first recommend Albert Mohler's "Conviction to Lead," John MacArthur's "Called to Lead," and of course J. Oswald Sander's classic, "Spiritual Leadership."

I have been a avid reader of business strategy and leadership books for the past 30 years. It has been a struggle to find a book about leadership that is focused on having lasting influence. Most leadership books are about how you have impact as a leader; however, I find lasting influence much more appealing and what we were made for. So this book does an outstanding job of identifying the qualities that align with how God has defined leadership. In summary, if you want to learn about what it means to be a Christ centered leader for a lasting purpose - whether in a commercial setting or ministry setting - I would highly recommend this book.

Dr. Loritts teaches such valuable leadership truths in this book. Every Christian leader should read this and include in their repeat read list. Thankful for his faithfulness to the scripture and practical illustrations from his life and others.

Loritts has provided an important work here on the motive of the leader, a subject given short shrift in a market packed with "how-to" books.In Christian leadership, motive is THE most important factor and one that's under constant challenge.This would make a stellar resource for a leadership small group.

Used book, so I can't complain, but let's be true to what one says about their product:- cover was described as "intact". Well, as you can see it's FAR from intact. Broken and wrinkled.But no other complaints. Book is still in good condition.