Entrepreneurial Leadership: Finding Your Calling, Making a Difference

Excellent book and it was shipped to me quickly. I recommend this book as one you will want to keep reading and probably read again just to make sure you didn't miss any of the good topics and information in it.

An excellent, well-researched book on leadership and primarily entrepreneurial leadership. The authors do a good job at clarifying the differences between a Christian world and life viewpoint on leadership from a secular one.

Satisfied

I purchased this for a seminary class. It's a good first step into the topic of entrepreneurship.

Not really a book about Entrepreneurial Leadership. A better title would be "Christian Work and Service." The authors' principles are very general and rarely apply specifically to entrepreneurship, and in a few chapters the authors get distracted by an ideological beef the authors have with humanism. They contrast a Christian worldview with a humanist worldview as polar opposites, even though Christian humanism has been around since the Italian Renaissance.It's not a horrible book and says some good things, but stay away if you're looking for a book on the topic that is suggested by the book's title.

I absolutely loved this book.

Quick arrival! Great price!

Do you work with a serial entrepreneur, perhaps on your board or in your department--and you're scratching your head wondering, "What makes this person tick and how can I leverage their gifts without going nuts myself?"--then have I got a book for you!Rick Goossen and Paul Stevens have written a brilliant gift book to the church, Entrepreneurial Leadership: Finding Your Calling, Making a Difference. Two big issues jumped out immediately:* Why entrepreneurs struggle in their relationship with the church.* Why the church struggles with entrepreneurs."Let's be frank," Goossen and Stevens admit, "entrepreneurs are not always the easiest people to deal with. In fact entrepreneurs may be among the most challenging for any organization. They can be impatient, action-oriented and nonbureaucratic."They add, "The challenge for the church is to harness, rather than squelch, the energies and passions of entrepreneurs in their midst."Since 2004, Goossen has interviewed over 250 entrepreneurs, compiling massive data on the intersection of Christian faith and entrepreneurship. Probing entrepreneurs in Europe, Africa and North America, the "Entrepreneurial Leader Research Program" is unequaled in its depth and practical conclusions and is based on responses to the "Entrepreneurial Leader Questionnaire."Up front, the authors address the big question--is entrepreneurship inborn or can it be taught? They quote Peter Drucker ("Entrepreneurship is neither a science nor an art. It is a practice.") and balance the sages with the practitioners (It can't be taught. "You either have it in you or you don't.")They land on five tenants of entrepreneurship:* Innovation* Seizing opportunities* Gaining personal satisfaction through innovation* Doing risk analysis* Developing entrepreneurial habitsI've focused on the entrepreneurial theme in previous book reviews, including:Corporate Entrepreneurship: How to Create a Thriving Entrepreneurial Spirit Throughout Your Company (Robert D. Hisrich and Claudine Kearney), Entrepreneurship (Hisrich, Peters and Shepherd), and Pastorpreneur: Creative Ideas for Birthing Spiritual Life in Your Community(John Jackson).But what does all of this have to do with Christ-followers who are blessed with entrepreneurial leadership gifts? Here's where Goossen and Stevens deliver a mammoth gift to our theology of work and entrepreneurship. If you're a Jesus person, your understanding of entrepreneurship will be skewed without their insight. Newly plowed ground includes:* Why they do not use the term "Christian entrepreneur" and what they mean by the "Christian" work heresy.* The difference between humanist and Christian models of entrepreneurship.* In discussing what leaders do, they cite biblical examples of good and bad leaders. (The bad list: King Saul, Diotrephes, and King Solomon. The good list: Nehemiah, Daniel, David, Paul and Jesus.)* On "Soul & Spirituality" they discuss "the marketplace as a location for spiritual formation" and why "marketplace spirituality" is not an oxymoron.* On the much debated topic, "Meaning & Work Ethic," they are provocative with an Old Testament case study in "meaningless work."* Why good theology is a foundation for good entrepreneurship.* On the issues of "Risk and Reward," taste these tidbits: The Risk-Taking God, Reframing the Pursuit of Rewards, and The Temptations of Reward-Seeking.Amazingly jam-packed with resource-rich footnotes (almost every page) that support their fresh and concise thinking, every chapter delivers. Example: "Five Understandings of Calling." One myth: "Calling is a one-time event."In their very practical treatment on "Practicing Entrepreneurial Leadership," they tackle seven principles including: Knowing to What You Are Called, Engaging in Spiritual Disciplines, and Managing Your Own Ego. (Good news: "The most quoted verse among Entrepreneurial Leaders is Micah 6:8.")In the "Sustaining Entrepreneurial Leadership" chapter, there are seven more principles--all keepers: 1) Sharing Faith Responsibly, 2) Avoiding Hypocrisy, 3) Dealing with Betrayal, 4) Balancing the Serpent and the Dove, 5) Handling Both Financial Rewards and Losses, 6) Giving Effectively, and 7) Managing the Work-Life Tension."Along with an entrepreneur's wallet," warn the authors, "comes his entrepreneurial spirit." And if all the entrepreneur senses is criticism in the use of his or her gifts, this will lead from "disenchantment to disenfranchisement."How can you not order a case of these books? Give this book to your entrepreneurial colleagues, pastors and nonprofit leaders who must address this egregious entrepreneur-church gap. It's a perfect group study book: each chapter includes questions for reflection and discussion, plus a mini Bible study.The book concludes with a powerful 26-line "Entrepreneurial Commission" so your church or ministry can mark the beginning of a new era: leveraging entrepreneurial gifts out of the spectator-heavy pews and into the world. ("Take wise risks knowing that your gracious God is inviting you so to do...")

Used in college