Leadership roles have become more complex, but resources to support congregational vitality have become more abundant. Learn about organizational life and discover ways that you can adapt these resources to your congregation.

LEADERSHIP : Organizational Learning 

Beyond Certainty: The Changing Worlds of Organizations (Book)
Charles Handy, Author.  Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 1996.
While not intentionally directed toward religious organizations this book would be of interest to those concerned with leadership development, as well as spirituality and the workplace.

Open Space Technology: A User's Guide (Book)
Harrison Owen, Author.  San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler, 2008.
Harrison Owen explains how to facilitate Open Space Technology gatherings. Such meetings are especially helpful when diverse individuals "must deal with complex and potentially conflicting material in innovative and productive ways."

The Power of Appreciative Inquiry: A Practical Guide to Positive Change (Book)
Diana Whitney, Amanda Trosten-Bloom, Authors.  San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2003.
Drawing on years of experience in applying appreciative inquiry (AI) to organizational change, Diana Whitney and Amanda Trosten-Bloom present both the principles of AI and case studies that demonstrate how AI works.

Reframing Organizations: Artistry, Choice, and Leadership (Fourth Edition) (Book)
Lee G. Bolman, Terrence E. Deal, Authors.  San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2008.
Lee Bolman and Terrence Deal examine four organizational frames—structural, human resources, political, and symbolic—and explain how they can help us understand the ways organizations work.

Why You Should Develop a Pastor-Parish Relations Committee (Media)
Distributed by Alban Institute.  Duration: 50. 
Roy Oswald has developed a DVD and study guide for persons forming a "Pastor-Parish Relations" (PPR) committee. This resource provides guidance in forming a committee, understanding its mission, setting its tasks, and fulfilling its goals.

Alban Institute (Organization)
Clergy and laity turn to the Alban Institute for guidance, training, and resources on leadership, congregational health, and conflict resolution.

Alligators in the Swamp: Power, Ministry, and Leadership (Book)
George B. Thompson, Editor.  Cleveland, OH: Pilgrim Press, 2005.
This collection of essays is a helpful resource for enabling pastors and churches to reframe their understanding of the nature of power and its responsible use in the life of the church.

Changing Minds: The Art and Science of Changing Our Own and Other People's Minds (Book)
Howard Gardner, Author.  Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 2004.
Offering insights on how we can effectively lead change, Howard Gardner discusses the seven levers that can effect mind change and uses case studies to illustrate how these levers work.

Congregations as Learning Communities: Tools for Shaping Your Future (Book)
Dennis G. Campbell, Author.  Herndon, VA: Alban Institute, 2000.
Dennis Campbell leads the reader through an introduction to the "Learning Congregation"—a congregation that never stops learning and changing, but engages and responds to new information and opportunities.

The Corporate Culture Survival Guide (Book)
Edgar H. Schein, Author.  San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 1999.
This primer on the dynamics of corporate culture and change explains how culture forms, why it’s difficult to change, and what must be considered when attempting to change it. Case studies, questions, and practical suggestions are included.

Cultivating Communities of Practice: A Guide to Managing Knowledge (Book)
Etienne Wenger, Richard McDemott, William M. Snyder, Authors.  Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 2002.
Small group ministry initiatives, committee structures, or coalition building efforts with other congregations may benefit from this book's seven principles for cultivating communities.

Encyclopedia of Positive Questions, Volume One: Using Appreciative Inquiry to Bring out the Best in Your Organization (Book)
Diana Whitney, David Cooperrider, Amanda Trosten-Bloom, Brian S. Kaplin, Authors.  Euclid, OH: Lakeshore Communications, 2002.
This encyclopedia offers sample positive questions—as well as guidance on creating your own positive questions—to use during an appreciative inquiry process.

EQ Today (Periodical)
San Mateo, CA: Six Seconds.
EQ Today is a publication of Six Seconds, a non-profit organization seeking to bring emotional intelligence practices to schools, families, and organizations.

The Facilitator's Fieldbook: Step-by-Step Procedures, Checklists and Guidelines, Samples and Templates (Book)
Thomas Justice, David Jamieson, Authors.  New York, NY: AMACOM Books, 1999.
Thomas Justice and David Jamieson have provided an exceptionally thorough set of step-by-step procedures and guidelines for facilitating meetings.

The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook: Strategies & Tools for Building a Learning Organization (Book)
Peter M. Senge, Author.  New York, NY: Doubleday, 1994.
As the "how to do it" companion to The Fifth Discipline, the Fieldbook is Peter Senge's compendium of nuts-and-bolts applications for building a "learning organization."

The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of The Learning Organization (Book)
Peter M. Senge, Author.  New York, NY: Doubleday, 1994.
Although written for the corporate world, this book's systems approach is also for congregational leadership open to building a faith community fully dedicated to the growth and development of its members.

Leadership and the New Science: Discovering Order in a Chaotic World (Book)
Margaret J. Wheatley, Author.  San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 1999.
Margaret Wheatley asserts that Newtonian organizations no longer work (if they ever did) and that leaders can invigorate their businesses and institutions (and churches) by incorporating the insights of quantum physics.

The Learning Congregation: A New Vision of Leadership (Book)
Thomas R. Hawkins, Author.  Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1997.
The author proposes a practical and yet visionary model for congregational leadership that cultivates individual, team, and systemic learning as the means for best adapting to the rapid change and growing complexity of contemporary life.

Managing Polarities in Congregations: Eight Keys for Thriving Faith Communities (Book)
Roy M. Oswald, Barry Johnson, Authors.  Herndon, VA: Alban Institute, 2009.
Through stories and illustrations, the authors explore positive and negative aspects of each pole in eight polarities common to congregations, how to recognize when imbalance occurs between poles, and the steps needed to correct the imbalance.

Polarity Management: Identifying and Managing Unsolvable Problems (Book)
Barry Johnson, Author.  Amherst, MA: Human Resource Development Press, 1997.
Leaders will find in this book an essential skill (including relevant case studies and applications) in problem solving fine-tuned by recognizing problems that are dynamic polarities.

Primal Leadership: Realizing the Power of Emotional Intelligence (Book)
Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis, Annie McKee, Authors.  Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 2002.
Primal Leadership provides excellent illustrations for building individual, team, and organizational emotional intelligence, enabling congregational leaders to apply its many insights to their own individual and group development.

The Success Case Method: Find Out Quickly What's Working and What's Not (Book)
Robert O. Brinkerhoff, Author.  San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2003.
The Success Case Method (SCM) combines survey and story-telling methods to produce evaluative information with impact.

Ten Dumb Things Churches Do: And How To Avoid Them (Book)
Philip Wiehe, Author.  Harrisburg, PA: Morehouse Publishing, 2001.
Recognizing that most church challenges and conflicts come from within, interim and consultant Philip Wiehe has laid out ten things churches do that subvert their own best efforts and desires.

Wave Rider: Leadership for High Performance in a Self-Organizing World (Book)
Harrison Owen, Author.  San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2008.
Harrison Owen, the developer of Open Space Technology, reviews the history of Open Space and explains why it works. He further explores the practices that leaders can apply to foster high performance among those they are leading.

What Have We Learned?: The Best Thinking on Congregational Life (Book)
Lyle E. Schaller, Author.  Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2001.
Asserting that learning differs from the accumulation of information when it changes behavior, author Lyle Schaller identifies what we have learned in the local church and develops both critical questions and possible applications for these learnings.

Working with Emotional Intelligence (Book)
Daniel Goleman, Author.  New York, NY: Bantam, 1998.
Working with Emotional Intelligence provides a "hard case for soft skills," explores personal and social competencies, and identifies the effect of emotional intelligence on organizations.