The Leadership Jump - by Jimmy Long (Paperback)

About the Book

Leadership is changing. Not only are established leaders passing the baton to up-and-coming leaders, the very nature of leadership is being transformed. Veteran leader and cultural observer Jimmy Long explains how leadership positions and roles have changed in light of societal shifts.

Book Synopsis

Leadership is changing. Not only are established leaders passing the baton to up-and-coming leaders, the very nature of leadership is being transformed. Veteran leader and cultural observer Jimmy Long explains how leadership positions and roles have changed in light of societal shifts.

Review Quotes

The Leadership Jump challenges readers to face the fact that culture is changing dramatically. Long writes to what he calls "existing" and "emerging" church leaders, hoping for a healthy "leadership jump" in this transitional time of history.

"An extremely timely book that just might save the established church. Long describes in detail one of the most urgent and potentially destructive issues of our time--how to transition leadership from the top-down, command-and-control world of modernity to the bottom-up, team-based, permission-giving, emerging postmodern world. He not only casts a vision for intergenerational partnerships, but he also gives practical tools for accomplishing the vision. Kudos on you Jimmy."

"For decades, Christian leadership has been stuck in retro cartoonland: vision-slinging heroes, lone rangers and clip-art maps of the world. Long shifts us into hyperspeed with this one. No asteroid unturned."

"For more than three decades, Jimmy Long has worked day in and day out to cultivate leaders. He has mentored dozens of them. Scores of them. Hundreds of them! He watched them, generation by generation, pass through their early adult years as their leadership took form. What he learned from them he kept in critical dialogue with the styles and instincts of their predecessors. I can't imagine anyone in as unique a position to provide the bridges we need for partnership in the midst of contending and changing leadership models alive today in the church."

"I would love to put The Leadership Jump into the hands of existing leaders of the first-generation congregation and emerging leaders of the English ministry of every ethnic church in the country. In my fifteen years of working closely with both groups in Asian American churches, there's been a need for a resource to get the two sides talking constructively. Jimmy Long's book would fill this void well."

"Looking for a bridge to the future? Take this one. When churches build a bridge by starting in the middle, the end result is a bridge to nowhere. Jimmy Long has traveled both sides, knows the depth of the chasm that separates the banks of established churches from emerging ones, and is conversant in the current conversations on either side of the scholarly divides. This book will help you be a bridgebuilder in your church, your family and your community."

"Our culture is rapidly changing. And that includes how leaders think, behave and relate to one another across the generational divide in the church. Jimmy Long has done an amazing job in providing practical help in how to navigate the emerging leadership landscape. The younger leaders I work with will wish that every senior leader would read this book with them."

"The legacy of baby-boomer pastors depends on their willingness to empower the next generation of church leaders. Likewise, the effectiveness of younger pastors depends on their willingness to learn from the wisdom of their elders. Jimmy Long is one of the best-qualified voices to speak to both sides, and his book helps leaders believe, perhaps for the first time, that the generation gap can be overcome. The Leadership Jump is a valuable read for every church wrestling with generational transition."

Long does an excellent job of comparing various areas of "doing leadership" and "leadership roles" for both the modern leader and the emerging. Churches must not only value the current and previous leaders but also quip "new types of leaders" - leaders who "have to both invent the future and the past." Developing a shared vision as leadership must remain at the forefront of our church's efforts.

About the Author

Jimmy Long (D.Min., Gordon-Conwell) is a regional director for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA. He is the author of several books and resources, including Small Group Leaders' Handbook, Emerging Hope and the Emerging Culture Curriculum Kit.