Leadership Bookshelf
Kevin G. Ford: Transforming Church: Bringing Out the Good to Get to Great
This is the best overall book on church leadership that I have read.Danny Meyer: Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business
Danny Meyer makes money selling what the church is supposed to be giving away for free.Jim Herrington: The Leader's Journey: Accepting the Call to Personal and Congregational Transformation
Pastor: Stop. Read this. now.Ori Brafman: The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations
This may be the best organizing principle for the church.Laurence Gonzales: Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why
How your brain works under stress and how to learn to survive and thrive. Much of what is here is refreshingly counter-intuitive.James P. Osterhaus: Thriving through Ministry Conflict: By Understanding Your Red and Blue Zones
This little book is a must-read for every pastor or church leader who wants to learn how to make good decisions in the complex church system.Peter Block: Community: The Structure of Belonging
"Leadership is convening." Great insights in community and change by a provocative thinker.Edwin H. Friedman: A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix
Douglas Stone: Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most
Jeffrey Miller: The Anxious Organization, 2nd Edition: Why Smart Companies Do Dumb Things
Henri Nouwen: The Wounded Healer: Ministry in Contemporary Society
A classic.Mark Lau Branson: Memories, Hopes, and Conversations: Appreciative Inquiry and Congregational Change
A helpful process for equipping communities to build on their strengths for future challenges.Jack Uldrich: Into the Unknown: Leadership Lessons from Lewis & Clark's Daring Westward Expedition
Jim Collins: Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don't
This is the book that started me on the transformational leadership journey. I re-read it all the time and have most of the big concepts committed to memory.Jim Collins: Good to Great and the Social Sectors: A Monograph to Accompany Good to Great
Applies the insights of Good to Great to non-profit organizations. Every senior leader should buy a copy for every board and staff member.
Books I have written
Tod Bolsinger: It Takes a Church to Raise a Christian: How the Community of God Transforms Lives
Selected for an Award of Merit by the Christianity Today Book Awards in the Church/Pastoral Leadership category.Tod Bolsinger: Show Time: Living Down Hypocrisy By Living Out The Faith
This books is from start to finish a book for “everyday believers” living out their faith in the real world.John Mark Reynolds, Roger Overton, eds.: The New Media Frontier: Blogging, Vlogging, and Podcasting for Christ
I contributed a chapter to this discussion of how New Media helps--and hinders--communicating the old, good news.
Contact
- Email Address:
- Location: United States
One-Line Bio
husband, father, professor, seminary leader, pastor, author, hiker, runner, adventurer, outdoors-lover
Biography
Tod Bolsinger is the Vice-President for Vocation and Formation and Assistant Professor of Practical Theology at Fuller Theological Seminary. For seventeen years, he was the Senior Pastor of San Clemente Presbyterian Church in San Clemente, California, after serving for ten years at First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood. He earned a Ph.D. in Theology and Master of Divinity from Fuller Theological Seminary. He is the author of two books, including the Christianity Today Award of Merit recipient, It Takes a Church to Raise a Christian: How the community of God transforms lives. He blogs at http://bolsinger.blogs.com and speaks, consults and is an executive coach for corporate, non-profit, educational and church organizations in transformational leadership.
Tod has been married to Beth since 1989. Beth is a marriage and family counselor who is an executive coach and consultant. She is also a professional artist. They have two young-adult children, Brooks and Ali. An avid outdoor lover, if he hadn’t taken biology after lunch in high school, Tod would have been a National Park Ranger. When he retires, he is going to be a ski host who puts four people on every quad chair lift.
He can be reached at [email protected]
Interests
Beth, my kids,The Church, lattes, fly-fishing, skiing, hiking, running, triathlons, National Parks, marveling at nature, red wine, dark chocolate, traveling and planning trips, rooting for the Angels, reading many books at one time, barbecuing meat.