Myles Monroe, The Spirit of Leadership: Cultivating the Attitudes that Influence Human Action (New Kensington: Whitaker, 2005).  Hardback, 299 pages.  Grade level 10.

Regrettably this is not a recommend book. The author appears to be a successful inspirational Christian speaker. However, if his words are followed, the results will be disastrous for inexperienced leaders. 

Munroe writes throughout the book that leadership, that is, the “spirit of leadership,” is most importantly a mental attitude (p. 15).  He presents an idealized view of leadership, which is the ability to influence people through inspiration and passion (p. 54). The Spirit of leadership is necessitated by self discovery (p. 216) and relies on qualities received from God (Chapter 3, p. 81ff).  Pages 79-80 present a list of aphorisms concerning leadership: 

1. True leadership is an attitude not a title . . . .3. Leadership is not a pursuit but a result . . . 6. The source of inspiration is passion. . .  .10. Leaders are often ordinary people who accept or are placed in extraordinary circumstances. . . . .15 True leaders discover keys to the nature of leadership from the examples of others.

The book greatly suffers, however, from a shallow presentation of leadership.  While he holds that all people are given leadership gifts from God (p. 13, p. 33) he often contends that these leadership gifts do not need to be systematically developed.  He insists that “leadership is one of attitude not technique (p. 44).”  Although Dr. Munroe has a doctoral degree, his words seem encourage the reader to avoid education!  For instance, Dr. Munroe reports that exceptional leader Bill Gates “didn’t do well under a traditional education experience” but rather came about his success through purpose and passion.  This is a deceptive characterization.  It is true that Bill Gates didn’t finish college, but after his private high school education he boasted perfect SAT scores.  He was a model student at Lakeside in Seattle. 

Leaders are both good and evil, but Dr. Munroe largely seems to ignore this reality.  Dr. Munroe’s definition of true leadership does not take into account the success of leaders such as Adolf Hitler. Evil leaders do not fit in his paradigm since he apparently ignores them altogether.  Did these evil leaders misuse a gift from God, was their passion misdirected, or did they rather manipulate people solely through application of techniques? Monroe doesn't supply the answers.

A biblical viewpoint does not reconcile with Munroe’s view of leadership.  2 Tim 2:15 commands the believer to diligent study of the Scriptures, Phil. 4:8 encourages one to mediate on non-Scriptural disciplines of worth, and many verses in Proverbs seem to conflict with his contention that passion alone is the key to effective leadership.  I hope that Christian leaders will indeed rely on passion and self discovery but will add to that diligent training that which implements the very best from sacred and secular sources.  Being “wise as a serpent” (Matt.10:16) doesn’t just happen through motivation.