Making Room for Leadership: Power, Space and Influence

You don't just lead with your voice and your decisions. You lead with your body.

The way you take up space in a room, the way you use or don't use your body in group settings, influences others. And all of us hold power to lead in our bodies.

Yet, pastor and spiritual director MaryKate Morse contends, most of us are unaware of the ways we do or can use our bodies to influence others. Some of us cower in the corner, trying to hide. Others try to speak but are never heard. Still others are the focal point as soon as they walk in a room. What makes the difference? And how can we learn to lead in our own individual way with confidence?

In Making Room for Leadership Morse

explores different types of power in the body, delineating how each type can be used for good or for harmhighlights how people gain and give leadership in group settingshelps you identify the kind of power you as a unique individual hold

Throughout, Christ's use of power serves as the guide for how to lead in ways that are life-giving and empowering to others.

We all can lead. We all have some kind of power in us. Once we become aware of our influence, we can direct it toward good, toward building others up. Doing just that in these pages, Morse helps you learn to do the same in the places you live, move and have your being.

You don't just lead with your voice and your decisions. YOU LEAD WITH YOUR BODY. The way you take up space in a room, the way you use or don't use your body in group settings, influences others. Yet, pastor and spiritual director MaryKate Morse contends, most of us are unaware of the ways we do or can use our bodies to influence others. Some of us try to speak but are never heard, while others are the focal point as soon as they walk in a room. What makes the difference? And how can we learn to lead in our own way with confidence? Morse explores these questions and more, looking to Christ's use of power as our guide for how to lead in ways that are empowering to others. We all can lead. We all have some kind of power in us. Once we become aware of our influence, we can direct it toward good, toward building others up. Doing just that in these pages, Morse helps you learn to do the same in the places you live, move and have your being.

MaryKate Morse is professor of leadership and spiritual formation at George Fox Evangelical Seminary and director of strategic planning at George Fox University in Portland, Oregon.

She holds an M.A. in biblical studies and an M.Div. from Western Evangelical Seminary (now George Fox Evangelical Seminary), and her doctorate in leadership from Gonzaga University.

In addition to teaching she also serves as a consultant to churches and organizations in transition or with leadership challenges. She has planted two churches with leadership teams in Portland, Oregon. Along with being a Quaker minister and a trained spiritual director, she also does conference and retreat ministries and mentors leaders.

Leonard Sweet is the E. Stanley Jones Professor of Evangelism at Drew University in Madison, NJ and a visiting distinguished professor at George Fox University in Portland, Oregon. Previously Sweet served as vice president of acadmic affairs and dean of the Theological School at Drew University. Sweet is the author of many books, including Soul Tsunami and AquaChurch