Rick Joyner - Leadership: The Power of a Creative Life

L eadership and creativity are two of the most powerful forces on earth. Together they have dictated the course of history. They can be used for good or evil, creating a wide swath across the human landscape. This book is a study of these two forces and how they can be developed in your life.

The seed for this book was actually another book that I wrote entitled Leadership, Management, and the Five Essentials for Success . To my surprise, that book quickly became our top bestseller. I determined then that if it was going to have the potential distribution for which it was obviously headed, it merited revision. This book contains everything in the original version rewritten for better organization and flow, along with a considerable amount of new material. It also contains some remarkable historic and contemporary examples of how the principles of this book have been applied with success.

This book is written in the simple, straightforward language of the common man (or woman). I did this because the greatest souls who have walked the earth, those who have risen to the highest levels of leadership a nd creativity, have almost always emerged from the midst of the common, the usual, and the ordinary. The key to releasing the powerful life forces of leadership and creativity are usually found in the midst of struggles, especially the struggle for identity, which is the common dream of the common man and woman.

The only difference between ordinary and extraordinary is extra . The extra that is required to do this can be amazingly little. One small step can begin the breakthrough. Every common and ordinary life has the potential to be uncommon and extraordinary. This book is intended to give the encouragement and resolution to take the steps that lead to the fulfillment for which you were created.

One of the great philosophical questions is whether the times make the man or the man makes the times. Was Napoleon a product of the times in which he lived, or did he make them what they were? Of course, there is some truth to both perspectives. History testifies very resoundingly that man makes his own way, but both leadership and creativity can be developed. Napoleon and every other extraordinary leader in history could have been lost in the shuffle of humanity if something had not been awakened in them.

This book addresses these two great forces of leadership and creativity together because they are not only relatedthey are inseparable. True leadership is impossible without creativity, and creativity is released through leadership. The more clearly we understand the link between these two, the more readily they can be released in our lives. Even so, one can possess great creative leadership and be doomed to failure unless it is combined with the third great power that all lasting human achievement requireseffective management skills.

The primary goal of this book is to release the power of creative leadership in a way that will ensure positive and lasting accomplishments through effective management. King Solomon, who is referred to in the Bible as the wisest man who had lived on the earth, wrote: And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart (Ecclesiastes 4:12). Leadership, creativity, and management are three characteristics that can form just such a cord. Standing alone, any one of these can be easily overcome. Properly joined together, they become a powerful and effective force that is nearly invincible.

You may rightly wonder what my credentials are for writing on these subjects. First, my life experiences are the foundation for what I have written. I was raised in conditions that would seemingly limit me to a life of mediocrity or failure, but through the application of these principles, I now have a track record of significant success. When my family disintegrated, my formal education stopped at the ninth grade. I have now written a number of best-selling books, some of which have been translated into nearly forty languages. I edit and write in The Morning Star Journal, which features articles that are being distributed to subscribers in nearly one hundred nations around the world. After becoming an Airline Transport Rated pilot, I built a substantial multifaceted aviation business. After helplessly watching that business fail, I built a second large, multifaceted organization that is presently quite successful.

Although I have not learned all there is to know about success, or the traps that can bring failure, through these experiences I have learned a great deal that could b e helpful to anyone on a significant life journey. In addition to achieving most of my own personal goals to date, I have been blessed throughout my life to meet some of the most successful people in business, sports, politics, the military, arts, and religion. Some I have been privileged to know quite well. It has been one of my lifes goals to understand great accomplishments and the people who achieve them. My observations of successful people have led to some very unique and interesting conclusions about leadership, creativity, and management that are simple and workable in any situation, from a family to an international corporation.

In all that I have experienced and observed, it has become obvious to me that the patterns required for success are always the same and are surprisingly simple. Failure is much more complicated. If you have the intelligence to read and understand this simple book, you can succeed in life, you can be a leader, and you can do it with creativity that will impact many others.

If you have read this far in this book, it is likely that you have at least a hope of doing something significant with your life, or you have already been successful, and something is driving you to reach for greater heights. Regardless, this book can help you. Before going on, settle in your heart that despite your present conditions, you can succeed, and as long as you live you can continue to go higher and higher. You have probably heard the fearful and earthbound say that if man was meant to fly he would have been given wings. Man has been given wings, but they are in our minds and hearts. This book is to help you learn to use them, soaring above the ordinary and usual to live on the heights of the earth.

Rick Joyner