John C. Maxwell - Contagious Leadership Workbook: The EQUIP Leadership Series

by Dr. John C. Maxwell

Leadership lifts people. Leadership lifts people from the life they have to the life they could have. I have long believed this even as a young boy growing up, as I watched my dad model leadership in our home, in the pastorate, and as a college president.

Over the past thirty-plus years, I have practiced leadership firsthand while growing churches and building companies. Now, my greatest joy comes from training others in leadership. And thats why I want to make this leadership training material available to you.

Until now, this leadership training material has only been available in my international endeavors. In 1996, I partnered with a group of trusted friends to launch EQUIPTM, a nonprofit ministry dedicated to equipping Christians worldwide with the leadership skills needed for advancing the Great Commission in their communities, workplaces, and churches. Under the leadership of current President and CEO John Hull, our leadership training has been translated into thirty-five languages and has been taught in more than one hundred countries around the world. By March 1, 2006, EQUIPTM realized a personal dream of mine by training one million international leaders! And the ministry continues to grow, with a goal to train and equip an additional five million leaders on five continents over the next five years.

The purpose of the Great Commission is to reach people who are far from God and to raise them up to be fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ. But honestly, this goal is not possible without God-anointed spiritual leadership. Thousands of pastors love God, pray faithfully, work hard, and possess deep love and compassion for peoplebut their churches experience little or no growth. They need training and inspiration to get the mission accomplished.

It is our hearts desire that you and your church succeed in your passion to reach people for Christ, and I want to help you do this by teaching you how to train leaders in your church.

The Great Commission

Then Jesus came to them and said, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
Matt. 28:18-20 NIV

you want to develop your people by investing in them personally.

you want to grow your church.

you are busy and have little time to write your own leadership training curriculum.

you want high-quality, proven, field-tested material developed by veteran leaders.

you want to equip your leaders to excel in their ministries.

This leadership kit, Contagious Leadership, features two separate tracks of study:

1. The first track is for the Pastor, Facilitator, or anyone else who will be teaching this material. In this track of study, you should work through Contagious Leadership Workbook in its entirety. The comprehensive material in this workbook corresponds directly with the Contagious Leadership Audio CD found in this kit. Before teaching the workbook lesson to others, listen to each audio lesson on CD. Each of the twelve lessons addresses Christian leadership in one of the three major facets of leadership development spiritual formation, skill formation, and strategic formation.

2. This kit also includes a complete line of study crafted specifically for small group use. The Contagious Leadership Small Group Study Lessons can be found on the DVD, which corresponds directly with the Small Group Study Guide found on the CD-ROM. Each of the twelve DVD lessons is about twenty minutes long. As you lead your small group, watch the DVD lesson first as a group, and then go through the Small Group Study questions together for discussion, assessment, and application. The Small Group Study Guide is downloadable and reproducible for your convenience.

This material is perfect for:

Key leader groups

Key leader groups refer to groups such as the church staff, the local church board, Sunday school teachers, or any other groups essential to your ministry.

Teaching venues

A teaching venue refers to any number of possible classroom environments. From Sunday and Wednesday night classes, to a special seminar on a weekend, to a standard Sunday school class, you could offer this material as an elective course to a broad number of people.

Outreach opportunities

This opportunity is exciting. You could open up this leadership training to business people in your community. Encourage the business leaders in your church to invite their colleagues to attend, and adapt to make a percentage of your illustrations about the home and marketplace, rather than about church situations only.

Small groups

Small group leaders are always looking for quality material to share in their groups. What better way to lift people up than to teach them about leadership? The twelve-week study is perfect for this format.