Legacy Leadership by M. Reid Ward

June 5th, 2009

Ward, M. Reid.  Legacy Leadership:  Principles for Leaving a Spiritual Legacy.  Charleston:  BookSurge Publishing, 2008.  150 pp.  $12.99.

Introduction

M. Reid Ward is the founder and president of Legacy Ministries–a ministry that is driven by relationships seeking to develop ministries that partner with churches to help them develop and implement long-term discipleship strategies focusing on leadership development.  Reid graduated from the University of West Alabama and the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.  He currently serves as Minister of Education and Discipleship at Bush Memorial Baptist Church. You can read more of his thoughts on leadership at his blog.

Overview

Legacy Leadership is divided into three parts:  influence, impact, and legacy.  The first part details the importance of setting a standard of excellence for your children and other young men and women in  your life.  He also details the mandate we have from God to be the spiritual leaders to those around us.

The majority of the book is spent on the impact you have in the lives of others.  In this section, Ward deals with the integrity and the importance one’s integrity is in developing an intentional relationship with the purpose of being a spiritual mentor.  If you are a parent, you are already a spiritual mentor.  The final three “I’s” of this section are Insight (seeing God’s will), Imitation (being more like Christ), and Intensity (realizing that there will be sacrifice).

The third section is the legacy you leave behind.  Here, he points us to why we lead in the first place and then takes Moses as a case-study of leaving a godly legacy for those who you influence.

Recommendation

Legacy Leadership is written with compassion for wanting to see the present generation begin the process of leaving a legacy for the next generation which in turn will want to leave a legacy for the generation after them and on and on it goes.  This book is rooted in Scripture and will serve as a ministry builder whether you are a pastor or not.