Leadership Basics What Is Leadership? Welcome to Leadership Basics

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Welcome to Leadership Basics

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What topics will the lessons cover?

Throughout this five-lesson course, you will examine diverse topics and complete a variety of learning activities to achieve the course learning outcomes. While this course may follow a slightly different format to other ODBU Basics courses, you will be able to work through its content in the same amount of time as any other Basics class (approximately 10 hours). You can also pause your progress midway during lessons, and return to learning activities, as your schedule allows.

Select the headings of each lesson to read about the specific learning outcomes that you will achieve by working through the content of each lesson.

Lesson 1: What Is Leadership?

In the first lesson of this course, we will consider what leadership really is and how historical theories of leadership and contemporary conceptualizations of leadership have shaped our definition of leadership. On completion of this lesson, you will be able to:

Define leadership from multiple perspectives.
Compare two or more historical theories that have defined the contemporary conceptualization of leadership.
Evaluate which historical and theoretical perspectives have shaped your understanding of Leadership.

Lesson 2: A Biblical Overview of Leadership

In this lesson, we learn how the Bible conceptualizes effective leadership by examining principles that emerge from Old and New Testament accounts of leaders. On completion of this lesson, you will be able to:

Deduce Bible-based principles of leadership from biblical teaching and examples of servant-hearted leadership.
Reflect on the differentiation between the requirements of biblical leaders versus a secular understanding of leadership.
Clarify your motivations for wanting to lead a ministry.

Lesson 3: Biblical Models of Leadership

The third lesson outlines theoretical models and frameworks that capture and articulate the biblical principles of leadership. On completion of this lesson, you will be able to:

Identify common themes and principles from various biblical models of leadership.
Describe the principles of a redemptive model of leadership.
Consider whether you have developed or are developing a mindset of ‘being’ rather than ‘doing’ so that your character matches your competence.

Lesson 4: Becoming a Redemptive Leader

Lesson 4 gives you the opportunity to to reflect on your leadership development process and how to apply principles of the redemptive leadership model to your personal and professional development. On completion of this lesson, you will be able to:

Identify key moments in the lives of leaders from the Bible that helped to transform them into effective leaders.
Determine the developmental stage of redemptive leadership you are in to recognize how God is transforming you.
Appraise how you measure your success as a church/ministry leader.

Lesson 5: Being an Effective Ministry Leader in a Changing World

Finally, we consider how leaders can prioritize their leadership development while leading others and the effect of the macro environment on effective ministry leadership. On completion of this lesson, you will be able to:

Reflect on how you can prioritize your personal and leadership development while facilitating others’ spiritual growth.
Determine your mission and values as a redemptive leader in your specific ministry context.
Identify the needs of those who you are leading in your current ministry and twenty-first-century context.

All Scripture quotations in this course, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.comThe “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

How to Maximize Your Learning

In order to maximize your learning through this online course, you are encouraged to make use of all the learning opportunities presented to you. To take full advantage of the wealth of knowledge presented in the course content, we recommend that you:

Watch all of the videos.
Read and use all of the essential resources that are marked as such.
Complete the set practical activities.
Share your ideas and/or ask questions in the discussions.
Enrich your learning by reading some of the additional resources provided.

Online learning is an excellent way to bring large numbers of participants together to learn and share about God’s word. Although this course is asynchronous and therefore other participants may not complete the course at the same time as you, there are interactive opportunities to share your learning and to gain valuable, unique insights from individuals with a diverse range of backgrounds and life experiences.

What online course engagement means

Full engagement in this course further means:

Working through the component courses in the suggested order—they’ve been arranged for a reason and each course has been designed with a logical sequence. Jumping ahead without completing the previous sections may give you a disjointed learning experience.
Reading and listening across a variety of learning activities—some of which are text-based, some with audio media. (Transcripts are provided with audio-visual resources for those learners who require or prefer the written format.)
Sharing your learnings with other course participants in discussion opportunities.

Successful completion of this course will allow you to develop as a redemptive leader and deepen your understanding of God’s intentions for effective leadership.

When engaging in social learning activities, such as sharing ideas or commenting on other learners’ ideas in discussions, be mindful of how you express yourself in writing. In written communication, we do not have the advantages of interpersonal cues (e.g., facial expressions, voice tone, and gestures), so it can be difficult to express intended meaning. Remember that other course participants may have different perspectives, opinions, and life experiences than you. Therefore, when communicating online, it’s important to assume the best intentions of others and use polite and respectful language.

Course Completion Requirements

To successfully acquire the knowledge, skills, and values this course aims to equip you with, you will need to:

Engage with all of the pages in every lesson.
Comprehensively complete all of the reflective and practical activities.
Read or use all of the essential resources.
Watch all of the videos.
Contribute towards the discussion boards.

Completing a Foundations for Biblical Ministry Self-Directed Certificate

Leadership Basics, as well as being a standalone course for ODBU Premium subscribers, is one of the 16 self-directed, asynchronous courses of ODBU that make up a more comprehensive training program for individuals who would like to equip themselves in foundational knowledge and skills for biblical ministry.

Learners can find out more about the Foundations for Biblical Ministry Self-Directed Certificate here. Should you be part of this program, you will need to get a certificate of completion for this course as evidence of your learning in the program.

Getting a certificate of completion for this class

Should you wish to receive a certificate of completion as evidence that you acquired the intended knowledge and skill of this course, or you are completing this course as part of the Foundations for Biblical Ministry Self-Directed Certificate, you will need to submit a final assignment. Note that while you will need to submit a final assignment as evidence of your learning, you will not receive personalized feedback or a grade for your submission. Rather your submission will be used to indicate whether you get a certificate of completion or not.

For ODBU Premium subscribers, getting a certificate of completion for this course is entirely optional. Therefore, the submission of a final assignment is also optional. However, completing the final assignment will help you to consolidate your learning.

You will find the requirements of and submission instructions for the [OPTIONAL] Certificate assignment: A reflection on my redemptive leadership at the end of Lesson 5.

Leadership Basics

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