Entrepreneurial Leadership: Finding Your Calling, Making a Difference by Richard J Goossen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book fills a void in publishing from a Christian perspective on entrepreneurship. Richard Goossen leads the Entrepreneurial Leaders Organization and R Paul Stevens is a seminary professor who was both worked in the marketplace and thought and written deeply in the area of the theology and practice of work. The book is based on research from the Entrepreneurial Leaders Research Project and so combines good empirical evidence and theological acuity.
The book begins with chapters on entrepreneurship and leadership and contrast Christian and humanist models, focusing on the difference that sourcing such leadership in God rather than oneself makes. Following this are chapters on soul and spirituality in the workplace, meaning and work ethic, risk and reward and a chapter on finding your calling that provides a very helpful rubric for discerning calling.
The latter part of the book focuses heavily on principles for practicing and sustaining entrepreneurial leadership. One of the most illuminating sections for me was the section on dealing with betrayal. Rarely do I hear this talked about and yet I’ve known a number of people who were deeply wounded by personal betrayals in the workplace.
They finish with a chapter on making a difference that has a challenging section on entrepreneurs and the church. They found (as have I) that churches neither know what to do with entrepreneurs (other than ask them for money!) nor do they often support and affirm their calling and provide theological teaching that equips them for Christian service in the marketplace.
This is a travesty. The authors observe at one point that it may well be the case that the marketplace will be one of our main fields of mission in the twenty-first century. Woe to us if we fail to see beyond our church walls to these ripe fields! Hopefully this work, and others that I hope will follow will change the church’s posture toward these gifted people who are also pursuing the call of God.