How many books do you have on leadership? Most often, these are the books on our shelves with dog-eared pages and multi-color highlights. We can define leadership, recognize it in others, and especially enjoy the benefits of serving on a team blessed with good leaders.

But specific challenges arise when pregnancy centers begin assessing the leadership within their own teams. In fact, in the hundreds of pregnancy centers that we have now served, we've learned that assessing leadership skills of key employees and board members is something that rarely happens.

This has led us to witness the beginning of a crisis of leadership within our front-lines movement. Key organizations have determined that they need to close sites, discontinue services and even shut down altogether for what is eventually determined to be a lack of leadership.

Reports from these organizations reveal unresolved conflict within the leadership team, lack of accountability from key employees to the board, or lack of empowerment from the board to the key employees. The problem may be perceived as lack of vision, financial development, or accountability but, the bottom line eventually points back to leadership.

I certainly don't consider myself to be an expert on the topic; actually, I'm more of a student. This alone has prompted me to ask, "How can the pending crisis of leadership be turned around?" Sometimes when multiple circumstances reveal similar outcomes it's best to go back to the basics for resolution.

This four-part leadership series will examine basic leadership principles and how they can be applied within your organization. Some of the questions we’ll examine are:

• What are the characteristics of leadership?
• What role does character play in leadership?
• What does leadership look like during an annual review?
• How does a skilled leader resolve conflict?

As you contemplate your own organization and a review of your team's leadership skills, consider some examples of biblical leadership evidenced in the lives of Moses, Isaiah, David, Esther, Deborah, Paul and of course, Jesus. In preparation for this short series I encourage you to do a biblical word study on leadership.

Here are some scriptures to get you started: Exodus 33:11-13, Joshua 1:6, Judges 4, Psalm 31:3, 139:4, 143:10; Proverbs 10:17, 14:23, Isaiah 40:11, 42:16, Jeremiah 3:15.

May God richly bless your time with Him!

Darlene Norberg
Sanctity of Human Life National Consultant
Focus on the Family