Introduction
The book Be a Leader for God’s Sake, written by Bruce Winston, explores leadership through the Biblical viewpoint; thus, the fourth chapter explains controlled discipline through Jesus’ and Moses’ meek-based execution. Winston describes supervision through the influence of a leader’s behavior and awareness of the environment as essential for better performance (41). This assignment summarizes the “The Value of Controlled Discipline” chapter of Winston’s book.
Controlled Discipline as a Beatitude of Leadership
Winston starts the chapter by exploring the term “meek” to point out the humbleness of Biblical leaders – Jesus and Moses. According to the author and Greek translation of the word, such leaders utilized controlled discipline through “a sense of duty” (41). Winston mentions the Gospel of John’s story where Jesus took action to purify a temple’s sanctity himself to demonstrate a humble leader’s behavior and includes the lines about Moses’ powerful yet gentle leadership (44). The author also reveals these Biblical heroes’ power by describing how inner strength is necessary for self-control in challenging situations (45). The examples show that meek execution requires patience, trust, persistence, and the supervisor’s direct involvement.
Controlled Discipline in Action
Winston supports the Biblical explanation of leadership with real-life examples to help the reader understand how to perform controlled discipline. Indeed, the author recalls conquering a horse as a child as a “power under control” concept implementation where communication with an animal required patience rather than setting authority (47). Then, the case of the employee with drastically decreasing performance due to family issues demonstrates that a leader needs to clarify if any external influencing factors prevent a subordinate from doing their job properly (49). Based on this example, Winston explains that the leadership position gives power and authority to change the course of action; thus, discipline must be used “for correction and reproof” (50). The chapter’s conclusion emphasizes that remaining in control of the system employees perform is beneficial for execution yet requires bravery and responsibility from the leader.
Conclusion
“The Value of Controlled Discipline” chapter of Winston’s book provides a reader with a cohesive yet convincing explanation of how meek leadership and humble action outperform authoritative execution. Biblical examples demonstrate that acting as an example or role model is more efficient than forcing people to do the orders. Situations from Winston’s leadership experience also served as evidence of the benevolence of controlled discipline necessary for successful teamwork.
Reference
Winston, B. (2002). Chapter 4: The value of controlled discipline. In Be a leader for God’s sake (pp. 41-53). Virginia Beach: Regent University.