Leading from Below

I met Bill Taylor in the early 1990s after returning from service in the South Pacific. We shared the experience of moving from the tropics to Chicago, adding climate shock to our culture shock. I watched from a distance as we both moved through various assignments.  Our last time together was at the "" ""Little did I know"" (borrowing from Leading from Below) when Bill Taylor invited me to attend the WEA Mission Consultation in Manila in 1992, that it would initiate a journey for over thirty years with a man who became my mentor, colleague, and friend. The relationship over these years has been decisive for my understanding of what it means to ""lead from below"" and in my formation to become a global mission servant leader. I am profoundly grateful for the many opportunities to travel together, meet people around the globe, and discuss key issues on mission. I am also grateful for the more ordinary things, like sharing daily concerns, praying, laughing, crying, sharing common visions, and defending different perspectives, some of what you will find in this book. Leading from Below is not just a challenging title and an idealized characteristic of a humble and servant leader, but a true description of Bill's ministry and the way he made ""reflective practitioners"" of many of us. -Bertil Ekström, PhD, Sweden-Brazil, Former Executive Director, WEA-Mission Commission Bill, that pioneer reflective practitioner who transcends generational gaps to mentor across cultures, has taught me so much about global leadership. His candid and vulnerable writing illustrates authentic leadership at its best, a reality our generation longs to see. Skillfully blending leadership theory and practice, he shows how we can learn intercultural competencies on the go. He exemplifies how a global leader can remain accountable to one's family and receive corrections. I have witnessed his refusal to sacrifice his family by sacrificing his own desires and ambitions and thus embrace the crucible. Without hesitation I endorse this book, a study of global missional leadership enlivened with case studies, sound theology, practical lessons, and reflective questions. -John Amalraj, PhD Candidate, Former National Director, Interserve India Reflective Practitioner, WEA-Mission Commission Good leaders are gold. Many leaders are mediocre, and all are imperfect, but leadership skills can be learned. Some of those lessons pop up in this book. Leaders do have a job to do.  It is not enough to be mellow, sitting around with a default smile. Yet even when leaders chase good goals, they can run roughshod over people and charge down blind alleys. Humility and radical listening must balance determination and persistence. This book shows how Bill Taylor honed skills and character in order to learn to lead.  -Miriam Adeney, PhD, Associate Professor Emerita of World Christian Studies, Seattle Pacific University, Author,  Kingdom Without Borders:  The Untold Story of Global Christianity If you want to be a Christian leader, beware of reading this book! William Taylor has crafted a masterpiece on the dangers of leadership in the modern world, providing practical principles out of his life experience to serve as the Lord Jesus calls you. The Lord will prick your conscience, and you will be challenged to correct your course. -Foley Beach, Former Archbishop and Primate, Anglican Church in North America In the end, Bill Taylor argues leadership is about two things we normally do not tie to discussions of this theme: empowering others and leading from below (as you encourage others to do the same). This book takes a rich lifetime of experience on a global level and shows how God took a third culture kid and empowered him through hard lessons learned to teach others these values. You also get a glimpse at the complexities, tapestry, and tensions that is the global church God has formed. This book will make you pause and think, to reflect on how God works in a myriad of ways and an array of spaces. Bill, you have followed him well and showed us a better way.  -Darrell L. Bock, PhD, Executive Director for Cultural Engagement, Howard G. Hendricks Center for Christian Leadership and Cultural Engagement, Senior Research Professor of New Testament, Dallas Theological Seminary In Leading from Below,  Bill Taylor shares with striking transparency how the Spirit shaped his soul in the crucible of leadership. He writes as a lifelong learner and offers eye-opening insights into the dynamics of global mission collaboration over the past half-century. Enjoy this rare opportunity to learn from the inner journey of a kingdom ambassador.  -Dean Carlson, DMin, One Challenge President Joy & Pain: You feel the joy of the generous impartation and consequential impact good leaders had on Bill's life. You also feel Bill's pain as he witnessed Christian leaders who ended fallen, disconnected from God, who sacrifice family, or end up addicted to substances, self or power. His leadership lessons learned in the context of the global mission community is a heart cry to live life Christ-centered, with a dedicated community for personal and leadership accountability. In short: Leaders need care!  -Harry Hoffmann, Thailand, Germany, Coordinator Global Member Care Network Leading from Below opens a window into the person who taught me so much about true leadership, igniting a transformative shift in my own leadership style. With captivating storytelling and remarkable wisdom, this book uncovers a beacon of inspiration for potential, emerging leaders, and seasoned visionaries alike. Taylor's vulnerable narrative and stories contradict conventional leadership paradigms. It courageously adopts a unique perspective, ""leading from below,"" demonstrating the profound impact of leading from a position of service, humility, empathy, and collegiality that results in flourishing from within the ranks. All leaders will be challenged by its central message to embrace servant leadership, challenge the status quo, unlock their own leadership potential, make a positive impact that transcends titles and positions, and, finally, finish well. -Adriaan Adams, South Africa, Focus Team Leadership Training WEA-Mission Commission Leading from Below reveals the personal Bill, writing from his heart and soul, deep down, about his life journey, family, friendships, ministry, and mission. He is frank and honest about his own joys and sorrows, his highs and lows, advances and set-backs, successes and mistakes. It feels like conversing with him, almost responding with a ""Yes, I have experienced that too!"" or ""Thank you for sharing valuable and practical insights!"" I wish I had read this book thirty-five years ago, when I was beginning to take leadership roles. Bill loves to disciple, to mentor, to teach and equip others. This time, he does it not in the form of organizational leadership, education and knowledge, which he has done so well and for so long, but on paper, from  experience and a life lived in love with service to Jesus.  -Decio de Carvalho, Operation Mobilization, Latin American Missions Mobilization Leading from Below is rich with wisdom that comes from probing the opportunities, challenges and sacrifices of a life fully devoted to Jesus and the Triune God's mission. It's a heartfelt and personal journey that grapples with a third-culture upbringing, marriage, family, friendships, personal ambition, busy international mission leadership roles, integrity, and love. It's an invitation to embrace a faith that endures, one that stands firm amid seasons of blessing, doubt and even disillusionment. It is a wake-up call to re-evaluate one's belief, commitment to, and participation in God's local-regional-global-mission.  -Kirk Franklin, PhD, Australia, Former Executive Director, Wycliffe Global Alliance, Associate Faculty for Global Missional Leadership, Oxford Center for Mission Studies, Missional Leadership Lecturer, Melbourne School of Theology My first encounter with Dr. Taylor was at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS) in 1982, he on faculty and I concluding my DMiss program. Surprisingly we met again some years later at All Nations Christian College in the UK. For many years we served together, he as director of the WEA-Mission Commission, I as member and later as ExCo Chair. Our relationship has continued even since, and I deeply admire his collegial leadership style that honored every member and accomplished so much in global mission, especially the missional movement out of the Majority World. Leading from Below answers multiple questions, and I recommend it to all in ministry leadership. -David Tai Woong Lee, DMiss, Korea, Director of GLFocus, Global Missionary Fellowship, Inc.  One of the quintessential acts of a leader is to steward, and this book is both the story of a life-long steward, and an act of stewardship itself: Bill gifts us with the story of his leadership journey, deeply reflected upon, and told with exceptional authenticity and transparency. He invites the next generation of leaders to gather with him--not on some majestic outcropping of rock jutting from the summit of his life--but far below where the path of suffering and the cross has led him to the green, finishing-well foothills of life. Only from the viewpoint of his 83 years can he write with such insight on finishing well--finishing seasons within life, and the ultimate finishing at the end of life.  -Joshua Bogunjoko, MD, Nigeria, Former International Director, SIM Rare is the book that is soulful, speaks across multiple generations, and is experientially identifiable by many globally. When a leader forms, de-forms, and re-forms, his/her soul is supple, tender, and in rhythm with God's intentions. Leading from Below has nuggets of wisdom, stories of deep listening, and dying-to-self leading to spawning a new movement of research, leaders, and reflective practitioners. Bill Taylor vulnerably invites each reader into decades of struggle, years of empowering, and many moments of longing for what could be. Chapter 17 is not to be missed. I highly commend this personal memoir to you.  -Rev. Samuel E. Chiang, Deputy Secretary General, WEA The accounts of biblical characters remind us that the redemptive work of God in our lives can only be fully understood retrospectively. In various moments of our lives, we might be confused or over-confident, vulnerable or victorious, insecure or triumphant. Bill Taylor knows all these feelings. In his retrospective look at almost six decades of Christian of cross-cultural ministry, Bill takes us faithfully, vulnerably, and honestly through lessons he has learned, and mistakes made. He concludes with transparent insights on growing old and finishing well. Leading from Below is an outstanding life summary from a global pilgrim living out the words of John the Baptist: ""Jesus must increase but I must decrease.""  -Paul Borthwick, Senior Consultant, Development Associates International The Lord Jesus said he came not to be served but to serve. Paul's lovely Philippians hymn speaks of the Lord humbling himself, making himself as nothing and a servant. How totally counter-cultural, then and now, when thinking about leadership! Bill Taylor's book shows the cost but absolute necessity for us to follow the Master's example if his people, leaders included, are to thrive. He shares with painful honesty his own failures along the way, lessons learned in many contexts, the gracious patience of the Triune God teaching and honing. Read, mark and learn!  -Rose Dowsett, Scotland, Author, WEA-MC, and Lausanne Missiologist, Life-Long Member, OMF International, Former Vice-Chair, MC Executive Council This book is a front row seat to many of the developments in the global missions movement over the past few decades. It is unvarnished, honest, and could only be written from Bill's unique vantage point. The curtain is pulled back on not only Bill's evolving missiology, but also on how leaders, structures, and networks succeeded and failed during his tenure in mission leadership. This is a book for any student of mission seeking to understand how evangelical leaders have encouraged the global church.  -Ted Esler, PhD, President, Missio Nexus What a gift for those serving in mission! We rarely get to see behind the scenes in our mentors' lives--hearing what grieves them, their private joys, and their moments of clarity and growth. In this volume, Bill Taylor pulls back the curtain, providing an intimate view on his early formation, his nearly sixty years of service and leadership in mission, and the lessons he has learned (and is still learning) along the way. I was moved and inspired as I read, encouraged that God can use even the most difficult experiences in mission service to shape and transform us into ""leaders from below.""  -Robin Harris, PhD, President, Global Ethnodoxology Network (GEN), Chair, Center for Excellence in World Arts, Dallas International University Years of leadership lessons Bill learned on his rollercoaster ride through life are encapsulated in this book. You will discover a missiologist who is not afraid to be honest, humble, and vulnerable, providing opportunities for reflection on our own lives so that we may emerge from the furnace better able to lead as Christ led. Bill's unconventional, relational character has impressed and inspired me each time our paths intersected. A must read for leaders who wish to ""Finish well!""   -Rev. Esmé Bowers, South Africa, Director for Church in Community, WEA