Call and Response
10 Leadership Lessons from the Black Church
-
- $14.99
Publisher Description
In collaboration with JVL Media—a captivating exploration of why many high-performing Black business leaders attribute their transformational leadership qualities to their experiences growing up in the Black Church and how we can foster these skills in younger generations despite waning church attendance.
The Black church in the U.S. has long been a “one-stop shop” for developing Black leaders, teaching them many of the qualities required to lead effectively in today’s ultra-competitive, digital, and swiftly transforming corporate world. Many high-performing Black leaders benefited from their experiences growing up in this cultural institution steeped in rich history.
Merging cultural study with applied neuroscience and tenets of positive psychology, L. Michelle Smith dissect how these qualities are demonstrated by leaders across industries, from resiliency to their sense of undeniable purpose, their ability to build community and collaborative environments, the delivery and language of their speaking style to their unique leadership flair. She reveals how this historic institution has served as a timeless wellspring of leadership development, empowerment, and cultural preservation and ultimately, is Black leaders’ “secret sauce.”
Call and Response also explores whether the Black Church will be able to continue to ingrain these skills in future generations. Smith examines how cultural shifts have resulted in a decline in church attendance, how online attendance has risen since the Covid pandemic, and finally, how Black leaders may—or may not—be passing these traditions down to their children.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
"The Black Church and many of its traditions are a crucial resource in our society for preparing generation after generation of America's top Black business leadership," asserts business consultant Smith (Yes Please!) in this insightful exploration. Smith surveyed 155 Black business leaders and found 76% attribute their professional skills and knowledge to growing up in the Black church. Combining her survey results with psychological research, Smith identifies 10 leadership skills commonly learned in the church, such as community organizing, public speaking, and resilience. She models these lessons through real-life stories, like that of former Dallas Mavericks CEO Cynt Marshall, who held ministry leadership roles as a teenager, which instilled in her a sense of duty and responsibility for her actions. When she later took the reins of a sports organization mired in workplace misconduct and dysfunction, she emphasized the importance of accountability, successfully overhauling HR policies and implementing zero-tolerance harassment standards. A chapter on collaboration is particularly illuminating; Smith draws parallels between church choirs and workplaces, explaining that the listening and blending of voices singers must do "to produce a collective, rich sound" is analogous to the emotional intelligence business leaders must tap into to create an effective team. Executives, religious or not, will find much of use here.
