Current approaches to congregational leadership are dominated by a kind of group think. Certain assumptions, ideas, and even phrases appear so often in the literature about church ministry and mission that they have achieved the status of conventional wisdom. For example, how many times in recent years have you read about ministry in the postmodern era?The problem with conventional wisdom, says Dan Dick, is that it sets our thinking down a particular path, blinding us to other possibilities and insights. At its worst, conventional wisdom is a cheap and easy substitute for figuring things out yourself. In this book, Dan Dick both explodes false assumptions about congregational leadership, and offers readers the tools they need to lead congregations in the real world, not the wishful thinking world of conventional wisdom.

Nuggets of conventional wisdom debunked include:
- The modern/postmodern myth
- Contemporary North American culture is highly similar to the culture of the New Testament world
- We live in a period of accelerated change unlike any other before us.

Much has changed since the first edition of Lovett Weems's seminal work Church Leadership appeared in 1993. In that time a substantial literature about leading the congregation has appeared, written from a broad variety of perspectives. But in some ways, little has changed in that time. The need for leadership in the church--defined as discovering the faithful future into which God is calling the congregation, and walking with the congregation into that future--is just as pressing as it ever was. And for that reason, the need for clear, insightful thinking about leadership is just as great as it ever was.

Often, organizational leaders confuse culture with vision and strategy, but they are very different. Vision and strategy usually focus on products, services, and outcomes, but culture is about the people--an organization's most valuable asset. Culture Catalyst: Seven Strategies to Bring Positive Change to Your Organization offers a practical resource for discovering the deficits in an existing organization's culture, and includes the steps needed to assess, correct, and change culture from lackluster to vibrant and inspirational, so that it truly meets the needs of the organization.

Prominent leadership consultant Sam Chand describes the five easily identifiable categories of organizational culture (Inspiring, Accepting, Stagnant, Discouraging, and Toxic), and includes diagnostic methods that leaders can use to identify the particular strengths and needs of their organization's culture. To help in this process, there is also a separate, free, online assessment tool (www.samchandculturesurvey.com).

Once an organization's culture is clearly identified, leaders can put in place a strategy for applying the seven keys of CULTURE (Control, Understanding, Leadership, Trust, Unafraid, Responsive, and Execution) that will make their culture one that stimulates people to be and do their very best and ultimately reach their highest goals.