The redeeming and rebuilding of human lives is exceedingly more difficult than building widgets or delivering predictable services.
—Bill Hybels

After twenty-four years of leadership, I have come to believe five truths about leadership in the church:

1. I believe the church is the most leadership-intensive enterprise in society.

My friend runs a company with about 3,000 employees. He says he wants to relax after retirement and lead a church: "It doesn't have to be a Willow Creek-sized church. Maybe just 7,000 or 8,000 with some growth potential." I told him that leading a church will ruin his retirement because the church demands a higher and more complex form of leadership than business does.

I've been on both sides. Running a business is challenging, but the leader of a company has a clearly defined playing field and enormous leverage with his or her employees. The business leader delivers a product or service through paid staff who either get it done or get replaced.

Church leadership is ...