CERG

These resources are provided by Rev. Renee Ruchotzke, CERG Leadership Development Consultant. We also recommend you visit the UUA Resources Pages for additional resources listings. Of particular note is the Top Picks for Leadership Development on the UUA website.

You may also want to look at the resource pages on Conflict Management, Governance, Healthy Congregations, Stewardship/Annual Canvass,

On Demand Webinars

• Lay Leadership as a Spiritual Practice - Rev. Erik Walker Wikstrom will talk you through why and how an individual or a congregation should undertake the process of transforming the ordinary work of church business into the very stuff we go to church for to begin with. Recommended for governing boards, committees and volunteers to watch together and discuss. http://www.uua.org/publications/skinnerhouse/authorfeatures/169279.shtml

• Theology of Leadership - Many Unitarian Universalists experience a deepening commitment to their faith and congregation as a call to accept a position of leadership. This workshop focused on helping lay leaders grow in spirit as they grow as leaders. An archived version of a webinar presented by the Rev. Phillip Lund.
  http://www.midwestuuleadership.org/leadership/theology-of-leadership/

Web-based Resources: Articles

• Where Does Vision Come From? Three Theories of Vision Formation by Alice Mann
• Pass the Salsa, Por Favor (pdf) by Juana Bordas

Web-based Resources: Blogs

• Interconnections Tipsheet http://tipsheet.blogs.uua.org/

• Ten Minutes Or Less: Helpful Hints For Busy Clergy And Lay Leaders http://tenminutesorless.blogspot.com/

• Marucuson's Leadership Circle http://margaretmarcuson.com/blog/

Web-based Resources: Newsletters

• Interconnections - An email newsletter that publishes tips and stories about vital congregations for lay leaders and the professional staff who work with them.
  

Web-based Resources: Videos

• Video Explaining Friedman's Differentiated Leadership (6:45)
•  10 Key Principles for Creating Healthy Community Change by Margaret Wheatley (10 short videos in series, total less than 20 minutes)
• Video Featuring Ronald. A Heifetz "Leadership, Adaptability and Thriving" for churches (1:10:02)

Web-based Resources: Other

• How to do a SWOT analysis (Strengths/Weaknesses/Opportunities/Threats)
• Social Justice - UUA Resources to help Unitarian Universalist congregations engage in advocacy.
• Green Sanctuary Program
  

Books

• A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix by Edwin H. Friedman - Suspicious of the "quick fixes" and instant solutions that sweep through our culture only to give way to the next fad, Friedman argues for strength and self-differentiation as the marks of true leadership. His formula for success is more maturity, not more data; stamina, not technique; and personal responsibility, not empathy.
• Learning to Lead: A Workbook on Becoming a Leader by Warren Bennis & Joan Goldsmith - Using wise insights from the world's best leaders, helpful self-assessments, and dozens of one-day skill-building exercises, Bennis and Goldsmith show in Learning to Lead how to see beyond leadership myths and communicate vision to others.
• The Practice of Adaptive Leadership: Tools and Tactics for Changing Your Organization and the World by Ronald A. Heifetz - This book will help you think and execute amidst profoundly changing complexity. With its comprehensive and systemic approach to assessing candidly the situation and yourself, and then taking action, its wisdom and advice are drawn also from the experiences of people like you, committed to advancing what you care about most.
• Leadership and the New Science: Discovering Order in a Chaotic World by Margaret J. Wheatley - An unquestionably unique but extremely challenging view of change, leadership, and the structure of groups. The book explores the implications of quantum physics on organizational practice, then investigates ways that biology and chemistry affect living systems, and finally focuses on chaos theory, the creation of a new order, and the manner that scientific principles affect leadership.
• Immunity to Change: How to Overcome It and Unlock the Potential in Yourself and Your Organization by Robert Kegan - When it comes to change, desire and motivation aren't enough. Kegan and Lahey examine why change is so hard and offer innovative, practical insight to overcome the internal and external obstacles and to meet the challenge of change.
• Serving with Grace: Lay Leadership as a Spiritual Practice by Erik Walker Wikstrom - Discover how to experience congregational work as an integrated element in a fully rounded spiritual life.. Makes a useful addition to a congregation's leadership development programs. Free companion webinars available.