Book review: Tempered Resilience—How Leaders Are Formed in the Crucible of Change

Mike Bonem Dec. 19, 2020

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For the last several years, my #1 book recommendation has been Tod Bolsinger's Canoeing the Mountains. So I was eager for the release of his new book, Tempered Resilience: How Leaders Are Formed in the Crucible of Change. I was not disappointed.

The book opens with a senior pastor's reflection: "The question I find myself asking is not 'Can I learn the skills I need to lead change?' but rather 'Can I survive it?'" Bolsinger observes that this is a common question because every change effort encounters some kind of sabotage. And when sabotage occurs, leaders often experience either a failure of nerve (retreating from the intended change) or a failure of heart (disconnecting from people).

While this isn't an upbeat diagnosis, Tempered Resiliencedoes not leave leaders in despair. Nor does it offer simple admonitions like "be courageous" or platitudes like "when the going gets tough, the tough get going." Instead, Bolsinger takes readers on a deep journey to discover how resilient leaders are formed. And he does so with an unexpected metaphor: the process of shaping and tempering steel in a blacksmith's shop.

Working, heating, holding, hammering, hewing, and tempering are all essential parts of the process to create steel tools that are strong enough to accomplish their intended purpose. Bolsinger creatively applies these concepts to describe the self-reflection, relationships, practice, and stress that form resilient leaders.

The book draws wisdom from a wide variety of sources, including Moses, Martin Luther King, Jr., Ronald Heifetz, Edwin Friedman, Brene Brown, Angela Duckworth, and others. But more importantly, Tempered Resilience is firmly grounded in the difficult trenches of church and ministry leadership where resilience is desperately needed. It is this application to real world leadership that makes the book such a valuable resource.

To become resilient, we must go through an "oozy, humbling, oh-so-vulnerable process," but the result is worth it. Because "resilience for faith leaders is the ability to wisely persevere toward the mission God has put before them amid both external challenges and the internal resistance of the leader's followers." I'm thankful that Tod has shown us the path to lead us there.

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Mike Bonem is an author, consultant, speaker, church leader, businessperson, husband and father. He has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a breadth of experience in ministry and business, including 11 years as an executive pastor, consulting with Fortune 100 companies, and leading a start-up business. This article was first published on MikeBonem.com. Used with permission. Learn More »

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