If you were going to ask a leader for lunch each month for one year, who would you ask? Why/what do you want to hear from them that they are uniquely able to speak to? This assumes, of course, that the leader you’d like to get, would… So, yep, assume that!
Any organization or field–church, education, business, non-profit, (just so they don’t feel left out) government? My focus and context is leadership of Christian communities.
Guy M Williams 
1. Barack Obama (try to get inside his head and see what drives him and makes him tick)
2. Adam Hamilton (to see how he spends his time) He is a leader in our denomination and maybe increasingly beyond it. How does he do everything he does – is he a workaholic, how active is his prayer life…)
3. UM Bishop Robert Schnase (Heard him speak once and seems to offer a non-conventional model of institutional leadership Ex. has gone to just a 1/4 time adminstrative asst in his episcopal office)
4. Bill Gates (Did his leadership style change when he transitioned from a corporate CEO to a non-profit head and if so how did it change?)
5. Lovett Weems – how did the guru of UM Church leadership studies lead when he was in leadership roles?
6. Leader/CEO of Teach for America – whoever that is (how do they deploy the right teachers into the right places?)
7. Chief Justice John Roberts – how do you lead a small group of intellectual heavyweights who operate in an arguably cocoon environment?
8. Sec of Defense Robert Gates – what is it like to lead a large university and a large government agency?
9. Carly Fiorina – former CEO, what leadership dynamics do men typically not understand in your experience?
10. Mark Cuban – what is it like to start, grow and lead a entrepernurial business venture from the infancy stage to the global stage and what is different about leading in the sports business world?
hey bro,
Great entrance into the world of blog commenting! Thanks, excellent list.
One person that comes to mind is Greg Boyd who has combined pastoring (even planting a church!) and being an academic theologian. Pretty rare combination these days.
Tommy, having read one of Adam Hamilton’s books a few years ago I would say he definitely looks like a workaholic to me. I don’t see how he could do what he says he does (did – he may have changed his ways since them) without 70-80 hours a week.
Well, I doubt I’ll get 12 out of it, but I did have Os Guinness invite me to lunch on Sunday (proximity has its advantages). I’m certainly looking forward to that. I would also love to pick the brain of N.T. Wright.
Lunch with Guy Williams isn’t so bad. He would of course be a lot cooler if he would pick up the tab.
Grace,
Rick
Richard: Interesting & impressive combo for Boyd. On Hamilton, yep, really appreciate his stuff. What I’ve read is good, but I think he actually advocates workaholic hours in “Leading Beyond the Walls” (without using the “w” tag, preferring “hard work” instead) as important for “successful” pastoral leaders. The book is good on the whole, but that is problematic.
Jim Bob: So what you’re saying is that you are on Os Guinness’s leadership lunch list!
Rick: I’ll work on that…
OK, twelve. Think I can do it if we allow time travel. (No particular order).
1. Pope Benedict – Gotta take the opportunity for the leader of the largest church in the world.
2. Ghandi – nuff said (but might be a small lunch).
3. Albert Einstein – I am still an engineer, after all
4. Hillary Clinton – Not really a supporter, but interesting life story
5. Bill Gates – CEO to philanthropist; very interesting
6. George H. W. Bush – Great, humble man; I would savor the opportunity
7. Steve Jobs – imaginative thinker and business mogul; a rare combination
8. Sandra Day O’Connor – a great mind and strong individual
9. Jimmy Carter – diverse, almost conflicted personality
10. Rich Mullins – incredible story teller with amazing faith and wisdom
11. Mark Schultz – (see above)
12. Billy Graham – how has he been able to capture the attention of generations?
OK, so I made it to twelve (not as easy as I thought it would be).