Leadership course with Dr. Paul Magnus open to students outside Briercrest College and Seminary
Paul Magnus, Distinguished Professor of Leadership and Management.
Photo by Viktor Karklins.
Magnus believes the need for courses like this one are significant:
"Given the linked challenges of organizational and personal energy drains placing both organizations and leaders at risk, Briercrest College and Seminary is offering a graduate-level course to facilitate a deepened understanding of the issues of diagnosis as well as paths toward enriching levels of personal and organizational resilience," he says.
"The current season of the 21st century appears to be stretching and stressing leaders in new ways. Jim Collins, a seasoned, experienced leader, suggests in his book, How Are the Mighty Fallen and why Some Companies Never Give In, that the numbers of seemingly strong and resilient organizations are declining significantly. He indicates that the decline is like a disease that is initially hard to detect, and once the disease is finally acknowledged, the cure is very difficult.
"Some have suggested that 25 percent of existing not-for-profit organizations and ministries (including churches) are on the journey to illness and will likely not survive the decade we have just begun. These words seem fine until the ministry or organization we lead or serve with is named in the list. There are internal, external, spiritual, and systemic factors that attract feed the diseased organism, which, if detected early, can be readily treated and reversed. If they're not detected early, the disease spirals downward in a hopeless fashion. Early detection, admission, and treatment are the key.
"It also appears that there is a parallel loss of human reliance and increase of burnout. It is expected that over 45 percent of senior leaders in churches will experience a deep depression or burnout in the next decade. The data that signals the current inner condition of church leadership, their spouses, and their adult children indicates that burnout is on the rise. So what are the early detection indicators? What is putting so many fine leaders at risk, and what keeps them there? Once the disease is detected, how is it best treated?"
The course is aimed at church and ministry leaders across Canada. Students do not need to be enroled at Briercrest College and Seminary to take the course. View the course syllabus here.
Interested students may contact the Admissions office for details at 1-800-667-5199.