Fans pick 100 books like The Bicycle Illustration

Why are some people better leaders than others? I’ve never believed they’re just born that way (or I wouldn’t be in the business of leadership training!). No book has shaped my thinking on this subject more than this one. It’s another title I’ve recommended more times than I can remember. 

The big ‘aha’ moment for me in Coyle’s book was recognizing that effective leadership is not about one individual but the group as a whole. That’s allowed me to show more vulnerability as a coach, which has inspired confidence in my players. It’s helped me create a safe environment in the classroom, allowing my students to thrive. Whatever group you belong to—at home, at work, in the community—will invariably get stronger, healthier, and more successful from the many fascinating takeaways found in the pages of The Culture Code.

This book is a great overview of how a disciple-making culture looks and feels. Brandon Guindon does an excellent job making principles clear while also offering practical content on practice. Over and over again, Guindon reminds the reader that the secret isn’t in the program or the curriculum. It’s in a lifestyle that emulates Jesus.

Disciple-making culture flows out of who we are, not what we know. There’s so much to like about this book! It’s Biblical, practical, and aspirational. There’s plenty here for a young disciple-maker and an experienced builder of disciple-making culture.

What it lacks in sequencing (where do I start?!), it makes up for in clarity. I’m already using it to further flesh out the principles of disciple-making culture with pastors and churches to which I’m connected.

How do you build a disciple-making culture that is at the center of a culture of consumerism? The struggle is real! In this book, the authors offer keen insights that probe the tenets of capitalism and how that has shaped and continues to influence our community culture.

I resonated with most of what they wrote and yearned for something different...a return to making disciples through a community of abundance and cooperation. The authors also understand how to reshape the culture of a local community into one of abundance. I highly recommend this one!

Changing the culture of any organization is a huge challenge. Black is an expert in culture change who teaches others how to do it in the business and non-profit world. This book is full of insights born from Black’s experience.

From the start, he explains how change works, why we often get it wrong, and what’s required to make real change and make it last. The book is organized around the main barriers to change and the solutions to those barriers. This book is focused, clearly written, and full of illustrations and tools.

It’s an easy 10 out of 10 for me because it helped me develop an internal framework of how change works and how to lead others through the change process. 

What are the stages of a disciple’s optimal development? The theoretical path starts with a person not following Jesus and ends with that person helping their own disciples make disciples of Jesus. Having a reliable model that traces the course of a disciple’s development benefits a disciple maker practically, because people have different capacities, needs, and challenges at different stages as they grow.

The most persuasive and useful model yet proposed might be found in this brief book by Harrington and Wiens, who adapt to individuals the Exponential organization’s five-level typology of churches.

This is simply the best book on biblical discipleship I have ever read, and I have read it multiple times in disciplining my own children, grandchildren as well as the college students I have taught for many years. The book is a devotional commentary based on the “Psalms of Ascent”, Psalm 120—134. These psalms are pilgrim songs to sing throughout a lifetime, as we journey from where we are and who we are, to being “brought to completion” as mature disciples of the Lord Jesus. This book is as honest as the psalms themselves dealing with both the hazards of the journey in times and places with people who are hostile to faith as well as the discouragements and confusion all God’s people experience when disappointed by God, emptied of hope and asking, “is this journey worth it?” Peterson’s pastoral heart and poignant wisdom in this book is a priceless… show more.

I really resonated with this book. It reminded me a lot of the Sisters in Christ book where in a mentoring relationship it’s not necessarily defined as a discipleship relationship but more friend/friend.

You aren’t there to lecture, teach, criticize the other person. You both are seeking a relationship with the Lord separately and then your times of coming together are that much sweeter and you grow more in your own personal relationship with Jesus by living life side by side someone else who loves Jesus with all their heart. It’s a give and take, which is exactly what a Sister in Christ relationship is all about.

Lastly, and most importantly, is the prayer aspect. Anyone can “live life together,” but it's when you pray together that God moves mountains.

What would the world be like if flowers were all black and white? If everything looked the same in a colorless world? A mixed-race girl learns about all of the colors of the world and the colors within her family. The message that not everyone has the same skin color, even within a family, is presented in a warm and positive light.

The leader’s most important job is to set the right culture for their organization. People will copy what you do, not what you say. This simple little book shows you the truth of that: When Mr Miserable comes to stay, Mr Happy doesn’t give him pep talks. He just keeps on being happy until Mr Miserable is too. As a leader, you need to relentlessly role model the behavior you want, until it finally catches on.

If scholars are still trying to completely understand the Bible, how are we supposed to navigate it?

Inspired steps back and takes a look at Scripture, inviting us to ask questions and know it better, from both a spiritual and literary perspective. While I didn’t agree with everything the author suggests, everything made me pause and think. It’s a rare book that both challenges and encourages, but this one most certainly does both.