Pastor’s Formation LibraryKraig Kleeman
Cover of Why Pastors Need More Than Better Leadership
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Why Pastors Need More Than Better Leadership

Recovering Prayer, Discernment, Character, and Life With God

For pastors who have grown as leaders: how to tell whether you are also growing in prayer, discernment, character and obedience, and how to lead from that deeper life.

$12Read online and download as PDF
  • 18 chapters
  • 225-page PDF
  • About 3 hours to read
  • Team discussion guide included

By Kraig Kleeman, founder of The Zoé Life

Read a PreviewSee the team guide ↓

The Core Premise

But professional proximity to spiritual things is not the same as communion with God.

Why This Matters

Leadership growth is visible; inner formation is not. This book shows how leadership development can quietly become a pastor's whole formation system, what strategy, charisma, influence and vision cannot replace, and how to recover a hidden life with God that better leadership can grow inside of.

What You'll Discover

  • When leadership development becomes your formation system
  • The competence trap
  • Why strategy cannot replace discernment
  • Being with God without producing anything
  • Building a leadership culture that values depth

From the Book

But possibility is not the same as calling.
A life fully maxed out is not necessarily a life fully surrendered.
A mature pastor is not a pastor who no longer needs formation.

For your team · Included with the book

Read it together

A printable discussion guide for staff teams, elders and pastor cohorts reading Why Pastors Need More Than Better Leadership together. 4 conversations, one for each part of the book. Each one opens with a line from the book, then gives you questions and one practice to carry into the week.

  1. Session 1 · Chapters 1–4

    When Leadership Gets Bigger Than the Soul

    But professional proximity to spiritual things is not the same as communion with God.

    4 questions · 1 practice

  2. Session 2 · Chapters 5–9

    What Leadership Cannot Replace

    But possibility is not the same as calling.

    4 questions · 1 practice

  3. Session 3 · Chapters 10–15

    Recovering the Inner Life of the Pastor

    But eventually, what is hidden begins shaping what is visible.

    4 questions · 1 practice

  4. Session 4 · Chapters 16–18 and Conclusion

    Leading From Formation, Not Around It

    A mature pastor is not a pastor who no longer needs formation.

    4 questions · 1 practice

Free sample · The whole first sessionSession 1: When Leadership Gets Bigger Than the SoulPart One · Chapters 1–4Read Session 1

But professional proximity to spiritual things is not the same as communion with God.

— Chapter 1

For the leader: Say at the start that this group is peers, not performance review. No one reports on their prayer life to a supervisor here, and no one is required to share anything personal.

  1. Chapter 1 · The Pastor Became a Better Leader. But Did He Become a Deeper Man?

    How would you know whether you have grown more prayerful in the last year? What would count as evidence?

  2. Chapter 2 · When Leadership Development Becomes the Pastor’s Formation System

    What is actually forming you right now: the books, conferences and coaching you take in, or your life with God? Be honest about the proportions.

  3. Chapter 3 · The Competence Trap

    Where has being good at the work made weakness feel dangerous for you?

  4. Chapter 4 · When Ministry Success Stops Asking Hard Questions

    What hard question has a good season made easier to avoid, for you or for our team?

Practice for the week

Before the next meeting, each person writes down one sign of growth in their leadership this year and one sign of growth in their life with God. Share only what you choose.

The full guide opens from inside the book after you buy it, and prints straight from the page for each person on your team.

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