The Integrity Factor by Kevin Mannoia - Book Report/Review Example

The Integrity Factor by Kevin Mannoia 1. Summary of the Book, “The Integrity Factor” by Kevin Mannoia Kevin Mannoia’s book, “The Integrity Factor” provides valuable insights on leadership formation as it chronicles the various paths a Christian leader must go through in order to be successful as a servant of God. It describes five paths, envisioning a U-shaped journey towards successful leadership. The first path is the Downward Path, which involves the formation of a deeper character that is patterned after Jesus. This path may be unattractive and unpalatable to most people because it denies the individual of the use of his own will and instead, release it to God’s will. Most of the time people rationalize that what they do is in accordance to the will of God, however, they insert their own will and justify parts of it as what God wants from them and that they are doing the right thing. However, the downward path asks the leader to commit himself to the formation by completely releasing his own control of his will to God. This involves the release of his own personal possessions, glory and most importantly, identity. Now, someone else’s goals becomes more important than his own and he is totally emptied, becoming devoid of any ambition for himself that conflicts with what God wants. This path can be very painful as it is difficult to let go of one’s identity since it has always been emphasized as the center of one’s existence and now it needs to be let go. The downward path means emptying of our identity and becoming humble enough to surrender our will to God’s own. The Rugged Path continues on with the painful formation of a Christian leader. In this phase, the leader is besieged with temptations to regain control of his circumstances while being challenged by God to commit his way to Him and to trust Him to act in his behalf. The leader is reminded of the verse: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not rely on your own insight” (Proverbs 3:5). In turn God gives him assurance: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). In this path, the processes of the Incarnation, Gethsemane and the Empty Tomb are described to compare the leader’s rugged path. The Incarnation is likened to the incarnation of Christ as the leader relives His sufferings from the cross to the tomb before he can be resurrected in glory. Gethsemane refers to the great temptation to succumb back to his own will such as Jesus experienced at the garden of Gethsemane. Had He given in to the temptation of backing out of his mission, then it would have aborted God’s purpose and impaired His will through Him since both of their wills as man and God cannot coexist. It brings one to focus on a choice to abandon one’s own will or God’s. Jesus chose God’s. Overcoming Gethsemane, one comes to Calvary where Jesus’ empty tomb lay after He was resurrected from death. Because one dies to his own self, he commends his spirit to God and God takes over and brings him triumph. Leadership formation does not only involve pain and suffering. In the Upward Path, the leader is led to God’s exaltation. His formation integrates identity and performance, being and doing, essence and activity. This means the Christian leader’s identity becomes fused to God. Resisting it with self-defense, self-justification and self-affirmation prevents God’s rewiring of the leader as His servant. However, God gives man free will, so it is still up to the leader to yield to God or to stay firm in keeping his identity. God respects him that much. The Broadening Path offers the leader more breadth and possibilities in his leadership. As the opposite path to self actualization, this path does not focus on the leader’s own actualization but rather on his service to others. Instead of the hierarchy of man’s needs, it focuses on the hierarchy of spiritual needs, namely: rebirth, reassurance body life, gifts, servant mind, and onto unlimited development as a Christian leader. Finally, the Outward path moves the leader from developing himself as a servant of God to actually coming out to serve others in ministry. The Christian leader comes full circle in ministering to the needs of people because it becomes an expression of his commitment to serve God. Personally, I am still at the stage of the Rugged Path of my own leadership formation. Although I am advanced in age, I still struggle to find wisdom in what God wants of me. Perhaps, it is more difficult for me because I have lived almost sixty years relying on my own will and being in control of my own life. Releasing it to God is truly challenging for me as I am already set in my patterns. My advanced nursing program is another challenge I face that keeps me in the rugged path. Although I have done much volunteer work for people in need, I want to make myself better in terms of serving them that is why I am taking up Nursing. I understand that this may be God’s will for me. Although it is very difficult, I accept the challenge and die to my own will of just relaxing and being with my family because I am aware that I am called for a higher purpose – that of serving others as a Nurse. 2. Read More