Hybels, Axiom, Powerful Leadership Proverbs

Share this:

Bill Hybels, Axiom: The Language of Leadership. Zondervan, 2008.

Referenced in:

LifeandLeadership.com Summary

Anyone who leads knows how important it is to distill leadership insights into brief slogans that “stay with” those who follow. Organizational psychologists such as Edgar Schein say it is through these informal missives from leaders that organizational culture is conveyed and caught, no matter what may be in the formal written “corporate core content” of mission, vision, values, beliefs, etc. But they need to be more than pithy little clichés. They need to have real substance. Hybels calls these axioms, or proverbs, and in this book he shares eighty of these maxims from over thirty years of leadership experience. They are arranged under four broad leadership categories:

  1. Vision and strategy (e.g “Make the Big Ask,” “The Dangers of Incrementalism”)
  2. Teamwork and communication (e.g. “Pay Attention to Greetings and Good-byes,” “Disagree without Drawing Blood”)
  3. Activity and assessment (e.g. “Facts are Your Friends,” “Did We Do Any Learning?”)
  4. Personal integrity (e.g. “What Life are You Waiting For?,” “We Need Us All”).

From the Publisher

Winning leaders have winning points of view—succinct, practical, portable leadership proverbs that help them arbitrate decisions and rouse troops to action. In Axiom: The Language of Leadership, Bill Hybels reveals eighty God-given, from-the-gut truths that continue to raise his game and his vision, thirty-plus years into his local-church leadership experience.

About the Author

Bill Hybels (B.A. Trinity College) is the founding and senior pastor of Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois. Willow Creek’s innovative ministries have made it one of the most attended churches in North America. Hybels has authored over 20 books, including, Fit to Be Tied, and Rediscovering Church (with his wife Lynne), Honest to God, Too Busy Not to Pray, and Courageous Leadership.


***For additional information on this resource, including reviews, click the bookstore links. Check the reference at page top or the links below for resource guides on related topics.***


Related Areas

See Other Resources on Leadership:

See Resources on Over 100 Areas of Ministry Leadership: