Description: "Call & Response: 10 Leadership Lessons From The Black Church is a captivating exploration of why so many high-performing Black business leaders attribute their transformational leadership qualities to their experiences growing up in the Black Church and how we can foster that in a future with waning and morphing church attendance"-- Provided by publisher.
Brief description:
L. Michelle Smith is an award-winning author, Fortune 100 C-Suite advisor, certified global executive and personal coach, and the CEO/founder of no silos communications llc, a media, coaching, and consulting company that develops high-performing executive leaders, with a specialty in women and women of color. She is a contributor to HuffPost VOICES, and the executive producer and host of The Culture Soup Podcast(R) and the Substack podcast Her Next Power Move. She and her work have appeared in Fast Company, Forbes, Black Enterprise, Blavity, The Griot and on local and national television, and she has been a guest speaker at SXSW, Essence Festival, Black Enterprise Women of Power, The Opera Conference, the NABJ Annual Convention, and for companies like AT&T, Amazon, the Dallas Mavericks, Audible, Capital One, Galderma, Altria, and other Fortune 1000 companies and the arts. She sits on the Board of Visitors at Texas Christian University's Bob Schieffer College of Strategic Communication where she has served as an adjunct professor of strategic communication. Call & Response is her fourth book.
Review Quotes:
"In "Call & Response: 10 Leadership Lessons from the Black Church," L. Michelle Smith explores how the Church has produced extraordinary leaders who thrive in business. It's a must-read if you're looking for a rich and insightful blueprint for leadership that is both culturally resonant and future-ready." - Thasunda Brown Duckett, President & CEO, TIAA
"Michelle has written a timeless classic that brilliantly captures the soul, excellence, and inspiration of the Black church. With eloquence and insight, she highlights the enduring influence that has shaped generations of leaders across every field--business, education, arts, and beyond. This work not only honors a powerful legacy but also serves as a guide for growing as leaders today." - Reverend Bryan Carter, Senior Pastor, Concord Church and Host, E.K. Bailey Preaching Conference
"L. Michelle Smith has given us a treasure in this powerfully engaging book. No one is better suited to tell the story of the resilience, perseverance, and cultural impact of the Black Church.... This book is powerful, fun to read, informative, and a call to action for everyone who dares to read it." - Dr. Jeff Warren, Senior Pastor, Park Cities Baptist Church
"Few books manage to merge faith, culture, and science with such clarity. Call and Response is a masterclass in evidence-based leadership--showing how joy, resilience, and purpose are sparked in ways both timeless and urgently needed." - Valorie Burton, CEO of The Coaching and Positive Psychology (CaPP) Institute, and USA Today bestselling author of Rules of Resilience and Successful Women Think Differently
"The Black Church and many of its traditions are a crucial resource in our society for preparing generation after generation of America's top Black business leadership," asserts business consultant Smith (Yes Please!) in this insightful exploration. Smith surveyed 155 Black business leaders and found 76% attribute their professional skills and knowledge to growing up in the Black church. Combining her survey results with psychological research, Smith identifies 10 leadership skills commonly learned in the church, such as community organizing, public speaking, and resilience. She models these lessons through real-life stories, like that of former Dallas Mavericks CEO Cynt Marshall, who held ministry leadership roles as a teenager, which instilled in her a sense of duty and responsibility for her actions. When she later took the reins of a sports organization mired in workplace misconduct and dysfunction, she emphasized the importance of accountability, successfully overhauling HR policies and implementing zero-tolerance harassment standards. A chapter on collaboration is particularly illuminating; Smith draws parallels between church choirs and workplaces, explaining that the listening and blending of voices singers must do "to produce a collective, rich sound" is analogous to the emotional intelligence business leaders must tap into to create an effective team. Executives, religious or not, will find much of use here. - Publishers Weekly
The Black Church "prepared us for the boardroom," says Smith, through purpose and faith. It offers supportive community. It teaches the value in engaging stories and in speaking well to one's audience. Resilience is learned, including "decision-making, communications, agility, and emotional intelligence ..." Perseverance is another lesson, one that helps with many kinds of goal achievement. The Black Church teaches collaboration, accountability, social justice, innovation, and "economic empowerment." And if today's leaders are not paying attention, many of the lessons may be lost ...Fortunately, author L. Michelle Smith doesn't just sound the siren and leave it at that. At the end of each help-filled chapter, she includes brief takeaways that you might want to remember for further reference, and "coaching questions" to get the most out of what you learn and what you need to share. . . . For the business-minded, this is an unusual book that can be read by anyone, including non-Black Church-going readers. It might also be the eye-opener that young entrepreneurs need as a boost. If you're looking for leadership inspiration in a different kind of book, "Call and Response" shines.
- The Bookworm Sez