I had already heard Andy Crouch speak several times and read a few of his other books when I came across the little red book Strong and Weak. Crouch is clearly brilliant, an effective communicator, and someone with a lot of credibility in various environments many Christians do not walk. I respected Crouch before I read this book.
But Strong and Weak made me a raving fan of Crouch. The book is perhaps not as ambitious as others he’s written, but it is compelling and sticks with you for so long, with its short and simple approach. In this book Crouch found a way to make a core leadership concept so portable and memorable that it stands head and shoulders above most other leadership books I’ve ever read but for a handful.
I’m not alone, a few others I’ve gifted the book to have decided to keep a whole stock on hand to give to others like I do–because it’s just the perfect little gift book that later on people thank you for giving them.
Why?
“Leadership begins the moment you are more concerned about others’ flourishing than you are about your own.” This is the core idea of Strong and Weak by Andy Crouch
He explains how this plays out with a four quadrant diagram that displays the two main elements of flourishing leadership: authority and vulnerability:
Those without authority and vulnerability are withdrawing, those with only authority and without vulnerability are exploiting, those with vulnerability and no authority are suffering, and those who have both are flourishing, and cause the flourishing of those around them.
This simple thought is spun like a prism throughout the book, exploring each of the 4 quadrants in depth and helping a leader learn how they might be unbalanced in one way or the others. It has helped change my perspective on so many other leadership books, which often help a leader exercise authority more effectively (which is needed) but fail to help them access their own vulnerability.
And of course without being heavy-handed with it (for those who might not be believers) Crouch helps point us to the ultimate example of flourishing in the one who exercised both authority and vulnerability perfectly, Jesus Christ:
“We see Jesus’ authority and vulnerability come together in the most astonishing way in the scene we call the transfiguration… [Elijah and Moses] speak not about Jesus’ power, but about his impending condemnation and crucifixion. What is revealed is not authority alone, but authority with vulnerability. Power with self-denial, divinity with humanity–unconquerable life and imminent death… [likewise] we are called to risk hidden vulnerability, finding a way to bear authority without becoming an idol or tyrant.” -Andy Crouch, Strong and Weak p139-141
