FROM THE CO-EDITOR
Carlo Serrano, Ph.D.
Regent University
School of Business and Leadership

On behalf of Regent University's School of Business and Leadership and the editorial board of the Journal of Biblical Perspectives in Leadership, I thank you for supporting the journal.

This issue continues our mission of exploring, engaging, and extending the field of knowledge and understanding of the phenomenon of leadership as found within the contexts of the Hebrew and Christian scriptures. The growing conversation on emotional intelligence as central to effective leadership served as a catalyst for our latest issue.

Volume 1 of this issue includes articles examining

inclusion, emotional and social awareness, followership, leadership accountability, and diverse biblical perspectives on the major organizational leadership theories.

Special thanks to Daniel McBride for his hard work behind the scenes to bring this edition to publication. The JBPL is only possible with the guidance and leadership from our respected reviewers and the visionary support of Dr. Gomez and Dr. Winston at the Regent University School of Business and Leadership.

Grace and peace in the name of Jesus Christ.

Contemporary women's leadership development offers a significant opportunity to eradicate the glass cliff phenomenon and remove cultural prejudices against women in executive leadership. In response to the global financial crises, the predominately male executive leadership instituted a glass cliff failsafe to mask organizational ownership of VUCA circumstances. Many organizations view competitive advantages as stemming from leadership development, thus funding further investments. Between 2022 and 2026, PR Newswire expects 41 percent of the expected $18.59 billion increase in leadership development to originate from North America. This article reviews the impact of second-generation gender biases, emotional intelligence, inclusion, and identity in women's leadership from the biblical narrative of the Syrophoenician woman (Mark 7: 24-30), providing a glimpse of women's faith and leadership in the face of cultural opposition. In addition, the article explores how harmful cultural norms are eradicated through emotional intelligence and the removal of social barriers, employing inner texture-social rhetorical analysis. The glass cliff creates a self-fulfilling prophecy where the identity and communal skills (e.g., nurturing, democracy, and compassion) of women are deemed a lack in leadership, preferring what is generally garnered as male agentic qualities (e.g., assertiveness and competitiveness), thus producing an incongruent approach to leadership.

Keywords: Syrophoenician woman, glass cliff, identity, emotional intelligence, inner-texture analysis
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This single exploratory case study investigates Servant Leadership in a 21st century non-denominational Christian church. Specifically, it explores how one growing southeastern US church demonstrates 5 dimensions of Servant Leadership. Data sources include leaders' self-report and rater modified Executive Servant Leadership scales (ESLS), congregant focus groups, and archival data (documents/website) furnished by a church liaison. First, a historical background of Jesus, the Servant Leader role model Christians follow, is provided. Then the general context of the state of 21st century US churches, pastors, staff, and congregations in a post-COVID 19 environment is considered. The theoretical framework underpinning the study is delineated and current relevant servant leadership literature is surveyed. Next the research problem is explained, and the nature of the single case is defined. Research questions, methodology, and research design are outlined. Data collection and analysis are explained, research findings and plans for continuing investigation are discussed. Finally, the conceptual framework developed by the researcher during this process is briefly introduced.
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Organizational spirituality is the practice of fostering respectful pluralism that recognizes individual religious and spiritual needs and seeks to advance human flourishing and spiritual fulfillment. Emotional intelligence is the ability to monitor and assess feelings and emotions in oneself and others, and to use this information to guide cognition and behavior (Mayer & Salovey, 1990). Perhaps one of the most historic intersections of organizational spirituality and emotional intelligence was demonstrated by the Apostle Paul in I Corinthians 10:23-33. In this pericope, Paul addressed the topic of eating meat that had been sacrificed to idols. The purpose of this research study is to identify specific demonstrations of emotional intelligence in the organizational spirituality leadership of the Apostle Paul. Specifically, Paul's leadership is compared and contrasted with the four key subscales of emotional intelligence: self-awareness, self-regulation, social awareness, and relationship management (Goleman et al., 2002).

Keywords: Organizational Spirituality, Emotional Intelligence, Apostle Paul, Cross-Cultural Spirituality, Exegetical Analysis, Socio-Rhetorical Analysis
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The skills inherent in emotional intelligence are critical to human interactions (Lorber, 2015). According to Goleman (1998), leaders must exercise the five characteristics of "self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skill" to be successful (p. 94). For example, Oswald (2016) claimed that emotional intelligence was a prerequisite for pastors to succeed in ministry. This article is a hermeneutical study of emotional intelligence applied to The Apostle Peter and the ill-fated married couple, Ananias and Sapphira. The events surrounding the demise of this pair appear in Acts 5:1-11. Results indicated that Peter exercised emotional intelligence in his approach to the events in the pericope. The focus of this article is an exploration of emotional intelligence, views of the events surrounding the downfall of Ananias and Sapphira, and the connection of the three subjects to emotional intelligence as applicable to leadership today. Fortunately, with work, people can develop emotional intelligence (Goleman, 2020), so there is hope for those who recognize the need and apply themselves to the cure.

Keywords: Peter, self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy
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This paper examines servant leadership and how this model is utilized to develop self-awareness for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities within a higher education setting. The setting discussed is a university in the south with a total population of 43,000 students. Within this population is a select inclusive post-secondary education program of 50 students. This program focuses on the development of students in three specific areas, including academic attainment, social interaction, and career development. These areas are significant because they all add to the development of self-awareness. Servant leadership is the chosen model of self-awareness development utilized by the director and all staff members. Further, adjunctive elements, including empathy, unconditional positive regard, and genuineness, are utilized to provide support and hope.

Keywords: Servant Leadership, Non-Profit, University, Inclusion
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Much attention has been paid to emotion in biblical studies in recent years. A continuing group for the Society of Biblical Literature was formed in 2015 with the aim of "understanding the spectrum of emotions displayed throughout the Bible and their literary and cultural contexts, informed by the burgeoning cross-disciplinary study of emotion" that resulted in the publication of an essay collection from SBL Press in 2019. At the same time, there is a growing movement of scholarship interested in leveraging the findings in secular studies in psychology and leadership that focus on the concept of emotional intelligence (EQ) and applying it in religious disciplines. This article shows how a confluence of the two yields useful findings in regard to the use of emotion in Luke-Acts by examining how Luke redacts emotional depictions in Mark and uses emotion in the portrayals of characters and character groups throughout Luke-Acts.
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The study explores the issue of the timing of leader intervention. To investigate this problem, this exegetical study will examine the best timing for leader intervention in team leadership from a Christian worldview. Data was gathered and analyzed by conducting a Socio-Rhetorical Analysis of Luke 10:1-20. This study leads to an understanding of how Jesus demonstrated timely leadership intervention in the team-based leadership setting of his discipleship ministry. This passage provided insights on when a leader should intervene based on the responses of Jesus in specific situations, which are defined by the following themes: orientation (for example, level-setting, communicating vision), disorientation (for example, uncertainty, helplessness, apathy or indifference) reorientation (for instance, euphoria, resetting priorities, redefining vision, and equipping). These broad themes, which can be referred to as the seasons of human experience combined with the knowledge of team development stages and the use of emotional intelligence, will help team leaders, managers, and senior leaders identify triggers for timely intervention in the team leadership process as part of diagnoses, problem-solving, ongoing training, coaching, and the overall development of team leadership skills.

Keywords: Emotional, intelligence, intervention, leader, team, timing
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In Mark 10:46-52, the Destitute Disciple Narrative (DDN), blind beggar Bartimaeus, who lived in darkness, boldly disregarded the demands for silence from Christ's disciples and loudly begged for mercy. The divine Christ modeled a new form of interventional transformational leadership by teaching His followers to remain attentive to serving those in need even as they focused on their vision and journey. As Christ called him forward, Bartimaeus demonstrated unconditional faith in the Lord's intervention by throwing aside his blind beggar's protective cloak in exchange for a transformational new life of sight and discipleship to the Light of the World. Through the lens of social and cultural texture analysis of the DDN, exploring the impact of Christ's interventional transformational leadership on His previous disciples and new followers, the DDN provides examples leaders can follow and a new interventional transformational leadership approach for further study. Current leadership theory can expand to address St. Mark's DDN interventionist transformational leadership model that helped existing and new followers address current needs and discover what it means to be a disciple of core values, vision, and a righteous path forward.

Keywords: interventional transformational leadership, Bartimaeus, disciple, blind
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This research performed a Socio-rhetorical Inner Texture exegesis to assess the applicability of Biblical spirituality to Barrett's (1998) model of workplace consciousness. The significance of selecting pericopes from the book of Genesis (2:15-25 3:1-13) is that it is the beginning of life and should be a starting point for assessing workplace consciousness development. This study assessed the first four levels of Robbin's (1996) inner texture analysis, 1) repetitive, 2) progressive, 3) narrational, and 4) opening-middle-closing, and conducted a comparative analysis of Barrett's first four steps of personal consciousness, (a) survival, (b) belonging, (c) self-esteem, and (d) transition. The exegetical findings reinforced Barrett's workplace behaviors associated with achieving personal consciousness. This research presents a common application of religious and spiritual consciousness in Biblical text that can be used to provide theoretical support for creating programs and practices of spirituality and religion in the workplace as an effective strategy for improving ethical attitudes. Future research should include the exegesis of additional books from Genesis to assess the viability of Barrett's collective measurements of personal and corporate consciousness.

Keywords: Adam, Eve, Serpent, Spirituality, The Fall, Serpent, Transformation
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Leadership styles and methods greatly impact how groups function and their effectiveness. Group dynamics are also dependent on the application of the leader's style, meaning either individual, group, or organizationally centered. Leader-centered leaders can be characterized based on the active and imposing role of the leader over the group. Group-centered leaders, in contrast, may be identified by the promotion of group discussion and growth in which information is exchanged between members. This study will analyze 1 Corinthians 3:5-9 using socio-rhetorical analysis to identify the main message of the text and if there is a connection between it and group-centered leaders. Overall, church leaders should consider using group-centered leadership to promote unity and purity in their congregation through self-directed methods. This involves using a hands-off facilitating approach by enabling followers with the necessary tools for growth. Future research should be conducted to further the scope of group-centered leaders in Scripture.
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This paper considers the paradox of Christian leadership by suggesting that the Christian leader is a fellow follower with recognized responsibility. That the Christian leader is a fellow follower entails a democratized organizational structure where all members stand on equal footing. That the Christian leader has recognized responsibility, however, entails a certain level of hierarchical structure. Toward this end, trends in followership theory are considered and developed along with key Scriptural passages (e.g., 1 Tim 3:1-7; 1 Cor 11:1; Phil 2:5-11). For Christian leaders, the aim of this study is to offer a brief reflection that might stir our hearts to better appreciate Jesus Christ, who as our Leader exemplifies what it means to be a follower.

Keywords: Leadership, followership, paradox, responsibility
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Matthew presents his readers with a vastly different style of leadership than that exercised by the Roman Empire administration. His style also veers in a different direction from the aspirations of the Jewish people in the first century AD. As a refugee, Jesus comes from a humble background, but he has a strong moral vision. Thus, he interprets the Law and the Prophets more accurately than do the scribes and Pharisees. Love and justice are an essential aspect of his teaching. Having effectively fought the devil's traps seeking to undermine his moral character, Jesus teaches, inspires, and trains his disciples to transform them into the kind of leader he wants them to be. These new leaders will be ambassadors of the Gospel to Israel (Mt 10:4-24) and all nations (Mt 28:19). Using a socio-rhetorical approach, we thus examine how Jesus distinguishes himself as a leader. We focus on the Sermon on the Mount, examining how his disciples receive this discourse and how Jesus uses it to develop new leaders. Finally, we introduce the distinctive aspects of Jesus' understanding of leadership. We believe Matthew can provide a wealth of valuable insight into the concept of leadership from a biblical and Christian perspective.
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Leadership accountability is essential in building trust, leading ethically, influencing followers, and fostering positive organizational outcomes. Lack of accountability leads to adverse and long-lasting effects on leaders and stakeholders. Second Samuel 11-17 provides several illustrations of consequences derived from the absence of an effective leadership model in the life and reign of King David. An analysis of this section of Scripture offers applicable recommendations for development strategies for effective organizational leadership.
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