Jim Morgan, Former President, Krispy Kreme
During my time at Krispy Kreme, I would have loved having Dr. Parrott’s Opportunity Leadership as a guidebook for our 2008–2016 corporate turnaround. We did not have the luxury of developing five-year plans . . . in the words of Dr. Parrott, we attempted to lead by “capturing opportunitiesrather than building plans.” To echo Dr. Parrott’s theme in this must-read book, I learned the following: If we bury our heads in planning, we are likely to miss the greatest of God’s opportunities! At last, someone has written a leadership book for both today and tomorrow!
Book Reviews
Shaunti Feldhahn
Social researcher; author of For Women Only and The Kindness Challenge
Opportunity Leadership is an exciting, paradigm-shifting book. It takes everything you ever learned in business school and turns it upside down. Kingdom work takes not only leadership acumen but the courage and faith to follow where God leads. Roger Parrott’s ability to inspire you, challenge you, and train you in a new way of thinking will impact your ministry and those you lead for years to come.
Haley Barbour
Governor of Mississippi, 2004–2012
Leaders must get out front and make decisions—especially during times of crisis, opportunity, challenge, or danger. Our decisions won’t always be right because we face forces beyond our control, but the most effective leaders don’t slow down or retreat. Instead, they learn to make adjustments without losing momentum. I’ve watched Roger lead Belhaven University with courage and decisiveness, and I am thankful he’s written a guide for others to follow through the storms of leadership.
John Perkins
Author of Let Justice Roll Down and He Calls Me Friend
This book is directing you to a level of inspirational leadership that you didn’t expect was possible. Incarnational thinking is coming to the end of what you know about something, and you receive the light of the knowledge of God to solve the problem. This book is adding a major leadership principle to our vision. I’m so thankful and encouraged by my dear friend Roger, and his book is something we need to listen to—this book is timely.
Michael Moe
Global Silicon Valley Founder/CEO; author of The Mission Corporation
Roger Parrott is one of the most impressive leaders I’ve ever met. And now he shares his unconventional insights to provide all of us a guide to be more impactful leaders for the kingdom. “The plan is that there is no plan” is not just a provocative philosophy, but Roger shows how he created one of the most innovative universities in the country with this approach. Read this important book and let the tailwinds of God’s sovereignty power your leadership strategy.
Makoto Fujimura
Artist; author of Art + Faith: A Theology of Making
Leadership is an art form that requires—especially in recent times full of disruptions—imagination, risk-taking, and intuition, to be guided toward enduring fruitfulness. Dr. Roger Parrott’s leadership vision has helped me to steward my giftings as an artist and a leader. Now we are fortunate to have his wisdom written on these pages as a guide to many perplexed by the complexity and fluidity of our times. This book about effective leadership in education and in business now resonates with an artist’s journey toward Making.
Tami Heim
President and CEO, Christian Leadership Alliance
With the speed of change, the days of crafting long-term strategic plans are rapidly evaporating. Leaders today have to remain nimble as navigating the unexpected is the new normal. Opportunity Leadership challenges leaders to abandon traditional planning practices to become leaders who seek God and are responsive to what He is directing and doing. If you need a breakthrough in your thinking, then this book is for you!
Sangram Vajre
Cofounder and Chief Evangelist of Terminus; Wall Street Journal bestselling author of MOVE
If you serve God and want to level-up your leadership planning into bigger opportunities, you immediately should read Opportunity Leadership. This is a refreshingly open and heart-driven book packed with so many great pieces of wisdom. Thanks for the inspiration, Roger! Looking forward to reading your next one! No pressure! BOOM!
Michael Oh
CEO, Lausanne Movement
Not only can I attest to the principles that Roger lays out for being ready for and responsive to God-given opportunities, I am also thankful for Roger playing a key part in that journey for me personally and with the Lausanne Movement. Leaders, young and old, will be blessed to take this teaching to heart. It is rooted in Scripture and proven experience.
Carmen LaBerge
Radio host; author of Speak the Truth: Bring God Back into the Conversation
Another leadership book? Not exactly. What Roger Parrott has done, through reflecting on his own experience of faithfully discerning which doors to open and walk through when God knocks with an opportunity, is offer us new language for how many of us lead and a master class in anticipating with joy the unexpected. Opportunity Leadership embraces the truth that we are called to walk by faith and lead by faith, yoked to Christ, trusting God, and setting aside our own strategic plans to labor in advancing God’s kingdom purposes always and in all ways. We recognize the fluidity and challenge of leading into a future of unchartered cultural territory. If you’re ready, Roger Parrott will help you get set and go.
Jenni Catron
Founder of The 4Sight Group; author of The Four Dimensions of Extraordinary Leadership
Opportunity Leadership is a must read for every leader! As someone who plans every waking minute of my day, I’ll admit I was a little skeptical of Dr. Parrott’s premise that we need to stop planning. But what Dr. Parrott provides is not another planning strategy repackaged, but rather a way of thinking and behaving as a leader. This book provides a guide for leading with clarity, especially when a long-range vision is unclear. It’s a mix of self-leadership, emotional intelligence, and values-based leadership that will be a refreshing read for every leader who has been exhausted by the demands of leadership.
Steve Douglass
President Emeritus, Cru
God can accomplish more in a short time than we can otherwise plan and implement over many years. I learned that from Bill Bright and have personally experienced it for decades. Roger Parrott has refined and led by that principle for during his many years as president of Belhaven University, and the results are stunning. In Opportunity Leadership, he challenges us to recognize and redeem the special opportunities God has prepared in advance for us to do (Eph. 2:10; 5:15–16).
Jordan Raynor
Executive Chairman of Threshold 360; author of Redeeming Your Time
Most leadership books are simply new ways of saying what has been said a hundred times before. Opportunity Leadership is an exception to that rule. The management philosophy Dr. Parrott advocates in this book is radically different from what most leaders are used to. The uniqueness of this message coupled with Dr. Parrott’s extraordinary results demand the attention of every Christian leader.
Jason Romano
Host of the Sports Spectrum Podcast; author The Uniform of Leadership
As someone who has studied leadership and been around some of the best leaders in sports, Dr. Parrott is the definition of a great leader. From starting a college football program from scratch to writing this amazing book, his voice is an important one for anyone who is looking to lead like Jesus. Go read this book now!
Billy Kim
Chairman, Far East Broadcasting Company – Korea
Vince Lombardi once said, “Leaders are made, they are not born.” I’ve had the chance to meet many leaders in my life, but Dr. Roger Parrott is one of the few “leader-makers.” His new book, Opportunity Leadership, is a MUST READ for all who aspire to leadership and will be a gift to all who take it to heart.
Bob Dukes
President, Worldwide Discipleship Association
Most Christian leadership books advocate corporate business approaches to inform and drive the process. They urge me to seize control of the future with bold plans and persuade staff and stakeholders to follow my lead. Very few urge me to trust God. Instead of being invigorated by the journey, I often just feel weary. Opportunity Leadership is different—Dr.. Parrott urges relinquishing control to discover the liberation of letting God take the lead, and watching Him work! I urge my colleagues in ministry leadership to unfurl the sails and embark on this journey with me! Read this book. And do it!
Leighton Ford
Author of Transforming Leadership
Working closely with him for thirty-five years, I have seen over and over that Roger Parrott believes what he teaches: God provides us with opportunity after opportunity—beyond our plans. He has lived this model of leadership—praying, trusting, and working hard in anticipation of God bringing opportunities. In this challenging book, you will gain a renewed call to trust God with your future!
Paul White
Author of 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace
Dr. Roger Parrott exhorts leaders to let go of the perceived control in our planning activities and instructs us in how to step out in faith, trusting that God can and will lead us as we watch for the opportunities around us.
Richard Stearns
President Emeritus, World Vision US; author of Lead Like It Matters to God and The Hole in Our Gospel
This is an incredibly important book that flies in the face of almost everything you’ve been taught about the importance of strategic planning. Roger Parrott wants you to forget for a moment all of the tedious and all-consuming planning that leadership gurus want you to do, and cut yourself loose to see and embrace the opportunities right in front of you. It has been said that sometimes “we can’t see the forest for the trees”—but it is also true that sometimes we can’t see the most important “trees” because we are obsessed by the forest. As the CEO of multiple organizations over my career, I can tell you that virtually all of my “breakthrough moments” had little to do with strategic planning and everything to do with looking, listening, and being available to the opportunities God had placed right in front of me. Do yourself a favor and read Opportunity Leadership.