Inspiration Book Project

Shaquanda Stephenson

Arizona State University

OGL 482: Module 2

October 31, 2023

 Introduction
A little over 10 years ago, a mentor gave me a novel by Frank E. Peretti to read that,
upon completion, would give me a multi-dimensional view of natural and spiritual
things, and build leadership concepts I was not looking for, which has directly
contributed to who I am and how I think. Frank E. Peretti, a Christian novelist, has
written several books, but the first I encountered was This Present Darkness, a novel
about a journalist and a small town pastor who uncover a deep dark plot in their
town. The book is full of twists and turns, exposing how people, angels, and demons
co-exist, and explaining in a strong vivid tone the effects each has on the other. It
seemed like every character in the novel was important because of how they
worked into each others story line; it was an inter-connectivity that proclaims how
important we all are to each other.

The most prominent of the focal characters was the ‘born-again’ pastor who had no
understanding of the dark sinister plot brewing from the dark realms of the spirit
world to the natural in his town, he would just pray what was in his heart. He did
not understand how valuable his prayers were and how purposeful his presence in
the town was planned out by the angelic side of the spirit realm. Throughout the
book, the pastor was tested, attacked, and afraid, but also inspiring. It is not clear if
my mentor meant this to be a leadership development book or not, but the words of
Peretti were connected to my destiny.

Leadership Lessons
In my opinion, the concept and execution of leadership is just as multi-dimensional
as the Peretti’s novel and the journey the pastor went through. According to the
Arizona State University College of Integrative Sciences and Arts, Organizational
Leadership program overview:
“The OGL degree takes an interdisciplinary approach to developing the whole
leader through the integration of leadership, teamwork, communication, ethics,
adaptability, and interpersonal skills” (Arizona State University, 2023).
Courses taken along the Organizational Leadership degree path have provided
assessment requirements with goals to draw out and identify traits and skills that
coincide with what the OGL degree approach is. A lot of those same traits were
found as Peretti developed the pastor’s character in his novel.

Lesson #1: Model The Way

One of Kouzes and Posner five practices of exemplary leadership is model the way.
Model the way works by creating clear values by finding your voice and affirming
values. (Kouzes & Posner, 2017). Throughout Peretti’s book, in various encounters,
obstacles, and a lot of prayer, the pastor learns more about himself, God, and his
purpose in the town. His purpose in the town does not become clear to him until
well into the book, but his development and influence happen simultaneously from
the very beginning. As he became clearer in who he was and his purpose, his
leadership and influence became stronger. This little man with no experience as a
pastor managed to rally an entire town together. In one scene, he is having a
meeting with the members of the congregation and he is honest with them about his
feelings and determination, and wanted to know if they would stand with him. To
his surprise, they agreed to help him on the mission to conquer the dark plan in the
city (Peretti, 2003). They connected with him because they all shared the same
values, wanted God’s plan to work, and he set an example before them. In my terms,
model the way means to be what you want others to mirror.

Lesson #2: Enable Others to Act

A second practice outlined in the book The Leadership Challenge is enabling others
to act occurs; it is accomplished by fostering collaboration through trust and
relationships. It is also when the leader is able to strengthen others through
increased self-determination and competence development (Kouzes & Posner,
2017). In the novel, the town people had all types of issues, some of them were
unbelief, which is why it was the perfect backdrop for a dark and evil plan. There
was no hope, belief in God from most people, and a lot of anger and hurt was among
them. Spiritually speaking, these created open doors for darkness to have a legal
right to come in and take over. The pastor’s prayers activated the angels assigned to
the people, the town, his church, and the pastor himself. His actions enabled the
elements around him to activate, mobilize, and work! This leadership lesson is
powerful in and of itself because when a leader accepts and moves forward with a
project, assignment, idea, etc., he/she mobilizes people who are waiting to take part
and even be inspired by them. This quote by Marianne Williamson in her book,
Return to Love, sums up what it means to enable others to act and directly relates to
what the pastor in the book did:
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are
powerful beyond measure. It is our light not our darkness that most frightens
us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does
not serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other
people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the
glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as
we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do
the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically
liberates others” (Williamson, 1993).

Lesson #3: Consistent Authenticity Always Wins

Consistent authenticity is a leadership lesson I learned through good and bad
examples of leadership I have witnessed in my life. The pastor in Peretti’s book was
also consistent, authentic, and he won in the end. There was a scene where the
character was praying at home because he felt something was wrong, he could feel
it, and all of a sudden, the demons started attacking him, and he found himself
fighting what seemed invisible, but was very real. The way Peretti describes the
scene, the pastor’s clothes were disheveled and he was afraid, out of breadth, trying
to figure out what happened! This was the characters most pivitol point in the book.
It led up to him meeting with the members of the congregation. He admitted to
being scared and not knowing exactly what to do, but he vocalized his trust in God.
Throughout the book, his character and transparency were consistent (Peretti,
2003). I feel that because of these traits, the people found it easy to follow him on
the mission to save their town from dark powers. He even inspired the other main
character, a non-believing journalist. In the end of the book, darkness was defeated,
God won the town over with this tiny little church, and the angels backed them up.

In Pro-Seminar I, I described the ethics, from the ethics framework, as the carpet on
the floor in human resources. Everything else sits on top of it. The ethical
community displayed in the book is most closely related to the caring framework.
Everything the pastor did was guided by compassion for God, himself, and the
people of the town. This framework considers the welfare of the stakeholders. In
This Present Darkness, the stakeholders were the town people.

Works Cited
Williamson, M. (1993). Return to Love. New York, NY, USA: Harper Trade.
Arizona State University. (2023). Organizational Leadership. Retrieved October 31,
2023, from ASU: College of Integrative Sciences and Arts:
https://cisa.asu.edu/ogl#:~:text=The%20OGL%20degree%20takes%20an,%2C
%20adaptability%2C%20and%20interpersonal%20skills.

Kouzes, J. E., & Posner, B. Z. (2017). The Leadership Challenge: How to Make
Extraordinary Things Happen in Organizations (6th Edition ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John
Wiley & Sons.

Peretti, F. E. (2003). This Present Darkness. Wheaton, Ill. : Crossway Books.