By Dave Bremner, author of Images of Leadership: Biblical Portraits of Godly Leaders

The creation of Images of Leadership has been a journey of a “thousand” collaborators. Well, not quite a thousand, but so many it is impossible to count them all!

It has been a rich experience of interaction between a worldwide village of friends, coworkers and consultants who have contributed along the way. The concepts were first expressed through guided discussions on these topics in the leader development ministry we launched in our organization. We examined each image in the launch events of the leader-mentor cohorts (we like to refer to these cohorts as “Flights”) as the core of how we have chosen to frame leadership. During these discussions and debates, the concepts were honed and refined as each group examined case studies in light of each image. I wrote case studies built on experiences I had of leadership, but each study was a brief work fiction.

As we gained experience with the teaching method, some of the participants asked me to put the material in a transferable form so that they could refer back to it with greater depth. My first attempt at committing it to paper became the first draft of this book. It was received well and has been used by many. Then the idea surfaced to put the manuscript into an attractive and readable form that would have a more convincing and polished appearance. So, I set about trying to publish it.

Feedback from our closest coworkers helped improve the manuscript and flesh out the concepts. I cannot remember the number of people who read the initial draft. Each one added more value to it through their comments. Then I sent the manuscript to several key people asking for their edits. After each revision, I sent it out again for more comments.

A long list of precious friends and new-found consultants, living in countries in six continents, offered a raft of coaching and helpful professional advice. Our goal was to create a book that would be an asset to the Leader Development ministry, but we reasoned that if we could reach a standard acceptable to the wider public, it would not only add value to the final product but push me to clearer expression and a tighter focus. All along, I imagined I would self-publish and I planned the budget to that end.

I hired my son, Simon, to design the layout. Together we worked with a team of writers and communicators in our mission office to approve the final design. His classy style and gifted design capabilities fulfilled our desire to stitch the graphics and words together. When publishing a book about images, surely there should be images that communicate in tandem with the prose!

I gathered photos from a wide spectrum of sources, from close friends to searches for stock images. I wrote to a few photographers asking permission to use or to buy their work. We commissioned the photo for the cover and first chapter based on an idea from an image I had seen.

In the final stages of preparation, some kind person connected me to Oasis International. We had a few conversations and Oasis offered to publish it as a gift book. I really appreciated their commitment to specialize in “Satisfying Africa’s Thirst for God’s Word”. It has been a pleasure to work with the gentle and capable team in Oasis.

Although my name is on the cover of this book, it was created by a global village. None of the concepts are new. However, I have done my utmost to express them is in keeping with the ancient, yet current, message of the Word of God.


Do you have any questions about the creation of Images of Leadership? Dave would be happy to hear from you. Send him an email at imagesofleadership@gmail.com or connect with him on LinkedIn or Facebook.