Ever have a week where you’d like a “reboot” button? Several members of our team – for personal or professional reasons – could probably have used one of those this week. However, sometimes it’s only within the difficulties that we find a hidden strength, an opportunity for growth, or some much needed perspective.
On one particularly stressful day my perspective came from one of our favorite authors, Ken Blanchard (who also happens to have written the foreword to the book we’re launching this week)…
We are here to serve, not to be served. All of us can make a positive contribution by the moment to moment decisions we make with others. {Ken Blanchard}
On difficult days, during those times of tough decision making, when everything you do seems to be wrong, it’s important to remember to take it moment by moment. By keeping the focus on serving others and doing what we can to make positive contributions, we can make a difference – at home, at work, in our families, communities, and world.
Speaking of service… today is the final day of launch week for The Serving Leader – are you ready to meet the authors?
Meet Ken Jennings and John Stahl-Wert
Kenneth R. Jennings is a best-selling author, speaker and active consultant in organizational leadership. Ken counsels senior leadership teams at many healthcare, technology, pharmaceutical, and biotechnology organizations.
He advises healthcare and integrated delivery systems on mission-critical projects while helping them build leadership skills. Ken has most recently worked at The Cleveland Clinic, Johns Hopkins University, Accenture, Fresenius Medical Care, Texas Health Resources, and Intermountain Healthcare.
The heart of his leadership philosophy is “putting servant leadership to work.” With his partner and wife, Heather Hyde, Ken founded Third River Partners, which provides leadership development and change management services, while helping leaders adopt a serving others approach.
John Stahl-Wert is a best-selling author, speaker, and expert in growing great leaders. He touches the hearts of thousands of people from around the world through his highly praised books, keynote addresses, collaborative workshops, and work helping organizations bring out the very best in their people.
John serves as president of Newton Institute and director of its Center for Serving Leadership, providing services that enable individual, organizational, and community transformation based on the five actions in The Serving Leader. His passion is to build a worldwide community of serving leader practitioners.
John is co-author of Ten Thousand Horses; The Serving Leader for the People of God; author of With: A True Story; and author of a weekly blog on serving leader principles.
Connect Online
The first place you’ll want to visit is book website: theservingleader.com. After you’ve browsed the website and sent out a tweet or share graphic (because the promotion doesn’t have to end today!), then go connect with them on Twitter (Ken) (John), Facebook (Ken) (John), and LinkedIn (Ken) (John).
Did you miss it? Watch The Serving Leader Webinar Now!
About the Book
{From Amazon} The Serving Leader Five Powerful Actions to Transform Your Team, Business, and Community, 10th Anniversary Edition, Revised and Expanded. It’s people who make organizations great, so how can leaders best help their people achieve that greatness? As Ken Jennings and John Stahl-Wert show in this new edition of their bestseller, you can’t just demand greatness—you have to inspire it. The most effective leaders don’t just stand in front of their people, they stand behind them too. As one of the characters in the book notes, “You qualify to be first by putting other people first.” This concept sounds paradoxical, but it leads to extraordinary outcomes—and The Serving Leader shows precisely how and why.
While Jennings and Stahl-Wert use a compelling fictional story to outline the basics of Serving Leadership, all the characters in it are based on real people, the organizations depicted are based on real organizations—and the results they achieved are what really happened. This edition features a new foreword by Ken Blanchard, a new introduction, and a new chapter checking back in with Mike, the main character, to see what he has learned in the twelve years since he embraced Serving Leadership
On one level this is the most practical guide available to implementing Serving Leadership; on a deeper level, it is a book about the personal journey of growth that real leadership requires. Great organizations are great because they’re filled with people who freely choose to do their very best. It’s a maddeningly simple concept yet stunningly hard to execute. Jennings and Stahl-Wert show leaders how to earn that kind of commitment.
Check out what some of our Buzz Builders have to say about The Serving Leader…
- “If highlighting is any indicator of the importance of what can be learned from this volume, this is a masterpiece. You should see all the yellow lines and margin notes.” {Read the rest of Jane Anderson’s review on BC360°}
- “Making the transformation to Serving Leadership, then living it for a decade provides some insights that were not as vividly clear ten years ago.” {Larry Coppenrath offers this insight – and more – in his Amazon review}
- “I highly recommend this book, which would be a good one to read and discuss with your leadership team or those you are mentoring.” {See what else Bill Pence shares in his review on Coram Deo}
- “All leaders should read this book.” {Short, sweet, and too the point – see the rest of Dr. Byron Ernest’s review on Goodreads}
- COMING UP! Join Dan Forbes, Ken Jennings, and John Stahl-Wert for a LIVE #LeadWithGiants BLAB on February 11 at 1 pm (ET)! {Bookmark THIS LINK}
If the reviews and book excerpts capture your attention, pick up a copy of the book to read for yourself – and don’t forget to let us know if YOU write a review!
Find The Serving Leader Online
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | 800 CEORead | Books-A-Million | Hudson Booksellers | Berrett-Koehler Publishers
Thanks to our team for helping us spread the buzz this week… and beyond!
Carrie Koens joined the Weaving Influence team in May 2012 and has held a number of roles, including three years as the Book Launch Director (a title she stepped away from in June 2016 in order to focus on the needs of her growing family), and she currently serves the team as a Writer and Consultant. An INTJ with a penchant for culture, book stores, Parisian cafés, Indian curry, British mystery shows, and her passport, you can find her on Twitter @CGKoens.