The Servant Leader

The Servant Leader, by Ken Blanchard and Phil Hodges, is a beautifully-designed book from J. Countryman, a division of Thomas Nelson. Its 125 pages, richly illustrated, offer an easily digested overview of the authors' themes of servant leadership and situational leadership. It is obvious from the design that this book is not intended, like many leadership books, to be plowed through and underlined and annotated; it is more conducive to thoughtful meditation over a longer period of digestion.

While parts of the book (such as the couple pages on solitude and prayer) are more basic than I'd like, there are still some helpful insights and welcome reminders for any leader, whatever his or her level of accomplishment or spirituality. I found especially helpful the authors' list of seven reactions people have to change, and the tactics leaders can employ to ease the pain of change. The book also offers a useful introduction to Blanchard's Situational Leadership concept.

If you're looking for depth or have already read numerous Blanchard books, look elsewhere. If you haven't yet read much of Ken Blanchard's work, or if you're looking for a devotional approach to the topic of servant leadership (or a perfect gift for someone in leadership), you'll love The Servant Leader.

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