The Servant: A Simple Story About the True Essence of Leadership

If you read only one book on leadership... ...please, don't choose this one.

Derivative, ham-fisted and dumbed down beyond the point of obvious, Hunter takes the childish simplicity of something like Blanchard's didacticism and bafflingly makes it even more banal. And he's blind to his flaws. Tell me what's wrong with this, Hunter's introduction to the cast of caricatures...uh, characters...he'll use to hammer...uh, illustrate...his points:

The teacher asked the six of us to introduce ourselves with a brief bio along with our reasons for attending the retreat.

My roommate - Lee, the preacher - introduced himself first, followed by Greg, a young and rather cocky drill sergeant from the U.S. Army. Theresa, a Hispanic public school principal

show more

from downstate spoke next, and then Chris, a tall, attractive, black woman who coached women's basketball at Michigan State University. A woman named Kim introduced herself ahead of me and started telling us about herself but I wasn't listening. I was too busy thinking about what I would say about myself when it was my turn to speak.

Apart from the stereotypes (emphasized from start to finish...the drill sergeant and preacher go at each other a lot, by irritatingly overdone design), anything else? No? I'll come back to that. Peppered throughout his parabolical tale, Hunter ... reveals...the obvious, cloaked in pseudo-wisdom ("The key then to leadership is accomplishing the tasks at hand while building relationships." - his italics) And then blather like "Our unconscious mind and the dreams it gives us has untold riches that we are only beginning to understand."

Hunter didn't even have the decency to acknowledge Ross Perot when poaching Perot's quote on management, people, and inventories. Or Noel Burch for the four stages of competence. Or...

There's nothing wrong with rewriting old stuff by others into a new story...but at least give credit. Now, as with most of these hackneyed parables on which I rant, I can allow that there are nuggets to extract and add to your toolbox, or at least remind you of some of the tools you already have (more reminder than teacher, this one)...

...but you have to wade through the peat and sift the muck to find the treasures. Fortunately, applying a modicum of intellect will help the baby seals escape the clubbing Canadians and the discerning readers can sidestep the drivel.

And finally, at risk of offending for such an obvious observation, why did Hunter need to apply the sexist "attractive" to the tall black woman (who was a ... basketball coach)?

1.5 stars, rounded up show less

show more 約翰．達利看似一位事業成功的高階主管，卻正面臨對自身領導能力的考驗。無論擔當上司、丈夫、父親或教練等不同的生活角色，於公於私，竟只落得失職的評價！為了探究問題所在，重拾往日風采，約翰無奈地前往一所僻靜的修道院，參加為期一週的領導課程。出乎意料的是，負責課程的僧人居然曾是叱吒華爾街的風雲大亨！在講師的諄諄引導下，他豁然悟出既簡單又深遠的基本理論：領導的基礎不在權力，而在授權；領導是以人際關係、關懷、服務與奉獻為出發點的。
　　主角約翰所經歷的學習過程，傳遞出書中的主旨：真正的領導，無關才能高下，亦無須新穎的複雜理論，而是扎根在日常的生活裡，從尊重、負責與體貼他人開始。無論何時何地，人人都可以身體力行。這本書利用引人入勝的小說情節，娓娓傳達永恆至真的領導意義。 show less

Not a particularly good book on leadership. I think it was in my queue because some other book had been espousing the benefits of "servant leadership", which as a concept is decent, but this is just not a very good book. It's told in a very heavy-handed story form (setting: a class on leadership at a monastery!), is essentially all cliche, no realistic examples of anything worthwhile, and generally poor to mediocre throughout. Skip.

A must read for all!!!!

Leadership is more about your character and your ability to both lead your own life and have an influence on others who cross your path, than it ever could be about titles or positions.

This book is not only uplifting, inspiring, and empowering, but FULL of quotes and "soundbites" to fill your life with as you move forward.

4.7 Leadership is choosing behaviors exhibiting agape love for others to meet their needs. Enjoyed this - made some good, actionable notes.

Pendente

"Um livro fascinante que você não vai conseguir largar. O Monge e o Executivo contém tesouros que irão transformar a sua vida." – Joe Weller, ex-presidente da Nestlé americana

Você está convidado a juntar-se a um grupo que durante uma semana vai estudar com um dos maiores especialistas em liderança dos Estados Unidos.

Leonard Hoffman, um famoso empresário que abandonou sua brilhante carreira para se tornar monge em um mosteiro beneditino, é o personagem central desta envolvente história criada por James C. Hunter para ensinar de forma clara e agradável os princípios fundamentais dos verdadeiros líderes.

Se você tem dificuldade em fazer com que sua equipe dê o melhor de si no trabalho e gostaria de se relacionar melhor com show more sua família e seus amigos, vai encontrar neste livro personagens, ideias e discussões que vão abrir um novo horizonte em sua forma de lidar com os outros.

É impossível ler esse livro sem sair transformado. O monge e o executivo é, sobretudo, uma lição sobre como se tornar uma pessoa melhor. show less