I’m a strong proponent of servant leadership. I’ve previously shared four reasons why I aspire to be a servant leader. You can read that article here.
I’ve read many books about leadership over the years, and several about servant leadership in particular. Below are 5 books on servant leadership, plus a bonus chapter, that I recommend you read if you would like to find out more about the topic.
Servant Leadership in Action: How You Can Achieve Great Relationships and Results edited by Ken Blanchard and Renee Broadwell
From the Amazon description:
“Servant leaders lead by serving their people, not by exalting themselves. This collection features forty-four renowned servant leadership experts and practitioners—prominent business executives, bestselling authors, and respected spiritual leaders—who offer advice and tools for implementing this proven, but for some still radical, leadership model.
Edited by legendary business author and lifelong servant leader Ken Blanchard and his longtime editor Renee Broadwell, this is the most comprehensive and wide-ranging guide ever published for what is, in every sense, a better way to lead.”
Here is my review of the book.
Dare to Serve: How to Drive Superior Results by Serving Others by Cheryl Bachelder
From the Amazon description:
“In this updated edition of Dare to Serve, former Popeyes CEO Cheryl Bachelder shows that leading by serving is a rigorous and tough-minded approach that yields the best results. The second edition of this bestselling book includes Bachelder’s post-Popeyes observations and new examples of how you can switch your leadership from self to serve. Ever engaging and inspirational, Bachelder takes you firsthand through the transformation of Popeyes and shows how anyone, at any level can become a Dare-to-Serve leader.”
Here is my review of the book.
The Serving Leader: Five Powerful Actions to Transform Your Team, Business, and Community by Ken Jennings and John Stahl-Wert
From the Amazon description:
“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.”
Here is my review of the book.
Here is my interview with the authors of The Serving Leader and an excerpt from the book.
Lead Like Jesus Revisited by Ken Blanchard, Phil Hodges and Phyliss Hendry
From the Amazon description:
“In this newly revised classic, renowned leadership expert Ken Blanchard along guides readers through the process of discovering how to lead like Jesus. It really could be described as the process of aligning two internal domains-the heart and the head; and two external domains—the hands and the habits. These four dimensions of leadership form the outline for this very practical and transformational book. With simple yet profound principles from the life of Jesus, and dozens of stories and leadership examples from his own life, Ken Blanchard will once again show us the way effective leaders lead.”
Here is my review and 35 great quotes from the book.
The Secret: What Great Leaders Know and Do by Ken Blanchard and Mark Miller
From the Amazon description:
“In this new edition of their classic business fable, Ken Blanchard and Mark Miller get at the heart of what makes a leader successful. Newly promoted but struggling young executive Debbie Brewster asks her mentor the one question she desperately needs answered: “What is the secret of great leaders?” His reply— “great leaders serve”—flummoxes her, but over time he reveals the five fundamental ways that leaders succeed through service.
The tenth anniversary edition includes a leadership self-assessment so readers can measure to what extent they lead by serving and where they can improve. The authors also have added answers to the most frequently asked questions about how to apply the SERVE model in the real world.”
Here is my review of the book and here are 20 great quotes from the book.
Bonus: Chapter 5 from The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You by John Maxwell
Not long ago I was reading John Maxwell’s classic book The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership with a mentee, something I’ve done a number of times over the past ten years. We came across Chapter 5: The Law of Addition, which states that leaders add value to others. This is perhaps my favorite of the laws. Here are 10 quotes on servant leadership from that chapter.
These are servant leadership resources that I’ve benefitted from. What books would you add to the list?
