John Stahl-Wert - Serving leaders

I am thrilled to have Ken Jennings and John Stahl-Wert’s excellent book, The Serving Leader, as a part of the Ken Blanchard Series. This book will challenge you to lead differently. I believe it will also cause you to want to live your life differently. It presents so beautifully the simple truths that uplift the value of people.

That Ken Jennings and John Stahl-Wert would write this book together is a testament to the surprising nature of the book. On the surface, Ken and John could hardly be more different. Ken is a hypervelocity management consultant in constant motion between multiple corporations. John is an inner-city leader who generally stays put to work with his diverse partners creating extraordinary results for the people of one city.

But together they have crafted a singular message for leaders in businesses, communities, churches, and nonprofit organizations. From two very different life paths has come a unified vision of leadership and an understanding of human change that will make a lifelong difference for you and the people you lead and serve.

What sets this book apart most of all is the beauty and quality of the storytelling. Ken and John have brought us a moving story that you will not want to put down. An estranged son, his dying father, and a wonderfully diverse group of innovative leaders in business, volunteer organizations, and civic groups work together to grasp and illustrate the basic daily actions that make a Serving Leader.

While The Serving Leader is presented as a work of fiction, the leaders and organizations Ken and John depict are based on real situations, and the results that are described match the incredible results being achieved in real businesses and communities. At the end of the book, the authors introduce us to some of these real-life leadership miracle stories.

On one level, The Serving Leader is the most practical guide available to implementing servant leadership in your life and work. On a deeper level, it is a book about the journey of growth that every great leader must be willing to take.

It gives me a special satisfaction to introduce you to the beautiful and life-challenging work of two of my good friends. Enjoy this book and be encouraged. You were born to make a difference!

This is a story about leadership: leadership in teams, businesses, and communities. It is also a story about personal growth and how good leaders become great leaders through their willingness to face and be changed by the greatest challenges of their lives.

The story comes out of our friendship with Mike Wilson. Mike is a man we both know well. He shows up everywhere in the businesses and neighborhoods we serve. The circumstances of place and vocation vary, but Mike is always there. As a leader, he’s professionally talented and highly motivated to successfully reach his business and financial goals.