BOOK SUMMARY
Servant Leadership by John Wallace Whitehead
A void exists in our world today, one that is not limited to any race, creed, socioeconomic, political, or positional status. Broken homes, fractured families, low educational achievement, business failures, and ineffective churches and ministries are all the results of this void.
What’s missing is leadership. Specifically, servant leadership. What can be done about it?
First, we must understand that we are each leaders, and we are responsible for leading those who are following. The question then becomes, what kind of leader are we?
We are the sum of our experiences, and we need to realize those experiences have led us to repeat the same habits and make the same mistakes of those we have followed. Our parents, siblings, friends, coworkers, and mentors have all played a role in shaping who we are and how we currently lead those in our sphere of influence.
Regardless of whom we have followed to this point and how that has affected the way we lead, we can become a servant leader by following a model that has not only been proven over time but has transcended every cultural dynamic for the last two thousand years.
That model is the one lived out by Jesus of Nazareth. His servant leadership example is the most effective and transformational model in history and is readily available to us today.
Servant Leadership: Leading Today for a Better Tomorrow was written to impress upon people that no matter who you are or what you do, the model Jesus left to us can teach us to lead in a way that fills the void many of us have faced.
When we begin to care enough for those who follow us, we can change the trajectory of our world one person at a time. When we do, we will create a better tomorrow for everyone.
ABOUT AUTHOR
John Wallace Whitehead has long seen the need for a leader worth following. He believes, he might have avoided the pitfalls and trials in his early life had he been shown a better way.
His life has since transformed from dysfunction and self-absorption to one of longing and introspection, and he now desires to share what he has learned and help others find a better way.
John believes that leaders who are dedicated to seeing those in their spheres of influence achieve all they are capable of will make the entire world a better place, one person at a time.
For the past thirty years, John and his wife, Bonnie, have owned and managed JW Companies, specializing in fire sprinkler service and inspections, fire & security systems, and design services. JW Companies is located in West Palm Beach, Florida.
John recently resigned as the chairman of the board of trustees at Trinity College of Florida in the Newport Richey area, where he served for the past thirteen years. Since 2006, John has served as an interim pastor in the Palm Beach County area, and he is currently an associate pastor at Christ Fellowship in Palm Beach Gardens.
John’s first book, Where Is God in His Church?, was published in 2011 by WestBow Press.
John and his wife, Bonnie, have been married for thirty-eight years and have known each other since they were fourteen years old. The couple has two adult children, Lindsay and John P., and two grandsons, Ryder, age ten, and Easton, age seven. John and Bonnie live in West Palm Beach.
