The Way of the Shepherd: 7 Ancient Secrets to Managing Productive People [Hardcover]

Kevin Leman (Author), William Pentak (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 20, 2004

Find inspiration and a fresh perspective on the art of leadership in this account of a cub reporter who lands the interview of a lifetime and walks away with the keys to exceptional leadership. When the reporter meets with the most respected CEO in America, the businessman shares the seven secrets he learned long ago from his mentor---an eccentric but brilliant professor who taught him proven management principles that, while ancient in origin, are applicable in today's fast-paced, high-tech world. The Way of the Shepherd is a compact, heart-warming story dotted with humor. It will teach you how to lead the people close to you so they will view their work as a calling rather than merely a job, a place to belong rather than a place to work. It shows leaders how to infuse work with meaning and how to engage, energize, and ignite their workforce and gives employees a better understanding of what makes for a quality work experience. It is a powerful metaphor for leaders that reaches back 5,000 years. It is . . . The Way of the Shepherd.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The contrivance of this leadership handbook is a story-within-a-story: when a newbie business reporter snags an interview with a powerful CEO, the businessman takes the journalist under his wing and reveals the seven secrets he learned from his own mentor many years ago. These "secrets" turn out to be the very same principles that drive other leadership books: respect your employees and they will follow you; know their hopes and personalities; instill a sense of group identification and trust; give 100% from the heart at all times. What’s unique about this leadership manual is its view that "people are a lot like sheep," leading to an overarching sheep metaphor that drives the entire book. In the chapter on direction, for example, the mentor urges shepherd-managers to lead with gentle nudges of the staff before employing the heavy-handed, painful prodding of the rod. The chapter on company identification talks about the need for "tagging" the sheep so they are instantly recognizable as a cohesive flock. And who knew that the phrase "pull the wool over his eyes" originated in actual shepherding techniques?
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From the Back Cover

Find inspiration and a fresh perspective on the art of leadership in this account of a cub reporter who lands the interview of a lifetime and walks away with the keys to exceptional leadership. When the reporter meets with the most respected CEO in America, the businessman shares the seven secrets he learned long ago from his mentor—an eccentric but brilliant professor who taught him proven management principles that, while ancient in origin, are applicable in today’s fast-paced, high-tech world.

The Way of the Shepherd is a compact, heart-warming story dotted with humor. It will teach you how to lead the people close to you so they will view their work as a calling rather than merely a job, a place to belong rather than a place to work. It shows leaders how to infuse work with meaning and how to engage, energize, and ignite their workforce and gives employees a better understanding of what makes for a quality work experience.

It is a powerful metaphor for leaders that reaches back 5,000 years. It is . . . The Way of the Shepherd.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: Zondervan (July 20, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0310250978
• ISBN-13: 978-0310250975
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 5.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #15,419 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #78 in Books > Business & Investing > Industries & Professions > Human Resources & Personnel Management

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best books of the year, October 14, 2004

By 

Harold McFarland (Florida) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Way of the Shepherd: 7 Ancient Secrets to Managing Productive People (Hardcover)

More than just another management book, The Way of the Shepherd relates sound people management practices to shepherding. Basically it takes seven of the most important principles of shepherding and relates them to managing productive people who want to work for you. The seven principles are each set in their own chapter and covered in detail. of Know the Condition of Your Flock, Discover the Shape of Your Sheep, Help Your Sheep Identify with You, Make Your Pasture a Safe Place, The Staff of Direction, The Rod of Correction, The Heart of the Shepherd.

Basically by explaining various important aspects of good shepherding the authors provide solid object lessons in managing people. Each chapter ends with a short synopsis of the major points. There is a lot of wisdom concentrated in these seven principles and I found myself printing them out on a small card that I can carry with me. The Way of the Shepherd is a highly recommended purchase and can be applied to many different kings of "flocks" - family, church, service groups, or any other group you care about.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rational Retention, October 7, 2004

By 

James A. Johns "Jim" (Columbia, MD) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Way of the Shepherd: 7 Ancient Secrets to Managing Productive People (Hardcover)

One of a manager's primary challenges is to maintain the talent that you have recruited, trained and made personal and corporate investment in development. You don't want this talent to walk or move to a competitor. We invest money in maintaining and upgrading our capital investments regularly. Way of the Shepherd tells you how to make human investment.

Pentak and Leman take lessons from an experienced shepherd, and translate good practice into human resource management. They take you through Management 101 to Human Resource Development at the post-graduate level in simple, but deep lessons about management's role in personnel maintenance.

Take a weekend and go to shepherding school, or take this on your next business flight and you'll have the tools to re-ignite your committment to your staff, from your stars to you marginal performers. It's an investment of time that will pay returns after each chapter, from knowing your sheep to making a safe pasture to providing correction and direction.

This is the best human resource management book I have ever read. It's insightful and practical. I am recommending it to my management team and to my boss. It will contribute to reaching our department goal - being the best place to work.
Jim Johns

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Memorize This Story, August 23, 2004

By 

J. Brown, Sales Manager (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Way of the Shepherd: 7 Ancient Secrets to Managing Productive People (Hardcover)

I read the book this weekend and thought it was great. I believe that the book has captured the essence of the vacuum we find in the business world today. Anyone aspiring to a position of leadership should commit the story and the principles to memory.

I'm thinking about reading it to my boys. Even though they are younger the story will captivate their minds and present me with the opportunity to discuss the underlying principles that the Way of the Shepherd communicates.