The Way of the Shepherd: 7 Ancient Secrets to Managing Productive People
by Kevin Leman
How do you write a management book? Choose your metaphor and let the analogies unfold. Business books based on military organizations and leaders, sports teams and stellar athletes, and historical figures and events fill the shelf. Leman reaches back to a pastoral occupation to draw out modern lessons on leadership.
The author uses a story analogy: a business professor, who raises sheep on the side, mentoring a student by taking him out of the classroom and into the field, the grazing field. I’m not a fan of the story analogy approach as the story is often a weak vehicle to carry the meat of the message. The story in this book is not distracting but it is not engrossing either.
The leadership lessons are solid but will strike some readers as paternalistic as the shepherd-manager is the wise leader and the sheep-employees are foolish, blind, and directionless. If you can look past this there are extremely valuable lessons on engaging with employees and dealing with their personal and professional issues as it affects their work and their interrelationships with fellow workers. The attention to the employee needs, witnessed in popular shows like “Undercover Boss”, is the important lesson of this book. “Have a heart for your sheep” and “remember that great leadership isn’t just professional; it’s personal.” The section on knowing the SHAPE (Strengths, Heart, Attitude, Personality, and Experiences) of employees, I mean the flock, is good reading for any manager. The importance of addressing employee concerns and conflicts is something every manager needs.
It is an easy and short read with many valuable, though not unique, observations. Managers need to be reminded of these principles. A manager who feels disconnected from those who report to him and wants to mentor them, address good and bad behaviors, and learn to develop their talents will benefit from reading this book.
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Rhodes Davis 