It was one of those books in which the title challenged my thinking more than the book itself. It was an OK read but the authors really tried to say there was more to servant leadership, that leaders needed to be compassionate. The problem is, they then use the term "Servant Leader" more often than compassionate leader, and their entire summary was what "Servant Leaders do…"

Overall it was a good summary of Servant Leadership, though not a griping read.

Uppermost in the mind of a compassionate leader is the constant quest to know and understand the will of God, and to seek His wisdom and guidance. …

Effective leaders must be willing ti be in the state of constant learning. There is no relaxing or even plateauing.

Servant leaders are characterized by a thorough and ever expanding knowledge of God's Word. They use their biblical wisdom, and understand clearly the grace of God.

Pg 116

The challenge, if not just from the title, be a compassionate leader!

Here are some books I have read lately. I have been in catch up mode as I once again found myself with 9 books I had started reading.

The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Succeed - by Michael E. Gerber

Yeah, the narrative style does little for me, but the concept is a good one. He basically says most people start businesses because they are technically good at something (the book uses the example of making pies). Being technically good at making pies, doesn’t make you good at running a business.

My key lesson was the Turn Key Revolution which basically means you systemize everything and act like a franchise.  3 out of 5.

Boundaries: When to say Yes, When to Say No – by Henry Cloud
I actually thought I would enjoy this book far more than I did. I really enjoyed his writing style in “9 things you must do”. I found this book to be beneath me. I know that sounds arrogant, but I simply didn’t get much out of it. I believe in boundaries, but this book did little to expand the concept for me. 2 out of 5.

RULES OF THE RED RUBBER BALL - by Kevin Carroll
Read it on a plane flight from Hamilton to Christchurch. Easy read. I liked the fun layout. A great reminder to chase and live your dreams. 4 out of 5.

The Extraordinary Leader : Turning Good Managers into Great Leaders - by John H. Zenger
An interesting book that follows a similar vein to “Good to Great”, though not as compelling. The authors conduct a significant amount of research into what makes an extraordinary leader. It would appear that it comes down to those who work hard at developing one to two key strengths. Being good in every competence is less relevant than being stunning at one or two. 4 out of 5.

Confessions of a Reformission Rev.: Hard Lessons from an Emerging Missional Church – by Mark Driscoll
I powered through this awesome book. (it wasn’t one of my nine) Really enjoyed his writing style, candor, humour and passion. Recommend it for anyone wanting a different and freshing perspective on Post Modern Christianity. 5 out of 5.

This is a very easy book to read that gives you 24 concise lessons for becoming a successful Project Manager. It assumes the reader has some knowledge of project management and is relatively simplistic in its approach.

Nevertheless it is a worthwhile remind of the sort of things you should watch out for as a project manager, and applies equally to a business owner or other stakeholders.

A couple of good steps are “Transfer your lessons learnt” – If you do not structure your information so that others can actually apply the lessons you’ve learned, your organisation hasn’t really benefited.

And “Consider post project issues” – What happens after the project is often more important than the project.

Overall a simple book that I will use with those who fringe project management within agóge.

ISBN 978-0-07-148652-1 : Hardback : 99 pages

This is a fictional story based on the life of Caleb. Caleb is one of those names that you can glance over the in Old Testament amongst such huge names as Moses and Joshua.

Imagine being one of two men who thought they could enter the Promised Land. Then getting told to wait 40 years until you actually enter it because of the disobedience of the many.

It is a well written story and I think gives some great insights to how the people would have thought at the time.  I have often found it almost unbelievable that God rescued the people from Egypt and mere days later they want to return. This story handles some of those personal battles, similar to the battles we face today, really well.

This is the first of Francine’s books that I have read. I will definitively read more in the future.

This is the “untold story of the tragic 1979 Fastnet Race”. 15 people lost their lives in this race including 2 from the boat Grimalkin. Nick Ward was abandoned by 3 of his peers after being thought to dead. This is his story.

This storm was bigger than any of us or any race. Grimalkin and her crew were being crushed by this heavyweight bruiser. We were all suffering from the body blows, the knockout punches. Each time Grimalkin was pitched into a monster wave, we were violently flung about, thrown against a combination of wood, metal, fibreglass and each other – our heads, arms, hands, legs, chins, elbows, knees – virtually every part of our bodies hurt.

It is a mind blowing account of man against nature’s full fury. How they survived is beyond my comprehension.  Not his time I guess.

ISBN 978-0-7136-8522-0 : Paperback : 173 pages

I actually downloaded this book from audible.com and listened to it on the plane to Melbourne. I then brought the book and listened to it again.

Bill basically asks, what is it that you can’t stand? What is it that you are passionate about? What keeps you awake at night? He challenges you to seek out this ‘Holy discontent’ and pursue it with everything you have.

One of the examples he uses is a lady named Jude Goatley from NZ who now works in Africa with Brighthope. Jude and Karina have known each other for years. It was kind of strange to be listening to a book from US then hearing about a person you know and their Holy Discontent.

Anyway here is an unrelated excerpt:

Friends, when a leaders shoulders sag, everyone else's shoulders begin to sag too. If your shoulders are drooping, it won’t be long before you find everyone around you hunched over and beaten down. You hold tremendous responsibility in this regard, because when hope dies in a leader, the game ends and the cause is defeated. Please don’t let this happen to you!

This area of self leadership – the issue of keeping you energy high – is absolutely critical because everyone you lead, whether a friend, a child, an employee, takes their cue from you.

The good news is this: When you charge toward your holy discontent with boundless passion, optimism and energy, you become the very best kind of contagious! It’s positive magnetic living in its purest form.

Lesson: I think it is apathy. By that I mean I think my discontent is linked to it in some way. Maybe it is indifference. Watch and see, I am working on it.

This book is simply a timely reminder about the importance of sticking through something to become the best in the world, or about quitting. Here is a great excerpt:

Hannah Smith is a very lucky woman. She's a law clerk at the Supreme Court. She's the best in the world.

Last year, more than forty-two thousand people graduated from law school in the United States. And thirty-seven of them were awarded Supreme Court clerkships.

Those thirty-seven people are essentially guaranteed a job for life after they finish their year with the Court. Top law firms routinely pay a signing bonus of $200,000 or more to any clerk they are able to hire. Clerks go on to become partners, judges, and senators.

There are two things worth noting here. The first is that Hannah Smith isn't lucky at all. She's smart and focused and incredibly hardworking.

And the second thing? That any one of the forty-two thousand people who graduated from law school last year could have had Hannah's job. Except they didn't. Not because they weren't smart enough or because they came from the wrong family. No, the reason that most of them didn't have a chance is that somewhere along the way they quit. They didn't quit high school or college or law school. Instead, they quit in their quest to be the best in the world because the cost just seemed too high.

This is a very short book about a very important topic: quitting. Believe it or not, quitting is often a great strategy, a smart way to manage your life and your career. Sometimes, though, quitting is exactly the wrong thing to do. It turns out that there's a pretty simple way to tell the difference.

In addition to being smart and focused and incredibly hardworking, Hannah Smith is also a quitter. In order to get as far as she's gotten, she's quit countless other pursuits. You really can't try to do everything, especially if you intend to be the best in the world.

Before we start on the quitting, though, you probably need to be sold on why being the best in the world matters so much.

Lesson: If I want to be the best in the world it means quitting a heap of things that wont get us there and working really hard on the things that will.