Shepherd Leadership

Today's professionals need reliable models to teach them how to become better leaders. In this remarkable book, leadership experts Blaine McCormick and David Davenport introduce us to a new kind of leader by offering a new image of leadership— the leader as shepherd.
Drawing on the wisdom of the timeless Twenty-Third Psalm, King David's psalm, the authors provide professionals with ancient wisdom for grappling with today's leadership challenges. Shepherd Leadership offers a much-needed lens through which to consider our own leadership as well as the leadership of those around us. This important book teaches us important lessons about leadership: we can be vigilant without being adversarial, we can serve without being passive, and we can guide without commanding. Shepherd Leadership offers a visionary new model for transforming leadership practices in both corporate and small business settings. This is whole-person leadership. It's not just a matter of thinking or doing things a certain way. It's a fully integrated life— a matter of head and hand and heart. It's a way of thinking and doing and being.

2. Shepherds Meet Needs 9

3. Shepherds Lead Immortals 19

4. Shepherds Lead on Right Paths 31

5. Shepherds Know the Valley 41

6. Shepherds Come Alongside 49

7. Shepherds Use the Right Tools 59

8. Shepherds Transform Conflict 69

9. Shepherds Remove Irritants 79

10. Shepherds Create Supply 89

11. Shepherds Share a Positive Vision 99

12. Shepherds Cultivate Loyalty 109

Epilogue: A Meditation for Leaders 119

Appendix: Twelve Versions of Psalm 23 127

References 141

Acknowledgments 143

The Authors 145

THE AUTHORS

Blaine McCormick is an award-winning professor at the Hankamer School of Business at Baylor University. He has appeared on CNN and ABC World News Tonight with Peter Jennings.

David Davenport is the former president of Pepperdine University and is currently distinguished professor of public policy and law at Pepperdine University. He writes a column for Scripps Howard News Service, and his writings have appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, and Christian Science Monitor.

THE LORDIS MY SHEPHERD, I SHALL NOT WANT.
HE MAKETH ME TO LIE DOWN IN GREEN PASTURES;
HE LEADETH ME BESIDE THE STILL WATERS;
HE RESTORETH MY SOUL.

Today’s professionals need reliable models to teach them how to become better leaders. In this remarkable book, leadership experts Blaine McCormick and David Davenport introduce us to a new kind of leader by offering a new image of leadership—the leader as shepherd.

Drawing on the wisdom of the timeless Twenty-Third Psalm, King David’s psalm, the authors provide professionals with ancient wisdom for grappling with today’s leadership challenges. Shepherd Leadership offers a much-needed lens through which to consider our own leadership as well as the leadership of those around us. This important book teaches us important lessons about leadership: we can be vigilant without being adversarial, we can serve without being passive, and we can guide without commanding. Shepherd Leadership offers a visionary new model for transforming leadership practices in both corporate and small business settings. This is whole-person leadership. It’s not just a matter of thinking or doing things a certain way. It's a fully integrated life—a matter of head and hand and heart. It’s a way of thinking and doing and being.

Blaine McCormick and David Davenport inspire leaders with a fresh interpretation of this familiar spiritual text, helping all to integrate their spiritual life with their working life through a unique blend of timeless wisdom and contemporary business leadership strategy. "What a joy to learn that David Davenport has placed his thoughts on paper! He has touched thousands with his teaching— may he and Blaine touch even more through this book."
— Max Lucado, bestselling author and pulpit minister, Oak Hills Church of Christ

"Providing fresh insight into one of the most cherished texts in the Bible, David Davenport and Blaine McCormick walk with us beside the "quiet waters" of our contemplation and embolden us for ethical, fearless, and transformational leadership."
— Andrew K. Benton, president, Pepperdine University

"Shepherd Leadership extracts spiritual insights from the writings of one who was anointed by God to lead, David. It makes a tremendous contribution, not to the 'science' of leadership but, far more significantly, to its heart and soul."
— Richard Stearns, president, World Vision United States

"Shepherd Leadership is remarkable for showing how timeless truths— from one of the most significant passages in the Bible— apply to the complexities of contemporary organizations. It's abundantly clear that when leaders accept the call to lead like a shepherd, not only is the organizational culture improved, but so is the bottom line."
— Ken Blanchard, coauthor of The One Minute Manager and The Servant Leader and cofounder of the Center for FaithWalk Leadership