![Servant Leadership [25th Anniversary Edition]: A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness: The Eucharist as](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41VlHePYnPL._AC_UL140_SR140,140_.jpg)
What makes a great leader? What are the skill sets and traits of great leaders?
Burns investigates the interplay of biological, powerful psychological, sociological, and environmental factors and categorizes leadership into transactional and/or transformative. He uses historical events and the traits of notable leaders to demonstrate great leadership and its effect on political and societal evolution. The Impact of the development of government polity in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries In England and later in America was enormous.
Burns writes that leadership is a collective event between leader and follower. He purports it is essential for a leader to be led by his followers to be enabled to discern the needs and wants and aspirations and motives of his followers. A good leader is a persuasive teacher with purpose transforming his/her followers to elevated goals and thus creating a better world. Conflict is the galvanizing force in forming leaders and followers motives, purposes and goals. Burns draws on Machiavelli’s The Prince describing the convoluted Leader, the power wielder inherent in transactional leading and contradicting the transformative powers a good leader projects that can benefit and lead mankind to a better existence.
Burns states that the primary theme of his book is the elevation of man and his environment through transformative leadership. Transforming leadership, as opposed to the more or less simple narrowly circumscribed exchange methods of transactional leadership, has wide moral implications and effects.
I recommend this book as a must read not only for those aspiring to leadership but for the general public to gain insight into what embodies good leadership presented here with a masterful collection of observations research, and scholarly input and history. It is engaging. A wonderful enlightening read improving ones assessment of leaders, knowledge of American polity and a better judgement for choosing leaders. Globalization mandates social change everyone should be intellectually prepared.
Looking at the current leadership of the Untied States, I think Burns would agree America today, 2019, is under a regime of greed, big business, destruction and an amoral corrupt leadership of power wielders. Power Wielders not Transformers. America in decent not ascent! Hatred, division reign. America under siege by traitors, ignorance, and corruption bent on destroying democracy and rewriting the constitution to establish an authoritarian oligarchic plutocracy. The insidious Koch brothers stand in relief (as of this writing David has died hopefully on his way to perdition!). This despicable regime is guilty of accepting the assistance of foreign interest namely Russia an adversary of American democracy to win the election. The majority of Americans do not want this regime nor its president nor the leader of the senate. The supporters of this president are either the uneducated and the ignorant or wealthy greed. When education is kept out of reach to most citizens because of cost ignorance rises. To quote President Theodore Roosevelt, “Big Business will be the ruination of this country.”
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A thought provoking classic
Although I purchased this book because it was required reading for a Doctoral program (Ed.D in Educational Leadership with a focus on Transformative Leadership, in particular) it is by no means simply a "text book".It is an interesting read that covers countless types of leaders and theories on leadership in general. It is insightful and thought provoking, and the fact that many consider it a classic is no surprise to me.I am pleased that it was required reading, as I am unsure if I would have purchased it otherwise. As someone who is fascinated by human interaction, and society as a whole, I have become more interested in how leadership plays into that with each chapter I complete.
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Reviewed in the United States on August 30, 2019
Reviewed in the United States on November 23, 2005
Reviewed in the United States on September 10, 2016
Although I purchased this book because it was required reading for a Doctoral program (Ed.D in Educational Leadership with a focus on Transformative Leadership, in particular) it is by no means simply a "text book".
It is an interesting read that covers countless types of leaders and theories on leadership in general. It is insightful and thought provoking, and the fact that many consider it a classic is no surprise to me.
I am pleased that it was required reading, as I am unsure if I would have purchased it otherwise. As someone who is fascinated by human interaction, and society as a whole, I have become more interested in how leadership plays into that with each chapter I complete.
It is an interesting read that covers countless types of leaders and theories on leadership in general. It is insightful and thought provoking, and the fact that many consider it a classic is no surprise to me.
I am pleased that it was required reading, as I am unsure if I would have purchased it otherwise. As someone who is fascinated by human interaction, and society as a whole, I have become more interested in how leadership plays into that with each chapter I complete.
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Top reviews from other countries
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An influential author who continues to remain current
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 12, 2015