At a time of increasing concern about ethics at the top, The Serving Leader makes the case for an approach to leadership that is both more moral and more effective than the ruthless, anything-for-the-bottom-line approach that has brought disgrace-and often ruin- to many once-mighty organizations. ''Serving leaders'' lead by serving others, not by using them. As one of the characters in the book notes, ''A leader qualifies to be first by putting other people first.'' It sounds paradoxical, but it works-and The Serving Leader shows precisely how and why.

While :Ken Jennings and John Stahl-Wert use a parable to outline the basics of servant leadership, all the people in it are based on real people, the organizations depicted are based on real organizations-and the results they achieved are what really happened. On one level :The Serving Leader :is the most practical guide available to implementing servant leadership: on a deeper level, it is a book about the personal journey of growth that real leadership requires.

This 2nd edition features a new foreword by Ken Blanchard, a new introduction by the authors, and a new chapter checking back in with Mike, the main character, to see what he has learned 12 years after he embraced servant leadership.