Book: The Servant: A Simple Story about the True Essence of Leadership by James C. Hunter. Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.

This book was a big hit in Brazil for a while and of course, I heard about it in the past. I’m a bit skeptical about books that became a hit, so I didn’t pick this one. My sister asked me to buy this book for her as a gift and I decided to buy one for me too so we could discuss it.

This book chooses to give some good advice by having some fiction narrative. Now I can see why it was popular here. It’s a lightweight book with some great advice about leadership.

It’s not a good narrative though, it’s just good enough to pass the message. I would prefer a non-fiction book, but it doesn’t mean the book is bad. It’s not the first time I see some of the leadership advice given here, many of them are also part of the 21 irrefutable laws of leadership.

If you’re looking for light reading with some good advice, I would recommend this book. If you’re looking for something deeper, there are better books out there.

Here are my raw notes about the book:

  • Leadership is about the influence
  • You can be a good Manager and an awful leader. You can also be a good leader and an awful manager.
  • Great leaders have humility (focus on their people, not on themselves). They also have a strong and professional will to do the right thing.
  • Leadership, character, and love are synonyms
  • Can you imagine following a leader who it impatient, unkind, arrogant, etc.?
  • Leadership is not something you can learn without practicing
  • Leadership and character are one. The character is that person you are when you’re alone
  • Be the change you want to see in the world
  • Power and authority are two different things. Power is something you use to command: “take out the garbage or…”, “Do this, or you’re fired”, etc. Authority is when people do things because they believe you’re doing the right thing and they want to contribute to that
  • Trust is the glue that keeps relationships together. How many people you don’t trust and still have a good relationship with?
  • When you cut people in the middle of the sentence you’re passing a message the what you have to say is more important than what they have to say. If you truly respect them, you have to align your feelings with your actions
  • We don’t see the world as it is we see the world as we are
  • The reasonable man adapts to the world. The unreasonable man tries to adapt the world to himself. Because of that, most of the progress comes from unreasonable men.
  • Seagull Manager come sometimes, make a lot of noise, dumps some shit, and fly away.
  • The top of the hierarchy pyramid has to serve, not be served. Employees have to serve the client.
  • When you start seeking the good in people, you will start seeing it more and more. Just like when you start looking, e.g. a new car, and suddenly you can see many of them in the streets
  • When people are late, they are sending a message that their time is more important than my time. It also passes the message that they are not very honest because they are not committing to their word
  • Everyone wants to be involved, but nobody wants to be committed
  • For each time you mistreat someone, you have to praise at least four times to get to the same level
  • Everybody wants to change the world, but nobody wants to change themselves
  • Some people are predisposed to be drunk because of their parents, but it’s up to them to drink the first cup
  • If we don’t stand for something we will fall for anything
  • People first buy to the leader and then to the vision
  • Do you judge the quality of a family picture by how YOU look? This is a self-centered signal — 💭 That’s interesting. It’s not something I do, usually.