In The Big Inning

In The Big Inningcontains 29 examples about a man's life and his attempts to influence those around him for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ. This book is a followup to Jon's first book, The winning pitch.

In The winning pitch Jon describes different ways we has "pitched" the gospel of Jesus Christ to others. In In The Big Inning Jon describes different responses people have had to "pitches" and opportunities to let Jesus rule as Lord of their lives.

Jon Burnham is a leader. Jon leads people to Jesus Christ. He brings them face to face with Jesus Christ and helps them consider the claims that Jesus has made to be the Savior and Lord of their lives.

In The Big Inning is filled with examples of how the God of the universe has worked in and through Jon's life. In the preface to the book, Jon states two reasons for writing this book.

"1. I wrote this book to honor God. I have watched the Lord change many lives through the scriptures, and I wanted to document the many different ways He made those changes.
2. Success is not what we've done, it's what we've done compared to what we could have done.
I want the readers to put into practice these tried and tested Biblical standards, so they can experience the abundant life and success the Lord intended."

From Burnham's example we can learn creativity and courage. Jon lives by the courage of his convictions. Jon trusts God to provide creative ways to reach people where they are at.

Servant Leadership Illustrated

If you are looking for an example of how servant leadership can work, read The Journey to the East by Herman Hesse.

This is a short novel built around a fictional expedition. The guide and servant for the expedition a man named Leo. Leo is the servant leader. When he disappears, the expedition falls apart. This story can help you understand what servant leadership can look like.

The Journey to the East is relatively short and easy to read. Well worth it if you are at all interested in figuring out how servant leadership my work in your own style of leadership.

I enjoyed reading this book!

The Leader As Servant

Robert K. Greenleaf suggested a concept called servant leadership. He developed this concept in his book, Servant Leadership: A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness 25th Anniversary Edition.

Servant leadership was first suggested by Jesus Christ when he said, "whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister and whosever will be chief among you, let him be your servant." I sometimes think of this as climbing down the corporate ladder instead of up. Because the higher you go in the organization, the more people there are for you to serve.

Since Greenleaf's death in 1990, an center has been developed to carry on his work, The Robert K. Greenleaf Center for Servant-Leadership in Indianapolis, IN.

He talks about leadership in business, education, churches, and other not-for-profit organizations. He discusses how the servant leader can thrive in each situation. He gives examples of contemporary servant leaders.

He even talks about how America can serve as a servant leader around the World.

If you are looking for some new thoughts and views for your own leadership style, consider Servant Leadership: A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness 25th Anniversary Edition.