The Carpenter: A Story About the Greatest Success Strategies of All

Foreword

In my sessions with managers around the world, I often begin by asking, “How many of you think you are leaders? Please raise your hands if you do.” I’m always amazed that less than 20 percent raise their hands. Why is it that these managers—whose jobs are defined by leading others—do not think they are leaders?

The answer is that most people, managers included, believe leadership is defined by the title and position they hold. The managers who don’t raise their hands believe they don’t have titles that are fancy enough or positions that are high enough to call themselves leaders.

These managers probably didn’t have a father like mine. A highly decorated admiral of the Navy, my dad taught me priceless lessons about leadership. I’ll never forget when I was elected president of my seventh-grade class. When I came home from school all pumped up and proud, Dad said, “Congratulations, Ken. But now that you are president, don’t ever use your position. Great leaders are great because people trust and respect them, not because they have power.”

That’s the message of Jon Gordon’s wonderful new book, The Carpenter. I encourage you to think of the main character as a mentor. He will teach you that any human being who loves, serves, and cares is a leader.

If you’re a businessperson, shift your focus from “winning”—whatever that means to you—to using your business to love, serve, and build up others. If you do this, you will succeed and your business will grow in ways you never imagined. ...