Robert McKenna, Dying to Lead: Sacrificial Leadership in a Self-Centered World. Xulon Press, 2008.
Referenced in: Servant Leadership
LifeandLeadership.com Summary
McKenna’s contribution is in helping leaders ask why they want to lead. What are the leader’s motivations? It also helps in building courage in those who know that if they lead, they must put to death the various forms of selfishness that make it difficult to embrace the inherent challenges. Among these challenges is a willingness to invest in the development of other people. One very helpful feature is the list of twenty-three characteristics of sacrificial leadership that one may review with a peer. The book is brief, well-written, and packed with insight from a trained academician and observer of leaders and followers.
From the Publisher
In his book, Dying to Lead: Sacrificial Leadership in a Self-Centered World, Dr. Rob McKenna highlights the realities of leading other people, and offers meaningful questions and advice for not only becoming the leader you would like to be, but becoming the kind of leader you would follow. Whether you are manager, a president, or the parent of your kids, this book will help you reframe your thinking about leadership and what it means to be responsible for the growth, direction, and work of other people. Unlike many books about leadership, Dying to Lead is approachable and practical, and built for the person who has limited time to read hundreds of pages at a time. Short chapters and directed reflection questions make the book engaging from start to finish. It is humorous at times, full of practical advice, and loaded with important questions that will get you thinking more deeply about your journey as a leader and as a person.
Praise for Dying to Lead
“Every Christian who is in a position of leadership needs to read this book! Rob McKenna is a stellar researcher who has the unusual knack of being able to communicate his findings in ways that are not only understandable, but engaging and motivating. In my opinion, you run the risk of being dead in the water if you don’t read Dying to Lead.” -Les Parrott, Ph.D., Founder of RealRelationships.com and Author of Trading Places
“The heart felt cry of every Christian leader I know is to somehow move their organization to a level of excellence on a scale that can only be measured in a kingdom scale and economy. Rob McKenna’s work provides important language and thinking which advances leadership in new and important ways.” -Steven G.W. Moore, Executive Director, The M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust
“Leaders are visionaries. Leaders are servants. Leaders create results. And says, Rob McKenna, leaders sacrifice. Far too often, sacrifice is missing from our thinking. This book – with its emphasis upon real-life vignettes, biblical insight and personal reflection – redirects us back to the center of true Christian leadership.” -Alec Hill, President, Intervarsity Christian Fellowship
“I’ll say right now that I was deeply moved from reading Dying to Lead, and that I’ve never read anything quite like it. It is written from the heart, and is both challenging to managers and practical at the same time. Dying to Lead is an important book for managers.” -Susan Arnold, Manager, Starbucks Coffee Company
About the Author
Dr. Robert McKenna is Chair of the Department of Industrial/Organizational Psychology at Seattle Pacific University and President of McKenna & Associates. His mission is building character, competence, and calling in today’s emerging leaders. He lives in Kirkland, Washington with his wife Jackie and their sons, Aidan and Ryan. For more information got to www.dyingtolead.com.
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