Abstract
The recent discussion of orality has highlighted both opportunities and challenges, especially in the area of leadership development. Rick Sessoms and Tim Brannagan, seek to address the intersection of orality and leadership development. Sessoms (PhD, Organizational Leadership) is the president of Freedom to Lead International and served as the director of the Participant Selection Committee for Lausanne Movement Cape Town 2010.
The book has four main parts. Part one, Story-centric Learning, discusses the opportunities for teaching and leadership that can be leveraged through the use of story. Part two, Leadership Development, examines the current state of leadership development and presents a model of core competencies of a leader. Part three, Christ-centered leadership, contrasts current influences and approaches that shape leadership development with Jesus’ approach to leadership. Finally, part four, The Garden Project, gives an overview of Freedom to Lead’s approach to leadership development using story.
Leading with Story is primarily a book about leadership; this is both its greatest strength and weakness. It is filled with cogent observations about the failings and concerns over many current approaches to leadership development in the West and worldwide. Repeatedly I found myself nodding in agreement with the observations of the authors on the current state of leadership development. However, the book ultimately does not achieve the integration of story and leadership development that the title gives as the premise of the book. The term “story-centric” is an original and helpful term but is not interchangeable with terms such as “oral” and “oral preference.” Greater precision is called for. Although examples are provided, the book would have benefitted from more detailed explanations of story-centric curriculum and how assessment is done in these settings. There is a not-so-subtle irony in a book that seeks to emphasize the importance and opportunity of story in leadership development that is presented in propositional form.
This book will be of benefit to those interested in leadership development but its application for those seeking to address leadership development in oral and oral preference cultures is limited.