Review: Leading with Heart

Leading with Heart: Faith-Filled Thoughts on Leadership is compiled from a series of blog posts, generally beginning with a brief quote either from the Bible or from a well-known person, followed by a brief (or not-so-brief) discussion inspired by the quote. This gives the impression of it being more like a daily devotional than a serious book on leadership. Chapters are snippets of information rather than an in-depth discussion of a subject, and there is no overarching theme or argument as I usually expect in non-fiction.

I have read other books that are a compilation of blog posts and they also had this choppy feel, one chapter (day) being brief and the next more in-depth, one day being very conversational, the next being more a mini-sermon, and with no real links between topics. Some of the posts were related to what was in the news that day, so are very time-sensitive. A date would have helped place the events in context (particularly for us non-Americans).

It's an eclectic style that is very easy to read, but can take a bit of getting used to. There is also an issue with proportion--in books, authors tend to spend a lot of time on things that are important and gloss over things that they perceive as less important. On the other hand, brief blog posts may be something important that the writer wants us to ponder for the day. But in a book, we tend to read on without introspection, which is a mistake with a book like this.

Hensley is a good writer, with a welcoming and conversational style. He provides many nuggets on Christian leadership, both within the church and in daily life (and this is something that is often missing in Christian writing—a recognition that most of us don’t work in the church). Leading with Heart is worth reading, but not in one sitting.

Thanks to Ken Hensley for providing a free ebook for review. You can find out more about Ken Hensley at his website.