024 - Follow Me to Freedom

Shane Claiborne and John Perkins have written a leadership book unlike anything I've seen before. The book is written entirely in dialogue. Most books written by multiple authors ended up blended so that no one knows exactly who is saying what. However, in this book they take two very different guys (a 20-something white redneck living in Philadelphia and a African-American civil rights leaders from Mississippi) and simply let the two men have a conversation on leadership. The book isn't necessarily ground-breaking in context, but offers a unique twist on the common leadership book.

Follow Me to Freedom includes plenty of great insights, but many of which can be found in other books. The authors discuss what it takes to be a leader, how to find people to follow you, how to choose who to follow, and other assorted topics. They offer insights based on their life experiences and above all point to Jesus as our ultimate leader. They, like most Christian writers, advocate a form of servant-leadership where the leader leads by selflessly loving his followers.

With Claiborne and Perkins being the authors this book also offers plenty of political commentary. Both men are very active politically, and have a variety of opinions about anything and everything involving politics. However, their political leanings are never the main event in the book, merely a rabbit-trail they allude to and then move along.

All in all, this book is worth your time. I would recommend it to anyone seeking more ideas about leadership or wants more information about leading people.