Reading Leadership Revolution by John Perkins and Wayne Gordon

This is a newly written reading guide to Leadership Revolution: Developing the Vision & Practice of Freedom & Justice by John M. Perkins and Wayne Gordon. The original full column, any other books it discussed, its title, and its publication date remain unknown. This guide does not restore the original wording or reconstruct its complete reading list.

The connection to this historical address comes from Byron Borger's January 7, 2013 post: his discussion of this book links directly here. That date belongs to the referring post. Baker Publishing Group's catalog confirms the book. The guide below considers this verified title alone.

Begin with the question of who leads

Perkins and Gordon address the development of leaders within communities experiencing poverty and exclusion. The publisher-supplied description and contents present a Christian approach to preparing another generation for responsibility. The contents identify mentoring, modeling, character, self-care, and empowering others as subjects. These provide useful points of entry without requiring readers to treat the book as a universal management formula.

Begin by writing down what counts as leadership in your own setting. A title, a salary, and a public speaking role are easy to notice. Someone who keeps a neighborhood group meeting, explains an unfamiliar process, or brings overlooked concerns into discussion may exercise substantial responsibility without any of them. While reading, ask whose abilities the authors help you recognize and whose contributions your initial definition missed.

Keep the authors' setting in view. Lawndale Community Church's account of Gordon's work describes his move to North Lawndale, his teaching and coaching, and the church's founding with local high school students. That background makes relationships across generations a concrete subject for discussion. It also invites a careful question: which lessons depend on long familiarity with a neighborhood, and which might transfer to a different institution?

Read mentoring as a relationship involving authority

When you reach the material on mentoring and modeling, distinguish observation, practice, and responsibility. Watching an experienced person can reveal habits that a training manual misses. Trying a task with support gives a learner room to make decisions. Taking responsibility requires others to accept that those decisions may differ from the mentor's preferences.

For a discussion group, follow one example from the book through those stages. Identify who chooses the task, who can change the plan, and who answers for the outcome. These are questions supplied by this guide, not claims that the authors use this particular framework. They help readers examine whether an encouraging relationship also creates meaningful room to act.

Consider disagreement as well. Can an emerging leader question the established leader without losing access to opportunities? What would responsible correction look like in both directions? A useful conversation will leave room for gratitude toward a mentor and scrutiny of the authority that mentor holds.

Take the Christian argument seriously

The book's contents include discussion of Jesus and servant leadership. Readers should therefore attend to its theological reasoning as well as its practical recommendations. When a passage appeals to a biblical example, identify the particular action or relationship being examined. Then ask how the authors connect that example to contemporary community work.

This approach permits readers with different convictions to discuss the argument accurately. A Christian reader might consider whether a proposed practice fits the scriptural reasoning offered. Another reader might examine whether the practice respects participants and distributes responsibility fairly. Agreement about a useful practice does not require agreement about every theological premise behind it.

Pay particular attention to the relationship between service and limits. Does a proposed commitment leave people able to care for their families, rest, and seek assistance? The book's inclusion of self-care makes this a relevant reading question. Avoid turning dedication into an expectation that the least powerful participants must always provide more unpaid time.

Connect personal development with community institutions

For context, the Christian Community Development Association's explanation of leadership development emphasizes opportunities for people already living in a community. It also distinguishes developing residents' leadership from treating them simply as program clients. This organizational statement is a contextual reference, not evidence of the missing historical column's contents.

Use that distinction to examine the book's examples. What changes when someone who previously received assistance helps establish priorities? Look for the practical arrangements that make participation possible: access to information, time to prepare, a clear role, and a way to raise concerns. These questions bring leadership into the everyday work of community life.

A further question concerns continuity. If an energetic founder steps aside, which responsibilities have become shared practices and which still depend on personal relationships? Readers can trace how an example handles succession without assuming that every organization needs the same structure. A congregation, a neighborhood association, and a service provider have different purposes and obligations.

Finish with a specific reading exercise

Choose one passage about developing another person's leadership. Record the practice described, the reason given for it, and a question the passage leaves open. Compare notes with another reader before proposing an application. This separates what the text supports from what your group hopes to try.

Then identify one modest change worth considering: explaining a decision process, inviting a participant to shape an agenda, or making mentoring time available. State who would benefit and how they could assess the change themselves. The aim is a considered response to this book's concern with developing people, grounded in evidence from your reading. For more ways to structure that discussion, visit the reading room.