Praise for Bloom Where You Are Planted
I have a great appreciation for Crystal Davis and her inspiring work in servant-leadership. Bloom Where You Are Planted is a wonderful collection of her reflections on some key essays and books in servant-leadership, including one of my co-authored books, Practicing Servant-Leadership. In this work, Crystal captures the essential messages from dozens of contributing authors. The end result is a unique amalgam of Crystal Davis’s keen insights, coupled with her analysis of servant-leadership ideas by many others. Bloom Where You Are Planted is a lovely resource, and a wonderful addition to the growing body of servant-leadership wisdom literature.
“Having been a part of the servant leadership movement for years, it is refreshing to see new resources emerge that are enlightening, inspiring and useful. In her book, Bloom Where You Are Planted, Dr. Crystal Davis helps followers of servant leadership by bringing together a collection of valuable readings with personal commentary. I loved flipping to any page and finding insights on different subjects ranging from trust and collaboration to emotional hygiene and compassion. It will be a great addition to my library.”
If you never have a chance to meet Dr. Crystal Davis, reading this book is the next-best thing to experience her curiosity, passion, and joy about servant leadership writings. “Dr. Crystal” understands that wisdom is not gained from experience or knowledge, but through reflection on experience and knowledge, leading to insight and action. Bloom Where You Are Planted is a collection of postings from the Dr. Crystal’s popular blog Lead.From.Within., sparked by her reading of classic servant leadership books and essays. As Dr. Crystal shares her journey of learning, she also shares her responses, ranging from “Wow!” to “Hit the nail on the head!” to “… servant leadership moves from being a body of work to being a movement—literally a movement—how we are going to move in the world.” Speaking as co-authors of one of the books covered in this volume, we can report that we certainly learned from her enthusiastic summaries and reflections. So will you.
Praise for Leading from Within
Dr. Davis provides an extensive and helpful literature review on concepts related to Servant Leadership, Spiritual Leadership, Principle-Centered Leadership and related leadership theory. Her research question of whether church members describe their minister as a Servant Leader is a good one, and even more interesting is the question of whether members’ perceptions match the minister’s perception of him/herself as Servant Leader! The question of whether Servant Leadership supports church member growth is also a good one, given the decline of mainstream churches and the complexity of issues involved with church growth. This dissertation is important work that can shed light on church leader qualities that relate to Servant Leadership.
Dr. Crystal Davis does an outstanding job in her research on Spirituality and Servant Leadership. As a college sophomore, I understand the connection between Servant Leadership and service learning. This book provides us with the right types of characteristics that a Servant Leader should have and no better place to begin to use and develop those traits than in college. I will be sharing this book with my classmates. It can help us in our service learning requirements. Thank you, Dr. Davis!
Praise for Servant Leadership and Followership
Servant Leadership and Followership: Examining the Impact on Workplace Behavior is a cutting-edge collection of essays and research papers. The contributing authors delve deeply into the nature of what it means to be a servant leader or servant follower within contemporary organizations.
In this work, Crystal Davis pulls together some of the keenest minds in the field of Servant Leadership. While many have a vague idea of what it looks like to be in service in the workplace and beyond, this book puts meat on the bones with focus, scholarship, and heart. Dr. Davis’s contribution to the body of knowledge is unique and necessary and this is a required addition to the library of all who consider themselves leaders in any aspect of life.
There is a pressing need for more enlightened forms of leadership around the world today. Servant leadership brings the possibility of uplifting ways of organizational being and as a result, followership is transformed. This important book, edited by Crystal J. Davis, provides research, insights, and the deep thinking of eminent Servant Leadership scholars on the topic of Servant Leadership and Followership. Practitioners, as well as scholars, will benefit from reading this collection of essays and applying this new knowledge to uplift organizations.
