Book Review: Redemptive Leadership, by Joseph Bucci

When it comes to leadership, we often think of great men, both past and present, from military leaders like Alexander the Great and George Washington to sports leaders like Phil Jackson and Tom Landry to church leaders like Jonathan Edwards and Dr. David Jeremiah. But one distinguishing factor of truly great leadership is covered in Redemptive Leadership. This is the trait of leading people who are recovering from mistakes that they have made and turning them into leaders themselves. In this book, the authors specifically look at this trait from a management perspective.

Chapter 1 looks at the American people and how they view redemption. The author finds that most Americans do, though they lack a Biblical perspective on what redemption really is. As Christians, we know that redemption is the process of Christ paying the punishment for our sin and setting us free from that bondage. Chapter 2 gives the why—the reasons that we should even study this type of management and leadership. Chapter 3 gives examples of redemption in management literature- things that have already been written on the topic. Chapters 4-9 details the research findings of various statements: 

• Chapter 4— “Managers reflected on the decision making that led to the first termination, but then they reviewed the rationale for bringing someone back (45).” 
• Chapter 5— “Managers sorted through organizational issues with stakeholder groups, but then they carefully considered the proper placement of the returning employee (54).” 
• Chapter 6— “Managers created structured agreements with conditional acceptance, then they communicated clearly and directly about conditions and consequences (62).” 
• Chapter 7— “Managers were moved with compassion and empathy for the reinstated employees, but then they acted to ensure that the process for reinstatement demonstrated justice and fairness (72).”
• Chapter 8— “Managers offered support and encouragement to the returning employee, but then they carefully scrutinized the returning employees work, with greater follow-up frequency and continued, consistent discipline (80).” 
• Chapter 9— “Managers balanced the need (sometimes desperation) for good workers and their belief in second chances with the facts: these employees had displayed aberrant behavior and had previously failed at this opportunity (89).”

Chapter 10 reviews the previous chapters and their findings and gives ideas on how to implement those ideas into everyday management. Chapter 11 makes the case for using redemptive management as a viable strategy. Chapter 12 gives a case study on redemptive management. Chapter 13 shows that there are some limitations to this research, so the manager should proceed with caution when implementing this. Chapter 14 gives a few additional thoughts from the perspective of faith.

I enjoyed this book. I felt that it hit the mark of where Christians should be looking. There are often situations where people made mistakes but now want to make things right. I believe that we should do as God does—forgive and give second chances, even when someone does not necessarily deserve it. For these, reasons, I give this book 4.5 stars out of 5. 

WHERE TO BUY THIS BOOK:

http://www.springer.com/us/book/9783319313429

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THIS BOOK:

Bucci, Joseph J. Redemptive Leadership: Offering Second Chances As a Value-Added Management Practice. Cham, Switzerland: Springer International, 2016.

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL: I received a complimentary copy of this book through the Springer book review program, which requires an honest, though not necessarily positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.