A valuable work on a relevant, appealing leadership style.
A manual for leadership focused on community values.
In his debut, Davis presents a philosophy and a plan for a style of leadership he calls “sacred,” which involves undertaking “missions that recognize and value what is sacred to humankind and that serve the greatest good.” For Davis, the sacred is not connected to religion but to ideas that are “so powerful and deeply rooted in service to the larger community that their rightness is indisputable.” As an educator with decades of experience in volatile schools and communities, he developed a leadership style based on engagement with communities, not on solving individual problems as they arise. Davis devotes an entire chapter to his career as a teacher and principal in an inner-city Los Angeles high school, and his biography follows the evolution of his leadership style, including a number of real-world examples. For example, Davis and his wife later constructed a public installation in Detroit that invited community members to record their dreams; the project resulted in a community-garden initiative. In this way, the Davises followed what the community deemed necessary. Davis’s “sacred leadership” takes into account the values and dreams that already exist in a community; as such, it’s uniquely suited to leaders working with a population of a different background than their own. Davis encourages leaders to respond to the situation and the people as they exist, not as they might like them to exist. The techniques and principles will likely be useful not only for educators but also for administrators in nonprofit and for-profit organizations. Each chapter opens with an inspirational quotation and closes with a list of questions for reflection, engaging the reader in a deeper way than a simple narrative or list of instructions might do. Overall, this work is well written and straightforward, and it serves as an ideal introduction to Davis’s ideas.
A valuable work on a relevant, appealing leadership style.Pub Date: June 8, 2012
ISBN: 978-0985504106
Page Count: 184
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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