What makes some leaders inspire deep loyalty while others struggle to maintain basic productivity? How can managers create teams that are both highly motivated and well-coordinated?
Leadership wisdom comes in unexpected forms, as demonstrated in The Way of the Shepherd, a book by Kevin Leman and William Pentak. Through the story of a successful CEO learning management lessons on a sheep farm, this business fable reveals timeless principles for leading teams effectively.
Keep reading to discover practical strategies that can transform your leadership approach and create a more engaged, trustworthy team.
The Way of the Shepherd Book Overview
How do business leaders create engaged, motivated, and coordinated teams? The Way of the Shepherd, a book by Kevin Leman and William Pentak, shows how managers can foster loyalty, trust, and high performance among their “flock” of employees. They do this by adopting a shepherd’s mindset.
Leman is a psychologist, educator, and radio and television personality. Pentak is a business consultant, author, columnist, former pastor, and speaker. In the book, these authors use a narrative format to make leadership concepts accessible and memorable for readers seeking to improve their management skills in various organizational settings.
The Way of the Shepherd tells the story of Theodore McBride, the successful CEO of a major technology company. When a journalist asks him for the secrets of his management, McBride tells the story of his mentor, Dr. Jack Neumann, an MBA professor who is also a sheep farmer. When McBride asked his mentor for management tips, he was surprised to find the professor driving him out to his sheep farm to teach him shepherding instead. But by learning the secrets of leading a flock, McBride learns how to lead people as well. After leading a successful company for years, he reveals this approach to the journalist.
We’ve distilled Leman and Pentak’s key advice from this story into four parts:
- Part 1: Leadership Is a Way of Life explains that effective leadership isn’t just about skills, but a holistic lifestyle, focused on self-sacrifice and genuine care for your workers.
- Part 2: Build Trust With Your Team discusses the important role of trust in leadership. It explores practices for building relationships with workers and creating a sense of safety in your team.
- Part 3: Organize Your Team focuses on the leader’s role in structuring the team and clarifying roles.
- Part 4: Direct Your Team outlines strategies for guiding and managing the team effectively, such as leading by example, maintaining regular communication, and constructively redirecting workers when necessary.
Part 1: Leadership Is a Way of Life
Leman and Pentak argue that becoming a great leader involves more than learning specific methods—being a leader is a way of life, much like being a shepherd. They state that true leadership stems from your character, values, and daily habits. Effective leaders embody their principles consistently, both in professional settings and in their personal lives. This holistic approach to leadership suggests that it’s not about mastering specific strategies but about cultivating a mindset and lifestyle that naturally inspires and guides others. We’ll first explore the two core components of this way of life: self-sacrifice and caring for your workers.
Leadership Requires Self-Sacrifice and Care
Leman and Pentak assert that great leadership inherently involves sacrifice. This sacrifice could take the form of time, energy, or even personal comfort or gain. Each of the strategies and techniques in this book will significantly demand your energy and time. However, if you don’t bear these burdens, your workers will end up burdened by all the problems that neglectful leadership can create.
Why do great leaders voluntarily take on these burdens instead of allowing their workers to pay the price? Leman and Pentak argue that true leaders make sacrifices because they genuinely care about their workers, just like a shepherd cares about their sheep. These leaders view the personal costs of leadership not as deterrents, but as necessary investments in the well-being and success of their team. In contrast, leaders who primarily focus on personal gain may consider the cost of true leadership too high and begin neglecting their workers, leading to a less motivated, engaged, and coordinated team.
Part 2: Build Trust With Your Team
Leman and Pentak explain that one of the most important sacrifices leaders make is investing the time and effort to build trust with their team. Teams with high levels of trust will be more engaged and productive, less prone to conflict, and more likely to listen to your instructions and feedback. A trusting team will follow its leader willingly, just like a flock of sheep follows its shepherd. We’ll cover three trust-building strategies: knowing and understanding your workers, creating a sense of safety, and staying visible to your workers.
Know Your Workers
According to Leman and Pentak, your workers will only trust you if they feel like you know them on a personal level. When workers feel recognized, understood, and valued, they’ll open up to building a more trusting relationship with their leader. The authors offer two main strategies for getting to know your workers: form one-on-one connections and stay up-to-date on their well-being.
Form One-on-One Connections
According to Leman and Pentak, leaders must get to know their workers by cultivating one-on-one relationships with their employees. Not only will you learn more about each of your workers, but the individual attention will show them that you value them as a member of the team. For example, you could schedule regular coffee chats with each team member to discuss their goals and challenges. Leman and Pentak assert that while it may seem time-consuming, these personal relationships increase employee loyalty, engagement, and productivity.
Stay Up to Date on the Well-Being of Your Team
Leman and Pentak emphasize that in getting to know their workers, leaders must maintain a keen awareness of—not only the work being done, but also the well-being of their team. The emotional, physical, and mental states of your workers significantly impact performance and overall team dynamics. Thus, true leaders will stay aware of their workers’ condition.
For instance, a perceptive manager might notice that a usually enthusiastic employee seems withdrawn and less productive. In response, they might check in with this employee through a private conversation to address any personal or professional concerns.
Make Sure Your Workers Know You
In addition to making sure you know your workers, Leman and Pentak write that you must make sure your workers know you, just as a sheep always recognizes its shepherd. They provide two strategies for doing so: stay visible and lead by example.
Stay Visible
First, Leman and Pentak emphasize the importance of remaining visible to your workers. This could take the form of regularly walking through the office, an open-door policy where people can visit your office anytime, company Q&A sessions, or participation in company events. By maintaining a visible presence, leaders can provide reassurance, demonstrate their commitment to the team’s well-being, and foster a sense of stability within the organization, thereby building trust and confidence among employees.
Lead by Role-Modeling
Leman and Pentak emphasize that great leaders establish trust by role-modeling integrity. Integrity consists of aligning your actions with your values, even when it’s challenging or inconvenient. For example, a supervisor might demonstrate integrity by openly admitting to an error in a project and taking responsibility for its correction. This sets an example of honesty and accountability for their workers to follow. Or a team leader might set an example of fairness by consistently acknowledging and rewarding good performance across the team, regardless of personal relationships or favorites. This helps employees get to know you by seeing your values in action while deepening their trust in your leadership.
Create a Sense of Safety
Finally, Leman and Pentak argue that building trust requires a sense of safety. Your workers need to feel that your company is a safe environment for them to truly trust you as a leader. The authors discuss two strategies for building a sense of safety on your team: standing up for your workers and bailing them out of trouble, and addressing conflicts and problems as they arise.
Stand Up for Your Workers
Leman and Pentak argue that great leaders create safety by actively standing up for their workers, just like a shepherd protects their flock. Employees are more likely to trust you if they feel they can count on you for protection and help in times of crisis. For example, a department manager might defend her team’s innovative but unconventional approach to a project when faced with criticism from upper management. She might do so by explaining the rationale behind the team’s decisions and highlighting the potential benefits. By advocating for her team in this way, the manager not only shields them from undue criticism but also reinforces their trust in her leadership, knowing she’ll support their efforts even in challenging situations.
Address Conflicts and Problems as They Arise
Leman and Pentak explain that creating a sense of safety also requires addressing conflicts and problems as they arise instead of allowing them to escalate unchecked. Even small problems can escalate over time, creating friction and stress for the entire team. By addressing these before they get out of control, you’ll maintain a safe and trusting environment on your team. For example, say a team leader notices growing tension between two team members due to a disagreement over project responsibilities. Instead of hoping the issue will resolve itself, the leader could promptly schedule a meeting with both individuals to clarify roles and resolve the tension, preventing the conflict from escalating.
Part 3: Organize Your Team
Leman and Pentak argue that, in addition to building trust and relationships with their employees, every effective leader puts in the necessary time and effort to organize their team for efficient coordination and productivity. Here we’ll discuss their strategies for clarifying roles, infusing them with importance, and matching the right worker to their role.
Clarify the Boundaries of Each Role
Leman and Pentak advise you to create clear boundaries for each role. By clearly defining roles and responsibilities, employees have a precise understanding of their duties and how they fit into the larger organizational structure.
However, the authors also stress the importance of granting team members autonomy within their roles. Granting autonomy within these defined boundaries empowers employees to make decisions and take initiative in their areas of responsibility. Striking a balance between these goals is part of your task as a leader. For example, you might delineate responsibilities so that there’s no overlap between roles, but then give workers freedom in how they carry out those responsibilities. This is analogous to how a shepherd keeps their flock within a strong fence but gives each sheep freedom to roam around within it.
Clarify the Value of Each Role
Leman and Pentak assert that effective leaders organize their teams by taking the time to clarify how each role contributes to the company mission. By explicitly connecting individual roles to the broader organizational goals, you ensure that every employee understands their unique contribution to the company’s success. This fosters a deeper connection to the organization while providing employees with motivation and commitment. This also creates a sense of importance for each role, which prevents friction that might arise from jealousy between employees who feel slighted if they perceive their role as unimportant.
Place Your Workers in the Right Roles for Them
Leman and Pentak assert that once you establish the purpose, boundaries, and importance of each role, you must put in the time and effort to carefully match employees to their proper roles. They argue that effective leaders should strive to understand their team members’ unique abilities, passions, and personalities to ensure optimal job placement. (Recall that under Leman and Pentak’s model, leaders get to know their workers one-on-one, and therefore should have access to this knowledge.)
To identify the role that best suits each employee, Leman and Pentak propose evaluating them across four key qualities: mindset, abilities, passions, and disposition.
Quality 1) Mindset
Mindset refers to the set of attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions that shape how an individual thinks about themselves, their abilities, and the world around them. Leman and Pentak argue that mindset is the most important attribute to make or break a candidate when hiring, and they encourage leaders to look for workers with a positive outlook, an ability to get along with the team, and the ability to grow and learn from their mistakes.
Quality 2) Abilities
This quality focuses on an employee’s skills and talents. Teams function best when each employee can apply their individual capacities to their role. For example, a team member with strong analytical abilities might excel in a data-driven role, while someone with excellent interpersonal skills could thrive in a customer-facing position.
Quality 3) Passions
Passions are what motivate and excite an employee. Workers will achieve the most when they’re passionate and excited about their work. A passionate writer, for example, might be best suited for content creation roles, while someone passionate about problem-solving could excel in project management.
Quality 4) Disposition
Disposition encompasses an employee’s natural traits and preferences. These could include things like a preference for working alone or with others, for high-pressure or low-pressure projects, or for customer-facing or back-end roles. You’ll get the best work out of your employees if they’re satisfied in their position and consider it a good fit for their preferences. For example, an extrovert might flourish in a sales role, while a detail-oriented introvert could be more effective in a research or quality assurance position.
Part 4: Direct Your Team
Finally, Leman and Pentak argue that, just like a shepherd keeps their flock moving together, great leaders must invest their time and energy into directing their teams to get the most out of their workers. Here we’ll discuss several facets of the authors’ approach, including the importance of leading by example, communicating regularly with your team, and how to keep your workers on track without losing their trust.
Lead by Example
Recall that Leman and Pentak advised leaders to set an example when it comes to demonstrating company values. Leading by example also applies to all other areas of management. For instance, you might demonstrate the correct methods of performing tasks to workers who are learning them for the first time, or you might be the first to adopt new standards and protocols. Leman and Pentak stress the importance of leading employees rather than merely giving orders, just like a shepherd who walks out in front of their flock.
Communicate Regularly With Your Team
Leman and Pentak argue that great leaders direct their employees through regular communication. They highlight two important kinds of messages that effective leaders must regularly convey.
Reinforce Your Team’s Values and Goals
Leman and Pentak emphasize that great leaders consistently and clearly articulate their team’s values and goals. Effective leadership involves more than just setting objectives; it requires the constant reinforcement and communication of the core principles and aspirations that guide the team. This not only keeps the team aligned and focused but also helps create a shared sense of purpose and a more cohesive team.
Keep Your Team Up to Date
Leman and Pentak stress the value of keeping team members well-informed. Great leaders prioritize transparency and make a concerted effort to share relevant information such as changes in policy or decisions that may impact employees’ work. This helps team members respond more effectively to change and builds a stronger connection with the organization.
Redirect Your Workers When Needed
Leman and Pentak explain that directing your workers also requires getting them back on track when they wander astray of tasks and expectations—just like a shepherd redirects their flock by gently guiding them back on track with their staff. They offer two key approaches for redirecting employees.
Approach 1) Convince Your Employees Instead of Forcing Them
Leman and Pentak emphasize the importance of convincing employees instead of forcing them when they’ve taken the wrong path. By convincing employees through explanation and evidence, your employees will buy into your expectations willingly. This method not only improves morale but also tends to result in better outcomes, as employees who understand and agree with the reasoning behind their tasks are more likely to be motivated and committed to their work.
Approach 2) Treat Correction as a Chance for Instruction
Finally, Leman and Pentak advocate for a constructive approach to correction. They suggest that leaders view moments of correction as opportunities for instruction rather than punishment. This perspective shifts the focus from blame and negative consequences to growth and improvement. By framing corrections as learning experiences, leaders can help employees develop new skills, gain insights, and enhance their performance without feeling demoralized.
