The Life-Giving Leader

Tyler Reagin, the author of The Life Giving Leader, is a certified leadership coach. After reading his book, I think he'd be great to work with in that role. The book is written in a very engaging style, and it feels more like sitting down and talking to a friend than slogging through something that's supposed to help your personal development (because let's face it, sometimes the self-help type books are not the most fun to read).

Early on, I found this quote: “I have been asked if these principles apply only to leaders who call themselves Christian. The answer? The process of discovering your unique identity can apply to any leader.” I think that's a pretty good synopsis of the book. It gives some good principles for helping anyone become the kind of leader who is uplifting and encouraging - life-giving - to those he or she leads. There is a Christian slant to the book, but I don't think it would necessarily be off-putting to those who are not Christians.

I'm not a leader in any official capacity, but I am a parent, and I do have co-workers and people I volunteer with. I think this book has given me some good ideas on how to lead where I'm meant to do so, and how to be life-giving to those around me in any capacity.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through their book launch program for my honest review. @WaterBrookPress #Partner

Being a Christian myself and always wanting to improve my leadership skills, I jumped at the opportunity to review this book. And though it has many insightful and inspirational messages, it didn't quite click with me.

I love the author's heart for Jesus and leadership. It's quite evident that this is what he is passionate about. But the book itself seemed very repetitive to me, like he kept feeling the need to reiterate that Jesus and leadership go hand in hand. I do agree with this certainly, but the need to say it every few pages was just a little much.

I also found some of his illustrations to be very “scatter-brained”. He would be telling a story, then go off on a tangent about something else for a few paragraphs, and then go back to the story after I had already forgotten what he was talking about.

So though I do like some of his points and his messages, I think that some of the writing could have been improved to keep me engaged with the book better. There were also some cases in which I disagreed with what he said about leaders, such as on page 19 when he gave an illustration and commentary giving the illusion that leaders should not be permitted to make mistakes. If this is not what he intended to say, then the writing should have been tweaked to reflect his intent. I give it 3 out of 5 stars.

I received this book from the author/publisher for the purpose of this review. All comments and opinions are entirely my own.

This is a LiteratureApproved.com Review.