Book Reviews

SYNCHRONICITY, The Inner Path of Leadership
10/01/2006

Author Joseph Jaworski

I was drawn to this book many times before I finally picked it up and read a bit of it and from that moment on I could not put it down. This is not a text book on leadership that I expected it to be, but describes the author’s remarkable personal journey that leads him to an understanding of the deep issues of inner leadership. Einstein is quoted as saying "The world we have created is a product of our own thinking and nothing will change in the future without fundamentally new ways of thinking". This is the real work of leadership and this book is how the author was lead in finding new ways to change and expand his own thinking about leadership.

What I found fascinating was the transition that took place in Mr. Jaworski’s life motivating him to pursue a truly higher purpose in life and how he allowed himself to be guided and lead, rather courageously, in accomplishing that purpose. His intuitive nature and almost uncanny ability to attract into his life the people, ideas, books, experiences, whatever it was that was needed to keep him moving ahead to achieve the new vision that was leading him upward. Once he was committed, everything began to fall into place.

A small pamphlet, "Servant as Leader," inspired him to create a basic outline for an institute to develop “servant leadership.” From this came the American Leadership Forum - founded on the idea of service to and compassion for others through creative rather than reactive leadership.

This book is intriguing, very well thought out, and easy to read. Conventional views of leadership emphasize positional power and conspicuous accomplishment. But true leadership is about creating a domain in which we continually learn and become more capable of participating in our unfolding future. "Creating the future", the last chapter, sets forward three fundamental shifts of mind necessary to the creative leadership the author believes to be so crucial for our future and the future of our world.

"Synchronicity" is a book for everyone serious about being their own inner leader.
Review by Lew brown