Reviewed by Lori M for Readers' Favorite

This book does exactly what the author felt challenged to do; it explains the idea of cultivation of new generations of deepening people who will rise to positions of influence in and beyond their
congregation. Author Gordon McDonald presents some wonderful examples of this challenge and for those of you who don't already know what an elevator story is, you'll love how he talks about this concept. He masterfully weaves personal stories into the mix to help the reader understand the Richard Foster quote at the beginning of the book, "The desperate need today is not for a greater number of intelligent people, or gifted people, but for deep people." His introduction describing a sermon he gave at the Cadet Chapel at the United States Military Academy at West Point made me want to visit and experience a service there. With so many books on the topic of leadership flooding the market, it was refreshing to find a book that talks about character and the spiritual parts of a person as being the foundation of leadership. As a business professor, I can say that there are far too many “business” authors that see things strictly from the perspective of a corporate view. As a Christian, I appreciate McDonald’s analysis of this topic from a biblical world view. The author talks about how different an 80 year old Moses is from a 40 year old Moses and how leaders are better when they lead from the soul. It's a wonderful read.