Created for Greatness (Scepter Publishers)

Created for Greatness is a brief (under 100 pages) book, which discusses the concept of magnanimity and the power it has. In Chapter One, the author, Alexandre Havard, defines magnanimity as "an ideal rooted in trust in man, and his inherent greatness. It is the virtue of action. It is the supreme form of human hope." He also says that, "it is the first specific virtue of leaders."  In Chapter Two, he couples magnanimity with humility, "the second virtue specific to leaders." Havard states, "Whereas magnanimity affirms our personal dignity and greatness, humility affirms the dignity and greatness of others." These brief definitions set the tone for the rest of this book and let the reader know that while this is a book aimed at leaders, it is also a book for all of humanity.

After the two introductory chapters, which define magnanimity and humility, the remaining three chapters focus on "Developing a Moral Sense," "Developing Magnanimity," and "Growing in Humility." In these three chapters, Havard mixes practical advice with personal, historical, and literary examples. Such useful advice, include ideas like working on yourself more than your ideas or working on your character more than your manners. The chapter on developing magnanimity was a fascinating read, particularly the sections that dealt with discovering your vocation and living it; being aware of your talent and increasing it, and concentrating your energies on your mission. It made me start to evaluate what God has given me and if I am doing all I can in my vocation and with my talents.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I received this book. It looked like a cheesy self-help book, and I thought that I certainly wasn't the target audience,  The old saying, "You can't judge a book by its cover," rang true again though, and as I stated earlier, this isn't a book just for leaders but for everyone. I would highly recommend it for management, people with management ambition, pastors, seminarians, ministry leaders, moms, and dads. You should also check out his other book Virtuous Leadership.

This book was provided to me for free by Scepter Publishers in exchange for an honest review. If you found this review helpful, please click here and hit Yes!