About the Book
The book “A Strategic Perspective of Servant Leadership” is an outstanding source for an alternative leadership style regarding traditional leadership of management for profit, non-profit, academic, and religious assemblies in developing relationships to improve organizational outcomes. Robert Greenleaf’s idea of servant leadership manifests itself in serving instead of being served. This book fosters acceptance for all groups based on building relationships between leaders and followers to reach new leadership levels. The unique appeal of this book is to the African American community to highlight the struggles of African American men in our pursuit of happiness through Servant Leadership.
Dr. Johnny Sheppard
I was born in a hearse on the way to Kessler Air Force in Biloxi, Mississippi, because my father served in the United States Navy as the hearse was also used as an ambulance at this time. The middle child of six children (five brothers and one sister) of my father, David Sheppard, Sr., and mother, Cleopatra (Cleo) Howze, the family lived in Mississippi briefly before moving to the North to Harrisburg and then to Lancaster, Pennsylvania. I attended prep school at Franklin & Marshall College, and afterward attended Bloomsburg University in Pennsylvania to study business. But, after a year, I returned home to work at a malleable foundry for two years before growing weary of the foundry. I joined the United States Air Force at the end of the Vietnam War.
After four years of enlistment, stationed in San Bernardino, California, and London, England, I was discharged to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and attended Millersville University in Pennsylvania, to study economics. I graduated from Millersville University in the fall. I pursued a career as a buyer for AMP Incorporated, an electronic company in Harrisburg, but I interned with the Department of Education in Harrisburg as a budget analyst in the summer, then joined AMP Incorporated. I worked for AMP Incorporated for eighteen years, becoming a supply chain manager and commodity manager before joining another electronic company in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, which made crystals for global positioning systems or GPS. I later graduated from graduate school at Lebanon Valley College in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, with an MBA with a concentration in business organization.
Several years after Millersville University, I married my wife, Dr. Linda Sheppard, who received a degree in Education. She became a teacher, principal, and school administrator at several Pennsylvania and Maryland school districts. We have two daughters, Jolina and Joy.
I believe in prayers, and my relationship with Christ as my Savior opened opportunities to become a trustee and worship leader for Men’s Bible study at several churches. This sparked my desire to learn more about God’s purpose for my life, leading me to divinity school at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, where I received a master’s degree in Christian Ministry. I then entered Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia, to study Servant Leadership, which afforded me a firm foundation for developing a servant leadership perspective as a global contributor starting with my life to serve, leading to a Doctorate in Strategic Leadership (DSL), and writing this book.