Servant Leadership is a hallmark of W.C. Bradley Co. and is clearly and powerfully explained in The Learning of Love – A Journey Toward Servant Leadership by William “Bill” Turner, former Chairman and CEO of W.C. Bradley Co. This book chronicles the journey that led him to embrace Servant Leadership. His personal Christian commitment, along with the models of leadership that he learned from his parents, D.A. and Elizabeth Turner, and his grandfather, W.C. Bradley, have been the values that guided his life, which he explains in his memoir.
“Leadership is an opportunity for service, not an opportunity for power ... and it must reach outside the organization in many ways to create a caring community and ultimately to build a better world,” states Turner in the book.
Bill Turner found that Servant Leadership was the path to personal fulfillment and the key to unleashing people’s caring and creativity in the workplace. He is renowned as a leader in the manufacturing and financial services arenas as well as the community. As Chairman and CEO of W.C. Bradley Co., he helped build Char-Broil into a leading marketer of outdoor grills. As Chairman of the Executive Committee of Synovus Bank, he helped lead the company to become a multi-billion-dollar financial services company.
The Learning of Love – A Journey Toward Servant Leadership was written with Delane Chappell, published by Smyth & Helwys Publishing, and unveiled at a gathering of friends and family at W.C. Bradley Co. on December 14, 1999.
The impact of this book’s message was further expanded in December 2007 when The Learning of Love – A Journey Toward Servant Leadership was translated into Mandarin Chinese and distributed in China, and again in 2015 when it was translated into Russian and distributed in Russia. Today, this book is required reading for Servant Leadership students at several colleges and universities in the United States, Canada and at Beijing University in China.
To order a copy, contact Smyth & Helwys. Royalties from the book benefit the Pastoral Institute, an organization which is an excellent example of Servant Leadership at work. The Pastoral Institute, based in Columbus, Georgia, is a nonprofit, faith-based, non-denominational counseling, consultation and educational center which serves individuals, families, businesses, and communities.