The Carpenter: The 3 Greatest Success Strategies of All

by Jon Gordon, Ken Blanchard (Foreword)

Bestselling author Jon Gordon returns with his most inspiring book yet—filled with powerful lessons and the greatest success strategies of all.

Michael wakes up in the hospital with a bandage on his head and fear in his heart. The stress of building a growing business, with his wife Sarah, caused him to collapse while on a morning jog. When Michael finds out the man who saved his life is a Carpenter he visits him and quickly learns that he is more than just a Carpenter; he is also a builder of lives, careers, people, and teams.

As the Carpenter shares his wisdom, Michael attempts to save his business in the face of adversity, rejection, fear, and failure. Along the way he learns that there's no such thing as an overnight success but there are timeless principles to help you stand out, excel, and make an impact on people and the world.

Drawing upon his work with countless leaders, sales people, professional and college sports teams, non-profit organizations and schools, Jon Gordon shares an entertaining and enlightening story that will inspire you to build a better life, career, and team with the greatest success strategies of all.

If you are ready to create your masterpiece, read The Carpenter and begin the building process today.

Genres: Business, Leadership, Self Help, Nonfiction, Personal Development, Audiobook, Personal Growth

160 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

Jon Gordon is an American business consultant and author on the topics of leadership, culture, sales, and teamwork.

Jon Gordon's best-selling books and talks have inspired readers and audiences around the world. His principles have been put to the test by numerous NFL, NBA, and college coaches and teams, Fortune 500 companies, school districts, hospitals and non-profits. He is the author of The Wall Street Journal bestseller The Energy Bus, The No Complaining Rule, Training Camp, The Shark and The Goldfish, Soup, The Seed and his latest The Positive Dog. Jon and his tips have been featured on The Today Show, CNN, Fox and Friends and in numerous magazines and newspapers. His clients include The Atlanta Falcons, Campbell Soup, Wells Fargo, State Farm, Novartis, Bayer and more.

Jon is a graduate of Cornell University and holds a Masters in Teaching from Emory University. He and his training/consulting company are passionate about developing positive leaders, organizations and teams.

When he's not running through airports or speaking, you can find him playing tennis or lacrosse with his wife and two "high energy" children.

You can find him on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jongordonpage

Reviews

[Stace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great, little book.

My favorite quote:
"“I know that I’m not a human being having a spiritual experience. I’m a spiritual being having a human experience. While I have a body, it is my soul and spirit that power me. Artists create from the depths of their souls. An artist is moved by the spirit. I know who I am, and I know the power that moves me to create.”

I love Jon Gordon's book and weekly newsletters! They always motivate and inspire!

[Paul LaCount · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very corny plot, uninspired characters, and obvious religious undertones made this book pretty bad. The lessons of success through love, care, and service are all great. Good points of being persistent and quality work leads to success. The backdrop of these life lessons made my eyes roll, though.

[Bharath · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cute little book which exudes a very genuine feel good sentiment. It is written as a story. A carpenter who saves a life and teaches about his success principles. The "Love - Serve - Care" philolosophy is outlined in simple terms. There are good short stories and anecdotes to support the principles. Certain aspects are elaborated including the need for living by love and not fear, talking to yourself rather than listening, having a focus to serve others one at a time and importance of sharing success.

This is a small, simple and genuine book which is worth a read, though it is simplistic and may not offer too many new things. It would have been good if there were more stories and anecdotes.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

While Gordon isn't a master novelist....so many repetitive phrases and words...he is a master of incredible messaging. This is a book that I couldn't help but mark up all over. If you ever need encouraging tidbits and strategies to improve your life, I'd highly recommend a Jon Gordon book. "The Carpenter" will forever remind me to Love, Serve, and Care.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to this on audio and love the theme throughout - Love, Serve and Care. This book reinforced great principles of leadership and positivity.

[Sheleea Leonard · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve read many of Jon Gordon’s books as they give a message of hope, building leadership, service and more. This book I will purchase the hard copy as I listened to it and began writing down many quotes and thoughts as I listened. “You aren’t a true success unless you are helping and building others.” So many nuggets from the book on strategies for building success.

[Sebastián Valencia Navarro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simplemente un libro para reflexionar sobre el camino que estamos transitando en nuestra vida y la forma como enfrentamos los retos que se presentan cada día. Un libro recomendado a todos los que quieren amar,servir,cuidar.

[Todd McGlinchey · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great fable to help reinforce great principles of leadership and positivity. The website from this book helped me remember these great principles. Another great story by Jon Gordon.

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

thank you to my father <3 ps my 100th book!!!!

[Paula Zveja · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Your plan might not be working perfectly, but there’s a perfect plan working in you.”

[Rachel Dean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Changed my life!

[Cameron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good self-help book, Love, Serve, and Care??? Share??, Quick easy read, flows really well but not sure if I am going to read any of his other books

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings on this book. There are some really good ideas in it, but the style wasn't my favorite, and it felt like it could have used some firmer editing. It had something of a self-published feel to it, lacking polish.

The style of the book is to take some lessons and principles that can theoretically be applied to life and business, and present them as a fable-type story. This gives it a very inspirational "feel good" style story, but with little in the way of practical advise or structure. I expect that most people will enjoy reading the book, and feel better after reading it, but I'm not sure it will actually help most people improve anything.

Maybe it's just not a style that clicks with me. I prefer books in this genre to mix more practical, useful, hard information along with the anecdotes that can help expand on the principles. Books that are all story with no exposition leave me feeling more entertained than educated. It reminded me strongly of The Phoenix Project: A Novel About IT, DevOps, and Helping Your Business Win in style, and I felt the same way about that book. Entertaining, perhaps a little inspiring, but ultimately of limited practical value.

Note, this book contains a pretty overt Christian vibe to it (as might be guessed by the title). Not a big deal to me, except that it felt a little clumsy and ham-fisted; like the author thought himself to be so very clever with it. I just wanted to mention it because some people can be sensitive to religious overtones.

[Quang Quấn Quít · Rating 4 out of 5]

Khác với câu chuyện đổ vỡ hôn nhân của Harry trong tiểu thuyết Cha và con của Tony Parsons, Người thợ mộc lạ lùng nói đến một khủng hoảng khác của tuổi 30: sức khỏe.

M. là một người đàn ông thành đạt, khởi nghiệp công ty riêng cùng với vợ của mình và có hai con. Một ngày đẹp trời, M. bị đột quỵ trong lúc chạy bộ. Bác sĩ khuyến cáo rằng, đó là dấu hiệu cho một cơn nhồi máu cơ tim. Và người thợ mộc lạ lùng xuất hiện. Ông lão đã sơ cứu và gọi xe cứu thương đưa M. vào bệnh viện kịp thời, và chỉ để lại một tờ danh thiếp là một tấm thẻ màu trắng kèm dòng chữ Thợ mộc có in số điện thoại màu đen bên dưới. "Một kiểu tiếp thị thật kém!" - M.hài hước nhận xét.

Đây là một cuốn sách self-help, nhưng nó khoác lên người là một cuốn truyện dài (mình nghĩ vậy). Xuyên suốt cuốn sách là câu chuyện M. tạm dừng lại công việc của mình và ở nhà hồi sức, cũng là thời điểm anh nhận được những bài học đắt giá nhất từ người thợ mộc lạ lùng qua việc nhờ ông đóng một cái tủ quần áo cho gia đình.

Sau khi đọc cuốn sách này, mình nhận ra một điều. Ở cái tuổi sắp ba mươi như mình, khi bản thân không còn tràn trề nhựa sống của tuổi hai mươi và tương lai là cả một cuộc sống về hưu sau tuổi bốn mươi, mình phải thật sự nghiêm khắc và kỷ luật với sức khỏe nhiều hơn. Bệnh tật không từ bỏ một ai, cuộc sống thì rất vô thường, ngay lúc này mình cần phải quyết tâm xây dựng và thực hiện các thói quen chăm sóc sức khỏe và tinh thần như chạy bộ, hành thiền, đọc sách, trồng cây hay cũng có thể học nghề thợ mộc cũng được, biết đâu sau này mình lại có thể trở thành một người thợ mộc lạ lùng giống như ông lão trong cuốn sách này cũng nên :)

https://ntquangg.wordpress.com/2019/0...

[Huyen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sách dễ đọc, thuộc dòng sách phát triển bản thân xen lẫn trong 1 câu chuyện có bố cục rõ ràng nhưng đều đều, ko có nhiều điểm nhấn,cho ta cảm xúc tích cực.
Ta nghĩ gì ta sẽ trở thành điều đó. Cách ta nhìn thế giới sẽ quyết định thế giới mà ta nhìn và quyết định cách thế giới nhìn ta. Vì vậy chẳng có gì là ko thể với 1 người có lòng tin và quyết chí. Xuyên suốt câu chuyện vẽ lên 1 con đường thực sự để đạt tới sự vĩ đại, hạnh phúc viên mãn. Con đường đó phải có tình yêu + sự phục vụ + sự tận tâm.
Love - là yêu tất cả và không sợ gì cả. Hãy dồn tình yêu vào công việc mình làm và những người mình tiếp xúc, bằng 1 sự cam kết yêu thương trong mọi khoảnh khắc, hoàn cảnh. Ko chỉ yêu những lúc suôn sẻ, thành công, mà yêu cả những lúc xấu xí, thất bại.
Serve - là làm việc ko nề hà, đắn đo. Tất nhiên ta sẽ mất đi thứ gì đó của bản thân: thời gian, sức lực, tiền bạc, tình cảm… nhưng vũ trụ công bằng sẽ gửi lại ta những điều tốt đẹp như ta đã gửi vào vũ trụ. Ta thành công chỉ khi ta giúp được khách hàng thành công.
Care - là cho đi nhiều hơn kỳ vọng của đối tác. Hãy luôn giành thời gian để khiến ai đó cảm thấy đặc biệt. Hãy quan tâm tới từng chi tiết, từng cảm xúc của những người xung quanh trong từng khoảnh khắc.
Hãy yêu thương, phục vụ, tận tâm, tạo ra sự khác biệt trong mỗi khoảnh khắc, cho mỗi người, mỗi mối qua hệ. Tất cả những điều vĩ đại đều tốn thời gian. Nếu thành công đến chớp nhoáng ta sẽ ko kịp tôi rèn những đức tính cần thiết để duy trì thành công đích thực. Khó khăn, thất bại, chiến thắng, thành tựu đều là 1 phần của con đường thành công.

[C. Spencer Reynolds · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another brilliant work by Jon Gordon

I have read every book Jon has published and I am a real fan! In this book Jon really brings his storytelling skills to an intricate level in this charming real-world feeling story that you can see with your mind. The Carpenter is a wise soul that shares wisdom in useable practical ways, and you can use them the same day you read them. I love books that give you tools that work in everyday situations, not in just a one-off way to do something a bit different, this book delivered that beautifully.

I ordered several of the wood hearts to share with executives at my office, and purchased additional copies of the book to share with them as well. I printed several of the posters from the website to put up in my office and other public spots in the office, and love these creative tools to continue the learning from the book into future days and weeks ahead. I know installing the "Love Serve Care" model within our company culture will add value for years to come! Thanks for the inspiration again Jon!!!

[Bill Pence · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is written as a leadership fable, like a book by Patrick Lencioni, Mark Miller or Ken Blanchard, the latter of whom writes the “Foreword” for the book. The book tells the story of Michael, who with his wife, have started up a business. With the business and two children, they are quite busy and stressed. The business - Social Connect - has grown a good deal in the past year. As a result, Michael is feeling the stress of being a husband, father, and business owner. The stress eventually impacts his health.
The book opens with Michael in the hospital. He had been running through the city streets, thinking about ways to build his company, when he collapsed as a result of the stress he was under. A carpenter happened to be close by and saved his life. The carpenter had left his simple business card, so after Michael got out of the hospital, he decided to reach out to him to thank him.
The carpenter’s name was J. Emmanuel. After thanking him, Michael asked him to build an entertainment center for their home. As they worked together, Michael realized that J is much more than a carpenter. J tells him that over the years he has built more than furniture and cabinets. He has helped people build their lives, careers, and teams. He never planned it that way. It just happened. It was his purpose and he received it. Throughout the book, J shares principles about the greatest success strategies, what he calls “The Way”, and his Heart of Success Model. He tells Michael that “The Way” begins with love and love is the antidote to the fear, busyness, and stress that Michael has been feeling. Michael acknowledges that his life was based on fear, not love, and that he needed to change starting immediately.
Michael had to be away from both work and coaching his daughter’s basketball team as he recovers. During that time, Social Connect loses their largest client. They have just two months to find new clients to replace the revenue loss, or they will need to shut the business down. J shares three main points of “The Way”, his Heart of Success Model – Love, Serve and Care. He tells Michael that you love, you serve, and you show people you care. It’s the simplest, most powerful and greatest success model of all time.
Michael is committed to implementing the principles of “The Way” at Social Connect. But will this be enough to save Social Connect before their largest client departs?
I enjoyed this story of J mentoring Michael on the principles of love, serve and care, in both his business and his personal life, as J teaches Michael how to be a servant leader.
Below are some of my favorite quotes from the book:
1. Once you design your masterpiece, you must be a craftsman in your approach to your life and work.
2. All success starts with being a craftsman.
3. Everyone can be a craftsman or craftswoman but not everyone is willing to become one. They don’t want to spend the thousands of hours it takes to master their craft.
4. Life and success are about what you choose to believe. It’s easy to believe things will be great when everything is going well, but the true test of your faith is what you believe when you are facing seemingly insurmountable challenges.
5. Your optimism today will determine your level of success tomorrow.
6. The more you focus on love in each moment and each day, the more fear fades away.
7. You cannot be a craftsman unless you are putting your love into the work that you do.
8. Only through love will you create a masterpiece.
9. True success isn’t about money or possessions. It’s about people, commitment, loyalty, and relationships.
10. In the end we won’t be measured by our bank accounts, sales numbers, wins and losses, or the size of the company we built, but by the difference we made in people’s lives—and we make a difference through relationships.
11. If we make time to invest in our relationships and spend quality time with our family, friends, and colleagues, we will dramatically improve the quality of our lives and careers.
12. Real leaders, great leaders, become powerful by serving others and giving their power away with love. Only by serving can you become truly great!
13. Your greatness as a leader will not be determined by how much power you accumulate. It will be determined by how much you serve and sacrifice for others to help them become great.
14. Great leaders don’t succeed because they are great. They succeed because they bring out the greatness in others.
15. When you care about the work you do and show people you care about them, you stand out in a world where most don’t care.
16. If you want to be successful you must show you care about the work that you do.
17. When you care, you will inspire others to care.
18. Caring is the ultimate success building strategy.
19. Failure can be a gift if you don’t give up and are willing to learn, improve, and grow because of it.
20. No challenge can stop you if you have the courage to keep moving forward in the face of your greatest fears and biggest challenges. Be courageous.
21. The key to becoming a powerful success builder is to make a difference to one person, one moment at a time. You do it each day, with each person, in each moment, as part of each interaction, and over time you powerfully impact a lot of people.
22. Don’t focus on building your business. Focus on using your business to Love, Serve, Care, and build others up. If you do this, your business will build and multiply exponentially.”
23. Two thousand years ago there was no separation between someone’s work life and spiritual life. Now we separate them and wonder why people are so miserable. Work is meant to be a spiritual experience, not a daily chore and a grind. All work is sacred.
24. You aren’t a true success unless you are helping others be successful. Success is meant to be shared.
25. The success you create now is temporary, but the legacy you leave is eternal.

[Jess Fulton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't think of one person that would not benefit from reading this book. The lessons go much deeper than building a successful business. The steps are simple, clear and precise. The author truly believes in condensing the information, less is oh-so-much more. The book deals with values and morals without preaching from a pedestal.
There is a thread of a story line that keeps the reader engaged while the Carpenter shares his secrets of crafting ones life into a masterpiece.

[Blair · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Carpenter was a very quick self help book I picked up after reading a review. It was a simple read that helped me get focused on a few things I'd like to do to make 2015 a great year.....at work and at home.

Simple, solid advice.

[Hajed · Rating 5 out of 5]

إذا كنت تريد أن تكون زوجًا أفضل ، أو صديقًا أفضل ، أو قائدًا أفضل أو ببساطة شخصًا أفضل ، فهذا هو الكتاب المناسب لك. يضع صيغة بسيطة تجعلك نسخة أفضل من نفسك وتجعل الجميع من حولك أفضل في نفس الوقت.

[Ovidiu Oltean · Rating 3 out of 5]

O povestioara simpatica, dar cam puerila.

[Sameer Gudhate · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first time I cracked open The Carpenter by Jon Gordon, I didn’t expect to be sitting with my coffee and suddenly wondering about the scaffolding of my own life. Not the walls and roofs we so carefully patch and polish for the world to see, but the beams underneath—the ones made of habits, fears, and, sometimes, love. It’s a slim book, deceptively slim, that pretends to be a simple fable but keeps dropping splinters of wisdom that stick under your skin and won’t come out.

Jon Gordon has built a reputation on optimism that doesn’t feel forced. He’s the author of The Energy Bus, The No Complaining Rule, and a string of books that have found their way into locker rooms, boardrooms, and kitchen tables alike. He’s not a novelist by trade, and you can feel that—sometimes the prose repeats like a motivational chant—but he is, unmistakably, a builder of messages. And this one? It’s his most human blueprint yet.

The story begins with Michael, a man running—literally—toward success until his body says “enough” and collapses beneath the weight of ambition. Enter the Carpenter, the stranger who saves his life and, more importantly, begins to teach him how to rebuild it. The setup reads like parable, yet the questions it raises—about burnout, fear, the price of achievement—are painfully modern. The Carpenter’s philosophy is distilled into three words that hum like a mantra: Love. Serve. Care. Simple to say. Daringly hard to live.

Stylistically, Gordon opts for parable over manual. If you’re searching for charts, bullet-point frameworks, or ten-step systems, you won’t find them here. Instead, the book moves like a fireside story—gentle, rhythmic, sometimes overly tidy, but always circling back to its heartbeat of love. There’s repetition, yes, but repetition works like the grain of wood: the more you run your fingers over it, the more it sinks in.

What struck me most wasn’t a grand revelation, but a quiet one. There’s a moment where Michael realizes that success measured only in clients, contracts, or cash is brittle. True success, as the Carpenter insists, is relational. It’s in how you show up, how you serve, how you make another person feel less alone. That moment lingered, because I think we all know it—but we forget. We forget while scrolling through endless productivity hacks, while pushing toward the next deadline, while measuring ourselves against bank balances or likes.

The structure of the book is deliberately simple: short chapters, each layering one lesson upon another, like planks fitting neatly into place. It makes the story easy to consume in a single sitting, but perhaps too smooth for readers who prefer narrative grit. Some may find it corny, others too sentimental, and the religious undertones—never overbearing, but present—may not resonate with everyone. Yet there’s honesty in its simplicity, as if Gordon is less concerned with impressing you and more intent on quietly nudging you back toward what matters.

The themes—love as antidote to fear, service as the truest form of leadership, care as the forgotten currency of success—are not new, but they are enduring. Reading them in story form rather than lecture notes makes them feel less like doctrine and more like memory, as though the Carpenter is whispering something you once knew as a child but misplaced along the way.

Emotionally, the book left me both soothed and unsettled. Soothed because its message is profoundly hopeful; unsettled because it forced me to question the scaffolding of my own days. Am I building a masterpiece or just hammering away at hollow walls? That question followed me long after I closed the Kindle app, which, in my view, is the mark of a book that matters.

Its greatest strength lies in its accessibility—anyone, regardless of business acumen or spiritual background, can step into this story and find a spark. Its weakness? It sometimes veers too close to sermon, too polished when a little mess might have made it more real. Still, I’d rather a book risk being earnest than hide behind irony.

Would I recommend it? Wholeheartedly, especially for those standing at the crossroads of burnout and renewal. If you’ve ever felt your ambition pulling you faster than your heart can keep up, The Carpenter will feel like a hand on your shoulder, steadying you, reminding you that the best builders don’t just construct empires—they construct lives.

And maybe that’s the real gift here. Not another “success strategy” to add to the pile, but a gentle invitation: love more deeply, serve more freely, care more courageously. If you accept it, you might just build something worth leaving behind.

Pick up The Carpenter. Sit with it. Let its wood shavings cling to your clothes. Then ask yourself—what are you building?

[Aaron Mikulsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much gratitude to my brother who gifted this book to me. I recommend this quick, impactful read. Here is a teaser on the gift of failure:
Remember that we all fail. It’s what we do after we fail that determines what we build in the long run.
Walt Disney was once fired from a newspaper for a lack of ideas, and his first cartoon production company went bankrupt.
Lucille Ball was told that she had no talent and that she should leave the drama school she was attending.
Dr. Seuss was rejected by 27 publishers and almost burned the manuscript of his first book.
Steve Jobs was fired from Apple at age 30.
Oprah Winfrey was fired as a news anchor and was told she wasn’t fit for television.

Failure can be a gift if you don’t give up and are willing to learn, improve, and grow because of it. Failure often serves as a defining moment or test designed to measure your courage, perseverance, commitment, and dedication. Sometimes failure causes you to take a different path that is better for you in the long run. Sometimes we have to lose a goal to find our destiny. See failure as a test, a teacher, a detour to a better outcome, and an event that builds a better you. Failure is not meant to be final and fatal. It is not meant to define you. It is meant to refine you to be all that you are meant to be. See failure as a blessing instead of a curse. “Every struggle, every challenge, every failure is meant to help show us who we are in this moment and how far we have to go to become all we are meant to be.”

The key is finding the purpose that inspires you to be the mission. When you know your why, you will know the way and you’ll find a way. The love of what you are building has to be greater than the challenges you face.

“Don’t focus on building your business. Focus on using your business to love, serve, care, and build others up. If you do this, your business will build and multiply exponentially.” “Don’t focus on winning a championship, focus on becoming a champion.” The success you create now is temporary, but the legacy you leave is Eternal.

[Matt Manney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Powerful allegory to overcome stress, business, and failure.

Some great quotes,
“Love works to build something. Fear worries of losing something.”

Why did I love this book?
Quick read and the story framework to communicate the lessons and principles as Jon does is easy to consume. Simple but powerful.

Who is this book for?
Leaders, owners, people who want to do more than just exist and stay in a rut. People looking for encouragement and inspiration.

Who is this book not for?
If you’re looking for very specific detailed strategies to implement, not here. There are guidelines and lessons to employ but nothing like “step one: write a note, step two: analyze your profits every two days, step three: take a client to a burrito shop for lunch on Tuesday.”

My favorite part of the book?
How Jon weaves stats, anecdotes, quotes, and info into the story line. For example he talks about a tribe of runners who were cut off from civilization and would run 40 miles a day to get food, pass on info, etc. the older the got the stronger, faster, and greater endurance they had.

Great solid read. I love Jon’s work.

[Juan Chavez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book. I am a big fan of Jon Gordon. Yes, the are short stories and they can be repetitive but the message and the quotes are great! highly recommend. Some of my favorite quotes are:

1 - How you see the world. Determines how the world sees you
2 -To build a masterpiece you must design it. Same with life. Too many people go through life living by chance but when you live by design and know the life you want to create you are able to create a masterpiece instead of a piece of junk.
3-Once you design your masterpiece you must be a craftsman in your approach to life and work.
4-When you see the good, look for the good and expect the good, you find the good and the good finds you.
5-It is great to have a mission statement but it is pointless unless your team is on a mission
6-Dont focus on winning a championship, focus on becoming a champion
7-I am not a human being having a spiritual experience. I am a spiritual being a human experience.
8-The more you give away, the more you will receive to give away

[Candi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can I tell you how conflicted I was to score this?! It's a great and inspirational book. However, I've read other books with bits of what this book is about with various real life examples. It's also easy for me to be inspired by this book because I've met a leader like this. Didn't say these exact words but through his actions, the team was a group and better environment for us all to learn from each other. I do think if you use Love, Serve, and Care, you will build great things. I continue to invest in people and my relationships because I know they are worth it. I don't have to be a leader to know that.

There are a lot of great quotes or phrases in here that are great reminders of what we are here for.

[Brett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Burnt out, frustrated, overwhelmed - we have all been there. Michael owner and operator of his business was there - but it took an accident for him to encounter a man that would change his outlook and essentially his life. This help and life changing advices comes from an unlikely source, a carpenter. He shares with Michael life changing truths that changed him: Love, Serve, Care. It is those principles that Michael not only implement in his own family but also in his business. Michael learns that building a legacy is more important that financial success and the only way to build a legacy is to build people. Although Energy Bus is probably Jon Gordon's most famous book - The Carpenter is my favorite one he has written.

[Troy Blaylock · Rating 5 out of 5]

The goal in life is not to accumulate things, but to give your life away. And the best way to give your life away is to help others build things that make a difference. Love, Serve, and Care. The 3 greatest success strategies of all. The Way. The key is to being an extraordinary leader is to focus on multiply others one at a time. If you want to win, don't focus on winning, focus on becoming a champion.

The numerous paradoxical teachings in this book offered a refreshing revelation of how utilizing a courage, faith, and be a servant leader can impact and build successful organizations, businesses, and relationships. Truly an empowering read. Thank you for the book recommendation Donaghvan Brown! Super excited to apply these principles in my current occupation.

[Ron Scheese · Rating 5 out of 5]

Uplifting & positive message

Just finished Jon Gordon's "The Carpenter "

"The Carpenter" is a parable of putting Christ's teachings and message into our daily walk.
It provides a narrative filled with sound advice on leadership, business and living one's purpose. Uplifting and positive - a terrific read for those in any service ministry or industry.

Quick, easy to read, and very relatable to my world view. Encourages one to remain grounded, positive, kind and committed. Would highly recommend this book - I've already purchased copies and shared this gift this season.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book for the nonfiction book club. They loved it. It is a simple inspirational story about success strategies. It feels like more of one book in a seminar series offered as a business course at a college or university and is, in fact, published by an academic publisher. The Carpenter is a savior figure who teaches our down and out protagonist how to grow his floundering business with the Love, Serve, and Care method. Lots of in your face Christian overtones here and very little instruction or practical advice. Mostly an inspirational fable offered as a jumping off point for those interested in learning more about this particular business model.