Book Review: Lead Like it Matters to God: Values-Driven Leadership in a Success-Driven World by Richard Stearns

Incredibles or Game of Thrones) and contextualized examples. Furthermore, by connecting her erudite re-presentation of the vices with spiritual formation practices, DeYoung gives a distinguished practical dimension to her book. Those who are more familiar with biblical rather than philosophical approaches to themes related to the Christian life could argue that DeYoung’s treatment lacks biblical grounds. Such a criticism, however, would be unfair. If the book lacks quantity in terms of biblical reasoning, its quality is more than reasonable. The author handles the Scripture precisely, applying the correct text in the right place. Even if more biblical information could be helpful, no argument sustained by the author lacks biblical support. Therefore, it is challenging to identify weaknesses in DeYoung’s outstanding work. A possible limitation is the book’s length. Whether the author’s aimed public would be solely the academia, this aspect could never be considered a problem. However, DeYoung also wants to reach Christians in general (see Preface), and for those not familiar with complex readings, the book can be challenging. Furthermore, despite the author’s detectable effort to make the text more pleasant to the general public, the language and the density of some points can become a difficult obstacle for some readers to surpass. In summary, this book is indeed a masterpiece of medieval philosophic research, especially in the Thomistic approach to ethics. The author aims at Christian life’s practical aspects, like sanctification and character formation. As DeYoung could balance scholarly and practicality, the book’s most unique quality is the author’s ability to present complex concepts in an accessible manner. Such a strength makes the book recommendable to a wide range of potential readers, from philosophy students to spiritual directors, from counselors to the Christian interested in growing spiritually. The reader will find a stimulant and transformative book.