A new parenting book for dads uses a successful business philosophy as the basis for creating more engaged and loving fathers and partners.
Fathering Together: Living a Connected Dad Life, written by Brian Anderson, a co-founder of the Fathering Together nonprofit organization, preaches a new narrative for fatherhood based on “servant leadership.” Based on the writings of Robert Greenleaf, servant leadership espouses that corporate leaders should put the needs of employees ahead of all else. By helping employees grow and develop, they (and the company) perform better and thrive. In turn, the employees want to serve others even as they grow into leadership roles themselves.
DISCLOSURE: City Dads Group has previously teamed with Fathering Together on various projects.
Anderson’s book — available in e-format and print — captures the stories of dozens of dads who are striving for healthier and stronger relationships. For it, he interviewed scores of the more than 125,000 followers of his organization’s Facebook groups and found many dads use servant-leadership teachings in their parenting without even realizing it.
In the book, Anderson provides personal stories and practical skills weaved into the main tenants of servant-leadership to provide dads with a new pathway. He challenges all fathers to create a dad-first mindset. Anderson encourages them to be present, express their emotions, cultivate lifelong learning, and advocate for social change among many other things. He refers to the book as ” a love letter to my fellow dads because I believe in our capacity to change and our capacity to build,” Anderson wrote in the introduction.
Brian Anderson, who serves as the executive director of Fathering Together, is raising two elementary-school-aged daughters in his marriage of more than a decade. An ordained minister, he has also been a farmer, social worker, community organizer, university chaplain, interfaith leadership consultant and certified spiritual director.
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