Northwestern College professor edits book on servant leadership and forgiveness

Dr. Jiying (Jenny) Song, assistant professor of business and economics at Northwestern College, served as first editor of a newly published anthology, “Servant Leadership and Forgiveness: How Leaders Help Heal the Heart of the World.”

Published by SUNY Press, the volume includes chapters written by 21 authors from around the world. Many of the authors, like Song, are alumni of Gonzaga University’s School of Leadership Studies or on its advisory board. The book draws upon contexts from personal, organizational and global levels to engage a deeper conversation about the role of leadership and forgiveness in the midst of political and social upheaval.

“Working on the book was a really enriching journey,” says Song. “So many times when I read and edited the stories, I was moved to tears. I hope this book will bring peace and hope to many people.”

Working alongside Song as editors of the anthology were Dr. Dung Tran, assistant professor of organizational leadership at Gonzaga; Dr. Shann Ferch, professor of leadership studies at Gonzaga; and Larry Spears, servant leadership scholar at Gonzaga and president of the Spears Center for Servant Leadership.

Song says discussions about developing the book began between Ferch, Spears and her in 2018. “It feels like it was meant for the book to be published now. We need forgiveness at the individual, organizational, national and global levels now more than ever.”     

Chapters cover the theories of servant leadership and apply them to life. The book includes a number of personal forgiveness stories, including accounts of people who forgave the murderers of their children, a survivor of clergy sexual abuse who forgave his abuser, healing that took place in families rocked by alcoholism and dysfunction, and executives who both sought and granted forgiveness from coworkers. Two chapters address the need for servant leadership and forgiveness in law enforcement.

In addition to serving as first editor, Song wrote the first chapter, “Awareness, Healing and Forgiveness: Servant Leaders Help Heal the Heart of the World.”

The anthology is available for purchase from SUNY Press and Amazon.

Song works with Ferch and Spears as associate editor for The International Journal of Servant Leadership. She joined Northwestern’s faculty in 2019 to teach management and marketing courses after having taught at George Fox University. Certified in project management, she has extensive industry experience as a senior engineer and operation director in logistics and supply chain management for Dalian Port Logistics Technology Company.  

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