Farmer Able

Farmer Able
192 Pages
ISBN 978-1627872355

The pigs are running the farm.

So begins the story of Farmer Able. Everyone on his farm—people and animals alike—are downright downtrodden by him. He’s overbearing and compulsively obsessed with profits and productivity. He’s a typical top-down, power-based manager, forever tallying production numbers in his well-worn ledgers. But the more he pushes the hoofs and horns and humans, the more they dig in their heels. That is until one day when he hears a mysterious wind that whispers: “It’s not all about me.” Can he turn things around and begin attending to the needs of those on his farm, thus improving their attitudes and productivity?

Farmer Able is an engaging parable that entertains as it enlightens. It reveals a profound truth about the dysfunction in organizations and how dramatic improvements can be made when leaders liberate employees to operate at their fullest potential and discover the significance in their work.

Art Barter

About Art Barter (San Diego, California Author)

Art Barter

Art Barter believes “everyone can be great, because everyone can serve.” To teach people about the power of servant leadership, Art started in his own backyard by rebuilding the culture of the manufacturing company he bought in 2004, Datron World Communications. Art took Datron’s traditional power-led model and turned it upside down, and together with his management team, began to serve first. The result: a small international radio manufacturer grew from a $10 million company to a $200 million company in six years.

Through his stories, Art reveals Datron’s journey of moving from severe adversity to becoming a significant organization committed to leading for the sake of others in a popular keynote, “Can You Spare Any Change? Transforming Behaviors Through Servant Leadership.” He believes how you get results is more important than the results themselves, and his presentations on servant leadership-related topics have inspired audiences around the world.

As an authority on servant leadership implementation, Art shares his expertise in business books, on websites, through podcasts and in blogs. His experience with Datron’s transformation to a servant-led organization is chronicled in the book, The Art of Servant Leadership. Art’s newest book, Farmer Able: A Fable About Servant Leadership Transforming Organizations And People From The Inside Out, has been endorsed by leaders of servant-led companies including WD-40, Popeye’s, Franklin Covey, Ken Blanchard Companies, and John Maxwell Co. Through SLI, Art has commissioned two other books, The Cross and the Towel and most recently, Our Character at Work: Success from the Heart of Servant Leadership.