Welcome to the Book Room
More than 250,000 copies of Dr. Kent Keith’s books have been sold around the world. He is known nationally and internationally as the author of the Paradoxical Commandments. His book, Anyway: The Paradoxical Commandments, became a national bestseller and has been translated into 17 languages. He is also known as an expert on servant leadership. His book, The Case for Servant Leadership, has also become a national bestseller.
Over the years, Dr. Keith’s publishers have included Inner Ocean Publishing, G.P. Putnam’s Son, New World Library, Jossey-Bass Publishers, and Terrace Press (the Carlson Keith imprint). He has published secular and Christian books. His books can be purchased on Amazon.com.
New Books by the Keiths
Dr. Keith’s second novel.
Pastor Baird Comes to Town (2026)
By Kent M. Keith
After his wife died, Pastor Baird felt called to start a new life in his family’s ancestral town in the Midwest. He renovates an abandoned church and leads church members in building a more caring community. But not everyone is happy that Pastor Baird has come to town. In addition to opposition from city council members, he receives anonymous threats, warning him to leave town. He decides to stay, knowing that his life is in danger. Click Here.
Six Years Under the Cross: Saving Accreditation and Reshaping
Chaminade University 1989-1995 (2025)
By Kent M. Keith
In 1989, the Board of Regents of Chaminade University of Honolulu asked Kent Keith to serve as the university’s next president. At the time, the university was running out of money and was threatened with the loss of accreditation. This is an autobiographical account of the steps that he and the campus community took to save accreditation and reshape the university for future success. The book describes the conflicts over the importance of accreditation and disagreements over who should be making decisions. It addresses the challenges of changing the campus leaders and changing the organizational culture, and describes the ways in which the author sought to apply servant leadership principles during the turnaround. The book concludes with the author’s advice for today’s university leaders. The appendix includes copies of the actual plans that were successfully implemented during the six years of Keith’s presidency. Click Here.
Moonflower: Kaneko Misuzu and the Development of Children's Literature in Taisho Japan (2024)
By Elizabeth Misao Keith Ph.D.
Kaneko Misuzu is one of Japan's most beloved poets. Elizabeth Misao Keith grew up in Japan, where she became familiar with traditional Japanese children's songs. She discovered the poetry of Misuzu during her college years. Her love for Misuzu's poetry led her to conduct research on Misuzu for her Master's degree in Japanese Literature. In Moonflower she provides the results of her research, including the historical and literary context for Misuzu's poetry, as well as an overview of Misuzu's life. After reading all 512 of the poems in Misuzu's collection, Dr. Keith selected 27 for translation, discussion, and analysis. The poems are examples of Misuzu's poetry in categories such as a slice of life, fantasy, seeing the world through a child's eyes, loneliness, philosophy, and death. Poem by poem, Dr. Keith explains why people are still enjoying Misuzu's poetry today. Click Here.
Servant Leadership at Work: Caring About People and Getting Extraordinary Results (2024)
In Servant Leadership at Work: Caring About People and Getting Extraordinary Results, Dr. Keith explains that one reason servant leadership is so effective is that servant leaders really care about people. The book includes eight specific ways that servant leaders demonstrate that they care-- ways that support enhanced employee performance and generate superior organizational results. Servant leaders get to know their colleagues, do their best to understand their colleagues' life at work, treat people right, create strong communities at work, help their colleagues grow, help their colleagues find meaning, help their colleagues beyond the workplace, and care about everyone the organization touches. The book includes personal stories, historical references, and the results of research on servant leadership in the workplace. The appendix addresses misconceptions about servant leadership and offers questions for reflection or discussion. Click Here.
Dr. Keith's first novel.
The Battle for Monquash Mountain (2023)
The town of Monquash sits next to a lake and mountain that are a vision of beauty, loved by residents and visitors alike. When the local electric power company proposes to cut down trees and run a high-voltage power line down the face of the mountain, a small group of residents comes together to stop it. They risk their careers as they move through the legal and political process, losing at each turn, while the power company president attacks them relentlessly. As the final battle is fought on the mountaintop, help comes from unexpected quarters. But will that help be enough? Click Here.
Our Birds Don't Eat in the Dark (2023)
This collection of 16 whimsical essays offers a refreshing respite from the serious issues affecting humankind. Our Birds Don't Eat in the Dark is an enthusiastic encounter with curious things. The topics include birds, bananas, clouds, ancestry, sounds, our sense of smell, roosters, drinking, naps, dancing, mitochondria, mindfulness, missing body parts, wind and wings, remote controls, and squirrels. The essays are a reminder that our lives are richer when we take the time to enjoy the little things in our world that are amusing, strange, cacophonous, random, contradictory, and fascinating. Click Here.
Paradoxical Commandments
Here is information about Dr. Keith's books on the Paradoxical Commandments and servant leadership. Please click on the book to purchase.
The Paradoxical of Personal Meaning (2023)
By Kent M. Keith
In this book, Dr. Keith expands on Anyway: The Paradoxical Commandments to address not only how to find personal meaning in the face of adversity but also how to find personal meaning in the face of success. Symbols of success like power, wealth, and fame are supposed to give us meaning and make us happy. Unfortunately, research and our own experience show us that these symbols of success provide little personal meaning and deep happiness. For that, we have to look elsewhere. That is what this book is about. The book reviews the Paradoxical Commandments and the importance of finding meaning, and then describes the Meaning Maximizers that can help each of us to find personal meaning in the face of success. Click Here.
Anyway: The Paradoxical Commandments: Finding Personal Meaning in a Crazy World (2002)
By Kent M. Keith
In this book, Dr. Keith explains the origin and meaning of the Paradoxical Commandments, which have been used by millions of people all over the world. The commandments are guidelines for finding meaning in the face of diversity. The message is that whatever the world does to us, we still get to choose how to respond, and we can always respond in ways that are meaningful to us. We can find meaning by facing the worst in the world with the best in ourselves. Click Here.
By Kent M. Keith
This handbook is a companion to Anyway: The Paradoxical Commandments. It describes how people have used the Paradoxical Commandments to break away from their daily excuses, or a painful past, or a complicated present, to find meaning anyway. This is a practical "how to" book for those who want to put the Paradoxical Commandments into practice in their own lives. The book includes 40 stories about people who are living the commandments; questions for personal reflection and group discussion; and an interview with the author in which he answers the questions he is asked most often about the commandments. Click Here.
Jesus Did It Anyway: The Paradoxical Commandments for Christians (2005)
By Kent M. Keith
For more than forty years, the Paradoxical Commandments have been used by Christians all over the globe. Mother Teresa thought they were important enough to put on the wall of her children's home in Calcutta. Jesus Did It Anyway illustrates the Paradoxical Commandments through stories and verses from both the Old Testament and the New Testament, the teachings of Jesus and the apostles, and personal anecdotes. The 14-chapter book includes a study guide with questions for each chapter—ideal for discussion groups and Sunday School classes. Click Here.
Have Faith Anyway: The Vision of Habakkuk for Our Times (2008)
By Kent M. Keith
Have Faith Anyway explores the author's new 11th Paradoxical Commandment: The world is full of violence, injustice, starvation, disease, and environmental destruction. Have faith anyway. To help the reader better understand what it is like to have faith in the face of seemingly insurmountable problems, the author tells the story of the Old Testament prophet Habakkuk, whose vision of a conversation with God led him to an inspiring affirmation of faith even in the face of devastation and death. The book concludes with Keith's own vision of a conversation between a Christian and God today. The book includes a Reader's Guide for Reflection and Study. Click Here.
Servant Leadership
Servant Leadership at Work: Caring About People and Getting Extraordinary Results (2024)
By Kent M. Keith
In Servant Leadership at Work: Caring About People and Getting Extraordinary Results, Dr. Keith explains that one reason servant leadership is so effective is that servant leaders really care about people. The book includes eight specific ways that servant leaders demonstrate that they care-- ways that support enhanced employee performance and generate superior organizational results. Servant leaders get to know their colleagues, do their best to understand their colleagues' life at work, treat people right, create strong communities at work, help their colleagues grow, help their colleagues find meaning, help their colleagues beyond the workplace, and care about everyone the organization touches. The book includes personal stories, historical references, and the results of research on servant leadership in the workplace. The appendix addresses misconceptions about servant leadership and offers questions for reflection or discussion. Click Here.
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The Case for Servant Leadership (2nd edition, 2012)
By Kent M. Keith
The Case for Servant Leadership is an easy-to-read introduction to servant leadership. It describes servant leadership as ethical, practical, and meaningful. The book cites the universal importance of service, defines servant leadership, compares the power model of leadership with the service model, outlines some key practices of servant-leaders, and explores the meaningful lives of servant-leaders. The book includes an appendix on servant leadership compared with other ideas about leadership, as well as questions for reflection and discussion. The book has been used by businesses, government agencies, non-profit organizations, hospitals, and more than forty universities around the United States. Click Here.
Servant Leadership in the Boardroom: Fulfilling
the Public Trust (2011)
By Kent M. Keith
This book presents and augments the views of Robert Greenleaf on the opportunity of board members of all types of corporations—for-profit and non-profit—to truly lead and make a difference for their organizations and those their organizations serve. The book provides historical background on the public purpose of all corporations, the responsibilities of board members as trustees for the public good, the unique value of board judgments, the relationship between the board and administration, the role of the Chair, and keys to board effectiveness. The appendix includes key reminders for servant leaders in the boardroom, a discussion of the shareholder primacy issue affecting for-profit boards, and an overview of servant leadership for those new to the subject. Click Here.
Questions and Answers about Servant Leadership (2012)
By Kent M. Keith
This book shares the questions that Dr. Keith is often asked and the answers that he likes to give when he is making presentations. In some cases, the answers have been expanded for this publication. The book is designed to be especially useful to those who naturally begin with questions, whether they are new to servant leadership or have been on the journey for many years. Where applicable, answers conclude with recommendations for additional reading. A list of all the recommended readings can be found at the end of the text. Click Here.
The Christian Leader at Work: Serving by Leading (2012)
By Kent M. Keith
This book is for Christian leaders, whether they are leaders in churches, businesses, non-profit organizations, the military, government agencies, schools, or hospitals. Beginning with the importance of faith, the commandment to love, and the call to serve, the book describes the service model of leadership, key practices of servant-leaders, and organizational structures that are based on the teachings of Jesus and the guidance of Scripture. It addresses practical leadership issues such as motivation, leading change, and how to be effective as a leader who is in the world, not of the world. The book is unusual in that it combines the wisdom of the Scriptures with empirical research and experience that supports Biblical teachings. The book includes a Study Guide for individual reflection or group discussion, plus a list of Biblical references, a bibliography, and notes. Click Here.
Discovering Servant Leadership (2018)
By Kent M. Keith
This is the text that Dr. Keith used in presenting nine lectures that explore how to be a servant leader. He takes the teachings of the Bible and connects them with daily reality, addressing practical questions that are important regardless of what kind of organization one is leading in the ministry or the marketplace. Along the way, he shares plenty of stories about servant leaders in action, stories that illustrate their effectiveness in the real world. In preparing the lectures, Dr. Keith drew upon a number of his books and articles on servant leadership. He also added stories that he had never told before. The result is a unique text that is available nowhere else. The videos of his nine lectures can be viewed at www.discoveringservantleadership.com. Click Here.
Morality and Morale: A Business Tale (2012)
By Kent M. Keith
Morality and Morale: A Business Tale is a story about a young business manager faced with a moral dilemma at work. As he calls on others for advice, he learns that business is a way to serve others; that there is a universal moral code that each of us can follow in our businesses and our private lives; that morality and morale are related, so that when morality goes up, so does morale; that treating others right can be a source of personal energy and can result in business success; and that living morally makes life more meaningful. The book includes Notes for the Reader that provide background for the ideas introduced in the story. Click Here.
The Silent Revolution: Dynamic Leadership in the Student Council (1968/2003)
By Kent M. Keith
This is a new edition of the book for which Dr. Keith wrote the Paradoxical Commandments, 149 words that have spread all over the world and have been used by millions of people of all ages and backgrounds. The book was first published in 1968, when Dr. Keith was 19, a sophomore in college. In the book, Keith encouraged student leaders to work together, through the system, to achieve positive, lasting change. He said that student councils can, and should, make a difference. He explained the need to love people and do what is meaningful and satisfying, whether you get credit or not. He used hypothetical stories to describe practical leadership skills and dilemmas, argued that the “good guys” can win, and urged students to take action now. “Don’t vegetate,” he said. “Initiate.” Click Here.
The Silent Majority: The Problem of Apathy and the Student Council (1971/2004)
By Kent M. Keith
Dr. Keith was 20, a junior in college, when he wrote this book as a companion to his first book, The Silent Revolution. Keith said: “The Silent Majority is written for high school student council leaders who want to give the student council its noblest meaning and purpose: people helping people.” Keith argued that no one is completely apathetic—everyone is interested in something. It’s up to student leaders to find out what their fellow students are interested in, and then link up with those interests. In the process, student leaders will learn more about themselves and discover the richness of life that is available to those who become “people people.” This is a new edition of the original 1971 publication. Click Here.
Free downloadable Publications
Hawaii: Looking Back from the Year 2050 (1987/2020)
By Kent M. Keith
Dr. Keith has lived most of his life in Hawaii. From 1979 to 1986, he served in the State of Hawaii Department of Planning and Economic Development, where he worked on ocean and energy issues, and then served as Director of the department, responsible for planning and economic development for the state. In 1987, the year after he completed his work for the department, he wrote nine fictional lectures in which he pretended that it was the year 2050 and he was looking back to report on everything that had happened in the previous 75 years. The lectures were titled Hawaii: Looking Back from the Year 2050. He said in the 1987 Author’s Preface: “Imagining the future is fun. It is also essential. It is essential to think about different futures in order to choose some and avoid others—to define a preferred future and seek to reach it. Also, we may be able to discover ways of solving today’s problems by looking at things from a new perspective—that of our grandchildren.” In 2020, thirty-three years later, Dr. Keith re-published the lectures, along with a new Author’s Preface.
To download a PDF of the book, click here.
Missing the Last Train: A Christmas Tale (2012)
By Kent M. Keith
Missing the Last Train is a short story about a man who has lost his focus on the most meaningful things in life. Working too late on Christmas Eve, he misses the last train home, and is stuck overnight at the train station with his bag of presents for his children. The station attendant invites him into his small office, and shares “The Four Rules” for finding meaning in life. When the man boards the first train the next morning, he knows that “The Four Rules” are the Christmas present he needed most.
To download a PDF of the book, click here.
By Kent Keith
During my last year and a half of college, I spent most of my evenings reading and writing poetry. I loved every minute! I wrote hundreds of poems. In December 1970, after I graduated, I selected my favorite poems and shared them with friends as a collection titled Certified Raw Milk. This updated version of Certified Raw Milk is a selection of 29 poems from that longer 1970 edition.
To download a PDF of the collection, click here.
Links
Dr. Kent Keith’s related websites:
www.discoveringservantleadership.com
www.paradoxicalcommandments.com
