100 Ducere Est Servire: THE LEADERSHIP JOURNAL OF DALLAS BAPTIST UNIVERSITY Nolo Episcopari and the Leadership Wisdom of J.R.R. Tolkien Mark Cook, Ph.D. Dr. Mark Cook (Leadership Studies, '18) is Associate Professor of Leadership and Biblical Studies at Dallas Baptist University. BASED ON A LECTURE DELIVERED AT THE FRIDAY SYMPOSIUM SERIES AT DALLAS BAPTIST UNIVERSITY - FEBRUARY 3, 2023 J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis are two of the most beloved fiction authors of the 20th century. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy and Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia propelled them both to stratospheric levels of fame for Oxford dons. Both men crafted worlds, characters, and events that have influenced and shaped countless readers, but rarely are the two considered by the field of leadership. They do not fall into the normal categorization of leaders, yet they continue to wield considerable influence through the works they have created. This omission is partly due to the pragmatic underpinnings of leadership studies, which has tended to elevate the practical aspects of study over the more philosophical, making it more likely that the average student of leadership has more training in the realm of business than in literature. The object of this essay is to consider at a macro level the reduction that the field of leadership has experienced and to offer instead a vision for a more robust and enlarged field of leadership, one that draws nourishment from the field of literature. J.R.R. Tolkien provides a compelling case study of how this expansion might work, so this essay will focus on the leadership wisdom found by considering such a literary giant. I came to Tolkien first as a fan and enjoyer of his work. Like many, I was captivated first by the world of Lord of the Rings, and have since ambled through his other works, all the while still finding “LOTR” the most satisfying. For my doctoral research I had the opportunity
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