Are you rushing to find quick fixes to complex problems? Are you overwhelmed by pressure to produce immediate gains? Are you aiming at nearsighted remedies instead of long-term solutions? Become a leader who values transformation over turnaround–one who measures eternal outcomes as well as immediate effectiveness. This book shows you how. Consider it your personal guide to a leadership lifestyle of lasting significance. The Longview will revolutionize the way you lead. "Now more than ever, leaders everywhere are realizing that short-term thinking doesn't work. The Longview by Dr. Roger Parrott is essential medicine for today's hurry-up, quick-fix lifestyle. Read this book, read it again, and apply its message to your life." -- Ken Blanchard, coauthor of The One Minute Manager® and Lead Like Jesus “Roger Parrott is indeed a leader who looks at things from a long-range perspective. I have had the privilege of knowing him and watching him lead for many years. Not only does he model good leadership, but he also seeks to help others lead well." -- Steve Douglass, president of Campus Crusade for Christ "Roger Parrott has demonstrated over the years that true Christian leadership is a matter of integrity performed with excellence. When you live a life like that, you can't help but have followers! In his new book, The Longview: Lasting Strategies for Rising Leaders, he provides weathered advice to young men and women on leading with honesty and truthfulness. I highly recommend it!" -- Joni Eareckson Tada, JAF International Disability Center “Leaders in the United States have needed to heed the message of this book for years. Roger Parrott explains how leaders can best serve their people and the organizations they lead. Leading others is like running a marathon, not a sprint, and Roger Parrott is a leadership marathoner par excellence! I highly recommend this book.” -- D. Michael Lindsay, author of Faith in the Halls of Power

Situated in the East Texas Piney Woods, Longview was established in 1870 when O. H. Methvin deeded land to the Southern Pacific to build a railroad station. The village became the county seat of Gregg County in 1873 and quickly prospered as a rail, cotton, and manufacturing center. The discovery of the East Texas Oil Field in 1930-1931 revealed that Longview sat in the middle of the world's largest pool of petroleum. The boom had begun! Today Longview is home to almost 80,000 residents. The city that bills itself as "Real East Texas" is a manufacturing, medical, and educational center and home to such events as the Great Texas Balloon Race and AlleyFest arts festival.

From his command post in a downtown Kansas City skyscraper, the nation's foremost lumberman, R.A. Long, received the devastating report from his company's timber scouts in 1918: his sources for raw material were nearly exhausted. The once-lush pine and oak forests of the Mississippi Delta had been stripped clean and converted into farmland. Now, his Long-Bell Lumber Company was at a crossroads. The timber baron put the question to a vote by his board of directors: disband or build the world's largest lumber mill somewhere else? This group of middle-aged men looked upon R.A. Long as a father figure and a proverbial King Midas, able to turn wood into gold. Their decision was easy: they wholeheartedly endorsed the plan to build. And their vision became the Longview story, combining social engineering, modern marketing, and a whole lot of money into a 20th-century urban success story.

It’s been a long time coming, but Michelle Wilson and Dr. Cale Benjamin are finally ready to tie the knot. Of course, there’s the usual pre-wedding mix-ups, and matchmaker Mary Cassidy seems to have her finger in everyone’s pie. Michelle is wrapped up in wedding plans and worrying over her barrel horse’s impending surgery. On top of all that she’s hoping that her old flame’s new wife can keep him from falling off the wagon and disrupting Michelle’s wedding. Of course there is that old saying that true love never runs smooth, but it’s what happens on the way to the church that really throws a wrench into the happy couple’s plans.