When Jon Antonucci gives a speech at a prison, he always starts them the same way.
“Gentlemen, your choices do define you.”
To many, this comment may read as obvious. To others, perhaps it reads as flippant. But when Antonucci speaks to incarcerated individuals, he’s not speaking to them as a motivational speaker or the entrepreneur who just released his first published book. He’s speaking to them as a peer.
Antonucci grew up in Fort Collins, Colo., and even early in his life, his entrepreneurial spirit was present. From doing odd jobs in the neighborhood at the age of seven to engaging in the community through martial arts, Antonucci was what many would think of as a “model” citizen.
A couple of years after he and his family moved to Arizona, though, Antonucci made what he describes as an incredibly costly decision. In 2009, Antonucci and a group of his friends started a fire, which ultimately led to the death of his friend. Antonucci was sent to prison and spent 14 years in the Arizona Department of Corrections.
“[Prison] will give you an opportunity to reflect on your life and realize that maybe just because you were doing good things doesn't mean you have it all figured out,” Antonucci said. “And it certainly did that for me.”
It was also in prison that Antonucci says that many of his core leadership values were instilled in him. This leadership philosophy was synthesized into his new book, Servant Minded Leadership: How Mindfulness Changes Servant-Leadership.
Servant leadership is a business concept largely attributed to Robert K. Greenleaf, an American business executive and author. Greenleaf wrote an essay on the topic in 1970, titled The Servant as Leader, which asserted that any leader must be a servant of their team above all.
“It's the idea that as a leader, you are making an impact on your team. The question is only if that impact is positive or negative,” Antonucci said. “What I've come to believe is that servant leadership is a fantastic idea that has accidentally gotten corrupted.”
Antonucci says he believes this corruption stems from the fact that many have implemented servant-minded leadership as a means to an end.
“The messaging went from ‘a leader should serve their team to bring out the best in them’ to ‘a leader should serve their team to get the most from them,’” Antonucci said. “I'm hoping that, through a humble attempt of a little book and a company that tries to help other companies out, we can introduce this concept afresh and bring it back to its roots of serving people.”
The book itself is under 200 pages and designed to be applicable for those who read it. Each chapter comes with a one-page synopsis at the end, and every concept has action items for the reader to implement in their own organizations.
“We really want this to be something that people are not just reading about, but that they're being about,” Antonucci said.
Servant Minded Leadership: How Mindfulness Changes Servant-Leadership is available for purchase online, in both paperback and digital versions. Antonucci says he hopes to eventually have an audiobook option, and he already has his sights set on his next publishing project.
The Fruits of the Labor
Antonucci did not just write his leadership philosophy and publish it on a whim. He says that the principles contained within his book are principles that he has actively implemented in his own business endeavors.
Currently, Antonucci is the president of SML Consultive, a leadership-consulting firm he founded in 2023. The company focuses on training front-line and middle-management leaders to engage more effectively with their teams.
Antonucci says that the idea for the firm began to form shortly after he was released from prison, when he got a job as a training manager with Optimize Courier. Later, he would go on to be the director of revenue. But Antonucci discovered a problem.
“We had done everything we could to try to have good staff retention — treating people right, paying them well, training — but people were still leaving at an alarming rate, and we couldn't figure out why,” Antonucci said. “We finally realized that the challenge we were facing was that we were taking our best players and we were promoting them. [And] we took them from whatever role they were really good at, moved them into a leadership role, and we gave them zero tools for how to fill that role.”
Antonucci hopes that his new book can help break down concepts for newer leaders so that they can apply them and create better team environments.
“Front-liners as a rule are the least appreciated members of the team. They get blamed for almost everything. They’re recognized for almost nothing,” Antonucci said. “Nobody gives them any tools to succeed, and we can't figure out why they're burning out by the handles. So I love to get this [book] into their hands.”
The plaque given to Antonucci by his team at Optimize Courier
When Antonucci left Optimize Courier, his team gave him a plaque. One that reads, in part: “Through patience, encouragement, and your leadership by example, you helped build something lasting with Optimize Courier — and we’re grateful for every moment you shared with us.”
Antonucci refers to it as the single most meaningful gift he has ever received.
“When people go out of their way to say, ‘you made an impact,’ is there anything greater in life?” he noted. “The only thing greater is to watch them fly. To watch them soar because of the empowering and the equipping that you did.”
He continued: “That's successful. And that's the type of culture that can be created.”
Learn more about SML Consultive and Jon Antonucci, here.
Follow Breanna Laws on @GreerByBreanna
