Lead Yourself First

It's been a minute since my last book review but I felt this one was necessary."Lead Yourself First" by Mike Erwin and Judge Kethledge is an absolute beast. Read it! It's a one stop shop for those looking to better understand their own leadership status and more importantly, their own ultimate leadership potential.Like many leadership books, LYF covers leadership "for others" by discussing self. Of course, if you're a mess, how can you expect to lead others? Self care is important- so important that it really never ends. So how do we do this? The authors make their case by both analyzing in great detail the lives of historical leaders as well as interviewing dozens of everyday leaders alive today. This blend makes the read educational, entertaining, relevant and inspiring. LYF answers the question, "how then shall we lead?", by breaking leadership self-care into 4 important sections. I call them "clarity", "the unseen", "balance" and "courage".In the first section, which I call "Clarity", Erwin and Kethledge discuss the difference between clarity and analytical clarity and why they're both important. Clarity being derived moreso from mental quietude, analytical clarity through rigorous syllogistic thought. The takeaway here is that good decisions take clarity- clarity to know and clarity to recognize and trust what you think you know (your intuition). We learn that clarity comes through repetition, listening and concerted effort. It is a choice.In part two we read about how allowing for outside forces, opening our eyes to the unseen and trusting our intuition can incubate the unconventional ideas that are often times necessary to solve complex problems. The secret sauce to this? Understanding your values. If you know what your values are you'll have confidence in what you think you see, in what you think you think, in your purpose, and thus, you'll better connect to your ability to create solutions.Part three, "Balance", examines the proper reaction when leaders take on forces larger than themselves. Be it actual enemy forces, nasty business conflicts or complex family problems. The "proper reaction" includes reflection, catharsis, acceptance, stepping away from external stimuli, and questioning the legitimacy of fear. To quote Sec Def Mattis, "emotional contemplation… allows you to reconcile the human aspect with the more mechanical aspects of our actions, the things we're required to do. It brings you to a more balanced place to carry out the mission."Part four, "Courage", instructs us how to carry out that mission. It encourages the reader to never give up, reminds us that we're never really alone and that fighting for what's right in the face of what's wrong is the only option for leaders. We learn that courage is almost impossible unless one is connected with core values. These help us determine for which and for whom we are willing to risk personal harm. An effective leader also understands how to pass on their moral courage to their subordinates. The key to passing on courage is to go one step beyond personal values, which is to understand and connect yourself to your followers' values. Want to inspire courage in others? Spend time with them, understand them, fight for each other's shared values.The argument woven throughout the entire book is that in order to gain clarity, to recognize the unseen, to maintain balance and to practice courage requires productive solitude. Solitude creates the personal space that allows leaders to recharge and reflect so that they can serve others more effectively.I couldn't agree more. So, do you have a practice of productive solitude? Heck no! Everyone's busy, right? Who has time for solitude when there are bills to be paid, hobbies to enjoy and social events to attend? And I'm not making fun- all of those are certainly important. But here's reality: if you're not making a habit of practicing solitude, you are probably not maximizing your clarity, you're probably not able to see beyond near-term issues enough to find creative solutions to real problems, you're probably not balanced enough to properly evaluate what's going on around you and worst of all- you might be robbing yourself of the ability to be morally courageous when the time comes to negotiate the obstacles of life.Want to improve as a leader? Start with yourself (know/seek out your values) and aim for clarity. It's likely that you'll find the conviction and balance required to be brave.

In Lead Yourself First, Ray Kethledge and Mike Erwin explain what we can gain from solitude, and what we are increasing losing in a society marked by the promise of constant connectivity through handheld devices. The book is organized around particular qualities that solitude can enhance, such as analytical clarity and creativity. In each section, the authors use the experiences of leaders both historical and contemporary to illustrate how solitude can enhance the quality at hand.The authors present a compelling case for solitude's benefits. In contrast to most discussion of leadership today, which consists largely of empty platitudes ("think outside the box") and buzzwords ("forward-thinking"), the authors explain in concrete terms how solitude can serve the qualities that define leadership. For instance, they tell the story of how Eisenhower's practice of distilling his thoughts into memos helped him to identify the key variables in planning the D-Day invasion, and ultimately make a decision amid complex and changing facts on the ground (and, as it turned out, in the skies). Although many of the stories involve famous leaders in high positions, the qualities the authors discuss are so universal that anyone can find something of value in the book. On top of all that, the book is a pleasure to read. The stories are interesting and diverse. And the writing is clear and powerful. In all, the authors' own stated commitment to solitude is readily apparent in the extent to which the book exemplifies the virtues they discuss. Highly recommended.

What can you teach senior leaders that they haven’t learned in Business School, read about in the popular literature, or heard on a retreat? Not much, unfortunately. This book, Lead Yourself First, has an essential lesson for people in the C-Suite - or aspiring to be there – the importance of solitude.Leadership solitude is productive solitude, to be used purposely, and with an end in mind. When solitude is successful, the result is an insight or a broader view of things, with clear-eyed, inspired conviction. This is the foundation of leadership, the authors assert. The authors make their case through leaders in all walks of life from Dwight Eisenhower and James Mattis, to Jane Goodall and Aung San Suu Kyi.What we need from leaders is clarity and conviction of purpose; we need to feel their moral courage. Leaders need clarity, conviction and courage to sustain themselves through the inevitable adversity from colleagues, staff, shareholders, the competition, and more.We live in an age starved for solitude - with e-mails, texts, tweets, the Internet with its information overload, all swarming about the leader (and almost everyone else). The essence of solitude is mental isolation, the very opposite of accessibility. “Responding to these inputs generates as much thought, and as much inspiration, as swatting so many flies.”The leader needs to have lot more “screened-off areas” than there are now. Solitude is not necessarily physical separation from others, or togetherness with nature, it can be found as readily while sitting alone in a restaurant.It is, simply, “a subjective state of mind, in which the mind, isolated from input from other minds, works through a problem on its own”, the authors explainLeaders should always feel, and be held responsible for their decisions, because their decisions always have consequences, good and bad. Leaders who bear the consequences must do so to a larger vision, often not fully understood or understandable by others.This is where solitude plays its part and can produce the clarity to know when the easy path is the wrong one. Clarity is often a difficult thing because the concerns of the present seem to overwhelm the potentially greater concerns that lie in the future.Solitude offers ways for leaders to obtain greater clarity in many arenas, but they all stem from silencing the din in your mind. With a quiet mind, you then hear the “delicate voice of intuition”, which may have already made connections that your conscious mind has not. This is because intuition forms beneath the surface of conscious thought. It is not focused on what you are experiencing now, but instead draws on all your experiences, past and present.Solitude doesn’t take the place of analytical clarity. This hard-won kind of clarity is most often the result of strenuous effort and rigorous syllogistic thought. The more difficult leadership decisions, however, (which include decisions about people,) are often beyond analytical clarity. It is after this analytical work that you need solitude to allow your intuition to emerge, your quiet inner voice. If the analysis or recommendation doesn’t feel right, you are probably better advised by your intuition.Solitude is not only required for clarifying which of the available options will be most effective: it is also essential to creativity and the development of a possibility that you were not aware of.A creative work or idea, is often the rejection of established norms of your context, but as often it is new or based on horizontal connections between things that never seemed related. A creative decision is often the convergence of information, intuition, and your values. To arrive at this decision requires solitude.The psychologist Viktor Frankl, explained that between every stimulus and response, there is a space. Silence and solitude create this space, and can elongate it. The space gives you time to develop a creative response to what you’re feeling and thinking. Without this solitude there is only reaction.Added to the value of solitude to decision-making, is its value on an emotional level. Many of the people described in the book used silence and solitude to stay grounded.Leaders must inevitably take on forces larger than themselves, and it is only through clarity and conviction that they can be a match for these forces. Leaders who come to that process with equanimity, put no emotional distortion of their own on the scale. And as every leader knows, this equanimity is often more fragile than one lets on.It is common for leaders with great responsibility to be racked with anxiety. However, no one will choose to follow someone who manifests this anxiety. “The leader needs to have presence, to show up to the moment grounded in one’s self, as centred as one can be, ready to hear, to listen, to discern” the authors point out.James Mattis, a retired four-star Marine Corps General put it well: “An effective leader is the person who can maintain their balance and reflect, when a lot of people around them are reacting.” He sees the single biggest problem of senior leadership in the information age, as a lack of reflection.Solitude allows you to reflect while others are reacting, and not only restores emotional balance, but helps to maintain it. I am sure your personal experience, like mine, has made distinguishing between effective leaders and inferior ones, largely informed by their ability to restore their emotional balance.“Our culture has become more strident than sublime, with a coarseness that has worn away the delicate alloy of beauty and decency that used to be called grace,” the authors explain elegantly.To lead others, you must lead yourself, which the title of the book asserts. Practicing solitude is a critical, personal practice that cannot be ignored.Readability Light --+-- SeriousInsights High -+--- LowPractical High +---- Low*Ian Mann of Gateways consults internationally on leadership and strategy, and is the author of the recently released ‘Executive Update.

Great read

If the book stuck to it’s central topic it could have been an enjoyable read.Somehow the author lets their politics spill into their writing in such a way to continually distract the reader from the main point of the material.It’s a real shame, with a sensible editor it could have been a good book.