Viel zu viele Kalendersprüche. Ich mag Simon Sinek wirklich gerne, aber das war bis jetzt das Schwächste, was ich von ihm gelesen habe. ( )

A delightfully illustrated fable on leadership through showing the way rather than forcing the way. I especially appreciated the afterword which gave me lots to think about. I am also going to share the fable portion with my little ones as it's written in an all ages format. ( )

This compact book is full of quotes and pithy messages about work and leadership. The author introduces it as a "fable" that starts with a playground bully. This is misleading though because that story is told only in the illustrations. The accompanying text is just strung together snippets without a plot or real trajectory of thought. That all being said though, there are definitely pearls of wisdom in here like:

- "Leadership is not about being in charge. Leadership is about taking care of those in your charge."
- "Our struggles are the short-term steps we must take on our way to long-term success."
- "A boss has the title. A leader has the people."
- "The true value of a leader is not measured by the work they do. The true value of a leader is measured by the work they inspire others to do."

Is any of this really mind blowing? Not really, but it's helpful to have little reminders from time to time to keep us all motivated and on track.

As you can see, the sayings are all very short. For some that are more meaningful to the author, he expands on them in supplementary material at the back of the book. Here he says things like:

- " ... when obstacles appear in life, the fun is figuring out ways over and around instead of focusing on what's in the way. We can imagine what's over the wall or we can stand there and stare at the wall."
"The importance of knowing where we are going, not simply what we are running from or trying to change, is one of those nuances that a poetic little quote can't fully capture. ... The reason we more often rally against something is because it's easier. It's easier to stoke someone's fears, discomfort or sense of injustice because the thing that they fear, that makes them uncomfortable or that they feel is unfair is usually a real thing. Standing for something is often more abstract. Something that may be clear in the minds of the visionaries may seem distant, elusive or just plain impossible to the rest of us. It is the responsibility of the visionary to paint the abstract future as if it were the tangible present. Then we will have something to rally for."

It is obvious from certain passages that the author is writing from a business perspective, but I found his observations to be relevant to the nonprofit world as well.

The illustrations are indeed lovely, done in a muted palette of black and white with splashes of pinks/reds. They do complement the text with their story of three playground bully victims who choose to change their course.

In short, this book isn't one I'd recommend rushing out to buy this moment. But it was a nice short "zen" read that helped center some of my own recent thoughts career-wise. ( )