- Published on
Strong Ground
- Authors
- Name
- Josh Haines
- @joshhaines
I recently finished Strong Ground after seeing it in the University of Toronto book store during a short trip to Toronto. I almost bought it on the spot because of how much I loved Dare to Lead and Daring Greatly. Instead, I held off until I was home and could get it on Audible. I have about 2 hours of mowing a week and that's often a great time to make a lot of progress on books I'm working through.
Primarily, this was a follow-on to the Dare-to-Lead book and work that was taught then. As Brené described she has continued doing work with leaders and companies and this book is some new thoughts and material that she and her team have learned and developed since the last book.
Follow-On Material
The primary material is related to follow-on work such as:
- Grounded Confidence: Confidence in your ability without resorting to ego, certainty, exercise of power over people, or other non-compassionate methods.
- Vulnerability as Power: She leans in on furthering some themes from Dare to Lead in that your level of tolerance for vulnerability is directly related to your leadership effectiveness limit.
- Understanding yourself, working on yourself, and building from a strong - emotionally mature foundation as the right place to push and lead from.
She talked at length about how leadership mastery comes from various concepts like systems thinking, judgement, value alignment, etc. This felt a little over-done, but perhaps that's because I come from an industry that uses systems engineering and systems thinking very heavily. It's likely that reason why it felt like a rehash of some of those concepts. I think the key takeaway is that leadership is a complex system and you need to be able to deal with complexity and uncertainty.
Favorite Part - Paradox and Tension
I really loved the way she discussed the concept of paradox and how living in paradox is often a key part of being a good leader. I've experienced these paradoxes as I grew from an individual contributor (IC) to a manager, director, and executive. I have to be forceful and gentle, confident and humble, pushy and patient, frustrated and understanding, and more every day. Being comfortable with paradox is key. I remember reading somewhere that it is a strong sign of intelligence if someone is able to hold two opposing ideas in their mind at the same time and Brené really drives that home here. Living in the tension is a key concept in chess and it carries over here too. Don't release the tension by flipping to one side of the paradox or the other. Often success lives in that tension.
Least Favorite Parts - The Sports Discussions & Best Buddies
Brené went hard in this book on sports, sports analogies, sports personalities, sports books, winning, losing, her sports journey, etc. I get why and she mixed it in well, but it didn't land with me as I'm not a big sports guy. She also has a tendency to name drop and talk about other people almost an annoying amount. I get that she is trying to show that she has done a lot of work with a lot of people, but it felt like it was a little overdone and distracting. It felt like she said something like "X is the single best person I've ever met" or "Y is the most amazing and incredible person at doing Z in the world" or "M is my single best friend in the whole world and her book is the best book of all books." It wasn't super distracting, but felt a little over the top.
Wrap-Up
Overall, this is a definite must-read along with her other books. I really like the way she lays out concepts, and how she so clearly drives to the heart of tough emotional issues and really challenges you to be better. Anytime I'm coaching someone on management or leadership, these books are on the assigned reading list.