“Without hard work, nothing grows but weeds.” —Gordon B. Hinckley
I just finished reading five books that gave me a much deeper appreciation of the situation we are confronting. I recommend them highly:
- These Truths by Jill Lepore
- Fear by Bob Woodward
- Fascism: A Warning by Madeleine Albright
- The Fifth Risk by Michael Lewis
- The World as It Is by Ben Rhodes
I chose these books because all of the authors have done the heavy lifting and rigorous research required to get to a deeper understanding of truth.
Jill Lepore is a Ph.D. Harvard historian who won the National Book Award for Nonfiction. Bob Woodward is a Pulitzer Prize winning author and investigative journalist who has worked at the Washington Post since 1971. In All the President’s Men, he dug to the bottom of the Watergate scandal during the Nixon Administration. Madeleine Albright was Secretary of State during the Clinton administration. Michael Lewis is the Princeton educated, financial journalist who exposed the mendacious manipulations that caused the financial crisis in the Bush administration in his book the Big Short: The Doomsday Machine. He has also written the best-selling books The New Thing and Moneyball. Ben Rhodes served as the Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications in the Obama administration.
None of these writers is pouring from the empty into the void.
None of them is pretending to have all the answers without having done the hard work of digging into the facts.
All of them use fact-checkers to ensure the accuracy of their words.
In These Truths, Lepore capsulizes American history from 1492 to the present day in 932 pages of captivating crystallizations. Among the many notable gobsmacks in the book, three points stood out for me: 1) the danger of democracy is that a few powerful people can manipulate the minds and hearts of the many; 2) what people want in a political election is a “fight” or a “show,” 3) the roots of American racism and sexism are deeply entrenched.
In Fear, Woodward reports on the inner-workings of the Trump White House. Based on all the stories and facts, it is not hard to conclude that Trump is not only narcissistic and solipsistic, he is also delusional. He really believes he has better answers to all problems than any of what’s left of his experienced team. As a student of leadership, I look for leaders who set goals, gather input, process information with deep dialogue, and develop plans and contingencies. Based on Woodward’s analysis, Trump does not demonstrate any of those skills. He simply makes impulsive and impetuous decisions on the psychotic belief that he is smarter than everyone else.
In Fascism, Albright suggests that strongmen are on the rise who are ushering in an authoritarian resurgence. She notes that racists and xenophobes are showing up in places we never expected to see them. She cautions us that right-wing extremism is experiencing a re-emergence after we assumed it was dead in 1945. In this book, Albright traces the careers of Mussolini and Hitler starting in the 1920s and draws implicit parallels with today’s breed of dictators or dictator wannabees. As a Jewish woman who was forced to leave her native Czechoslovakia when the Nazis invaded in 1939, she speaks from deep personal experience.
In the Fifth Risk, Lewis dives into the U.S. Departments of Energy, Commerce, and Agriculture during the transition from the Obama administration to the Trump Administration. He summarizes the five major risks facing the world today based on interviews with experts within each of these departments: 1) nuclear proliferation/accident, 2) North Korea, 3) Iran, 4) climate change and 5) not even knowing what we don’t know because Trump is slashing research budgets in the government that could enable us to anticipate risks 10-20 years out. Lewis describes the experience of the Obama team as they prepared to help the new administration take over responsibilities in the most efficient and effective ways. Three common themes emerged in the extensive research he conducted: 1) the Trump team showed up late, unprepared, and uninterested; 2) the appointees grossly lacked the relevant experience required to run their respective departments; 3) the new leaders largely dismissed or ignored all the deep knowledge the Obama team tried to offer.
In the The World as It Is, Rhodes describes Obama as intelligent, amiable, compelling and principled. He shares an inside view of the journey from idealism to realism with up-close-and-personal stories and insightful anecdotes of how Obama and his administration took on the tasks and challenges of the executive branch. Primarily, the administration’s mantra was to do no harm, or as Obama continually quipped: “Don’t do stupid stuff.” Rhodes shares his views on how the administration built strong relations with allies and the Islamic world. The book is a refreshing and penetrating look into the how a functional organization functions.
I’m sharing these brief “book reviews” because I want to establish my bona fides as a credible voice and to caution readers not to take the easy way out by listening to sound bytes or relying on one source of information.
And I want to make the generalized point that change and growth take hard work and continuous effort in all dimensions of life.
Here is what I mean on a personal level:
- Physically, I’m not a super-athlete, but I have known enough super-athletes to know that I’m not one. I have put in my 10,000 hours of exercise, however, and I’ve stayed in shape my whole life. As a result, my weight has stayed within a 10-pound range (150-160) for the last 50 years.
- Emotionally, I’m not a saint, but I have known enough saints (my wife first and foremost) to know that I’m not one. I have done my 10,000 hours of interpersonal skills training, however, and I’ve stayed intimately connected with my family and friends for my whole life. As a result, I’m still in touch with friends I have had for 73 years, and my daughters still value spending time with me. I hope!
- Intellectually, I’m not a genius, but I’ve known enough geniuses to know I’m not one. I have read my 10,000 books and articles, however, and I’ve tried to clarify my points of view in 20 books and 180 posts. As a result, I have informed opinions on a broad range of topics.
- Spiritually, I’m not a guru, but I’ve known enough gurus to know I’m not one. I have done my 10,000 hours of meditation, however, and I still practice qi gong and Energy’s Way. As a result, I’m able to stay calm (most of the time) in tense or difficult situations.
Again, I’m simply making the point that change and results require work. That principle applies to individuals, to organizations, and to governments.
In her book, Dare to Lead, Brené Brown implores leaders to make themselves vulnerable and to connect deeply with people.
Brown suggests that a leader is anyone who takes responsibility for recognizing the potential in people and ideas and who has the courage to develop that potential.
In her previous books, Brown has shared what it means to dare greatly, rise strong, and brave the wilderness. In this extensively researched book on leadership, she shows us how to put those ideas into practice. The thing I admire about Brené Brown is that her ideas are all based on rigorous research. She has done the work and earned the right to espouse her philosophy.
Brown suggests that when we dare to lead, we don’t pretend to have the right answers, we stay curious and ask the right questions.
We don’t try to hoard power; we share it. Her “whole-hearted” leadership is a refreshing message in the cold-hearted examples of leadership we see now. It’s also a reminder that great leadership requires hard work.
It’s also true that creating vibrant, joyful, and productive cultures takes hard work. In my last post, “Good and Evil,” I shared the example of how the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy (GTRLC) had created a loving, humane, and innovative work culture that helped them accomplish their critical mission of preserving and protecting the land, water, and vistas in Northern Michigan. That culture didn’t just happen. They invested the time and energy to identify their desired norms and values, and then they committed lo measuring progress every year. The staff and leadership at GTRLC recognize that a caring and constructive culture requires continuous care and feeding. You can’t just put words on the wall and expect that they will magically influence positive behaviors.
Let me get to the point. In this coming election, do the work. Discover the truth of what’s happening in this administration. Don’t listen to blabbering pundits or internet trolls who shout loudly but read shallowly. Support local candidates whose character and behaviors reflect the kind of leadership and culture we want and need.
