A Brief Overview
One of my favorite aspects of Brad's book is that he approaches leadership from the standpoint of habit development saying, "The path to being a better leader is paved with the asphalt of the habits we develop." I don't know about you but I immediatly resonate with that sentiment. When I look at my life much of what I do is the result of my habits rather than concious decisions. If this is true, and I believe that it is, developing the right habits can transform your life, not to mention help you become the leader & human you want to be. Throughout H3 Ledership, Brad draws your attention to the qualities of great leaders and then teases out how you can develop the same habits in your life.
Todd Wagner is famous for saying that, "If you want to change the world, draw a circle around yourself and change everything inside the circle. Then invite other people into that circle." Brad picks up on this theme and opens by focusing on self work by encouraging readers to create, "intentional rhythms whereby one observes who he is, listens to his life, and strives to define himself apart from his professional assignments." This is huge because the temptation to find at least part of your identity in what you do is powerful. Here Brad provides a road map to developing rhythms to learn how you are wired. Among my favorite is his encouragement to keep a list of what you think makes you who you are, things that engergizes you, and give you a sense of purpose. As the work of self mastery continues openness, meekness, conviction, faith and assignment form the tapistry. The most important person a leader must lead is himself and the first six chapters of H3 Leadership set you up to do just that.
If being humble is about knowing who you are, then staying hungry is certainly about knowing where you want to go. After years of languishing in agony and unhealthy imbalance Brad comes riding in to rescue our misconception of ambition. Brad helps us see that the posture of a properly ambitious person is "Never satisfied, but always content..." There is a proper context to our ambition and a road map for how we become the leader we want to be. A large component of that is staying hungry for knowledge. We all want to learn and grow when we first start out, but its those who remain curious who win in the end because they understand that, "If you're not learning, you're not leading to your full potential." Brad's chapter on curiosity was by far my favorite chapter and is included below as a quick sample. Here Brad discusses cultivating the habits of passion, innovation, inspiration and bravery as he helps you develop a taste for what life could be like if you mastered storytelling, facing down your fears and improve upon the status quo.
In his closing section Brad shows you how to get to your destination by setting scary standards of excellence, serving others, sticking with things and nurturing healthy ryhtums. Where most pull back and skimp over the hard realities of leadership, Brad dives right in confronting our notions of excellence, discipline and team building. But he doesn't stop there, he gives you a road map back on course. After all, leaders have an incredible opportunity to impact lives. The good ones not only understand this, but lean into it. They've learned the secret that all great leaders know. "..their fruit most often grows on other people's trees."
Brad brings his fastball with H3 Leadership. It's chalked full of helpful tips to establish new patterns and cultivate habits that not only help you win at work but in life as well.