Book Review: Lead Yourself First - Inspiring Leadership Through Solitude

Book: Lead Yourself First - Inspiring Leadership Through Solitude

Author(s): Raymond M Kethledge & Michael S Erwin

Pages: 188

Copyright: June 17, 2017

Rating out 4 of 5

Buy or Rent: Get it from the Library

Summary

The authors' fundamental premise is that solitude is critical to your ability to be successful—the ability to set time for and use solitude as a skill to move you forward. The intentional focus on solitude can be compared to a slight variation on mindfulness. The authors define solitude as: "A subjective state of mind when the mind is isolated from input from other minds!" Kethledge and Erwin also describe solitude as disciplined thought.

The book uses historical figures and events to depict different types of solitude and the resulting successes. The areas of solitude include introspection, self-consensus (negative example), self-awareness, analytical clarity, clarity.

They argue that solitude allows you to reflect while others are reacting. Solitude will enable you to release the pressure gauge and open the mind to both intuition and analytical clarity. If you can honestly reflect on yourself, you can achieve grounding.

Final Thoughts

The book almost reads like a novel. The book makes an excellent case for why you need to include solitude in your life actively. I will become intentional about solitude.