STRONG GROUND

Recruiting “the right muscles for the job.”

In what is billed as a “Dare to Lead” book, author and entrepreneur Brown once again advises the leaders and managers of large companies and other organizations on how to “facilitat[e] culture and performance transformations.” It’s part sales pitch for Brown’s leadership program and part stultifying review of her many previous books, notably Dare to Leadand Atlas of the Heart. If the volume has an overarching structure or direction, it’s not apparent. Besides chapters revisiting her own books and ideas, she also devotes a number to the books and ideas of her friends and heroes, including psychologist Adam Grant and soccer star Abby Wambach. Sometimes these chapters transcribe interviews, such as one with Fifth Dimensional Leadership creator Ginny Clarke, interrupted by descriptions of Brown’s psychological reactions. (“Big pause while Ginny watches me get reflective and more emotional than I thought I would.”) More often, they simply quote, paraphrase, or condense long swathes of the various authors’ books, without much explication, critical questioning, or refinement of the ideas. She also throws in, seemingly at random, poems by authors including David Whyte and Clint Smith. Sports analogies abound, whether it’s Brown recounting in detail what she learned from her physical therapist while recovering from an excruciating pickleball injury (“Use your mind and your body, Brown”) or transferring the theory of “pocket presence” from football to the boardroom. Readers who are not occupants of what Brown calls “the C-suites” are not likely to find much of value here. Most of her assertions are so amorphous that it’s hard to argue with them. But they’re also so abstract that it’s difficult to imagine how to put them into action.

Innocuous, but less than helpful.