An appealing, wide-ranging, if somewhat unchallenging look at the core tenets of leadership.
A consultant and former educator and college football coach offers leadership advice in this debut motivational guide.
“Leadership is not easy at any age or in any assignment,” Hjelseth writes in his book. “Effective leadership requires vision, wisdom, discernment, decision making, communication, confidence, and follow-through.” In his pithy, engaging narrative, the author seeks to explore the relative values and mechanisms of these elements of leadership. He draws on his own life history and feedback from a wide variety of business leaders, coaches, and inspirational speakers. This work is the distillation of all that he’s learned over the years, with each chapter ending with a series of “Questions To Affect Your Life” that are intentionally open-ended (things like “How do you think relationships are best built?”) to provoke introspection and conversation. “Attitude is the key to relationships, happiness, and emotional health,” Hjelseth writes at one point. “Attitude trumps ability. Believe in God, and believe in yourself.” The manual is structured around a handful of very familiar, tent-pole self-help headings like “Faith,” “Leadership,” and “Teamwork,” and the author’s frequent references to basic observations about these subjects can sometimes give his guide a derivative feel. But Hjelseth’s personality keeps everything readable, and when he writes about the importance of humor (“As I look back at the various roles I have filled over the years, I know that being fun and creating fun have been key aspects of my journey”), readers will readily believe him. This is a warm, friendly book, brightened throughout by the author’s long experience as a football coach, an occupation that tends to put theoretical life advice to extremely real and concrete tests and can therefore separate the junk from the sound counsel rather effectively. In fact, it’s Hjelseth’s always generous evaluations of others—athletes, coaches, businesspeople—that work most effectively in building his readers’ trust in his own judgments.
An appealing, wide-ranging, if somewhat unchallenging look at the core tenets of leadership.Pub Date: July 14, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-973693-14-7
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Westbow Press
Review Posted Online: Nov. 30, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An authentic story that will leave readers wanting to hustle for the greater good.
A deep dive into what drives a senior Peloton instructor.
Alex Toussaint sets the stage with a vivid depiction of the moment when his parents left him at military school. First generation American, Toussaint describes the ups and downs of his childhood and teenage years, centering around his relationship with his dad abruptly changing as a child. Feeling confused and angry, Toussaint explains how he found himself kicked out of schools, landing at what he describes as his dad’s only option- military school - where he spent four years. Toussaint opens up about his struggles with what he thinks is his dad’s lack of belief in him early in life, and his inability to activate his own greatness from within. Toussaint explores his heart-wrenching low moments where his feelings of self- worth and self- doubt were high. His journey from rock bottom was hard fought with grit and determination to do better. Landing his first job as a janitor at a spin studio, he “outworked” the role. His grit and hustle put him in a position to be noticed. Reading this book feels like you are on a long ride with Toussaint as he takes you through his lessons learned as they shaped his life and hopeful perspective. Step-by-step he leads you along with him to want to “feel good, look good, and do better” his mantra and mission. He explains the importance of believing in yourself, looking good “about the inside, that internal light that radiates out into the world” and how to shine that light outward to pay it forward.
An authentic story that will leave readers wanting to hustle for the greater good.Pub Date: Oct. 10, 2023
ISBN: 9781250852038
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Aug. 4, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2023
A timely, vividly realized reminder to slow down and harness the restorative wonders of serenity.
An exploration of the importance of clarity through calmness in an increasingly fast-paced world.
Austin-based speaker and strategist Holiday (Conspiracy: Peter Thiel, Hulk Hogan, Gawker, and the Anatomy of Intrigue, 2018, etc.) believes in downshifting one’s life and activities in order to fully grasp the wonder of stillness. He bolsters this theory with a wide array of perspectives—some based on ancient wisdom (one of the author’s specialties), others more modern—all with the intent to direct readers toward the essential importance of stillness and its “attainable path to enlightenment and excellence, greatness and happiness, performance as well as presence.” Readers will be encouraged by Holiday’s insistence that his methods are within anyone’s grasp. He acknowledges that this rare and coveted calm is already inside each of us, but it’s been worn down by the hustle of busy lives and distractions. Recognizing that this goal requires immense personal discipline, the author draws on the representational histories of John F. Kennedy, Buddha, Tiger Woods, Fred Rogers, Leonardo da Vinci, and many other creative thinkers and scholarly, scientific texts. These examples demonstrate how others have evolved past the noise of modern life and into the solitude of productive thought and cleansing tranquility. Holiday splits his accessible, empowering, and sporadically meandering narrative into a three-part “timeless trinity of mind, body, soul—the head, the heart, the human body.” He juxtaposes Stoic philosopher Seneca’s internal reflection and wisdom against Donald Trump’s egocentric existence, with much of his time spent “in his bathrobe, ranting about the news.” Holiday stresses that while contemporary life is filled with a dizzying variety of “competing priorities and beliefs,” the frenzy can be quelled and serenity maintained through a deliberative calming of the mind and body. The author shows how “stillness is what aims the arrow,” fostering focus, internal harmony, and the kind of holistic self-examination necessary for optimal contentment and mind-body centeredness. Throughout the narrative, he promotes that concept mindfully and convincingly.
A timely, vividly realized reminder to slow down and harness the restorative wonders of serenity.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-525-53858-5
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Portfolio
Review Posted Online: July 20, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2019
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