No doubt about that. It’s a constant juggling act between the needs of the team, the goals of the business, and the dynamics and unpredictability of humanity. Between the long hours, weighty decisions, relentless challenges, and pressure to succeed, holding others accountable, being responsible for others success, carrying the mantle of leadership is a heavy burden. Pushing for transformational performance and results in an increasingly complex and competitive business climate comes with immense pressure. Yet surprisingly, many common beliefs and practices around leadership only make that burden heavier rather than lighter.

This is not a traditional leadership book. While most leadership books encourage readers to smooth over the rough parts of themselves, this book teaches you to honor those parts — and use them to your advantage. I wrote this book for those of us who want to move up and take on responsibility, but worry that they’re too human, too messy, too much to lead. I wrote this book to acknowledge the reality of human beings as leaders managing other human beings so that I could outline a new way of leading that accounts for all of our humanity. I wrote this book for you, and I wrote this book for me, too — the young, inexperienced, driven me who wanted to grow. 

This book is for leaders at every rung of the ladder, but I am especially talking to early career employees without reports and management aspiration and junior leaders new to the leadership game — especially if your current organization isn’t investing in your growth. This book is a blueprint for navigating the roadblocks so many of us face early on in our leadership careers: transitioning from being an individual contributor to a manager, being on both sides of performance reviews, helping others develop while also fostering your own growth, empathetic communication that garners respect, and more.