Over the weekend, I read the latest from Marcus Buckingham, “Find Your Strongest Life: What the Happiest and Most Successful Women Do Differently.” I enjoyed the book, and found it informative.
In the interest of full disclosure, as an author and public speaker, I compete with Mr. Buckingham for ink and air time (he’s winning at the moment). And, as a member of the male species, I may not be representative of the book’s intended readership. That said, here are my thoughts from having spent a few hours with this well written book.
The impact of “Find Your Strongest Life” will be sub-optimal if it is read only by women. Indeed, I gained valuable insight into the women in my life by reading it.
Using a data-driven approach, Mr. Buckingham does an especially good job in the first 48 pages of defining “having it all” and identifying those things (e.g., multitasking) that are NOT the key to women’s happiness. “Having it all means taking yourself seriously. It means knowing yourself well enough to find your purpose in life. If means knowing what needs to change when you sense that you’ve lost that purpose. It means having the faith to believe that change is possible and having the courage to make those changes.”
He then offers practical advice, e.g., “Each part of your life must contain strong moments” based on the example of real women, one of whom happens to be a school principal in my community. The book closes with a strong section on how to “find your passion.” My one beef is that the advice is disproportionately career-oriented.
I come away from reading “Find Your Strongest Life” with the reminder that, when we trade who we are for what we are, the outcome is not always pretty or satisfying.
*****
A thought leader in the arena of leadership and employee engagement, Bill Catlette is a seminar leader, keynote speaker, and executive coach. He helps individuals and organizations improve business outcomes by having a focused, engaged, capably led workforce. For more information about Bill, his partner Richard Hadden, and their work, please visit their website at www.contentedcows.com, or follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ContentedCows
