The Freedom Challenge: Mastering Emotions, Restoring Honour to Leadership
by Brenda Oliver
Trafford


"Discovering more about ourselves, becoming aware of how we have done things in the past - personally or professionally - and understanding what our impact has been on others, the more open our minds are to this new world of change and possibility."

This is a part self-help, part leadership book, with 151 pages. It explores a number of ways of becoming an effective leader and a healthy person. The book begins with a dedication and preface. There are 11 chapters, each with a number of subtopics. Chapters include: creating a better future, discovering the self, becoming extraordinary, the battles faced in life, understanding the impact of various emotional conditions, expanding perspectives, achieving best performance, accepting reality, the Reflection Series of her own work, committing to action, and exploring who we become. Oliver offers quotes from a variety of sources and has a number of trade-marked lists that can be utilized as handouts regarding leadership issues. Interspersed within the chapters are examples from her own life situation, both personally and professionally.

This is a "Leadership 101" book which offers insights in emotional conditions, ways to focus on healthy leadership, and how to develop human potential. Oliver writes from her own experiences as a leadership expert for over twenty-five years, which adds credibility to her book. The Freedom Challenge is a hodgepodge of information. For example, she switches from discussing self-help issues, such as eating healthy and substance abuse, to leadership problems, and finally into relating to her life, which is sometimes confusing. There is timely information. The best work of the book is the focus on achieving best performances, including the Twenty-One Principles of Honourable Leadership and committing to action, especially The Fifty-Two Honourable Leadership Philosophies. For those who are examining beginning leadership needs, this work may fulfill their needs. For others with significant leadership experience, this may not go deeply enough into the subject matter.

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