Unlocking Leadership Mindtraps: How to Thrive in Complexity Kindle Edition

So many leadership books are inexcusably long as if the authors have something to prove through their exhaustive knowledge. Not so with this book - it uses a mix of storytelling, leadership theory and practices in pithy and well-written 150 pages. I read one of her previous books and she struggled to break free of Kegan and Lahey but this time their work is presented in context not as the main course which is a definite positive. This book captures Garvey Berger’s compassion as well as empathy for what leaders go through in their private lives and thoughts which in and of itself is valuable - more leaders need to know that they aren’t alone and it’s okay to have insecurities and doubts. Key to the author’s work is being self-reflective but also having a mentor or coach to challenge embedded and unseen assumptions. A helpful scaffold of key insights and questions as well as simple but effective practices pepper the book and make it a delight. I will suggest this as a “book study” for my leadership development clients.

While I would recommend anything Jennifer has written to anyone, her newest book takes it to a new level. Jennifer conveys big and powerful ideas in a way that is simple but not simplistic--and does so on just about every page of this short and highly readable book. She explores five "Mindtraps" that we get caught in because we are born human--and these Mindtraps are part of the human condition. They serve us when things are simple--and can become liabilities as life become more complex.Learning to notice the Mindtraps and having an alternative way of responding so that we can gain more choice and open up new possibilities is what this book is all about. Some of the content will be familiar if you know Jennifer's work--and still there's lot of new material and a new lens that makes this a great read. Reading about the Mindtrap of Agreement made me think deeply about the ways I both adopt and even encourage this Mindtrap--and the cost we pay for doing that. Each Mindtrap is illustrated both story and description, and each contains an "antidote" question and practice. Jennifer also shares a set of strategies or practices at the end of the book that can support us more broadly as we navigate in an increasingly complex context.I've given copies of Jennifer's book to my kids and spouse, and am asking my clients to read it as part of our work together. I believe that if we can each do more to understand and work with these Mindtraps we can live more compassionate (and self-compassionate) lives and make the world just a little bit better.

Jennifer is so insightful, practical and helpful. Her previous two books are incredible and I have been a fan for some time. But this book accomplishes her aim in ways her previous writings weren't designed or intended to... pure practical accessibility. She is a great storyteller, the allows her principles live and breathe. She is insightful and synthesizes patterns for the reader they might not have seen. She is practical, enabling her mindtraps and "unlocks" to be used immediately. I will be using this with my clients LOTS! Thanks Jennifer! A gem and I am thankful!

When someone really knows their stuff, it shows in their writing. Jennifer has synthesized core concepts from human development and put them in the context of complexity in a way that few writers have. Don't let this small book fool you. It is filled with profound gems about the way we humans think and relate.

This was our first book for our 2020 leadership book club, and I really like it. It is clear, concise, to the point, and gives an overview of what these mindtraps are. There is a bit of a storyline in between, which I enjoyed, as it ties it all together, and shows a creative and real-life scenario on how these mindtraps can happen and situations where they do come out and we just do not notice them, or we are not realizing that we are exhibiting these in the moment as we are doing them.. It ultimately makes us more aware of what we think or say, and this awareness leads us to recognize how to change and develop into more mindful and stronger leaders. I recommend this to a lot of our leaders, and anyone in particular, who have the desire to have better personal and professional relationships with others, to have more compassion towards oneself and others, to free oneself from the selfish ways of the ego and the burdensome weight of shame, and to experience the freedom and openness of awareness, mindfulness, and the gift of becoming an overall better person.

I'm in the process of getting my master's degree in public affairs with an emphasis on leadership. Jennifer's book was assigned for one of my courses, and from the moment I picked it up, I couldn't put it down. We live and work in a complex world, and in order to successfully navigate complexity, we have to understand how our brains work and why we think the way we do. Jennifer's book clearly and concisely lays out the most common mindtraps we fall into, how they affect us and our relationships, and how we can not only identify but free ourselves from those traps. This book is not just for executive level leaders, it's for anyone who interacts with another person in any capacity. I highly recommend this book. It's a game-changer.

I enjoyed this book a great deal and it has become a subject I seem to bring up frequently with anyone that will listen. There is a lot that we can learn from the concepts in this book and Jennifer does an excellent job of making the ideas around complexity accessible and actionable.I also love the way she does her references. You can sense how much she loves the subject and inspires you to go check out other writers and resources.Well done!

In this book Jennifer Garvey Berger delivers a real gem: a leadership book which is not only incredibly insightful, but also incredibly manageable to absorb and use. In it she distills decades of research into how people make meaning of the world - known in the field as 'adult development' - into six mindtraps which will resonate with anyone and everyone (at least anyone who is human). What makes this a book which I have already recommended to many clients and friends is that it takes the incredibly complex and nuanced wisdom of Garvey Berger's work, and makes it absorb-able and manageable to anyone: this is a short, practical and easy-to-read book, full of thought exercises and practices which will help you grow, so that although the mindtraps will still get you sometimes (as long as you are human), you will be equipped to get out of them much more quickly.I recently undertook a training for coaches where Garvey Berger was part of the faculty, and the training convinced me more than ever that the complexity we - and particularly leaders - face in the modern world is unprecedented. This makes it harder for us to succeed, and also harder for us to know when we succeed. The practices in this book will help any reader adjust their ways of being so that they are more able and ready to cope with the challenges of a complex world. That, combined with the practical nature of the book, has taken this straight to the top of the list of books I would recommend to leaders.

I have been studying complexity theory and complexity leadership theory for the last five years both academically and practically. My quest has took me to places I never thought I would go, both mentally and physically and introduced me to some amazing research and researchers across many inter-related fields. Jenifer Garvey-Berger has managed to bring together so much of this research and untangle the academic language. In Unlocking Leadership Mindtraps: How to Thrive in Complexity Jenifer presents a number of practical tools to help leaders in the 21st century to better operate in complex environments. She navigates the subject really well and the short stories she weaves really help to underpin the theories and concepts and cement them in real world contexts.I would highly recommend this book, thanks Jenifer.

I work with chief executives and their teams, who are trying to find what leadership looks like in complex situations, where they are in charge but not in control, and where the skills that worked for them in the past are no longer enough.There are many books out there now that describe leadership in academic ways, and give interesting theories. But very few of them give practical advice about what to do on a Monday morning when facing a complex situation. This book fills that gap, and is now the first book that I recommend to my clients (at least, those of them that like books!).I particularly like the way the reader follows the story of Mark, Leroy and Alison as they get to grips with the five mindtraps. The characters are relatable, and this way of introducing the mindtraps grounds them in everyday experiences.

I really enjoyed this book. It's a fantastic way at looking at the traps we all face and fall into regularly, while helping you to think through solutions. I think the key for me was how easy to read this was, not like a text book at all, with really engaging examples. I did find myself thinking "that's me" quite a few times and it has helped me notice these patterns in myself and others. Great book, I would highly recommend.

As a NeuroCoach I find Garvey Becker's 'voice' in this book engaging and insightful.She explores our experiences through an internal lens, and then humanizes recent neuroscience findings into an easily accessible form so we can easily own them.These insights are followed by tools and processes that can help us to avoid these natural Mindtraps and she leave us hopeful and more aware of the way we can navigate the future with grace and wisdom.