Lead from the Outside: How to Build Your Future and Make Real Change - Paperback

by Stacey Abrams (Author)

A New York Times Bestseller

"Abrams's own grit, coupled with her descriptions of much stumbling and self-doubt, will make Minority Leader touch you in a way few books by politicians can. In fact, the last one to manage it--biracial, the child of divorce, raised with little money by a single mother--became our 44th president."
--The New York Times Book Review

Lead from the Outside is a necessary guide to harnessing the strengths of being an outsider by Stacey Abrams, one of the most prominent black female politicians in the U.S.

Leadership is hard. Convincing others--and often yourself--that you possess the answers and are capable of world-affecting change requires confidence, insight, and sheer bravado. Lead from the Outside is the handbook for outsiders, written with the awareness of the experiences and challenges that hinder anyone who exists beyond the structure of traditional white male power--women, people of color, members of the LGBTQ community, and millennials ready to make a difference.

In Lead from the Outside, Stacey Abrams argues that knowing your own passion is the key to success, regardless of the scale or target. From launching a company, to starting a day care center for homeless teen moms, to running a successful political campaign, finding what you want to fight for is as critical as knowing how to turn thought into action. Stacey uses her experience and hard-won insights to break down how ambition, fear, money, and failure function in leadership, while offering personal stories that illuminate practical strategies.

Stacey includes exercises to help you hone your skills and realize your aspirations. She discusses candidly what she has learned over the course of her impressive career: that differences in race, gender, and class are surmountable. With direction and dedication, being in the minority actually provides unique and vital strength, which we can employ to rise to the top and make real change.

Author Biography

Stacey Abrams is an author, serial entrepreneur, nonprofit CEO and political leader. She is the founder of Fair Fight Action, and a Ronald W. Walters Endowed Chair for Race and Black Politics at Howard University. After eleven years in the Georgia House of Representatives, seven as Minority Leader, Abrams became the 2018 Democratic nominee for Governor of Georgia, where she won more votes than any other Democrat in the state's history. She has founded multiple organizations devoted to voting rights, training and hiring young people of color, and tackling social issues at both the state and national levels; and she is a lifetime member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Abrams is the 2012 recipient of the John F. Kennedy New Frontier Award and the first black woman to become the gubernatorial nominee for a major party in the United States.