Minority Leader
How to Build Your Future and Make Real Change
by Stacey Abrams


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BOOK REVIEW by OnTheIssues.org:

Minority Leader: How to Lead from the Outside and Make Real Change is Stacey Abrams' combination memoir and guidebook for leadership. Published at the time of her 2018 campaign for governor of Georgia, it offers advice for "outsiders" who want to succeed, by which she means women, people of color, and those identifying as LGBTQ. She's more than willing to work with those who are part of the traditional white, male power structure, but makes it clear that the rules are different for those not traditionally seen as leaders.

She fleshes out her advice with stories from her own life, as well as examples of others. In arguing that differences shouldn't be barriers, she refers to Simone Bell, with whom she served in the Georgia legislature. Bell identifies as both African-American and lesbian, and some of their colleagues had trouble dealing with this dual identity. Abrams reports that Bell finally resolved this by inviting "those most discomfited to ask her direct questions." She concluded that the discussions might be "painful" but they had to be done if they were to be able to move beyond them. [p. 46-48]

Abrams is blunt about her own ambitions and her successes and failures. Embracing her inner geek, she recounts in some detail a favorite episode "Star Trek: The Next Generation" where the android Data succeeds in a competition by redefining success not as winning but surviving. From this she derives her own lesson: "Change the rules of engagement." [p. 166-167]

Each chapter has a theme, like fear or money, and ends with a worksheet for readers to assess their own goals, strengths, and weaknesses, or provides sources for further information. What the book does not offer is a platform of policy prescriptions. One can discern Abrams' views on certain issues--pro-education, pro-voting rights--but that isn't really her purpose here. It's more like she wants to mentor the reader (see chapter 4, "The Myth of Mentors") into taking the risks for their own ambitions as she continues to do with hers.

-- Daniel M. Kimmel, editor, OnTheIssues.org, May 2021

OnTheIssues.org excerpts:  (click on issues for details)

Civil Rights     Leaders should show that differences needn't be barriers.     For women & people of color, double standards are a constant.

Education     A college degree is no guarantee of opportunity.

Government Reform     Raising campaign funds asks others to invest in your vision.

Principles & Values     Sometimes we fail, our task is to embrace the failure.     When time not on our side, prepare for the long haul.     Leadership requires confidence, insight, sheer bravado.

Click for quotations from other sources by: Stacey Abrams