The Courage Solution

The Courage Solution

The Power of Truth-Telling with Your Boss, Peers, and Team

“Original and wise, this masterful book shows you how to build the honesty and authenticity today’s leaders need, and positions you for success.”
– Marshall Goldsmith, author of #1 New York Times bestseller Triggers

Are there things you’d like to change at your company? Have you found yourself wishing your boss would change? Or your peers? What about the team you lead?

Everyone in the corporate world, from the CEO to the security guard out front, wants to change something about their company. That’s the human condition at work. Where you can get stuck, however, is thinking that things will improve when the “other guy” changes—and waiting for that to happen first.

In The Courage Solution, author, speaker, and CEO advisor Mindy Mackenzie shows us that the conventional approach is wrong. You can’t wait for the “other guy” to change. For true change to occur and for companies to perform better, we must all embrace one simple truth: The only thing you can reliably change or control is yourself.

With truth telling the commodity in shortest supply in corporate America today, The Courage Solution challenges business professionals of any level to take actions that are deceptively simple yet require vulnerability and courage. The result? Improved impact on the job, and increased happiness and fulfillment. Drawing on 20 years of demanding executive roles at global corporations, Mindy Mackenzie reveals sharply focused, quick-read strategies in four key areas:

• Part 1, You First: Taking ownership and accountability to create a career and life you love.
• Part 2, Lead Your Boss: Transforming your relationship with your boss.
• Part 3, Lead Your Peers: Accelerating positive peer relationships to improve business results.
• Part 4, Lead Your Team: Building the most effective teams and having fun while doing it.

Whether you’re a seasoned leader or just starting out in your career, The Courage Solution will help you create instant, lasting change and achieve the success you desire at work.

“‘Successful’ and ‘honest’ have not always gone together, but now more than ever it’s critical that leaders be transparent and authentic while also reaching or exceeding goals. How to put all these pieces together while connecting with your personal passions seems almost easy with Mindy Mackenzie’s whip-smart advice. From building your pit crew to creating a 10-year-plan, this exciting book will position you for satisfaction and success.”
Marshall Goldsmith, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Triggers

 

“This astoundingly original business book is one like you’ve never encountered before. On every page, eye-opening insights; in every chapter, an inspiring call to action. Brilliant, direct, uncompromising, and profoundly empathetic, it’s one of the greats you have to read—and recommend again and again.”
Max Lenderman, CEO, School; author of Experience the Message

 

“Reading this book is like getting coached by Mindy Mackenzie on what really matters: having the courage to tell the truth and do what’s right. Her deep insights and ideas will really make a difference.”
Norm Smallwood, cofounder, RBL Group; coauthor of Agile Talent

 

“As a CEO, I know how much it takes to build self-aware leaders and a high performance culture. The Courage Solution provides a simple yet powerful roadmap for leadership that is enhanced by Mindy Mackenzie’s compelling insights and practical experience. She is entertaining and wise at the same time.”
Christopher Luxon, CEO, Air New Zealand

 

“In a rapidly shifting world, business leaders now more than ever need practical help. The Courage Solution provides just that. Mindy Mackenzie provokes, inspires, and encourages leaders to take charge of their impact through refreshingly direct advice. Give yourself the gift of a leadership tune-up by reading this book today.”
Virginia Simmons, Director and Senior Partner, McKinsey & Company

 

“Mindy Mackenzie’s new book is an incredible guide, with practical tools versus theory. It is a must-read for anyone who is serious about enhancing their impact on the people they encounter along their career journey.”
Mike Hyter, Senior Partner and Managing Director, Korn Ferry

 

“Imagine being on a flight, seated next to one of the world’s smartest executives. And she’s not only funny but willing to tell you her best tips for getting ahead. That’s what reading The Courage Solution is like—minus the jet lag. If you want to reach the top of the corporate ladder, you need to read this book.”
Ron Friedman, author of The Best Place to Work

 

“Mindy Mackenzie gives the reader the benefit of her firsthand experience at the highest levels of corporate life and strategic consulting, proving to be a keen and thoughtful observer of individual and organizational behavior. She recognizes what too often isn’t understood: that to be professionally successful, you have to know how to manage not just your team but also your peers and your boss. At a time when there is so much focus on the impact and use of technology to drive innovation, it’s refreshing to see someone with the wisdom to focus on the all-important human side of the equation. The Courage Solution is both practical and engaging, and useful for anyone at any state of their career.”
Christie Hefner, Chairman, HatchBeauty; Former Chairman, CEO Playboy Enterprises

 

“I’ve had the good fortune to meet and work with many successful people from all walks of life. Courage is their common thread, a thread that is core to who they are and how they act, and to their profound impact and legacy. In The Courage Solution, Mindy masterfully brings together wonderful insights and practical approaches for weaving courage into our daily lives, be it with bosses, peers, teams, or—perhaps most importantly—ourselves.”
Lewis Rusen, president, Korn Ferry North America

 

“I love The Courage Solution. Mindy Mackenzie takes a results-oriented, down to earth approach to everyday interactions with colleagues that makes this book a fantastic reference I’ll keep near my desk. While it takes courage to put her advice into practice, the outcome of doing is better relationships and greater business results. Read this book now!”
Marci Shimoff, #1 NY Times Bestselling Author, Happy for No Reason, Love For No Reason, Chicken Soup for the Woman’s Soul

 

“Wish you had a world-class leadership coach? Here she is: Mindy Mackenzie. The Courage Solution is whip-smart, and accepts you for who you are. Then it makes you better. With Mindy’s encouraging voice in your ear, you’ll discover your personal truth and begin to tell it with conviction.”
Tim Ogilvie, Founder, Peer Insight; coauthor of Designing for Growth

 

“Mindy Mackenzie is an authentic and authoritative voice on the relationships that drive performance in organizations. Her straightforward, no-nonsense advice in The Courage Solution comes from years of experience in the corporate world. She will inspire you to think again, to have the courage to act differently, and, in the end, to lead with greater authenticity, impact, and results at the enterprise level and to develop better relationships with your peers, team, and boss. Mindy’s candor, humor, wisdom, real-life examples, and courage come together to create an enduring, practical reference manual that you will draw on again and again and want to share with every leader you know.”
Ann Fritz Hackett, public company director; advisor to senior executives globally on strategy, transformation, and human capital; first alumna trustee of Dartmouth College

 

“I love this book—it’s fantastic! It is so easy, interesting, insightful, and entertaining to read. I’m already applying parts of each section to my life and work. Buy this book today.”
Gisela Falstein, Business Manager and Consultant, WildWorks

 

“What I love most about Mindy Mackenzie’s book is her ‘eat what you cook’ approach. The straightforward advice in The Courage Solution comes from Mindy’s extensive practical experience as a C-suite executive. It’s not theory. Understanding that ‘truth telling is the commodity in shortest supply’ in your organization today is quite likely the most important thing you can realize as a leader. This book will become a handbook you’ll keep close by to navigate and get the best out of yourself and your organization.”
Chris Attwood, Co-author of New York Times bestseller The Passion Test and Your Hidden Riches; Founder and President, Hidden Riches Lifelong Learning Club & Resorts

 

“Mindy’s book is a must-read guide for business and leaders everywhere. As a coach in her ‘pit crew’ throughout various stages of her diverse, experience-rich, successful, and ongoing career, I have the pleasure of attesting to Mindy’s authenticity. This book genuinely helps people help themselves—an outstanding philosophy we know holds true for courageous leaders throughout their careers.”
Michael Hall, Founder and Managing Director, WildWorks

 

“The Courage Solution challenges leaders to be more courageous and direct. You’ll find practical advice here that can meaningfully improve your impact.”
Douglas Conant, Founder and CEO, ConantLeadership; former CEO, Campbell Soup Company; Chairman, CECP

 

“Pragmatic, straightforward, and easy to execute. Working within a CEO’s ‘leadership team’ can be complicated and challenging. Mindy’s methods and techniques offer bite-size actions to work more successfully with colleagues, teammates, your management structure, and even yourself, in order to achieve a more fulfilling life and career. I quickly implemented her exercises and achieved near-immediate success and am sharing the book with colleagues and clients. I wish this book had existed earlier in my career!”
Charlotte Walsh, Consultant Relations Director, Putnam Investments

 

“As a coach, The Courage Solution speaks to the core issues that confound so many of today’s managers. Mindy Mackenzie provides sage advice and common sense solutions to the people side of leadership that business schools just don’t cover. For anyone striving to accelerate their professional growth and possessing the inner courage to take a long, hard look in the mirror, this book is a must have tool kit.”
Paul H. Eccher, Ph.D., Principal and Co-Founder, Vaya Group