Book 3: Fortitude / Crenshaw

Posted on by Don Wright
Fortitude

What is it? Bio? Leadership? Self Improvement?

All of the above. Dan Crenshaw is a Navy Seal, blown up by an IED, ran for Congress and won, made light of by Saturday Night Live and came back (not with outrage) but with good humor of his own. Now he has a podcast AND this book. He seems to be a lightning rod. Too conservative. Not Trumpy enough. It may be that he listens and takes pretty common sense, actionable policy positions. Such positions don’t satisfy outrage from either side.

Why Did I buy it?

I’ve heard Mr. Crenshaw on the Jocko podcast twice and now I listen to his podcast (from his congressional office).

We Hold These Truths Pod

So, What is it?

BIO: Small bio, enough to show where Mr. Crenshaw came from.

Leadership: A little. One thing I need to talk about (sometime) is that a key element of leadership is leading yourself.

Self Improvement: I think the centroid of the book is leading yourself (How To). Is it 12 Rules for Life-lite? A little bit. It’s about how to lead / manage yourself (with a perspective of leading others).

Key Points / Chapters:

  • Have Hero’s: Aspire. Have aspirational / inspirational people to follow / emulate
  • No Plan B: He talks about failure (in his life, not admitted to Naval Academy or Rice University, rolled back in BUD/S, his mom died of cancer). Talks about having contingency plans on the path to a goal, but talks about not having a ‘Plan B” in the back of your mind ad you execute toward your goal.
  • Be Still: Is more of the Jocko / Detach, the OODA loop, see blog post “Slow is Smooth..”
  • Sweat the Small Stuff: Attention to detail / preparation.
  • Shame: Internalized shame or fear of failure. Use your oxytocin
  • Duty: Sense of Duty Self / Family / Society
  • Do Something Hard: Self imposed challenges.
  • Stories We Tell Ourselves: My reading is that you should tell yourself the truth, not make excuses, be honest about what you did well and what you did poorly.

Is it worth the read?

Yup. I’m a little jaded because I’ve been rabbit-holing 12 Rules, Jocko books, Leadership Secrets, Simon Sinek….. BIG IDEA: This is a good read, to get perspective on self-leadership, learn to deal with setbacks and go forward. No Plan B.

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