Book Review: Head and Heart

Everyone is a leader and impacts other people’s lives, whether it be within a family, social group, or workplace – everyone is a leader irrespective of formal titles. Leaders are not someone else, they are us. I resonate very strongly with this and so was immediately gripped by Kirstin Ferguson’s new book Head and Heart: The Art of Modern Leadership (2023, Viking).

This excellent book is grounded in academic research and is tremendously practical in nature as it encourages us to rethink how we lead to best meet the needs of a modern world. And it is illustrated with relatable stores from a variety of leaders that show how we can easily integrate the ideas into our own leadership, irrespective of our leadership context. I really appreciate that Ferguson freely acknowledges (even encourages) us to disagree with her ideas as presented. I her words, “it is the act of reflecting and thinking about your leadership and considering alternatives that will help you develop as a modern leader.”

The book is divided into four parts, the first gives a context for modern leadership and introduces the central theme of leading with the head and heart. The second part focusses o leading with our heads, outlining four key attributes. The third part looks at leading with our hearts, which again has four key attributes and what they mean for us in practice. The final part is the integration of head and heart, bringing it all together. I also like that the book addresses modern leadership in hybrid and remote workplaces.

There are also a number of very useful and practical resources which adds even more to this excellent book, applicable for anyone at any point of their leadership journey, reinforcing that “everyone can be the modern leader we need in the world today.”