The Inspiration Code by Kristy Hedges was one of the books I downloaded from NetGalley, a site for publishers and reviewers.

The premise of the book is how to inspire people through great leadership, even if you aren’t in a leadership role. Hedges talks about being present and giving people the gift of attention, keeping things personal and showing some of yourself, being passionate at work and having the courage to act purposefully. It’s all good stuff, and a solid reminder of how to lead effectively but I thought I would get a lot more out of it than I did.

I liked the idea of a leadership shadow: “The leader’s values, style, and actions cast a large shadow of influence on those around him…Leaders can eloquently say what they care about, but the shadow is determined more by the choices they make.”

Learn how some of the world’s best leaders energise and inspire people daily through their words is the promise behind this book. This reviewer remains a bit on the fence.

The book just didn’t spark enthusiasm and commitment to this reader – actions that it says a great leader will do whereby, through a single conversation, they can change the direction of someone’s life. Maybe, to be fair, it could change the direction of your life, but maybe it won’t also. The book claims to dispel common myths about how leaders communicate and guide the reader to emulate the best practices of experienced communicators: to this it may have achieved its aims, but is that sufficient?

Whilst being interesting at times, I struggle to see that this is so ground-breaking. There are other leadership-type books that have inspired and been more giving. It wouldn’t be fair to describe this as an also-ran either, but an average player that may be worth a browse at least if you can could be a fair summary… At least the book wasn’t so expensive!

It just did not have a ‘wow factor’ or inspire this reader. Yet it wasn’t a one-star wonder either. Your views may vary.

The Inspiration Code, written by Kristi Hedges and published by AMACOM Books. ISBN 9780814437896. YYY

Very good read.. some very practical tips on how to make our regular conversations inspiring and also to find our own inspiration.. the summary at the end of each chapter was good to review after having read the entire book.

Just simply based on the number of notes I wrote and passages I highlighted this book deserves a very strong rating! Usually I am pleased if I learned at least one new concept that I can incorporate into my work life. This book far exceeded that low bar. It's easy to read, has the right amount of redundancy to help with retention and it provided me with a number of concepts together with practical advice on how to incorporate them into my work day. As a side benefit it also reinforced much of what I teach as part of Growth on Purpose, a program built for fast growth companies to help their employers and managers grow as fast as their company in order to sustain the company's growth (www.growth-onpurpose.com).

As Kristi shared, inspiration comes more from listening and how you listen than from giving speeches. You need to create space for others; exactly what business coaches model for leaders every day. One tidbit I loved is the acronym NATO that stands for Not Attached To Outcome. This is loosely based on a Buddhist concept that you have to let go of your attachment to your desires. In a business conversation this can be applied as letting go of your original expected outcome and going into every conversation really listening and being open to many possible opportunities.

If at any point the book starts to feel a bit too touchy feely for your taste, keep reading! Emotions and how we and others feel plays a large role in whether or not you will achieve inspiration.

I recommend this book for anyone in a leadership role whether you are a new team lead or an experienced C-level executive.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

(Personal review): This book was inspirational (of course!), high-energy, and focused on the long-term goal of communicating and acting for a long-term impact versus a short-term dose of motivation. I liked it and look forward to implementing some of the ideas in my personal life.