The following version of the book was used to create the guide: Abrams, Stacey. Lead from the Outside: How to Build Your Futures and Make Real Change. Picador, 2016.

Stacey Abrams’ book is divided into nine chapters, each dealing with a distinct topic of leadership as well as personal and professional development. Part political memoir, part self-help guide, Abrams’ own life story, including both her triumphs and challenges, is weaved in throughout the chapters. Abrams’ own particular challenges, as a black woman from a working-poor family in the Deep South, are used to illuminate the obstacles that minorities face when they seek to rise up and take positions of power.

In her own words, Abrams describes her book as “the outsider’s version of The Art of War,” a field guide to empowering the dispossessed, disenfranchised and marginalized people in American society (xvii). There is a hierarchy to the themes explored in each chapter. By beginning at the root of leadership, ambition, Abrams seeks to address the challenges of rising to positions of power as they manifest themselves in one’s journey to leadership. At the end of each chapter, Abrams provides an activity to help readers actively engage with the themes she explores and apply the lessons she shares in the book.

The second publication of Lead from the Outside begins with a Preface that reflects on her experience running as the Democratic gubernatorial candidate for the Georgia elections. In the Preface, Abrams explains her decision to accept the results but not concede the election due to irregularities and questionable tactics by her opponent. The Preface and the Introduction provide the most personal insights into Abrams’ life story and serve to introduce the themes of leadership, ambition, fear, power, marginalization and opportunity that are explored throughout the rest of the book.

Chapter 1 seeks to illuminate the roots of all undertakings, ambition. Titled, Dare to Want More, the first chapter revolves around formative experiences in Abrams’ early years that force her to overcome fear and embrace ambition, or the desire for more. Challenging common conceptions of ambition that link it to titles or positions, she advocates for people to understand the ‘why’ of their ambition, rather than the ‘what.’ Chapter 2, titled Fear and Otherness, addresses the role fear plays, especially for minorities, in holding them back from pursuing their ambitions. Acknowledging the obstacles of fear and stereotypes for people at the margins of society, Abrams suggests that fear and otherness, once understood, can be harnessed to one’s advantage.

In Chapter 3, Hacking and Owning Opportunity, Abrams explores how minorities can recognize and make the most of opportunity, whether they are on the outside or on the inside seeking to rise up within their field or organization. Hacking opportunity as a way of maneuvering within structures of power becomes a key skill once a would-be minority leader has come to understand their ambitions and learned to admit and manage their fears. Chapter 4, The Myth of Mentors, aims to dispel common myths about the role of mentors. Full of practical advice, Abrams explains how rather than depending on one or two people to guide her in her pursuits, she has built up an extensive network of situational mentors, supporters, advisors and friends from diverse backgrounds that allows her maximum flexibility and input on any issue or challenge she may face.

Chapter 5, Money Matters, tackles the obstacles, both concrete and abstract, that money and finance can present to disenfranchised minorities. She begins by acknowledging the systemic and historical biases and injustices that have targeted certain minority groups, and shares her own struggles with money. To overcome these obstacles, she advocates for people to develop financial fluency and competency in regard to their personal finances, and to be honest about mistakes. Financial fluency, according to Abrams, opens doors and is a powerful tool in undertaking business ventures and campaign fund-raising. Chapter 6, titled Prepare to Win and Embrace the Fail, sheds light on making the most out of opportunities through preparation and learning from failures. Presenting the diametrically opposed concepts of boldness and meekness, Abrams urges her readers to be risk-takers and not to bend to the expectations of others.

Chapter 7, Making What You Have Work, directly addresses power and how to navigate its structures from both the outside and from within. Abrams introduces the concept of power mapping that allows those on the outside to take stock of their resources and connections in order to plan the best way of achieving an objective. She also addresses the role beliefs have in how one wields power and pursues it. Chapter 8, Work-Life Jenga, introduces Abrams’ philosophy of dealing with the classic problems of work-life balance. Rooted in knowing one’s priorities and knowing how to allocate work to others, the work-life jenga model of time management allows for lots of flexibility and the ability for people to choose how they arrange their lives. Finally, Chapter 9, the final chapter entitled, Taking Power, offers a short summary of all the themes and lessons presented in the previous chapters and reiterates her mission of empowering a new generation of minority leaders.