The Catalyst Leader: 8 Essentials for Becoming a Change Maker

by Brad Lomenick

Your legacy, regardless of where you are in your leadership journey, starts now. Leading well now means finishing well later. - Brad Lomenick We need great leaders. More than ever we need authentic, collaborative, inspiring men and women of integrity at the helm of society- and too often our leaders fall short. Some focus on personal success, alienating those they lead. Others shift their principles when it is convenient. There is a better way. You can energize and inspire the people around you. You can equip a team of principled collaborators to answer God's calling. You can be a catalyst leader. In The Catalyst Leader, Brad Lomenick describes the skills and principles that define a true change maker. This book offers eight key essentials by which a leader can influence others and make a difference, laying out the path to the keys for becoming an effective leader. Lomenick shares wisdom, practical knowledge, and stories of success and failure from his own journey of running Catalyst, one of America's most influential leadership movements. And the lives of dozens of leaders around the world- from the creators of famous reality show to pastors, from ranch workers to a Silicon Valley designer. These men and women are living proof that good leadership inspires and innovates, while poor leadership leaves us with hopelessness and regret. Leading can be a difficult road, and many choose to follow. But you can take a better path. Begin your journey to becoming a catalyst leader.

Genres: Leadership, Nonfiction, Business, Personal Development, Management, Spirituality, Self Help

288 pages, Paperback

First published March 6, 2013

Reviews

[Jim Drake · Rating 2 out of 5]

Catalyst is one of the greatest leadership conferences in the world. If you don’t believe that, just read The Catalyst Leader: 8 Essentials for Becoming a Change Maker, by Brad Lomenick. I have heard of Catalyst leadership conferences—mostly from Twitter hype—but certainly wasn’t looking for a book about them. Buyer beware: if you’re looking for a book on being a catalytic leader (as I was), this isn’t it. If you’re looking for a book on being a change agent (as I was), this isn’t it. It does contain eight essential leadership traits. Each trait (called, authentic, passionate, capable, courageous, principled, hopeful and collaborative) is given its own chapter. But just because each chapter is given the title of a trait, doesn’t mean it is really about that trait. After reading chapter one, I was no more informed about the nature of God’s call than I was before I read it. But I was more informed about Brad Lomenick.

It doesn’t take long to realize this book is a thinly veiled attempt at the author’s self-promotion. Each chapter follows a nearly identical pattern: 1) Let Brad tell you about Brad. 2) Let Brad give you a few clichés and aphorisms about this chapter’s essential. 3) Let Brad do some really great name-dropping to let you know that Brad knows some really cool people. 4) Let Brad tell you about Brad again. Brad rides horses. Brad jumps off cliffs. Brad was captain of his football team—in third grade (third graders have school football teams?). Brad’s organization failed… once… before he was in charge… but he stepped in to fix it. All better now. Yay Brad! The funniest part of the book was the section on humility—not because the author intended it to be, but because it was completely out of place amongst all of the “me” stories that surrounded it.

The best leadership books are the ones you need to read with a notebook because good ideas continually pop off the page. No such note taking device was needed for this book. A good leadership book leaves me with the impression that I want to work for someone like the author. I would be mortified to work with this author. I hope he is not like this in person, but this book leaves the impression that he is impetuous, self-aggrandizing and flighty—no matter how many cool things he’s done or how many big-named people he knows. He should probably stick to leading events rather than leading actual people. And I should probably stick to reading better leadership books.

Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: Thomas Nelson (April 16, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1595554971

[Sam McKeen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Valuable Wisdom for Leaders

We live in a world where it is becoming increasingly popular to be an influencer/leader. Sadly while many are striving to make a difference and lead change few are concerned about doing it well. Through his work with Catalyst, the author has spent a lot of time interacting with successful leaders while working to equip younger leaders. This experience along with Lomenick’s own journey positions him in a unique position to impart wisdom to the next generation of leaders.

Lomenick’s primary premise is that great leaders exhibit eight characteristics. Great leaders are called, authentic, passionate, capable, courageous, principled, hopeful and collaborative. An entire chapter is devoted to each one of these characteristics. Lomenick uses examples from his own experience as well as many snippets of wisdom from some of today’s top leaders to illustrate the importance of each one of the eight characteristics.

As a leader I found “The Catalyst Leader” very helpful. It gave me clarity as I evaluate the way I lead and the areas that need improvement. I appreciated the straightforward and down to earth way that Lomenick communicates. While it can be painful to evaluate your own shortcomings, Lomenick’s message is vital if one truly desires to be a successful leader.

Whether you are an aspiring or established leader I would highly recommend that you read this book. The world today is in need of great leadership. Lomenick has done an excellent job in communicating how one can lead well in the face of a rapidly changing world.

[Patrick Willis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall this is probably one of my favorite books on leadership that I have read (granted that number is still relatively small). There are parts of the book that might be 'common knowledge' for anyone in a leadership position or have read other leadership books, however one thing that Brad Lomenick does with this book is compile everything in a memorable and easy to read manner. I remember talking with my wife about parts of the book and ideas that he gave well after I had read them (which is a big deal for me, haha). I would recommend this book for people in leadership positions, even for the simple reason of refreshing and being encouraged in the responsibility you have as a leader.

[Steven Kopp · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a review of the book, per se, but a personal reflection:

When I read leadership books like this 10 years ago, I was filled with hope and inspiration. My attitude this time was different: If I'm being generous, I'll say I'm more realistic and less idealistic. But, it's possible I'm just significantly more cynical.

I agree with all of the 8 essentials (and I need to keep working on them, especially hopefulness!) but the line between them and the sort of organizational success envisioned in the book seem less clear than they to my younger self.

[philip · Rating 4 out of 5]

If this book were even 30 minutes longer, it would be a hard three stars. I give it 3 1/2 (round to 4).

Throughout each chapter, the author uses stories to illustrate points. These stories often miss the mark, and in too many cases, the point itself is weak, backed only anecdotally with little analysis.

But several of the stories, people, and their organizations blessed me greatly.

Most of it was about the author. It read more like a memoir, a little self-absorbed, frankly.

It’s not a book I would ever put on my syllabus(I found this in the supplementary materials to a management course in college.) But it has its place.

If you want to grow as a leader spiritually or technically, there are many better books, but they will be deeper.

The stories and lists of inspiring people are the best part of this book. They can motivate you to take leadership growth more seriously, . Ironically, as soon as you get to that point, you’ve outgrown a book of this caliber.

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a quick read. I’m realizing the value in books like this to remind us of the basics of leading with humility and integrity. Those never go away-they actually increase in importance the more senior someone rises in an organization.

[Jessica · Rating 1 out of 5]

Quite disappointing. Not really sure what the point of it was.

[Christian Mahoney · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first book I read seriously, full of knowledge and might be the only book I ever reread

[Eric Rodrigues · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great practical approach to what the author calls 'Catalyst Leadership'. 8 very specific and applicable properties of leadership, and the writing style is very entertaining and conversational which makes it easier to grasp the concepts.

[Ken Lang · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I enjoyed how this book uses multimedia to help re-enforce the leadership concepts it was teaching, I found that the book really didn't offer anything new that I haven't already read concerning the topic of leadership. It developed a "hum-drum" pace that continuously matched the leadership principles being discussed to difficult situations the company found itself in when carrying out duties associated with their large conferences. Which, in and of itself, I found interesting. I began to wonder if better leadership skills were exemplified when preparing for these conferences, whether or not the members would have found themselves in the quagmires they shared in the book.

For someone just starting out in leadership with relatively little knowledge about the topic, this would be a good start. But if you're looking for some deep, challenging concepts to further your skills as a leader, I would skill this book.

[Anthony Hiltz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brad Lomenick does an excellent job of describing what a Catalyst Leader is all about. It's all about servant leadership. That's the heart behind a true leader. A Catalyst Leader sets aside ego, seeks mentorship, builds God's Kingdom not their own, is true to who they are and is filled with integrity. 

Overall, my key takeaway from this book is that God has made us all to be excellent. We serve an excellent God so He requires our excellent effort at being all He has called us to be. This book was an easy read and a good reminder that we as Christians are called to serve (wherever we are) as unto the Lord. 

Brad also does an excellent job at lifting others up and pointing to other valuable resources and leaders. True leaders don't seek credit. They seek to grow and he exemplifies this by pointing to many organizations and individuals doing amazing work for the Kingdom of God!

[Blake Atwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

In The Catalyst Leader: 8 Essentials for Becoming a Change Maker, Brad Lomenick condenses a decade's worth of invaluable leadership knowledge into a little over 200 pages. Sharing both the peaks and valleys of his own professional experiences as the president of Catalyst, as well as advice he's gathered from dozens of well-known leaders across a wide variety of fields, Lomenick provides a must-read guide for future leaders.

Extended review available at http://cptr.it/6ufq.

[Riley Sheehan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Catalyst Leader is a good book. It pulls on the wisdom of other minds (John Maxwell, Jim Collins, Seth Godin, Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, even Mother Teresa, among numerous others), quoting them liberally. The Catalyst Leader serves as a sort of salad bowl of business ideologies, Proverbial wisdom, servant leadership principles, and a whole lot of Lomenick's personal anecdotes from leading Catalyst (which comprise most of the book). I'm grateful for Brad Lomenick's wisdom, and what he has done with Catalyst is nothing short of revolutionary. The book, however, is not as revolutionary, and that's okay.

[Daunavan Buyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really good book on leadership (especially for young leaders) as the author talked through 8 different essentials for leaders who want to create lasting impact. Mixing personal stories from his own successes and failures with stories of the success of others, this book provides a lot of practical examples that helped to motivate and spur on those reading it to become change-making leaders!

The only reason I didn't give this book five stars is because some of the concepts that he unpacked could have been done in much shorter chapters (the book did drag on a bit at times)...

[Josh-danielle Venable · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is just okay. It is a very easy read, but took me a very long time to read it. I kept finding myself putting it down in favor of other books. There a several good leadership principles, however I felt as though Lomenick spent the majority of his time promoting his organization (Catalyst) as opposed to actually giving essentials for becoming a change maker. Don't get me wrong, Catalyst has done many good things and collaborated with many people doing good things, but I wanted more about leadership and less about the good they've done. 3 stars.

[Scott Sivyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I real enjoyed this book. It made me look at myself and think about my call and my job right now. The only think I personal found very tough was how was I going to teach or use this in my secular job. I believe that all of the ideas do work and if used will have great pay back.

I was nice that Brad show case many great people and showed what they are doing as young leaders.

I will be going back through the book to pull out some great nuggets later.

[Philippe Lazaro · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Ambition must be grounded in wisdom. Inspiration must be pursued with integrity. Dreams must be built with boundaries."

–Brad Lomenick

This was a helpful read with lots of good information, worthwhile quotes, and important things to remember.

This book was also very user friendly- lots of bulletpoints, which is great if you're the type who wants things put extremely clearly. If anything it might have been almost too user friendly for me, but that's just me.

[Chad Byers · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a self-aggrandizing and boastful book with very little useful information. I regret opening it. I also feel that the subtitle should be changed to: if Joel Osteen wrote a leadership book. At least clue people in that the author is about to spend all of chapter one explaining how he was called by god to be a leader (and you can too!). I don’t recommend wasting your time. However, the chapter on humility is an entertaining piece of irony. But not worth the rest.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent book on leadership. One thing I truly enjoyed was the author's discussion on the role of humility in a leader. I feel this is lacking in many leaders today. While the book is written for younger leaders, I feel it resonates with anyone who has an interest, passion, or calling to leadership.

[Chad Stutzman · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took me a while to finish this book, but I'm glad I did. I've been to Catalyst several times and have found it to be the best large conference I've ever been to. This book showed why. Using lots of real life examples Brad Lomenick walks you through the guiding principles of his leadership, the chapter on courage was most helpful for me.

[Mel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I heard Brad speak right before this book came out and the points he gave in his talk motivated me to read his book. The biggest take away, for me, is a common thread throughout the book: I am not the center of the universe. I need others.

If you really want to jumpstart your leadership (current or future) then read this book!

[Kieran Stone · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had some really good points and insights, once I managed to look past all the cheesy language, obvious points, and ridiculous #CatalystLeader bits. Hashtags do not belong in books. I would still recommend this book to people though, and I found the chapter on excellence really challenging.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even if the reader is not involved in a church/religious organization, this is an insightful and quick leadership text even though it took me a while to just finish it. It also took me longer to finish because I was highlighting so much and tweeting as I read. ;). I'm looking forward to Catalyst Live 2016!

[Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

an insightful read into a new generation of leadership. a must-read for twenty- and thirty-somethings, both leaders and followers. the book also gives some behind the scenes looks at the catalyst conference.

[Jonathan Seger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book. Much of the content is similar to other books on leadership I've read recently, especially John Maxwell's books. Too many stories from Catalyst. Could have been half the length had he cut out more of the fluff.

[Bill Welte · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have any interest in motivating or mentoring next gen leaders, this book is a must read. Every leader will benefit from this read. Great resources. Eye-opener in helping me understanding how to work with, motivate and serve with millennial leaders.

[Rick Yvanovich · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not what I expected it to be - far too much bible thumping for my liking, but not he other hand I guess that was my fault for not realising who the author really was and had I known then it would have been very obvious what the content would be like.

[Ryan Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has decent insights and is informative. Despite that fact it reads much like an advertisement for Catalyst events. Fortunately it's a quick, easy read that is still helpful for new and emerging leaders.

[Rusty Fulling · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read with great quotes from dynamic leaders. The book outlines the keys for creating change makers. "You don't have to blow out someone elses candle to make yours shine brighter." "Seek out a mentor and someone to mentor."

A must read for new and up and coming leaders.

[Jaymark]

A good read about leadership the Christian way. I had some highlights that I need to take notes with and review.