H3 Leadership: Be Humble. Stay Hungry. Always Hustle.

by Brad Lomenick, Jim Collins (Foreword)

The patterns we cultivate shape the person we each become. Be Humble. Stay Hungry. Always Hustle. These powerful words describe the leader who is willing to work hard, get it done, and make sure it’s not about him or her; the leader who knows that influence is about developing the right habits for success. Brad Lomenick, former president of Catalyst, shares his hard-earned insights from more than two decades of work alongside thought-leaders such as Jim Collins and Malcom Gladwell, Fortune 500 CEOs and start-up entrepreneurs. Operating within the framework of three core character qualities – humble, hungry, hustle – Lomenick identifies 20 essential leadership habits that help readers embody those qualities, Offering practical steps to embrace these habits, Lomenick provides a simple but effective guide on how to lead well in whatever capacity the reader may be in.

Genres: Leadership, Business, Nonfiction, Personal Development, Self Help, Business Leadership, Personal Growth

256 pages, Hardcover

First published September 22, 2015

Reviews

[Barnabas Piper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Immensely practical and well-organized. An easy read without being fluffy content. Will challenge readers and offer sage advice for those who want it.

[Cameron Shedd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Been walking through this book over the past year with someone, and it’s been a solid guide for personal and leadership growth. Highly recommend for anyone wanting to grow as a leader.

[Dawn Liebherr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. Practical tips and thoughts from leaders from all different areas of life. I genuinely recommend.

[Bethany Parker · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good mindset reset! I didn't know it was going to be based on a Christian organization, which is fine with me, but would be nice to know for others.

[Sebastian Gebski]

You need to know something about this book. It is not a book about leadership, but about Christian leadership. I picked it up from Scribd subscription and it was not stated explicitly, so you can imagine my amazement.

Wait, but what does it mean "Christian" leadership? Well, the author is a dedicated catholic - but well, that alone doesn't mean anything yet. However, the majority of his examples and references are ... from the bible. So instead of actual historic figures, he brings up Moses, Jesus, and other characters like that. Is that all? Actually, nope - apparently his beliefs are so important, that pretty much everything he does is peppered with activities like "contemplating being a child of God" or "studying holy scripture". So for instance - he writes about how important it is to read at least one book per month, but then he claims that unfortunately, it's useless if you don't pray to god, so he opens you for the knowledge (or something, sorry if I'm not 100% precise here).

Yeah, so you have been warned. For anyone who is NOT a devoted catholic, this book is ... unbearable. I am a "hardcore" atheist, so I have to admit - it all sounded a bit ridiculous, but TBH I can totally believe that for a true believer, this book may be some sort of inspiration of guidance. For me, it was not. Fortunately, it was short, so I listened to it while running, but I wouldn't handle more than 4 hours.

OK, so what about star rating? Would I recommend it to anyone?

No star rating. It's not a book for non-Christians, definitely. I'll let Christians rate for themselves - no reason to pollute their rating. It's just a shame that ekhm, the specificity of this book is not marked explicitly in the description.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely worth the read.

[Brit Carson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book! I’m challenged. Each chapter had so much meat to it along with powerful advice. It’s a lot to process but it’s so practical and laid out for the reader. I found it easy to pick up what the author was saying and make steps to implement the suggestions to see myself grow as a leader.

[Daniel Henderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very helpful. I will revisit parts of this book in more detail.

[Bill Pence · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author led Catalyst, a movement of young leaders for 12 years. He writes of needing to take a sabbatical which caused him to re-think his leadership. In this book he writes about 20 key transformational leadership habits, organized under the headers Humble, Hungry and Hustle. With each leadership habit, he offers helpful and practical suggestions on how to cultivate each habit from both from himself and others (pastors, leaders, authors) who he quotes liberally throughout the book.

He writes that leadership is habitual work. Habits take time to develop. Leaders must develop habits hat create consistency.

Below are a brief notes I jotted down while going through the book:

HUMBLE

Self-Discovery: Know who you are.

· Your sense of identity will help define your scale of influence

· Discovery is progressive. It is never ending

· Your identity is not what you do, it is who you are

· We receive our identities from God

Openness: Share the real you with others.

· Authenticity

· Trust

Meekness: Remember it’s not about you.

· Humility.

Conviction: Stick to your principles

· Principles vs. preferences. Character

· Integrity

· Trust

· Your reputation takes years to build, and seconds to destroy

· How do you handle the “grey areas”? Compromise

Faith: Prioritize your day so God is first

· Spiritual disciplines

· Get involved in a church

Assignment: Live out your calling

· Your calling is not your identity. Your calling is your purpose

· Your job is an assignment, it is not your calling. Your calling is made up of assignments.

· Identity – Calling – Assignments

· Are you content in your assignments?

HUNGRY

Ambition: Develop an appetite for what’s next.

· Your greatest strength could also be your greatest weakness.

· Set good goals

· Push yourself daily

Curiosity: Keep learning

· Ask great questions

· Surround yourself with people smarter than you

· Read (books, blogs and magazines). Leaders are readers

· Ask yourself, have I learned anything new today?

Passion: Love what you do

· Your team feeds on your energy

· No one on your team will be as passionate as you

Innovation: Stay current, creative, and engaged

· Intentionality

· Innovative is the opposite of average

· Leaders change things

· Make meetings more creative

· Create an environment in which failure is OK

Inspiration: Nurture a vision for a better tomorrow

· People long to be part of something bigger than themselves.

· Vision statements and vision casting

· Dream big

· Evaluate regularly.

Bravery: Take calculated risks

· Facing fear and overcoming it

· Take risks

· Embrace uncertainty

· Failure is not necessarily bad

HUSTLE

Excellence: Set standards that scare you

· Set standards high

· Do all you can for the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31)

Stick-with-it-ness: Take the long view

· Disciple and perseverance

· Commit to daily disciplines

· Greatness is a journey, not a destination

Execution: Commit to completion

· Great leaders are great finishers

· Out-work everyone else

· No habit is more important

· Reward completion

Team Building: Create an environment that attracts and retains the best and brightest

· When you prioritize your team, your team prioritizes you

· Be the leader you wish you had

· Provide good experiences

· Reduce meetings

· Measure the morale of your team

Partnership: Collaborate with colleagues and competitors

· Purposeful partnerships are optimal

· Those who don’t form partnerships will sink, those who do will soar

Margin: Nurture healthier rhythms

· Rest

Generosity: Leave the world a better place

· Involves the head, heart, hand and feet

· Be generous in things such as power, access, time and praise

Succession: Find power in passing the baton

· Success requires succession

· There is power in passing on

· Start earlier than you think you should

The book concludes with an appendix with thoughts on the hard work of leadership from other leaders.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cannot say enough about how much I loved H3 Leadership: Be Humble. Stay Hungry. Always Hustle.. You need to pick up this book and read it from cover to cover. I read Brads book "The Catalyst Leader" and feel like this was a great follow up to that offering from his leadership journey. This is the most practical leadership book that you will ever put your hands on. You will find a ton of tweet-able phrases and pull-quotes that you can share with others as you read. Makes reading fun, and interactive. It was one of the best books I have read this year!

I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Johnathan Nazarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is perhaps one of the best leadership books I've ever read. It is packed with all the major leadership principles that you would expect plus some fresh insight. It is direct, honest, real and isn't full of fluff and filler. The stories, quotes and illustrations used to illuminate the main points are a great compliment to the book and are not distracting or laborious. I found myself highlighting sentences and points from nearly every paragraph as well as entire paragraphs at a time. The text was well organized and laid out in a comprehensive and easy to digest way. Loved this book!

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not only is Brad one of the ultimate authorities on the subject of effective leadership, but his book is absolutely incredible. H3 Leadership is a manifesto for leaders everywhere to engage a new level of effectiveness and depth as they peer into the soul of their leadership. It is jam-packed with so much good stuff, it's hard to believe it is all in one book. I honestly felt like every chapter could've been a book in itself. Huge value!

[Jack · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve never heard a business management book lean so heavily into Christianity and religious activity. As a result, everything is positioned in your servitude to God. A large aggregation of other peoples’ advice and ideas in list format. Identity is unchanging, who you are determined what you do, you are not what you do. Return to your true identity by revisiting core values. Abandon past selves/dead versions of yourself when you notice a change. Isolation evaluation - survey your connections and make sure you’re not siloed. Authenticity is built on trust. Start asking tough questions; choose courage over comfort; stop, teach, and mentor, be willing to fail; have a habit of neatness; realize it’s not about you. Information, relationship, and practice. Take in inspiration each day, make sure everyday forces you to practice an area of personal development, seek guidance from others, enhance deeper relationships with others. A job is only an assignment, not a calling. A calling is the intersection of your purpose and talents. Leaders are readers. When you encounter a problem, try to solve it three different ways. Read from a wide variety of genres. Develop a vision statement and ensure it is effective - it should be optimistic, motivating, focused on the now but yearns for what’s next, simple, personal, people focused, and flexible to allow for future shifts. Take risks and don’t grow complacent and lazy, especially as you get older. You won’t win them all. Bravery is committing to facing your fears, overcoming them, and learning to control them. Be a yardstick by which all others measure their mediocrity. Stick with it, make it public, track the process and progress. Impulsiveness is not innovation, just because something is new does not mean it is better. Do what needs to be done, when it must be done, as well as you can do it, every time you do it. Have daily goals (standing benchmarks, recurrent) and legacy goals (endpoints and high points, milestone based). Always leave people and places better than when you found them. You either do it right or do it twice, and you’re only done when the job is done.

[S. Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I truly enjoyed this book on leadership. It has great advice on values, which are (in my opinion) largely missing in a vast majority of large & small businesses today. It seems all anyone cares about is money and how much they can get out of you. That IS one reason why we enter the business world as owners (to provide a better life for our family), but for me, it was not the only reason. Besides, I had an advocate in my corner, namely, my spouse.

We hope to provide a service to our community that is slowly bleeding away in our society...the local brick & mortar bookstore. It's definately not an easy road, but we are determined to continue for as long as we are assigned to this task.

Here are a few highlights I took away from the book...

"Do one thing every day that scares you.

~Eleanor Roosevelt" ~about conquering fear and growing as a leader.

"When you are tempted to settle for whatever life has handed you, develop a vision for creating a better tomorrow."

~when you find yourself in a dry place and need encouragement.

"Humility says that honesty is more important than being liked."

~stand for what is right! Not just for your business, but also for those who help you establish it.

"In its purest form, ambition is a knowledge of and appetite for what's next."

~this made me feel better about why I am the way that I am. I happen to be a goal oriented person. That's not a lack of faith, but a realization that there is something more if I keep pushing ahead! And yes, I took this one personally!

If you are looking to read a business book with a Christian ethics slant, then you will glean much from adding this to your arsenal of reading and learning materials. It has helped me to gain a bigger picture of why we're doing what we're doing!

[Sunz · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading the description, I knew that it's for leaders running organizations but I took a risk in getting it. As I am not leadership material, I thought I could learn what it takes to be a good leader. When I became a mother, I was scared of fulfilling the most challenging role in my life, and being a mother is like being a leader to a child.


H3 Leadership is written by Brad Lomenick who was the president of "one of the largest movements of Christian leaders in America, Catalyst." When his leadership went rusty, he went on sabbatical. During this time, he rekindled his relationship with God, revisited the whats, the whys, and the hows of true leadership, and realized that it was time for him to pass the baton to other leaders. He also included the insights of leaders from different organizations.


Some Golden Nuggets

Knowing yourself is the first step to become a successful leader. Your strengths and weaknesses foretells the degree of your influence. The habits to cultivate to know who you are -- self-discovery, openness, meekness, conviction, faith, and assignment.

With the habit of ambition, curiosity, passion, innovation, inspiration, and bravery, a leader can bring an organization to a greater future.

There are eight habits that can help a leader reach the organization's goals-- excellence, stick-with-it-ness, execution, team building, partnership, margin, generosity, and succession.


The three most important things I learned from this book are to know and to be true to myself, to dream and create an exciting future, and to work hard for myself and for my family.


"Be humble, stay hungry, always hustle."


After reading H3 Leadership, I was glad I didn't pass up the chance to grab this book.

[Missy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Appendix:
"When you rise in the morning, nearly half of your day will be determined by the patterns you've either intentionally created or passively allowed."

Chapter 0:
"You can teach what you know, but you'll reproduce what you are." (Nikki Gumble)

"Awareness increases as speed decreases. Most of us use the speed of life to medicate ourselves and ignore the major issues we're facing internally."

Chapter 1:
"I wanted to prove I was good enough and smart enough and capable enough to compete with others."

"Vulnerability is the birthplace of courage, innovation, creativity and change."

Chapter 3:
"What do you stand for? Which hills will you die on? What is not for sale or up for discussion?"

Chapter 4:
"A healthy spiritual life doesn't happen via osmosis. It requires intentionality and regularity."

"Where and when do you feel free to be spiritually open and receptive?"

Chapter 13:
"I don't open my email until 9am. Email gives the steering wheel of my car to someone else. When I open it, I am no longer in charge. So I wait until after I'm finished with me to help them."

Chapter 17:
"Learning to unwind is a disciple that must be practiced. You must find time to stop moving, stop working and stop problem solving."

Chapter 18:
"Leaders quite often confuse being generous with giving people money: raises, bonuses, stock options. But the generous leaders gives people what they truly want: knowledge, power, information, credit, praise, responsibility and authority."

[Curtismchale · Rating 3 out of 5]

There always seems to be a certain set of principles that the successful entrepreneurs and business owners around us have. Coming out of a sabbatical, Brad Lomenick, had a list of 20 such habits that he broke down in to three main groupings. Hungry, Humble, Hustle.

Overall the book is a quick read. The habits are well spelled out and they have interesting supporting encouragement from other leaders at the end of each chapter. It's a very quotable book that will give you some good inspiration on your leadership journey.

Some of the habits seem to repeat themselves, or are a natural outflow of a previous habit in the sense that if you do one, the next one will just happen. But the chapters are short so the repetition doesn't bog down the reading.

If you're looking for a bunch of prescription for your leadership habits, then this may not be the book for you. You may get more from High Performance Habits or Great at Work, which are much more prescriptive in their advice.

If you're looking for a book that will inspire you to be a better leader and you're going to go deeper into the habits you most need after, this is a great book.

If you want to dig deep into books, join me on Should I Read It, a weekly podcast for books in detail: https://curtismchale.ca/subscribe

[Jordan Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brad Lomenick, former president of Catalyst, shares wise advice from his experience in leadership. Each chapter is practical and easy to grasp. Would recommend for those interested in a self-help/business book.

Favorite Quotes:

"I would rather fail at pursuing my calling with courage and passion than succeed at something that doesn't really matter."

"People would rather follow a leader who is always real versus a leader who is always right. Don't try to be a perfect leader, just work on being an authentic one."

"Achieving depth in one's relationships is something that springs from a choice."

"You aren't a leader because you know everything but because you know how to find answers and solve issues."

"A strong leader builds a habit of conviction, knowing that the times when no one is watching are when true character is built."

"Embrace uncertainty. As a leader, uncertainty is part of your job description. If it weren't, your company could replace you with a robot or an algorithm."

"As a leader, you are in the business of making people confident."

[D. J. Arévalo · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars! (Rating scale in bio)

I have read many leadership book over the years. In my opinion, the best authors of leadership books are those who have been leaders for many years already and speak from their own experiences. Just as the ancient eastern proverb says, “Wise is the man who learns from his mistakes. But wiser is the man who learns from the mistakes of others.” I would argue that you can interchange the word successes with the word mistakes in this quote and it still hold just as much truth.

I normally place some food quotes from books like this in my reviews. But this book had so many I could not pick. This book is not only good for business leaders, but for all leadership position professionally, ministerially, and relationally. It is also good for recalibrating your purpose and your identity, which, just as the book explains, should be a regular practice no matter how old we get. Seasons change, we change, and so does our leadership.

This will be a book I will return to every few years as a personal check up / pulse check.

[Joseph Mok · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book Review: H3 Leadership by Brad Lomenick
Another good book that i was encouraged to read by a friend.
It takes a holistic point of view of Leadership - as Brad puts it: “Lead from the inside out”

Below are my takeaways from this book:

Meekness: A leader’s job is to shepherd, not necessarily to always shine. Pride refuses to be taught, Humility refuses not to be. By adopting a posture of meekness, not only do we reap the satisfaction of seeing others grow under our wing, but we too become all the more wiser and knowledgeable by allowing ourselves to be taught. Keep learning, lest you not living up to your full potential.

The difference between Identity, Calling and your Assignment.
Identity is who you are, and it does not change. It forms the basis of your drive.
Calling is what you were designed to do best. This can be changed somewhat, and it determines your direction in life.
Assignment Is where you live out your calling. It may change many times, and it leads to your destination in life.

Become an expert before you need to. Some call it “fake it till you make it”, but Zig Ziglar said: “Before a person can achieve the kind of life he wants, he must think, act, walk,talk, and conduct himself in all of his affairs as would the person he wishes to become.”

Face your fears. As Eleanor Roosevelt once said: “Do one thing Everyday that scares you”

Excellence: Be good at what you do.
‘If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michaelangelo painted, that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say: “Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.”’

Look far forward. The things we do today will influence our tomorrows. Everything is connected, and now is practice for later. Your twenties establish your sixties.

Do: As Henry Ford said, you can’t build a reputation on what you’re going to do. After all the planning, we need to act.

Guard your margin. Set aside time for things to do and people in your life, and guard them.

Generosity: It is not limited to just giving money. It is the sharing of knowledge, power, information, credit, praise, responsibility, and authority. Say no to yourself, so you can say yes to other’s needs.

Lastly, always leave a person better of than when you found them.

5/5

[Fungai Tichawangana · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are so many things that leaders need to remember to do that it's sometimes overwhelming. The key word in this book is 'habits.' Lomenick summarises many key skills and practices that need to become part of every leader's daily routine. He has put these together based on interactions with some of the top managers and business people out there. For me, areas of weakness like 'partnership' and 'team building' stuck out and hit home as needing immediate attention. If you're a new leader who wants to learn what habits the top leaders in the world prioritise or if you're a seasoned leader wanting to sharpen yourself and refresh your focus, pick this book up and take its precepts to heart. It's an easy to read manual for those who need to hone their leadership skills and practice. Habits. Habits. Habits.

[Emily Kidd · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was accidentally shipped this book from a @pangobooks seller, but she let me keep it for free! So I read it 💁🏻‍♀️

This Christian leadership book is primarily targeted at business professionals, but anyone could benefit. How? Why? Because (if you’re smart), you will think about A) leading yourself, and B) being an upstanding example in your spheres of influence (for me that’s as a new Mommy and as a Pre-K teacher).

As you can see by the table of contents, Brad Lomenick covers many topics. However, since the chapters are concise, they are easy to understand while still giving you plenty of extra food for thought.

My favorite concept is the overarching theme of the book: turn these character traits into HABITS.

Aside from what sometimes felt like excessive quoting (even sometimes quoting another person’s Tweet 🤪), I enjoyed and would recommend this book.

4/5 ⭐️

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this book for my work's book club! A book of the journey of the author taking a sabbatical and reflecting on what makes a great leader and how to prioritize the important stuff of life. The book is organized by topic - habits that make you successful and includes notes and blurbs from other successful people. The book includes great reminders to help one think through what it takes to be a good leader and just good person in general. The book didn't necessarily teach me anything extraordinarily new but it did provide content that was easily able to be discussed in a group. I also enjoyed the many Christian figures who contributed blurbs throughout the book. The habits that stuck out the most to me were habits of: excellence, margin, bravery, curiosity, and self-discovery.

[Chris Weatherburn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Book about leadership, based on author's journey in which they lost direction, passion and focus then had to start again with a sabbatical. The author had to remember to think as an individual rather than just thinking of himself as purely leader of the organisation. He lead Catalyst, a group I had never heard of that seems to encourage development of Christian leaders mainly in the USA. Throughout the theme of having strong faith in god is mentioned.

As the title suggests the Hs are:
Hungry
Humble
Hustle
Argues these key components are required to be a good leader and breaks them down to 20 points. In honesty think this book is overrated.

If you look at Bill Pence's extensive review below this really removes the need to read this book!

[R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

“You’ve got to love it and live it if you’re going to lead it!”

This is a book that you have to dig through in order to to get away from some of the Christian stuff and dive down to the simple leadership lessons and discussions throughout it. I'm at a point in my life where I don't mind drawing lessons and learning from any source, but I'm always a bit cautious diving into the genre of evangelical leadership because there are aspects of the entire evangelical movement that are toxic and hurting our country. All of that aside, this wasn't a bad book. There are some good points that Lomenick makes, and I think I would enjoy having him as a boss, as long as I didn't need to be a member of his church in order to do that.

[Madam Ambassador Dr. Nealy · Rating 5 out of 5]

UN Ambassador Dr. Angela J. Nealy Review of H3 Leadership: Be Humble. Stay Hungry. Always Hustle.

I highly recommend this book if you are in a career and recognize you need a leave of absence. This book will put the f back into faith and the s back into spirituality.
The ability to hustle and still remain humble at the same time is a difficult balance but is achievable. Staying hungry for success even when you maybe in a burnout phase of your life will be put back into perspective through these chapters.




Respectfully,

Madam Ambassador Dr. Nealy
H.E. United Nations Peace Ambassador NGO ECOSOC
Dr. Angela J. Nealy

[Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an incredible leadership book! The philosophy of being humble, staying hungry, and always hustling is one that can be applied in so many different situations, job titles, and passions.

While there are plenty of practical take aways, my favorite aspect was the collaboration that went into this book. Brad Lomenick seamlessly worked in other influential leaders' advice and opinions to all the points he made. He's a credible source to gain information from on the subject, but the added perspective of others really put this book over the top and kept things interesting.

[Karla · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I finished listening to this book on leadership, it occurred to me that I was listening to it in a new light - with the Coronavirus swirling around the world it was hard to distinguish normal times of leadership (our Governor’s and President, leaders of schools, and businesses) and decisions all being magnified with these trying, frustrating and scary times. This book is a lot about slowing down, learning to transition, listening to others, leading by example. All good things to do until we are forced to do it. Then the story changes.

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall I think this book offers plenty of practical advice. I love the conversational tone that slowly merges into an instructional one by the end of the chapter. I love structure and find that I learn best when I know where I’m headed. The structure wasn’t boring repetition, but kept me guided as to what to expect. I like the storytelling that morphs into key points to extract then into others’ opinions on the topic. I don’t like feeling like the author thinks that their opinion is end all be all; therefore, the inclusion of so many other leaders makes the book more impactful to me.

[Toan Ho Huu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Muốn thay đổi? Hãy tạo thói quen. Muốn trở thành nhà lãnh đạo? Hãy gầy dựng những thói quen lãnh đạo. Nếu bạn muốn thành một người tốt hơn, hãy tập làm người tốt hơn. Muốn chuyền một đường bóng xoáy thật mạnh? Luyện tập chính là câu trả lời. Muốn dứt điểm trong golf tài tình hơn? Không cách nào tốt hơn là nuôi dưỡng thói quen đẩy banh mỗi tối. Muốn chèo thuyền vượt Đại Tây Dương? Hãy tập chèo hằng tháng để quen với biển khơi. Thói quen sẽ cho ra đời hành động cần thiết ngay cả khi ta không còn sức suy nghĩ.