Welcome to Loden’s Leadership Conversations.

Today, let’s explore: How to get the most out of Before It Breaks, starting today.

Gather Around, Growth Alliance Members.

Today is the day.

Before It Breaks is officially available, and before you do anything else, I want to give you something more valuable than a purchase link.

I want to tell you how to read it.

Most leadership books get read once, appreciated, and shelved. The insights were real. The intention was good. But somewhere between finishing the last chapter and Monday morning, the momentum disappeared.

I wrote this book to work differently. And if you approach it the right way, it will.

Here’s how I’d suggest you use it.

Start with the pillar that’s costing you the most right now.

You don’t have to read it front to back. The seven pillars are designed to stand alone and together. If you already know where your foundation is weakest, start there. Go deep on the one thing that matters most right now. Let the rest follow.

Read it with someone.

The leaders who get the most out of this aren’t the ones who read it alone. They’re the ones who hand it to their leadership team and say, let’s talk about this. The conversations that come from that are where the real work happens. The book gives you the language. Your team gives you the application.

Use the workbook alongside it.

The complimentary workbook, available to everyone who pre-ordered before today, was built specifically to take what you’re reading and turn it into action your team can feel this week. If you pre-ordered, your workbook is waiting Here. Enter your purchase code and it’s yours. Don’t skip it.

Didn’t pre-order? No problem. The workbook is available separately, Click here to get your copy. It’s worth having alongside the book.

Go slow on the chapters that make you uncomfortable.

That discomfort is information. It’s the book finding the crack. Sit with it. Don’t rush past the part that lands hardest, that’s usually the part that matters most.

I want to say something directly.

Writing this book was not a simple process. It required me to be honest about my own failures as a leader, not just the lessons I learned from watching others, but the moments where I was the one who missed. Where I let a standard slip. Where I avoided a conversation I should have had. Where I borrowed against trust I hadn’t fully repaid.

Those moments are in the book. Not as confessions, as context. Because I believe you can only teach what you’ve actually lived.

If you’ve been part of this community for any length of time, you know that’s the standard I hold everything to. This book is no different.

Thank you for being here. For reading every Tuesday. For the replies, the conversations, and the leaders you’ve shared these newsletters with.

This book exists in part because of this community. And I don’t take that lightly.

Now go build something that holds.

Reflection Questions:

• Which of the seven pillars are you most eager to explore first, and what does that tell you about where your attention needs to go?
• Who on your leadership team needs to read this alongside you, and will you make that ask this week?

May your leadership journey be rich with purpose, relationships, resilience, and discovery. I look forward to exploring new insights together in our next issue.

Lead Deliberately,

Gearl Loden

Superintendent  |  Executive Coach  |  Author, Before It Breaks