Choosing to Lead Against the Current

Heart-centered tools for social change leaders to foster courage, keep momentum, and manage burnout

In the face of complex challenges, capable leaders need more than a simple box of leadership tools. They need an internal system of leadership, a tested operating system to help them navigate successfully through forces of oppression, while staying connected to their purpose, values, and vision.

In Choosing to Lead Against the Current, award-winning movement leader, social change strategist, and executive director Eveline Shen shares her Courageous Operating System, a revolutionary system designed to help positive transformation leaders cultivate their power, sustain themselves both mentally and physically, and create lasting conditions for success.

With inspiring stories and case-studies drawn from her own experiences, as well as, from her work with other change leaders, topics include how to:

Turn encounters with adversity into sources of strength

Redefine success on one's own terms

Build creative momentum against forces of oppression

Transform failures into progress

Prioritize short and long-term self-care

Shen's system has been taught to leaders in over 200 organizations across the U.S. and global South. It's holistic in nature, with different elements designed to work as one. Choosing to Lead Against the Current takes readers through the system's components, with exercises at the end of each chapter to help integrate them into any leadership style.

Shen's offering teaches anyone leading against the current how to harness their full leadership power to build a future that values the liberation of all people and life on this planet.