Step Up: How to Live with Courage and Become an Everyday Leader

Who will step up and change the course of a world that is so full of anger and conflict? Not elected officials or media personalities, but what equality advocate Ash Beckham calls everyday leaders -including you. We are moms and teachers and executives and imams, she says. Before we start changing the external world, we need to commit to living fully and completely as our most authentic selves.

In Step Up, Beckham presents eight pillars to become an everyday leader-Empathy, Responsibility, Courage, Grace, Individuality, Humility, Patience, and Authenticity. For each pillar, she shares engaging stories of her own journey from isolation and anger to a place of greater openness and connection. She then provides eye-opening research on what it takes to build these essential qualities, coupled with practices to mindfully change the way you relate to yourself and the people in your life.

We all have closets, says Beckham. We in the LGBTQ community do not have the closet market cornered. Though our closets may feel safe, we only become whole and effective when we stop hiding from ourselves and others. Step Up is a powerful call to action-to speak when it feels easier to be silent, to do good without being self-righteous, and to create a world of inclusion where everyone has a voice.