Lead from the Outside: How to Build Your Future and Make Real Change

Abrams helped found a nonprofit organization, the New Georgia Project, to register eligible voters in 2014. She raised millions of dollars and the organization submitted tens of thousands of voter applications to the state. The effort was a consummate success; yet, the organization was plagued with accusations of wrongdoing. By November 2, nearly half of those registrations were canceled by the secretary of state. Although, after a two-year investigation, the organization was found blameless, the New Georgia Project and Abrams herself were subject to criticism. She began with the best of intentions, but, because she was unorthodox in her approach to civic problems, her methods were scrutinized. Abrams uses this anecdote to demonstrate the difficulty of working within established systems, as they were not built for outsiders’ easy navigation. Abrams’s ultimate solution is to “hack” the system, to find a way to accomplish her ends outside of traditional means.

Abrams tells her reader to “look for an unusual point of entry” (99). Speaking primarily to an audience of outsiders, she relates the necessity of leveraging minority status: diversity quotas in the workplace and affirmative action in the university are windows of opportunity that they must not be afraid to open. She extols the benefits of internships and volunteer opportunities, even as she recognizes that an outsider might struggle to manage unpaid or underpaid professional opportunities and existing financial obligations. Abrams argues, however, that if a sacrifice can be made for this end, it is likely to be worth it because an internship can put an individual in the sights of decision-makers and in the same room as knowledgeable allies. In the long term, putting themselves in such a favorable position to learn, gain experience, and demonstrate their capacity to lead can pay dividends.

She tells readers that their lack of privilege may teach them to adopt humility, which is really a mask for self-doubt. Beware of crediting external factors and forces for one’s successes, she says, as this practice diminishes others’ sense of one’s capability. Rather than turning down jobs, tasks, and dreams for which they don’t have all the expected tools, consider what advantages they do have and can bring to bear. If this exercise is not enough to keep them from rejecting an opportunity outright, she recommends considering what it might mean for someone else to see them reach for more. Their example can encourage another to cultivate their ambitions and reach toward their realization. Paired with this chapter is a worksheet called “SWOT Analysis: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats,” a business evaluation tool that Abrams has adapted for systematic personal evaluation and development.