Odd Leadership

When Ellie Goldstein was first diagnosed with Down Syndrome, her mother was soon told that her new-born would amount to nothing. For 21 years and counting, Ellie Goldstein has been defying the odds and overcoming every hardship thrown at her. Told she wouldn't walk, Ellie has danced on mainstages. Told she wouldn't learn, she has gained a college education. And told not to dream, Ellie has gone on to become the first model with Down Syndrome to be photographed for Gucci and continues to change the face of fashion from the inside out in countless international campaigns.

Deep in the American South, poverty was rarely temporary. For many families, it was inherited. In the cotton mill towns of the American South, generations of families lived in a world defined by lint dust, mill whistles, and long days of exhausting labor. Poverty was not simply a hardship. It was a system that shaped communities, reputations, and the expectations placed on entire bloodlines. Families like these were often labeled with a single dismissive word: lintheads.

I am A Soldier Against All Odds, and what follows is a genuine and frank account—the good, the very bad, and the very ugly—of my 31 years in uniform. Diagnosed at age seven with an acute learning disability and failing first grade that year, I was sent back to repeat it. At age nine, I was diagnosed with osteomyelitis, a crippling bone disease dissolving the bone of my knee that added to my academic challenges and a significant physical disadvantage.

In 1965, John Brink left the Netherlands for Canada equipped with only a single suitcase and $25.47 in cash. He had no connections, he didn’t speak the language, and he’d never finished elementary school, yet he was convinced he could make his dream to build his own sawmill come true. With a tenacity bordering on obsession, John achieved his dreams...and then some. In this lively autobiography, John distills a half-century’s hard work to share 10 simple takeaways.

Research shows you have a 50% chance of hiring the right employee… and a 50% chance of hiring the wrong one. It’s a?toss up, but it doesn’t have to be. After years of scientific research and first-hand interview experience with thousands of candidates, author Chaka Booker has created a...