Who Do We Choose to Be?

Facing Reality, Claiming Leadership, Restoring Sanity

By: Margaret J. Wheatley

Narrated by: Margaret J. Wheatley

Who Do We Choose to Be? is a book that offers a path for leaders to engage wisely with the destructive dynamics of this time that manifest at every level, from individual to organizational to global. We enter the path by facing reality, wanting to see with clarity and discernment where we are and how we got here. Because of her own studies and experiences, Wheatley has chosen to use the lens of new science to understand where we are and why we ended up here.

Wheatley focuses on eight dynamics common to all living systems, each given its own section. For each dynamic, first there is an essay detailing what new science teaches about this dynamic. Next there are short essays applying this lens to today's culture, illuminating the causes of many of our most troubling and perplexing behaviors and trends. The last section is Wheatley's personal recollections of leaders who used this dynamic in healthy and life-affirming ways.

The book is a form of exploration that offers a relaxed and fruitful process of inquiry. To understand how we got here requires more than rational analysis. It requires a dwelling mind where a multiplicity of influences and factors are considered before any insight can reveal itself. Finally, it presents the question to leaders: who do you choose to be as a leader for this time?

©2017 Margaret J. Wheatley (P)2017 Margaret J. Wheatley

In an age of division and doubt, we must all become Warriors for the Human Spirit;

The narrator has a tendency to drop her energy at the end of some sentences, making it necessary to rewind to understand everything. Otherwise, Margaret Wheatley is a wonderful writer and narrator.

What better way to think of leadership?

I enjoyed this book so much in Audible. It felt like an intimate conversation with the author, hearing her voice read her words. The reality of where we are in our world, our country today (further magnified by the current evacuations in Afghanistan in August 2021, although this book was published in 2017) makes her guidance so relevant. We must each look inside, come to know ourselves, then do what we can, where we can, when we can. Yes, I would like to be a warrior of the human spirit.

Important and wise book

Over the years, I have found Margaret Wheatley to be an insightful and wise teacher. This book does not disappoint -- although it is jarring and at times disturbing, it is still inspiring and instructive. I want to buy this book for every leader I know who is mature enough to face reality and open-hearted enough to do this hard and necessary work of leadership.

Timely. Scary. Ultimately Inspirational.

Would you listen to Who Do We Choose to Be? again? Why?

Yes to revisit some of the history and context of evolution of civilizations.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Who Do We Choose to Be??

The notion that all civilizations collapse. And that we are now in a time of collapse. And most people are not noticing. And this takes warrior leadership holding vision, history, compassion and action.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

It is always hard to listen to a book that is narrated by the author. I think the author is too close to the subject matter. I would have preferred a different narrator to bring the stories in this book to more vibrant life.

Outstanding, not just for "leaders"

Margaret Wheatley is widely known as an author/teacher in the field of leadership and service, which I suspect somewhat limits her readership. This is unfortunate, because Wheatley's recent books So Far From Home (2012) and Who Do We Choose to Be? (2017) are both outstanding resources for anyone seeking to restore balance and sanity to their worldview in this soul-destroying era we're now living through. Two points of advice: 1) read So Far From Home first, as it lays the essential groundwork for everything Wheatley discusses here, and 2) do heed her request to get a hard copy of this book; it contains a lot of extras (footnotes, suggested reading, quotes, poems, photos) and is great to have on hand for reference, reflection, or just a brief sanity break when you need it.