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Leading Things You Didn't Start

Winning Big When You Inherit People, Places, and Possibilities

Tyler Reagin

About Leading Things You Didn't Start

A high-impact leadership coach gives you the tools you need to maximize your influence in a new role, giving you the ability to meet any challenge and take your team, organization, church, or company to new heights.

“A practical path to maximizing your influence, navigating transitions, and producing positive results.”—Jon Gordon, 10x bestselling author of The Power of Positive Leadership

Sure, it’s inspirational when we hear stories about those who founded companies from their garages with one hundred dollars cash while in high school. But such success is super rare and not always how it plays out for great leaders.
 
The reality is that most leaders are responsible for corporations, teams, and products they didn’t launch from the ground up. Tyler Reagin saw the immense need to address this mission-critical but often overlooked aspect of leadership: healthy transition for leaders who inherit teams, places, or platforms others created.
 
His groundbreaking book Leading Things You Didn’t Start provides a faith-based four-step plan that answers practical questions such as:

• Do I really want to take over something loved by so many?
• Is there a secret sauce to doing what the leaders before me did?
• How do I get the current team on board with my leadership?
• How do I honor the past without being trapped by it?
• How do I steward the legacy of the leaders who started the movement?

Through the use of tried-and-true coaching principles and practical case studies with leaders like Buzz Williams, head coach at Texas A&M, and Cheryl Bachelder, former CEO of Popeyes, Reagin helps you maximize your newfound influx of influence and master the intentions of an inheriting leader.

Praise

“Many leaders find themselves in the challenging position of having to build on the success (or failure) of a predecessor, and it can be daunting. In Leading Things You Didn’t Start, Tyler draws on his own experience to equip leaders to thrive. It is a must-read!”—Nona Jones, business leader, pastor, speaker, and bestselling author of Success from the Inside Out and From Social Media to Social Ministry

“This is a much-needed and timely book! Tyler’s experience and his seat at the table of conversations among leaders and organizations allow him to bring the wisdom and experience needed. Let Tyler be your guide.”—Brad Lomenick, founder of BLINC and author of H3 Leadership and The Catalyst Leader

“Every leader must read Leading Things You Didn’t Start. While some have the chance to build from the ground up, most leaders find themselves inheriting organizations they didn’t start. My good friend Tyler Reagin will give you the tools you need to make healthy transitions, maximize your influence, and become great at leading things you didn’t create!”—DeVon Franklin, Hollywood producer and New York Times bestselling author

“Handling a transition well is how a leader keeps a great organization great and propels its new season to the next level. A leader in a new environment is faced with former expectations, a past legacy, and new people. Tyler Reagin addresses how to lead through intimidating new chapters with confidence and excellence. He does an incredible job preparing leaders to navigate these transitions and create confident and impactful leaders. I recommend this book as a great resource to anyone handling a transition and leading an organization or team into its next season!”—Chad Veach, lead pastor of Zoe Church, Los Angeles

“For years, I’ve appreciated the leadership of Tyler Reagin as he has taught me to be a better person, friend, and leader to the people around me. What a privilege for any reader who gets to absorb Tyler’s wisdom throughout this book. His words are seasoned with years of lived experience and will leave you feeling refreshed and ready to propel yourself forward into all the new things God has for you.”—Hannah Brencher, author of Fighting Forward and Come Matter Here

Leading Things You Didn’t Start is a perfect resource for a whole new generation of leaders who are stepping into senior leadership and taking over top positions from their boomer and Generation X predecessors. Tyler Reagin does an impressive job outlining the key issues, and the case studies he features are worth the price of the book alone. If you’re leading something you didn’t start, or are about to, you need to read this book.”—Carey Nieuwhof, bestselling author, speaker, and podcast host

“Stepping into an organization previously directed by another leader is always a challenging opportunity. Tyler Reagin brings incredible insight and wisdom to any new leader who is seeking to help an organization move forward with its vision for its program and people. I wish I’d had this treasure thirty years ago to challenge me with important questions I should have been asking!”—Archbishop Foley Beach, Anglican Church in North America

Leading Things You Didn’t Start is a game changer for leaders stepping into new situations. If you didn’t build something from the ground up, you need the right tools and tactics to help you build on the foundation that’s already been laid.”—Jon Gordon, bestselling author of The Power of Positive Leadership

About Tyler Reagin

Tyler Reagin is the founder and CEO of The Life Giving Company. Previously, he was the president of Catalyst, a leadership development organization that exists to unify and equip leaders who love the Church through resources and experiential events. Prior to Catalyst, Reagin served for seven years under the leadership of Andy Stanley as the service programming director with North Point Ministries. He received his master of divinity degree from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and serves as a leadership coach for teams and organizations.

Product Details

208 pages | Published by WaterBrook

On Sale Date: Mar 2, 2021

Trim Size: 5-1/2 x 8-1/4

Carton Quantity: 12

Sneak Peek

Start reading chapter one A high-impact leadership coach gives you the tools you need to maximize your influence in a new role, giving you the ability to meet any challenge and take your team, organization, church, or company to new heights. Everyone talks about those leaders who start something new. But the reality is that most leaders are responsible for corporations, teams, and products they didn’t launch from the ground up. Tyler Reagin saw the immense need to address this mission-critical but often overlooked aspect of leadership: healthy transition for leaders who inherit teams, places, or platforms others created. His groundbreaking book Leading Things You Didn’t Start provides a faith-based four-step plan that answers practical questions such as: • Do I really want to take over something loved by so many? • Is there a secret sauce to doing what the leaders before me did? • How do I get the current team on board with my leadership? • How do I honor the past without being trapped by it? • How do I steward the legacy of the leaders who started the movement? • How should I create and execute succession plans? Through the use of tried-and-true coaching principles and practical case studies with leaders like Buzz Williams, head coach at Texas A&M, and Cheryl Bachelder, former CEO of Popeyes, Reagin helps you maximize your newfound influx of influence and master the intentions of an inheriting leader.

Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Beverly Rykerd, VP/Publicity Director
(719) 440-2746 (cell)
 brykerd@penguinrandomhouse.com
 
 

LEADING THINGS YOU DIDN’T START
By Tyler Reagin
A WaterBrook Hardcover | On Sale 3/2/21 
“Every leader must read Leading Things You Didn’t Start. While some have the chance to build from the ground up, most leaders find themselves inheriting organizations they didn’t start. My good friend Tyler Reagin will give you the tools you need to make healthy transitions, maximize your influence, and become great at leading things you didn’t create!”
Devon Franklin, Hollywood producer and New York Times bestselling author
 
As a Leader, How Do You Step into Something You Didn’t Start?

This is a question high-impact leadership coach Tyler Reagin has asked himself. The reality is that most leaders are responsible for organizations, teams, and products they didn’t launch from the ground up. Reagin has seen from firsthand experience the immense need to address this mission-critical but often overlooked aspect of leadership: healthy transition for leaders who inherit teams, places, or platforms others created.
 
Reagin spent 20 years working in movements such as Catalyst and North Point Community Church, which were started by other high-profile leaders. Through his experiences, he’s developed tools to help leaders of existing teams and organizations shift from an initiator mindset to an inheritor mindset.  In his new book, Leading Things You Didn’t Start: Winning Big When You Inherit People, Places, and Possibilities (WaterBrook, March 2, 2021; Forward Foreword by Judah Smith), Reagin makes his hard-earned tools available to readers.
 
Whether taking over for someone who leads at the highest level or inheriting a failure that forced the previous leader out, Reagin helps readers identify questions and issues that lead the team to future success, such as:
·       Where do I start?
·       Whom can I trust to talk to?
·       How long to wait before making changes?
 
Reagin provides the bold strategies leaders need in order to ask the right questions, motivate those new to their team, identify and attack the right problems, invest their energy in core systems, increase output, and bring out the best in themselves and those they lead.
 
“How to lead well in an inherited position might be one of the biggest issues organizations face,” writes Reagin. “It’s a two-faceted challenge: What do you do when you take over something? And how do you as a leader set up your team and organization for future transitions?”
 
Leading Things You Didn’t Start includes case studies with candid interviews from leaders in business, ministry, church, and athletics.  In addition, the book offers a 30-day game to help leaders in the critical first month guide their new teams with a sense of direction and confidence.

Contact Publicist

Beverly Rykerd