Holiday Reading...

You might be surprised by the title of our first book review…Right Weight, Right Mind isn’t a typical leadership or L&D read.

At first glance, it’s a book about weight loss. But stick with me because it’s actually about something much deeper, and more relevant to our work than you might think. I really enjoyed this because, whilst the context is different, the parallels to the work we enjoy doing in leadership and team development are striking. It’s full of insight into how and why we get stuck, even when we’re highly motivated, knowledgeable, and genuinely want to change.  As L&D professionals, we know that mindset is at the heart of personal development and performance, and at the same time we often experience the best strategies falling flat because we realise the real blocker isn’t capability, it’s our unconscious commitment to not change!

That’s what drew me to this book. My wife, a nutritional therapist working with clients with autoimmune conditions, often sees people struggle to maintain their commitment to their healing plans they say they want to follow. They’re all-in at first, then life takes over and they experience resistance, self-sabotage and stuckness. Does this sound familiar?

Curious, I picked up ‘Right Weight, Right Mind’ co-authored by Robert Kegan, Lisa Lahey, and Deborah Helsing, the team behind the Immunity to Change (ITC) framework.  This isn’t really a book about diets. It’s a compassionate, structured deep dive into why we resist the very changes we claim we want.  This is brought to life in various stories: such as the Italian gentleman who just couldn’t lose weight, until he recognised a hidden belief that staying overweight was, unconsciously, a way of honouring his family and their culture of food, closeness, and shared history. Change wasn’t about calories, it was about identity.  Or the fiercely independent woman who prided herself on not needing anyone. Her commitment to self-reliance masked a deep assumption that asking for help was a weakness, which kept her isolated and undermined her attempts to stick to her goals.  These stories speak to the heart of the human experience: the messy, emotional, belief-driven part of us that logic alone can’t reach. Interestingly, it’s the same system at play when we see leaders resisting feedback, when teams default to old, dysfunctional dynamics, or when someone fears showing up fully because of perfectionism or impostor syndrome.

What makes the book so valuable and relevant is that it doesn’t shame people into change. Instead, it invites them into a process of reflection, inquiry, and small, safe tests of new more supportive beliefs, releasing the grip of the old belief systems that no longer support us in the way they previously did.  So, whether you’re coaching others, designing learning experiences, or quietly wrestling with your own “stuckness,” Right Weight, Right Mind is worth a read. It’s a reminder that lasting transformation doesn’t come from more effort or better plans, it comes from understanding and shifting the unconscious beliefs that hold us back. 

If you happen to read let us know what you think

Thanks,

Darren