Like many others I was enthralled by the Netflix Documentary “Cheer”. I binge watched all the episodes in one day. While I was definitely impressed by the athleticism of those men and women performing on the mat, I was captivated by their leader, Monica Aldama.

Aldama’s leadership of the team and her story made me want to know everything about her and her leadership journey.

I am a bit of a leadership junkie. I love books, articles, podcasts, anything where you can learn to become a better leader for your team. So when I found out she had written a book, I wanted to be first in line for it. I am super thankfully to Gallery books for giving me a early release copy of this book.

I really enjoyed reading further on Aldama’s leadership theories. I found myself writing down her quotes on almost all the pages where she talks leadership. I liked how she used her experience in athletic leadership but connected it to how other professionals could relate it in their field. I also am in a position where I teach leadership to others and feel this book would be great for those who want a story along with the theory.

The only part I struggled with in reading this book, is I felt like it is two books in one and it didn’t always sync up right for me. I feel like it is written with a lot of great leadership theory and connections to many fields, but because it is also marketed towards those who watched the show or watched Aldama on Dancing with the Stars there were lots of stories added in that were marketed towards the people looking for behind the scenes Hollywood. I felt the chapters jumped back and forth a bit abruptly, and the later chapters focused heavily on behind the scenes content.

All in all I am happy to have read further on Aldama’s leadership background, skills, and techniques, and I hope one day she will write another book that may fully focus on the leadership topic.