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All Pride, No Ego
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All Pride, No Ego

A Queer Executive’s Journey to Living and Leading Authentically

Jim Fielding
Wiley, 2023
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Editorial Rating

7

Qualities

  • Applicable
  • Engaging
  • Inspiring

Recommendation

Jim Fielding has held senior leadership roles at leading companies, including Disney Stores and DreamWorks. But when Fielding started his corporate journey, he hid his queer identity. After coming out as a gay man and sharing his authentic truth, he urges others to avoid making his mistake. Fielding adopts a nonlinear, conversational style to share the most significant lessons he’s learned over the course of his career. Absorbing and often poignant, his story will help readers build their confidence and unleash their full potential.

Summary

Don’t try to control everything – especially the truth about yourself.

For Jim Fielding, a queer executive who has served in executive leadership roles at both DreamWorks and Disney Stores, the best approach to leadership is to balance control with openness. He recommends using the “80/20 rule”: By carefully planning 80% of your actions to achieve a desired outcome, you and your team can better handle the 20% – the challenges and changes you can’t anticipate. When you have a solid strategy in place 80% of the time, you might even start looking forward to the surprises and setbacks that come your way. These apparent problems could unveil unforeseen opportunities. 

Fielding learned the importance of not trying to control everything in 1987 while managing a men’s retail store in Flint, Michigan. At that time, he was hiding his queer identity and dating a woman, suppressing his authenticity in a desire to appear “normal.” He and other closeted queer managers would meet secretly on the weekends and evenings, living a lie by day to protect their careers. This double life took a toll on his physical...

About the Author

Jim Fielding is a partner at the independent media company Archer Gray. Previously, he served as a part-time executive-in-residence for IU Ventures and the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Indiana University. He was the president of Disney Stores Worldwide for four years, and has led consumer products groups at leading companies, including DreamWorks and Twentieth Century Fox. 

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