Thomas, Karissa. Lead Anyway: Teaching Through the Fog When the System Stops Seeing You. Mosaic Intelligence Publishing, 2025.
Reason read: As a member of the Early Review Program for LibraryThing I get to read thought-provoking books. This is one such book.
Lead Anyway is organized in four parts with references and a glossary. It seems to be geared mostly towards a K-12 school setting, but college is mentioned more than enough times to make it relatable to my current situation. I did appreciate the “emotional labor” Thomas touched on when talking about the higher education climate. Language does matter! Thomas knows her audience refers to teachers and professors. She creates prompts for each type of educator, but to make it more inclusive, I would have preferred the simpler term “educator” although she also said Lead Anyway was written for assistant principals and leaders. For the purposes of this review, I am assuming she means educational leaders.
All in all, Lead Anyway could be read by anyone looking for sound advice of how to keep fighting the good fight. Everyone can benefit from honing their active listening skills or knowing how to ask guiding questions with empathy and understanding. There has never been a better time to improve emotional intelligence, peer-to-peer resolution, or practice deep self-reflection. We need to chose compassion and create belonging because as it has been said, true leadership is built on honest trust.
Favorite section: at the end of each chapter is a Lead Anyway Reflection.
As an aside, when I saw the trademarked “Mosaic Intelligence Method” I worried this was be one giant marketing piece for a service Mosaic Intelligence could provide. Indeed, each chapter has statements on the topics of emotional integrity, cultural flexibility, and identity agility (the fundamental principles of the Mosaic Intelligence Method). It would have been great to have a compilation of all those statements as a wrap-up to demonstrate the vitality, importance, and necessity of the Mosaic Intelligence Method. That being said, I enjoyed Lead Anyway so much I am buying several copies as Christmas presents for colleagues. I look forward to the certificate pathway Thomas said was coming soon.
Of note: only sometimes the words Mosaic Intelligence Method is written in bold letters. The symbol for trademark is ever present.
As an aside, Thomas refers to a bell to signify the start of a school day. I did not go to school with bells. Does the bell signify a certain kind of school?
Author fact: Thomas researched Western educators in international school settings and is from Uganda. She has her own website for more information. The Mosaic Intelligence Method can be found on social media as well.
Book trivia: foreword titled Lead Anyway: an Intervention was written by Henry Mutumba.
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