Grappling: Leaders Striving to Improve Audiobook

GRAPPLING: THE FIGHT IS WITH YOURSELF

If you’ve tried to change and failed, this book is for you.

In GRAPPLING, leadership consultant Robert Kaplan brings real people’s inner battles to life through eight powerful, fictionalized case stories. Each one reveals how hard—and how human—the work of personal change truly is.

• Amazon Best Seller

• Winner of the Goody Business Book Award (Leadership – Mentoring/Coaching)

• Winner of a Non-Fiction Authors Association Award

• Named one of the “Best New Self-Help Business Books” by YoungUpstarts

GRAPPLING offers a fresh, story-driven approach to leadership and self-improvement, where insight emerges naturally from lived experience rather than formulaic advice.

You’ll meet:

• EmmaJean, a senior leader haunted by her father’s judgment, fighting to stop repeating old patterns. (“Coming In From the Rain”)

• A devoted GM whose relentless sense of duty threatens his marriage—until he learns to “arm-wrestle” with himself. (“Arm-Wrestling With Myself”)

• A new CEO who must claim her own authority while working beside the company’s legendary founder. (“Succeeding Sanjay”)

• A high performer whose temper fuels his success but sabotages his closest relationship. (“Fight Brewing”)

The final chapter, “Lessons for Leaders,” distills the wisdom that cuts across these stories—the insights that turn struggle into growth.

Like historical fiction, these tales are rooted in truth. Each dramatizes the emotional realities behind leadership, self-awareness, and transformation. 

Publishers Weekly wrote: “Leadership Lessons Shared Through Insightful Storytelling.”

Chris Bergonzi, former editor of MIT Sloan Management Review, writes:

“Unlike almost every book out there about leadership and self-improvement, GRAPPLING isn’t formulaic or simplistic, pedantic or prescriptive in its approach. Rather, it features a collection of rich, real-life stories, fine-grained portrayals of people in action, dealing with situations and challenges that readers will surely find familiar. Each narrative follows an engaging dramatic arc that unfolds with unhurried assurance, exploring the nuanced motivation and development of each character through deft scene-setting, revealing dialogue and descriptive detail. This is not a book that settles for the prosaic payoff of ‘lessons learned.’ Rather, each story reveals subtle but clear insights about leadership and its underpinnings that are far more resonant and helpful than any how-to list of strategies and tactics could ever be.”

For readers of Adam Grant, Brené Brown, and Patrick Lencioni, GRAPPLING offers a rare combination of storytelling, insight, and emotional truth. 

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“Unlike almost every book out there about leadership and self-improvement, Grappling isn’t formulaic or simplistic, pedantic or prescriptive in its approach. Rather, it features a collection of rich, real-life stories, fine-grained portrayals of people in action, dealing with situations and challenges that readers will surely find familiar. Each narrative follows an engaging dramatic arc that unfolds with unhurried assurance, exploring the nuanced motivation and development of each character through deft scene-setting, revealing dialogue and descriptive detail. This is not a book that settles for the prosaic payoff of ‘lessons learned.’ Rather, each story reveals subtle but clear insights about leadership and its underpinnings that are far more resonant and helpful than any how-to list of strategies and tactics could ever be.”

— Chris Bergonzi, former editor of MIT’s Sloan Management Review