Blog Tour + Review: Kicking Ass in a Corset

Thank you to Trish Collins at TLC Book Tours for inviting me to be a part of the blog tour for Kicking Ass in a Corset by Andrea Kayne!  I was provided with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

 

Kicking Ass in a Corset: Jane Austen's 6 Principles for Living and Leading from the Inside Out

Andrea Kayne

Published September 15, 2021

What can organizational leaders in business, education, government, and most any enterprise learn from an unemployed, unmarried woman who lived in patriarchal, misogynistic rural England more than 200 years ago? As it turns out, a great deal. In identifying the core virtues of Austen’s heroines—confidence, pragmatism, diligence, integrity, playfulness, and humility—Andrea Kayne uncovers the six principles of internally referenced leadership that, taken together, instruct women how to tap into a deep well-spring of personal agency and an internal locus of control no matter what is going on around them. Utilizing practical exercises, real-life case studies, and literary and leadership scholarship, Kicking Ass in a Corset maps out effective leadership that teaches readers how to tune out the external noise and listen to themselves so that they can truly live and lead from the inside out. - from Goodreads

I'm not generally one for books about leadership, but I was really interested in finding out how author and professor Andrea Kayne could apply the writings of Jane Austen to a modern leadership style.  Using Austen's heroines, Kayne has identified six core personal characteristics that women can use to become better leaders.

It might seem a little unorthodox to look at books written 200 years ago by an unmarried woman and build a leadership style around them, but the values Kayne has pulled from the books are timeless.  Confidence, logic/practicality, diligence, integrity, playfulness, and humility - these are the traits Kayne has identified in Austen's heroines that became the tenets of her internally referenced leadership style, which focuses on using your inner strength and values, instead of outside forces, to inform how you act as a leader. 

Each chapter is devoted to a different character and uses quotes from the texts and various analyses of Austen's writings to describe how the trait exemplified by the character can contribute to being a better leader.  Although sometimes the jargon got a little overwhelming, for the most part the writing is succinct and accessible.  Kayne also incorporates the stories of real women who either embody these traits or were able to learn them, showing the real-world applications of her theories.

Even if you're not necessarily interested in becoming a better leader, I think this book would still be interesting.  For Jane Austen fans, it's intriguing to see how her books are still relevant today and how her characters can inspire women from all walks of life.  The six traits identified by Kayne can also be a starting point for people looking to make personal growth and help them better react to situations in their own lives. 

4 stars

Purchase Links: IndieBound | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Author Links: Website, Instagram, and Twitter

Try It, You Might Like It #2: Self-Help

"Try it, you might like it" - it's what someone says when they present you with some food you've never had before or your mom wants you to try on some clothes she picked out for you.  I'm using it here on the blog as inspiration to choose books in genres I don't normally read; to branch out from my reading comfort zones; and to maybe find some new favorites!

For this installment, I've chosen self-help books.  I don't think I've ever actually read a self-help book, but with the popularity of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing (Marie Kondo, 2014), I figured I'd see what all the hype was about.

Despite constant efforts to declutter your home, do papers still accumulate like snowdrifts and clothes pile up like a tangled mess of noodles?

Japanese cleaning consultant Marie Kondo takes tidying to a whole new level, promising that if you properly simplify and organize your home once, you'll never have to do it again. Most methods advocate a room-by-room or little-by-little approach, which doom you to pick away at your piles of stuff forever. The KonMari Method, with its revolutionary category-by-category system, leads to lasting results. In fact, none of Kondo's clients have lapsed (and she still has a three-month waiting list).

With detailed guidance for determining which items in your house "spark joy" (and which don't), this international best seller featuring Tokyo's newest lifestyle phenomenon will help you clear your clutter and enjoy the unique magic of a tidy home - and the calm, motivated mindset it can inspire. - from Goodreads

Marie Kondo has created a system for tidying and organizing a home that she claims will change lives.  While I agree with her overall message, I found some of her methods to be a little strange and impractical.

Kondo theorizes that an uncluttered home allows us to think more clearly, be confident in our decision-making, become healthier and happier, and help us realize our goals for the future.  I agree that not being bogged down by material items can help someone feel more relaxed and clear-headed, at least to a certain extent.  Some people just like "stuff," and as long as it's well-organized and neatly displayed, I don't see a problem with having lots of things.  When it gets to the point where you can't see your floors or you just have messy piles of things everywhere, ok, that's a problem.  I also think this could even be applied to the workplace - when my desk is tidy and organized, I feel like I can be more productive.

Kondo talks about clients who have thrown out 35 bags of clutter and 200 books on their first round of decluttering.  My husband and I live in a small condo that is pretty full right now, but pretty much everything has its place and our closets are neatly organized - I don't think we could get rid of that much stuff.  Kondo suggests only keeping those items that "spark joy" - my cleaning supplies don't spark joy, but I still need them, and they are kept neatly out of sight.  However, I do agree with trying to surround ourselves with only things that we LOVE, not just for the sake of having things or because they were a gift from someone.

I found some of Kondo's decluttering methods to be impractical.  She says we should not ball up our socks, but instead fold them and line them up in the drawer.  She also says we ladies should unpack our purses at the end of each day.  Some of these methods seem to add a lot of unnecessary work that most people just don't have time for.  As for documents, she basically suggests throwing everything out, as user manuals have no use and paystubs aren't needed past pay-day.  She also seems kind of unsentimental about things like photographs and books.

Kondo believes that one house-wide massive tidying-up is better than doing things piecemeal, even though it may take awhile.  I can't imagine having everything in my house in one big pile, touching each item and deciding if it sparks joy in my life, for possibly a month or more.  I believe doing a little at a time is still a great approach, so it's not completely overwhelming.

I don't know that I would read more self-help books in the future, maybe if I had some specific issue I wanted to work on (kinda obvious, that's what they're for!).  I think instead of trying to apply every piece of advice in a self-help book, I would just pick and choose the best methods that will work for me.  Sometimes you don't need a complete overhaul, but maybe just a change in your point of view, a new way of looking at things.  As far as Marie Kondo and her decluttering methods, I may try some of them, such as paring down our clothes, cleaning out those junk drawers, and getting rid of items we clearly don't need or use - but I'm still going to ball up our socks!