New Book Review: "Running with Purpose"

New book review for Running with Purpose: How Brooks Outpaced Goliath Competitors to Lead the Pack, by Jim Weber, HarperCollins Leadership, 2022:

Copy provided by Amazon.

One of the unique aspects of this book is the author's explanation of the history and purpose behind writing it in the first place. The push he needed to "commit, sit down, and write a book", in his words, came from Warren Buffett. The reason to write this book, was to tell the world about the Brooks story: "through focus, creativity, and hard work, the Brooks team has created an exceptional company, and I want more people – especially runners – to know about the brand." And from his perspective, the following are the most interesting angles about the Brooks story: (1) it's a great turnaround story, (2) it's a great David-and-Goliath, competitive strategy story, (3) it's a "purpose-driven" brand building story obsessed with runners, (4) it's a story about running with respect to the Brooks market and the author's "forty-year addiction to it", (5) it's a story about the Brooks dedication and commitment to helping managers develop into leaders, and (6) it's a story about the author's own personal journey, in which the reader might find useful lessons.

This book is broken down into 11 chapters to which Weber has interestingly associated a soundtrack, hearkening back to the music which filled his childhood home, as well as the playlists he has used during his many long runs over the years: (1) "Stumbling Out of the Blocks" – Bob Dylan's "Tangled Up in Blue" and Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir", (2) "Picking Up the Pace" – Led Zeppelin's "Ramble On", (3) "Pivot #1: Running Only" – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' "Running Down a Dream", (4) "Becoming an Authentic Leader" – Bob Dylan's "My Back Pages", (5) "Defining Moments: The Great Recession and an Earthquake in Running" – R.E.M.'s "It's the End of the World as We Know It", (6) "Meeting the Oracle of Omaha" – Bob Dylan's "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" and Pink Floyd's "Money", (7) "Pivot #2: Performance is Timeless (We Zig When They Zag)" – R.E.M.'s "Stand", (8) "Finding Another Gear While Navigating Global Disruptions" – Talking Heads' "Once in a Lifetime", (9) "Hitting a Wall: Fighting Cancer" – John Mayer's "Say" and Gregory Alan Isakov's "Second Chances", (10) "Filling the 'White Space' with Trust" – Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi" and Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are a-Changin'" and "Chimes of Freedom", and (11) "On Your Left! Running Fast in a New Decade" – Macklemore and Ryan Lewis' "Can't Hold Us" and Jakob Dylan's "Something Good This Way Comes."

While as a lifelong runner I enjoyed reading the entire book, I especially liked the first five chapters comprising part 1, as well as chapter 9 and the 2-page conclusion ("Life's Short, Run Long"). After being a loyal ASICS customer for many years following a recommendation by my high school running coach, during which time I gravitated at an early point to the GEL-Nimbus shoe model, I became disappointed one year when ASICS decided to massively increase the toe box size of this model, resulting in my experimenting with a handful of brands in an attempt to find a substitute. Brooks was one of the brands I tried, and I tried several shoe models. However, after discovering Altra, a newcomer on the scene, I have been a loyal Altra customer ever since, due to its "footshape" toe box, zero drop from heel to forefoot, incredible fit, and superior traction that has met my needs as a trail runner. While I didn't particularly like any of the Brooks models I tried, one thing that has stuck with me is its "Run Happy" ethos: "when you finish your run in a happier place than when you started." I run every single morning for a reason, and this ethos sums it up quite nicely! This book caught and held my attention because it revolves around my favorite daily activity, sharing the story of one individual's journey, both personally and professionally.

Chapter 5 is an especially good read, due to the following series of sequential sections concluding the chapter: "Clinical Insight: Each Runner Has an Individual Run Signature", "Brooks's Battle Cry: Run Happy", "Bringing the Run Happy Ethos to Runners", "Performance Product + Run Happy = $1 Billion Idea", and "Running Is Too Big to Be Owned by Just One Brand." I personally wasn't aware of the paper that Brooks published on its "Run Signature" philosophy, based on years of scientific research. A biochemist studied the footfall of each of the 24 runners competing in the 10k finals of the 2012 Olympic Team Trials held at the University of Oregon. He made use of a high-speed camera on the side of the track to capture those footfalls, subsequently analyzing them side by side. What he showed is that each runner strikes the ground in a unique way, and each runner has their own personal stride, like a fingerprint. These findings informed Brooks's "Run Signature" philosophy that the only "right" way to run is the way one's body naturally wants to move. 

The two-page sidebar on what "Run Happy" is all about is in my opinion the climax of this book if a nonfiction book could have such a point. Here are a few snippets from the sidebar (numbers in this list are mine). Run Happy is (1) "a feeling, an attitude, a spirit that lives in the hearts and minds of all runners – young or old, fast or slow, male or female, master or newbie," (2) "feeling powerful, connected, passionate, energized, fast, peaceful, ecstatic, committed, free, and unstoppable," (3) passing the runner up ahead of you, in touch with something deep within, a high five with a complete stranger", "morning's first light on your favorite trail", and (4) "the best part of the runner's day, the part that understands that the worst day spent running is better than the best day at the office." With respect to this last snippet, I can personally attest that a good early morning trail run sets me up for my entire day, and enables a good night's sleep. My morning productivity getting work done at the office (whether at home or elsewhere) is extremely high for several hours following a run, as long as no unnecessary meetings get in the way.

In discussing his bout with cancer, the author surprised me by mentioning Viktor Frankl's "Man's Search for Meaning", mainly because I've just recently read two other phenomenal books related to the topics addressed by this other author: Donald Miller's "Hero on a Mission: A Path to a Meaningful Life" and Joshua Coombes's "Do Something for Nothing: Seeing Beneath the Surface of Homelessness, through the Simple Act of a Haircut". Additionally, I mentioned in my review of Jack Perconte's "The Success Trail: Learn to Win with a Marathon Runner's Mindset" that several years ago, the author of "The Purpose Driven Economy" sent me a copy of the book for my review when it was first published, and in many ways, I think Perconte's book could be realistically titled "The Purpose Driven Run." Interesting suggestion for a book title, if I do so say myself, especially when considering that Weber's book is titled "Running with Purpose", and my review of Perconte's book was published in January 2022, which is 4 months before Weber's book was published. I tend to prefer my title because it follows the pattern initially established by "The Purpose Driven Life", although I also like the fact that Weber's publisher chose to use a verb rather than a noun, and as I concluded in my review of "Hero on a MIssion", the experience of meaning requires action.