Falling Short of Heroic

Doug Fields' newest book -- 7 Ways to be Her Hero:  The One Your Wife has Been Waiting For -- is a good attempt to hammer home important points regarding what we, as men, must do in order to lead our wives (and ultimately our homes).  He spends the first couple of chapters as an introductory piece and lays out his overall approach, and he completes the thesis by establishing the 7 actions that men must take to become the hero their wives want.  While this book does have some value for open-minded men to glean, it has significant shortcomings as well.

The author writes with a tongue-in-cheek style and readily admits that choice.  At one point, he says that ultra-conservative folks should put the book down because they may be offended with some of his off-handed remarks.  I found that approach or admission rather strange because the author then alienates a potentially good sized audience.  In reading the book, I did not see anything offensive; however, the stylistic treatment seemed to cheapen them -- as if they were not as serious as he said in his introduction.  Yes, you can have fun with a book but that "fun" can take too much away from the topic if not balanced appropriately.  From my perspective, there is not a proper balance.

Perhaps my biggest gripe with the book is found in the middle portion of the book.  The author advises men to incorporate the "sandwich method" of sharing a real, authentic and relevant conversation about issues.  For those of you that do not know, the "sandwich method" is where you say something nice, slip in the issue, and then close with something nice.  I am aghast that he would ever suggest such an approach because that format is not real or authentic.  Knowing that men and women differ on conversation -- women seek to wage the entire campaign whereas men like the surgical strike method -- this suggestion seems to fit the men's perspective rather than being heroic (which IS the title of his book).  The better approach would be to utilize tools such as "Fierce Conversations" (Google Susan Scott) or "Crucial Conversations" (Google VitalSmarts) to truly be heroic for the woman that you love and want to lead.

The list of individuals providing "praise" for the book is impressive, but I just view the book as a meager effort.  Field's book pales in comparison to other stronger reads (such as Stu Weber's Tender Warriors which I highly recommend), and for that reason, I'm giving it an "okay" rating.  An "A" for effort is not sufficient, in my opinion, when such a topic is desperately needed in our modern culture.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLookBloggers.com review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”