A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix - Revised 10th Anniversary Edition

Edwin H. Friedman (1932–1996) was an ordained rabbi and practicing family therapist. An in-demand consultant and public speaker throughout the country, he led leadership training programs for government, business, religious, and psychotherapy professionals at his Center for Family Process. His groundbreaking volumes Generation to Generation and A Failure of Nerve, which exposed the connections between emotional processes at home and at work in religious, educational, therapeutic, and business systems, have become modern classics. He lived in Washington, DC.

The Rev. Dr. Peter L. Steinke was a noted author, congregational systems thinker, and teacher. He died in 2020.

"The age that is upon us requires differentiated leadership that is willing to rise above the anxiety of the masses. We need leaders who will have the "capacity to understand and deal effectively" with the hive mind that is us. This is, in Friedman's words, 'the key to the kingdom.' I am grateful for this accessible new edition."
—C. Andrew Doyle, Bishop, Episcopal Diocese of Texas

"In seminary, I learned to exegete scripture, to craft a sermon, to think theologically. I did not learn how to lead a congregation. In A Failure of Nerve, Ed Friedman invites leaders to cast a courageous and imaginative vision, to lead resiliently, and to be present and steady in times of deep anxiety; qualities of leadership more urgently needed now than at any time in my memory. My students find excitement and energy in the adventure of leadership Ed invites us to embrace.
—Gina Campbell, Visiting Professor of Worship, Wesley Theological Seminary, and Adjunct Faculty, Center for Family Process

"Perhaps more than ever, we need to prepare ourselves for increasing our maturity, which means taking responsibility for our own emotional functioning. As Friedman's mentor, Murray Bowen, succinctly reminded us, 'If you lower anxiety one notch, it's a better world.' We all owe thanks to Edwin Friedman for helping us in this process."
— Peter L. Steinke, author of How Your Church Family Works and other books (from foreword)

"Reading this book is like discovering an unpublished Beethoven sonata or a missing play of Shakespeare. Ed Friedman was one of our most brilliant, original, and provocative thinkers across the field of therapy, ministry and organizational leadership."
—William H. Doherty, Professor of Family Social Science, University of Minnesota

"Ed Friedman is even more relevant today than at his death in 1996, and through these pages speaks again with his characteristically playful yet penetrating insight. This book offers a new generation of leaders the skills that promote prophetic spine and pioneering breakthroughs."
—Ed Bacon, former Rector, All Saints Church, Pasadena, California