Obstacles Welcome: Turn Adversity to Advantage in Business and Life by Ralph de la Vega (President & CEO of AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets)  is a great book  for leaders who are looking to hear from an experienced leader on overcoming adversity.   De la Vega has seen many adverse situations in his career and turned them to his advantage.  He recounts of the obstacles faced during hurricanes in South Florida, political unrest and diverse markets in South America, and the enormous task of overseeing the integration of Cingular Wireless and AT&T Wireless on a short deadline.. De la Vega takes the reader on a tour of his life and the obstacles he faced all along the way.  Yet at each point he is sure to illustrate the practical nature of the character and leadership principles that guided him along the way.

I appreciated Ralph de la Vega’s writing style.  When reading Obstacles Welcome I couldn’t help but come away feeling as thought I had been personally mentored by the man who wrote the book.  I got a glimpse into the challenges he faced early on in childhood that ultimately prepared him for the business world.  Though he shared deeply insightful and personal stories, he was careful to cultivate a leadership lesson out of each one.  The brief summary entitled “take away messages” at the end of each chapter were of a great benefit to me personally.  While the principles taught by de la Vega were not new leadership principles, they were taught in the very practical setting of real life.

This is one of the most practical books on leadership and adversity that I have ever read.   Obstacles Welcome is an excellent resource. The retail price is $24.99 (Hardcover), and is available at places like Amazon.com for $16.49. I gave it five stars.

Disclaimer: As a blogger I received a free review copy from the Thomas Nelson’s Book Review Blogger program  (http://brb.thomasnelson.com/ ).  There was no requirement to give it a positive review, just for the reviewer to call it like they see it.