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Leadership & “The Moment of Lift”

The Moment of Lift
21 Nov

“The Moment of Lift” by Melinda Gates (2019) is a personal development book about Melinda’s personal and professional journey in choosing to lift women as her strategy for elevating the world. 

Overview: In this book, Gates wants us to understand the various ways that people all over the world can make a difference in the lives of women. She approaches the book by separating chapters into important female topics. From poverty to family planning, from girls education to workplace issues and gender bias, Gates explores various real-life antidotes that will touch your heart and propel you to want to take action.  I found reading this book as a way to get to know her as a person and a sensitive human. For example, she addresses her strong ties and internal battles with the catholic religion and the positives and negatives in her position as one of the wealthiest women in the world.

Key Message: “If there is any meaning in life greater than connecting with other human beings, I haven’t found it.” – Melinda Gates. I am of the opinion that this quote  encompasses the entirety of what drives her.  Her key message is that as a collective, we can make the world a better place. Without directly asking her readers, she encourages us to choose our circles and commit to supporting what we care about.
Areas of Strengths: In discreet paragraphs, she writes of such bold and beautiful truths. After decades of this work in human empowerment and international development, I feel humbled to be learning from her. It also helped me understand by that by taking a stand on an issue, you can begin to understand world history across cultures in a more meaningful way.
Certain quotes stand out for me because they blow my mind:
  • “If there is any meaning in life greater than connecting with other human beings, I haven’t found it.”
  • “And there was another sign of empowerment…the posture of these women were different…they stood tall, they spoke up…they had that look…they had been lifted up.”
  • We can love without limits. We see ourselves in others. We see ourselves as others. That is the moment of lift.”
  • “Tech is the most powerful industry in the world…if women are not in tech, women will not have power.”
When I read those lines, their impact on me reminds me of when I read Ann Lamott’s reference to a writer who has writers block one day and then feels like they have been hit and run with their entire work coming out the next day. Almost like bursts of glory.

Supplemental Information:

Where it Falls Short:  With the understanding that its a hard genre to write in – part memoir, part human rights documentary, you can tell that Melinda is not a professional writer. While the book is easy to put down and pick back up in between chapters, it is missing the suspense hook that keeps you wanting to read more and sad that its over. I would have also liked to read more of her childhood and her moments of “lift.”

Overall Assessment & Why: I rate it a 8 out of 10 in terms of a personal development book. It is invigorating to read about someone who truly wants to be as selfless as possible. It’s exciting to read what is happening around the world in the human rights space. I like how she structured the book and the data she provides in each of the impact programs, but I would have liked to see what she believes her “end game” is or what success looks like for her life’s work.