#1 Bestseller!

I'm grateful and humbled that my newly released book: Tension—Mastering the Superpower of Paradox-Aware Leadership has achieved #1 Bestseller status in the Amazon category Psychology of Genius and Creativity. 

The world's most impactful leaders, innovators, and problem solvers all harness the power of paradox.

Tension will show you how they do it.

You can get your own copy today!

Reviews:

I’m a SaaS product executive who encounters tension, seemingly opposite viewpoints and values, multiple times each day. I’ve been carrying around a leadership tension for years that I somewhat navigated, but couldn’t name: How do I hold people accountable without sacrificing the kindness that’s core to who I am? I’ve often felt stuck between two false opposites—be empathetic OR expect audacious results. Be liked OR be respected.

Then I read Tension.

Within the first two chapters, Jared Oates reframed everything. And with exhilarating clarity, described my tension in chapter 10, “Empathy Versus Accountability.” When a direct report wasn’t performing, I leaned toward soft feedback or delayed hard conversations because I wanted to preserve my relationships. This book showed me that kindness doesn’t mean sacrificing outcomes, but instead means holding BOTH the person’s dignity AND the performance standard in the same conversation.

Tension gave me a practical framework to navigate what could paralyze teams. Now I see paradoxes everywhere: speed AND quality, innovation AND stability, courage AND wisdom, kindness AND accountability. Instead of collapsing into either/or thinking, I’m naturally reaching for BOTH/AND solutions.

The most unexpected result? I’m healing divided groups and leading people in settings where I don’t have positional authority. People are yearning for healing. It’s clear that I can develop this superpower and by so doing will lead in any situation. When you can hold tension instead of living in division or forcing resolution, people actually trust you with harder problems.

This book is essential for:
• Managers stuck between being “the bad guy” or being ineffective
• Anyone afraid of offending people who hold different opinions
• Executive teams fragmenting under pressure
• Individual contributors who want to influence without a title
• Anyone exhausted from choosing between competing values

In a world that demands we pick sides on everything, Oates offers a better way. He takes you from theory to execution to positive outcomes. It’s the most practical leadership framework I’ve encountered and the most needed framework for our increasingly divided world.

If you’re stuck, this book will unstick you.

-Alan

Fantastic book! We can all feel the tension in the workplace and our communities. This is a fantastic guide for navigating that mine-filled landscape. One of my favorite features within the book is how it is well organized with subheadings in each chapter. It makes a big impact on the reading experience!

-Andrew

This is the rare leadership book that’s both profoundly insightful and immediately actionable. It shows leaders how to harness the tension of paradox to spark solutions that transform teams and organizations.

-Johnny