Lift
Coming October 20, 2026
Preorder Now
Greatness is not a solo achievement. It is forged inside the relationships and communities that shape what we believe is possible.
In LIFT: The Three Hidden Forces That Launch Remarkable Lives, Jeff Cunningham reveals the three kinds of relationships that help people go further than they could on their own.
The Law of the First. The parent, teacher, coach, or mentor who sees something in you before anyone else does. Bob Bowman watched an eleven-year-old with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder move through water and saw what no other coach could see. His name was Michael Phelps.
The Power of Tight Circles. The small group that stands by you on the hardest days—and is loyal enough to tell you truths you may not want to hear. In Vietnam, John McCain and his fellow prisoners survived Hoa Lo by tapping messages with their bare knuckles through the walls.
The Rules of the Room. Every culture has an unwritten code governing how to fit in. The other half is knowing when to stand apart—and when to find another room. Warren Buffett did not try to change Wall Street. He went home to Omaha.
Through one-on-one interviews and archival research, LIFT examines the lives of fourteen extraordinary achievers, including Warren Buffett, Michael Phelps, John McCain, Nikki Haley, David Petraeus, Donald Trump, Russian dissident Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Dr. Reatha Clark King, and F.W. de Klerk.
What Cunningham kept finding was not the familiar self-made story. Again and again, people whose careers looked inevitable in retrospect described relationships that had expanded their ambition, opened possibilities, and changed what seemed achievable.
Only when the lives were examined together did the pattern become clear. Across poverty, prison, war, discrimination, and depression, the same three forces appeared.
“When you see luck,” Cunningham writes, “you are probably looking at Lift.”
Those forces matter even more in a world where many of the communities that once provided them are weakening. Families are more dispersed, close friendships are fewer, mentorship has become harder to find, and more of life is mediated through screens. When the people who challenge us, steady us, and tell us the truth disappear, something else fills the gap.
LIFT is both a study of remarkable lives and a guide to recognizing the relationships, teams, workplaces, and communities that help people rise.
Because no one climbs alone.
Praise for Lift
“Riveting stories, deeply revealing. In penetrating conversations, Cunningham uncovers the three hidden forces behind remarkable lives and shows how anyone can recognize them in their own. Every reader will finish this book remembering the person who first saw who they could be and wondering whose life they might yet help lift.”
—Barbara Barrett, 25th Secretary of the Air Force and former US Ambassador
“Lift is as good as Henry Kissinger’s last book, and that was very good. It is a fantastic journey into the world of families, communities, and institutions that help people advance against unpredictable odds. Institutions do more than discover talent; they determine how much talent a society produces. Lift challenges us to build organizations where more people have the opportunity to rise.”
—Michael M. Crow, President of Arizona State University
“Insightful and entertaining, Lift debunks the myth that our ‘self-made heroes’ climbed alone. What really matters is deep connections with others: a family, a team, an organization that creates a Lift culture. Whether you are a business leader, a politician, or a parent, these fourteen profiles and their hidden lessons will provide new and radical insights on what truly launches a remarkable life.”
—William R. Kerr, D’Arbeloff Professor, Harvard Business School, and author of The Gift of Global Talent
“Every great leader carries values formed long before they become successful. Through vivid portraits, rich history, and candid conversations, Jeff Cunningham reveals how extraordinary lives are shaped long before a résumé exists.”
—Richard C. Adkerson, Chairman of the Board of Freeport-McMoRan
“Cunningham draws on extensive research and a gift for storytelling to show that although language, customs, and unwritten rules may change, remarkable people everywhere are lifted by the small worlds around them before they lift themselves. Lift is the rare leadership book whose lessons travel, because they hold in every culture and organization.”
—Allen Morrison, Professor, Thunderbird School of Global Management, and former CEO
“Cunningham makes a powerful case that extraordinary lives take root in strong, connected communities.”
—Richard Torrenzano, CEO of The Torrenzano Group and coauthor of Digital Assassination