Summary and Review of The Rise of The Creative Class by Richard Florida

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This summary and review of the book, The Rise of the Creative Class…and How It’s Transforming Work, Leisure, Community, and Everyday Life, was prepared by Clinton Burrell while a Marketing student in the College of Business at Southeastern Louisiana University.




Executive Summary

The Rise of the Creative Class is a book written to examine how and why creativity is being used and how important of a role it will play in the economy today. It starts by explaining what and who the creative class is. The creative class consists of people who add economic value through their creativity. Jobs in the creative class consist of professions such as professors, artist, software designers, and architects and many more.

Next, the author moves into explaining how the creative class is transforming everyday life. In this part of the book the author tells how people are getting tired of managers and bosses and want to make their own schedules and express their identities through their work. After that, the author begins to explain creativity as a culture. He describes creative culture as creative ethos. He explains how businesses are less driven by physical power and headed towards mental power and creativity. Then the author goes into what creativity means to the economy and how it has made a big difference thus far.

At this point, the author begins explaining the horizontal labor market which consists of people who shift or change jobs after lack of interest in their current career. He tells how people are no longer as interesting in climbing the corporate ladder and more interested in starting their own projects and seeing the rewards of their work. After this, the author shows and sites ways of managing creativity. Through his research he finds that some company’s try to manage creativity by the amount of hours or adopt Japanese styles of management and actively account for creativity. However he also states that some believe creativity cannot be managed.

Moving along, the author then presents information about the power of place. In this part of the book he explains how jobs aren’t the leading reasons for people moving to different locations. He explains how people look for places that not only offer a job but also places with high quality amenities and experiences, openness, and diversity. In addition to this the author explains how geographically there is a divide amongst the service class and creative class. Places such as Boston, Austin, and San Francisco are some of the leading places of creativity. Towards the end of the book the author explains that technology, talent, and tolerance are the necessary factors to keep a place creatively active and also at the top of the economy. Then, the author explains how people are more interested in what the author describes as creative capitals than social capitals. He states that nowadays people are becoming increasingly disconnected from one another and their communities, and are more interested in what a place has to offer to them that would suite them personally and financially.

Lastly the author explains how the creative class will grow and the members will slowly become aware of it. All in all the book gives readers insight to the creative class and is predicted rise to the top of the economy.



The Ten Things Managers Need to Know from The Rise of the Creative Class

1. Creativity is essential to the way we live and work. It is also multifaceted and multidimensional.( not limited to technology innovations or new business models)

2. Creative people experience time blur. How people organize and use time is changing, people work when they are suppose to be off and play when they are suppose to be working

3. People are now striving to work more independently and are finding it harder to cope with managers and bullying bosses. People are beginning to want to shape their own work, control there schedules, and express there identities through work.

4. People are getting bored with there career jobs and branching out horizontally to more creative economic jobs. Even people with high tech jobs are switching trying different markets but using skills from there previous job to experience building something and watching it grow.

5. People nowadays identify more with there profession than with there company. People now bare more responsibility for there own career and have to continually do research and learn ways to keep up with competition in fast pasted industries.

6. Some try to impose bureaucracy and look at hours of employment put in to manage creativity or mock Japanese style management and actively manage and account for creativity. Some insist that creativity cannot be managed and all you can do is hire talented people.

7. Jobs were the main reason for people wanting to live and work in certain places. Now, people look for different things like high quality amenities and experiences, and openness to diversity.

8. The geography of creativity has taken on two trends: new geographic sorting along class lines and centers of creative classes are more likely to be economic leaders.

9. Technology, talent, and tolerance, are the 3 T’s of economic development. Each of these are necessary but alone are insufficient. They are needed to attract creative people, generate innovation and stimulate economic growth.

10. People are becoming increasingly disconnected from one another and from there communities. (Evident in loss of family bonds, friendships, neighbors, and declining participation in community organizations and churches.



Full Summary of The Rise of the Creative Class

Introduction of the Creative Class

The Rise of the Creative Class is a book written to examine how and why creativity is being used and let loose. It starts off explaining how creative people have changed the world in the last 50 years and then goes on to breaking down what creativity is, who uses creativity, and where you can find people using creativity. All in this entire book describes what the author, Richard Florida describes as the Creative Class. The Creative class is consisting of people who add economic value to a company through their creativity. People in this class engage in work whose function is to creative meaningful things. The class can be divided into two main components, The Super Creative Core and the Creative professionals. The Super Creative Core consists of people who design products and then are widely made and sold. Jobs in this category would be Professors, poets, novelists, artists, editors, architects and leaders of society. The creative professionals engage more in the problem solving area. Professions in this category include financial services, legal and health core professionals, and high tech sectors. People in the creative class are different form the service class and have different values in there work. The creative class values individuality, meritocracy, and diverse & openness. Not only will these value affect how they creative class works, it also helps determine where these people decide to work and want to work. On average people working in the creative class make about 50,000 a year. More than the average of the service class worker.

Transformation of Everyday life

Next, the book explains how everyday life has been transformed by the creative class. The creative class works in what the Florida calls the No-collar work place. The No- collar workplace consists of artist, musicians, professors, and scientist. This workplace is replacing traditional business hierarchy. People are beginning to self manage themselves, seek peer recognition, and use intrinsic forms of motivation. People are striving to work more independently and are finding it harder to cope with managers and bullying bosses. Nowadays people are wanting to be able to learn and grown in the workplace. They want to be able to shape the content of there work, control schedules, and express identities through work. If business doesn’t start to incorporate ways to give these opportunities to their employees, these businesses will start to fade away.

Time warp

Then the Author goes on to explain something called the time warp. Creative people experience a blur of time and how people organize and use time is changing. People work when they are supposed to be off and play when they are supposed to be working. This is because you can not turn creativity off and on and a pre determined time. However, creativity itself is and odd mix or work and play. For example, writing a book, or producing a work of art take long hours of concentration. But then require hours to relax and think of ideas.

Creative Ethos

Moving along, the book goes into describing what creativity is and how it is becoming somewhat of a culture. The author describes this culture as Creative Ethos. (Ethos is a fundament spirit or character of culture) It’s stated to get a grasp off creative ethos; we must look at creativity itself. Creative is defined as mental process involving the discovery of new concepts and new ideas. However the author looks at 3 points about creativity to grasp creative ethos. The first thing is that creativity is essential to the way we live and work. Nowadays more and more work is becoming based on mental power rather than physical power. People are using there brains more than ever and are producing inventions that are knocking a lot of manufacturing jobs out. Second, is that creativity is multifaceted and multi dimensional. This means that creativity is not limited to technological innovations or new business models. Lastly is the concept of creativity versus organization. The creative process is a social so forms of organization are necessary but, the elements of the organization stifle creativity.

Creativity

Creativity has been observed in subjects ranging from eminent scientist and artist to preschoolers and chimpanzees’. (It’s everywhere) This is so because creativity is drawn from ordinary abilities: noticing, remembering, seeing, speaking, hearing, understanding language, and recognizing analogies. Creativity is what distinguishes humans from other species. Creativity is based on working with physical objects to create something useful and other species do the same. Ants use dirt to build their mound and birds use twigs and stems to build nest. We as humans do the same however we had different ways of doing the same thing with the capacity to think outside the box.

Horizontal Labor Market

Moreover, the author goes into what he calls the Horizontal Labor Market. The horizontal labor market consist of people getting bore with there careers and branching into more creative economy jobs. People start out at high tech jobs with good salaries and benefits and then realize that they don’t feel complete. They get bored working hard with little time off and never seeing the true results of there work. Individuals want the opportunity to exercise their creativity and build things, experience the whole cycle of having ideals, putting them into action, and seeing the rewards.

People are tending to pursue there careers horizontally more so than vertically. Climbing up the corporate ladder is no longer so popular. Partially because the corporate ladder doesn’t exist in there place of work. In addition to this, people are beginning to identify more with there profession than with the company they work for. Plus, People are becoming more responsible for there careers as a whole. People are having to do new research and learning to stay up with competition in fast paced industries. All of this extra work going unpaid.

Management of Creativity

After this, Florida goes on to describing the management of creativity. Some try to impose beau racy and look at the hours put in by employees. Others seek more predictable procedures of eliciting creativity. Some mock Japanese style management and actively manage and account for creativity. However, Some insist that creativity is cannot be managed and all you can do is hire talented people.

Power of Place

Next Florida goes on to explain the power of place. He wanted to figure out what made people decide where they want to live and work, and what really matters in this decision making process. Most people say jobs however the creative class is moving away from traditional corporate communities and moving to what the author calls creative centers. Creative centers are economic winners of our age. The have high concentrations of creative class people and high concentrations of economic outcomes in the forms of innovation. Some people look for places with nice shopping malls, sports stadiums, and tourism. The creative class does not. These folks look for abundant high quality amenities and experiences, and openness to diversity. They want an opportunity to validate there identity.

Geography of the creative class

More over, the geography of creativity is examined in the book. Two major trends were explained. The first is new geography sorting along class lines. Some communities consist of the creative class while others live in areas more populated by the service class. The author states that this divides should be monitored because the service class and creative class may clash in the future on economic decisions and so forth. The second trend is that the centers of the creative class are more likely to be economic winners. Places that are big economic centers are Washington D.C., Raleigh Durham, Boston, Austin, and San Francisco.

Technology, talent, and tolerance

Now, the author moves into what he calls the three T’s of Economic Development. These three T’s are technology, talent, and tolerance. Each one of these is necessary but by itself is insufficient. These are used to attract creative people, generate innovation, and stimulate economic growth. High technology will help generate economic growth and attract creative people. People want a place that is cutting edge and up to date. The talent aspect fuels the innovation and creativity that goes into the latest technology and designs. As for the tolerance, it sets a foundation for economic growth by inviting more different types of creative people into an area. Each of these sort of coexists and relies on one another to make this work accurately.

From Social to Creative Capital

On another note, the book explains that people or moving from social to creative capitals. In the past people moved to and worked in places that suited the socially. The wanted to feel comfortable around there neighbors, live near family, and feels safe. Now days, people are becoming increasingly disconnected from one another and from their communities. This is evident due to the numbers of people losing family bonds, friendships, neighbors, and declining participation in community organizations and churches. The type of communities that the creative class is seeking is one that generates economic prosperity and this is different from how people sought out places in the past. Traditional notions of what it means to be a close cohesive community tend to inhibit economic growth and innovation

The Creative Class Grows up

As the creative class grows member will become aware of it. The members of the creative class today need to see that their economic function makes them natural- indeed the only possible, leaders of the 21st century society. Being that the class doesn’t yet have the awareness of itself, as a class, that is needed to be the leaders. For now the creative class will just continue to grow and define themselves by there differences.

Conclusion

All in all, the book gives the reader insight to the creative class and its predicted journey to the top. Its touches on all the aspects of the creative class consisting of where they will live, what type of jobs the have and seek how they work, and what kind of people are more prone to be creative. In addition to that it looks at creativity itself and show how much it affects not only the business world but also how it affects communities, relationships, and everyday life.



Personal Insights


Why I think:

The author is one of the most brilliant people around because he realized that creativity is one of the most driving forces in the economy and that creative people should be monitored and grouped into a class. By deciding to focus on people being creative to be successful in the economy is genius because today less and less jobs are service oriented or require physical labor. Nowadays it’s all about brain power and the ability to use your brain better than others. By monitoring the creative class and investing in it people will see a boost in the economy like Richard Florida states, and I agree. With out intelligence and creativity there wouldn’t be much of anything. Creativity is what drives leading companies and keeps them going. Creativity is the future.


If I were the author of the book I would have done these things differently

1. I would have given more real life situations in regard to people moving in the horizontal market as well just workers in the creative class.

2. I would have spent less time explaining the service class and more time on the creative class. The book is somewhat a comparative book comparing the creative class and the service class and the past to the present and though it helps I feel like too much emphasis was put on UN needed topics and I would have left some of them out.

3. Last, I would have given more examples of jobs and professions that require creativity. I feel like a lot were left out and that it would have been interesting to see jobs that I didn’t expect to involve creativity.


Reading this book made me feel differently about the topic in what ways…

1. First, I would have to say that I never thought of creative people on a wide scale not to mention as a class. The amount of importance creativity plays in our economy is something that I never noticed and I will now pay more attention to it.

2. I also now feel differently about choosing palace to live. The values expressed in the book about what people in the creative class consider before choosing a job and location are some values that I may now use in the future when choosing a job.

3. Lastly, my views on working have changed. After reading the book, I am almost certain that I would want to start my own business or at least be a part owner. Not having a boss or manager sounds pretty good to me.


I’ll apply what I’ve learned in this book in my career by:

1. First I will apply what I learned about choosing a place to live with a thriving creative class in my career choice. I would want to work in a place that has high innovation, other creative people, and new technology.

2. Next, I will apply the concept of unlimited research. Nowadays business men and women have to do additional new research just to stay up with competition in fast paced markets and I plan to do the same. Regardless to my job I plan to do outside research so I can be the best businessman I can be.

3. Last, I will take what I learned about horizontal markets and possibly try to open my own business. This is what people are switching to rather than trying to work there way up corporate ladders.


Here is a sampling of what others have said about the book.

Interestingly enough, most of the reviewers stated that if you are reading the book, you probably are part of Richard Florida’s creative class. Its said to be a good book for people in this class who are about to set out and find jobs and careers. They go on to explain that this would be good for job seekers since it pairs people finding themselves with there jobs. It is also said to outline tectonic shifts for individuals, organizations, communities, and companies do to the rise of this creative class.



Bibliography



“Book Review: the Rise of the Creative Class.” The New Colonist, Chronicling the Return from Suburbia. Web. 06 May 2010. .

Florida, Richard L. The Rise of the Creative Class: and How It’s Transforming Work, Leisure, Community and Everyday Life. New York, NY: Basic, 2002. Print.

“The Rise of the Creative Class — Analysis, Summary, Critique, Overview, Review.” Onsite Microsoft Project 2007 Training, 2010, 2003, , Electronics, Construction, Architecture, Real Estate, Environmental/Energy, Government, Medical, Health-Care, Biotechnology, Retail, Food. Web. 06 May 2010.



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Contact Info: To contact the author of this Summary and Review of The Rise of the Creative Class, please email Clinton.burrell@selu.edu

David C. Wyld (dwyld@selu.edu) is the Robert Maurin Professor of Management at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana. He is a management consultant, researcher/writer, and executive educator. His blog, Wyld About Business, can be viewed at http://wyld-business.blogspot.com/.



Read more: http://bookstove.com/non-fiction/summary-and-review-of-the-rise-of-the-creative-class-by-richard-florida/#ixzz0o7qHrzDg


Originally published:
Summary and Review of The Rise of The Creative Class by Richard Florida

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Summary and Review of The Power of Strategic Commitment by Josh Leibner, Gershon Mader, and Alan Weiss

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This summary and review of the book, The Power of Strategic Commitment: Achieving Extraordinary Results Through Total Alignment and Engagement, was prepared by Benjamin Spears while an Accounting major student in the College of Business at Southeastern Louisiana University.


Executive Summary

The Power of Strategic Commitment: Achieving Extraordinary Results Through Total Alignment and Engagement was written by Josh Leibner, Gershon Mader and Alan Weiss. This book focuses on getting a business to that next level. Most businesses question and try to come up with new ways to be productive. They bring in new people, try new techniques or products, but never realize that the commitment of the team is the answer they can’t seem to find.

The book starts off by identifying a big issue of commitment vs. compliance. This theme of defining terms that most managers know the definition of but have not used in practice continues throughout the book. Commitment is the innate willingness of people to follow and contribute. Compliance is the forced adherence to plans created through manipulation, punishment, and coercion. The difference between these two can determine whether a company can reach its full potential.

To generate commitment, several things must be done. First, you must evaluate the current state of the organization. Second you must build a cohesive, trusting team environment. Third, you create and align the leadership team behind a compelling and challenging strategy. Fourth, reach down to lower parts of organization, stakeholders, and customers to create alignment, and finally make sure new content and context are sustainable. This can build unstoppable momentum toward the intended strategic goals.

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« Summary and Review of a Passion for The Edge: Living Your Dreams Now by Tim TylerSummary and Review of The Rise of The Creative Class by Richard Florida »
Engaging middle managers is imperative in getting strategic commitment throughout the company. Middle management is responsible for execution of the strategy. No matter how good of a strategy is crafted, without middle management on board it will probably fail.

The organization will not be committed without its leadership being totally on board. If a manager or CEO wants change, it starts with them. There are ten important qualities listed in the book for leadership to meet this challenge. To be honest, bold, enthusiastic and authentic are some qualities that are needed.

Taking a stand is one of the keys to strategic commitment. Imagine a ladder where the bottom rung is apathetic and the top rung is ownership. A CEO cannot expect everyone at the top of the ladder, but must strive to get people to continue moving up the ladder.

You have to intertwine strategic commitment into the very DNA of the organization. Creating a reward system, changing focus from input to output, and changing the nature of feedback are all important steps.

The last chapter of the book focuses on the diversity of businesses. It says that no matter what the differences are, strategic commitment is relevant and applicable in any environment. The rules may slightly change, but the goal of strategic commitment should be in every worthwhile venture. From nonprofit to government, a committed group could change the outlook of a dismal business. It could even strengthen an already strong company.



The Ten Things Managers Need to Know from The Power of Strategic Commitment

1. Commitment and compliance are not the same thing.

2. You cannot motivate others.

3. The first rule of generating commitment is brutal honesty with yourself.

4. True commitment is focusing on the content and context aspects of their strategy.

5. There is no compliance for leaders. Commit or get out of the way

6. Compliance is the forced adherence to plans created through manipulation, punishment, or coercion. Commitment is the innate willingness of people to follow and contribute.

7. Gaining support of middle management in a strategy is crucial to the implementation and execution of it.

8. The best CEOs hold themselves accountable for everything.

9. Everyone in the organization needs to feel like they have a part in the strategy making process.

10. Strategic commitment should be relevant in virtually any environment.



Full Summary of The Power of Strategic Commitment

This book was written by Josh Leibner, Gershon Mader and Alan Weiss. This book focuses on getting a business to that next level. Most businesses question and try to come up with new ways to be productive. They bring in new people, try new techniques or products, but never realize that the commitment of the team is the answer they can’t seem to find.

Why commitment trumps compliance

Most leaders confuse commitment and compliance. Commitment is the innate willingness of people to follow and contribute. Compliance is the forced adherence to plans created through manipulation, punishment and coercion. Commitment will always trump compliance. One major concept is that companies are not performing up to their full potential. Several factors should be considered such as the complexity of businesses today, the importance of agility and responsiveness, the increase in the amount of outsourcing, the increase of matrix management, and the increase of choices for the customer.

What is strategic commitment?

True commitment comes from leaders focusing on both content and context of their strategies. Content is made up of validity and clarity. Context involves credibility, sincerely, courage, resolve, competency, care, and concern. When both content and context are high, you will produce strategic commitment. Without both, the best to hope for is uninspired compliance.

Working back from the future

The leadership team must be on the same page to ignite the process of strategic commitment. A leader has to be upfront and honest about the current condition of the business and own up to it. Doing a commitment audit is one way to find commitment deficiencies. In the crafting of the strategy the questions of what and how must be answered.

Pushing through the thermal layer

Middle managers are crucial to the implementation of the strategy. The leadership team must get middle management going in the same direction to achieve the same goals with commitment to them. Avoid alienating middle management in the process. Present the strategy to them as your own that you firmly believe in. The CEO must make sure is able to listen and prove that he has been listening. The leadership team must make sure and overcome the barriers to engaging middle managers such as failed plans and emotional baggage.

Leading from the front

One person, the leader, can make a difference. The best CEOs are willing to hold themselves accountable. A new strategy requires a personal commitment from this leader. There are ten qualities to being the good leader. A lot of the qualities lean on being honest, bold and courageous. Even after having all the qualities of a good leader, a person must be able to open up and listen to the other people in the company. Selecting just a few trusted aides is not always the best decision.

The ten qualities

1) Orient around making a difference, rather than protecting ego and status

2) Make the vision come alive in a meaningful way

3) Be authentic

4) Operate with integrity

5) Act with boldness and courage

6) Have other’s backs unconditionally

7) Communicate openly and honestly

8) Generate passion, energy, and enthusiasm

9) Build and empower leaders around them

10) Be committed to development and growth

Taking a Stand- The Key to Strategic Commitment

Putting a stake in the ground means no retreat. Set a goal, proclaim it, and do not back away from it. Taking a stand is one of the critical aspects of generating strategic commitment. Committed teams can see any problems achieving the goals as challenges to overcome. A non committed team just sees failure. The ladder of strategic commitment goes from apathetic at the bottom to ownership at the top. The CEO must keep people climbing up the ladder. They don’t all have to be at the top, but they must be moving up.

The ladder of strategic commitment (from the top going down)

1) Taking a Stand-Ownership

2) Helpful

3) Curious

4) Compliant

5) Skeptical

6) Resistant

7) Cynical

8) Apathetic

Building and Restoring Trust

Trust is one of the most important aspects in building organizational cultures. Trust is a function of being honest, being dependable, exercising judgment, and generating partnership. These functions are all linked to different context drivers. Being honest is linked to credibility and sincerity. Being dependable is linked to Courage and Resolve. Exercising judgment is linked to competence. Generating Partnership is linked to Care and Concern. The easiest way to begin building trust is to tell the truth and assess the areas that need to be fixed. There are five steps to building trust. You must identify the trust issues, set up an effective dialogue, put the issues on the table, create a new way forward, and align on new behaviors and practices.

Return on Strategic Commitment

The results of strategic commitment can be impressive. Financial performance can increase substantially with everyone on board. An environment of strategic commitment creates an obsession with satisfying customers and increasing customer loyalty. Quality is embedded in the business. Safety becomes a more paramount concern. Innovation is encouraged and freely implemented better. Cross functional collaboration becomes much easier. Integration of cultures is a much smoother process. Employee morale is directly tied to strategic commitment. Even in hard times, a committed company can still raise morale.

Lead, Follow, or Get Out of the Way- HR at the Crossroads

The human resources officer can become the chief commitment officer. If the CEO is willing, then the HR officer must be able to coach and enroll him in this process. HR must demonstrate the power of strategic commitment in its own department first. HR must bring forth to the CEO the perceptions of his team and perceptions about his team. HR must make the CEO understand the issues preventing employees from getting completely behind him.

Strategic Commitment as Organizational Lifestyle

Commitment must become part of the organization’s lifestyle. This is done in a number of ways. Creating the proper reward system is a start. Companies must focus on progress and outcome, not the activities involved. Your hiring practices must be able to hire people that commit to, own, and deliver on objectives. Employees that are hired to strictly get a paycheck will not work. Feedback and communication are also imperative in generating commitment.

The Diversity of Strategic Commitment

Strategic commitment should be applicable in any business. Different organizations such as nonprofit, government, or education can still apply these principles. Volunteer organizations actually need commitment more than others. In new start-ups, strategic commitment can offer some huge advantages.

The advantages of a committed start-up.

1) Strength and Courage

2) Virtual Ownership in the Company to Parallel the Founders’ Ownership

3) Greater Innovation

4) More Rapid Feedback About What is Working and What Isn’t

5) Greater Sacrifice

6) Recruitment of Talent



Personal Insights


· The author is one of the most brilliant people around because………

I think the authors are a very brilliant group of people. Reading this book has completely changed the way I thought about strategic commitment. The difference between compliance and commitment is one that is commonly ignored. Most businesses can put up an ethics code, do nice financial projections, plan new product entry and marketing, but never stop to realize their employees aren’t even on board with the new plan. The work these guys have done with their clients is pretty amazing stuff.


· If I were the author of the book, I would have done these three things differently:

1. There were some examples that were very vague. I would have went into more detail on those examples.

2. The companies in the examples were mostly bigger companies with stock options and incentive plans. I would liked to have heard how a small business would be able to motivate the minimum wage class of worker

3. The book focused mostly on the leadership and their goals. It could have also focused on the employee motivated to become a leader, but that was not their intention.


· Reading this book made me think differently about the topic in these ways:

1. I have never differentiated between commitment and compliance until now.

2. The Strategy of a company should not be exclusive. You have to at least let others feel that they are involved.

3. Just coming up with a good business strategy is the easy part. The implementation is the challenge.


· I’ll apply what I’ve learned in this book in my career by:

1. If I’m running a team, to make sure they all feel comfortable talking to me.

2. I would like to become a consultant, so what they have done is a good example of what I can do.

3. I may be able to use some examples they gave in their book and apply them to real world experiences in businesses I work for.


· Here is a sampling of what others have said about the book and its author:

There were only 3 reviews on Amazon. The lowest the book received was 4 stars on rating. They think the book leans toward trying to get your organization to go in the right direction or “buy in” as one person said. The only negative mentioned was that it falls short in organization design. One of the reviews was by Rick Otero, the EVP of Capital one. This review is also included on the author’s website.



Bibliography

Anonymous (2009). Reviews. Retrieved April 21, 2010, from Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Power-Strategic-Commitment-Extraordinary-Engagement/dp/0814413749/ref=dp_return_2?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books.



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Contact Info: To contact the author of this Summary and Review of The Power of Strategic Commitment, please email Benjamin.Spears@selu.edu.


David C. Wyld (dwyld@selu.edu) is the Robert Maurin Professor of Management at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana. He is a management consultant, researcher/writer, and executive educator. His blog, Wyld About Business, can be viewed at http://wyld-business.blogspot.com/.


Originally published:
Summary and Review of The Power of Strategic Commitment by Josh Leibner, Gershon Mader, and Alan Weiss

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Summary and Review of The Leadership Challenge (Fourth Edition) by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner

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This summary and review of the book, The Leadership Challenge (Fourth Edition), was prepared by Mindy Thomas while a Business Administration student in the College of Business at Southeastern Louisiana University.

Executive Summary

The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership:
Model the Way. Leaders model the way for their constituents. To successfully illustrate the performance expected of others, a leader must first have guiding principles to follow. A leader must clarify values. This means opening up about values from within as well as values of the organization. Knowing what you, as a leader will help you align your values with the company. It will be easier for you to communicate those values with your constituents because when you speak you are also representing your company. A person must “walk the talk” this is setting the example by going first. Going first is exhibiting importance of things through taking actions. It’s about “the power of spending time with someone, of working side by side with colleagues, of telling stories that make values come alive, of being highly visible during times of uncertainty, and of asking question to get people to think about values and priorities.”

Inspire a Shared Vision. Leaders inspire a shared vision. Leaders have to see beyond today and look ahead for future possibilities. They envision the future. But visions alone do not create successes. Someone without followers is not a leader. A leader must inspire a movement concurrent with the vision. Leaders must gain commitment to an inspired vision not compliance. They have to enlist others. To do this, leaders must gain certain knowledge about their constituents such as people’s dreams, hopes, aspirations, visions, and values. “Leadership is a dialogue, not a monologue.” People must trust that their leaders do have their interests at heart. This vision should be shared with everyone and by everyone. It should be talked about in detail. Share the “whys”. People need to know why they should follow you and your vision.

Challenge the Process. No process is set in stone. Each process can enhance with a new perspective. All leaders should challenge the process. Look for ways to innovate, grow, and improve. Listening to people in and around the organization will more than likely give opportunities for innovation. Most leaders are not the “inventors as much as they are the early patrons and adopters of innovation”. With innovation comes change involving experiments and taking risks. Paying attention to the abilities of constituents to manage change is important to create a safe environment for taking those risks. “Try, fail, learn. Try, fail, learn. Try, fail, learn. Leaders learn from their mistakes and encourage others to do the same.

Enable Others to Act. To get amazing results, leaders must make it possible for people to take action. Leaders foster collaboration. This means connecting all the players together on a project or team. These players include peers, managers, customers, suppliers, citizens and all those you have a stake in the company. Leaders know to produce these results people must feel empowerment and ownership. Leaders empower others by giving them responsibility to deliver. Exemplary leaders strengthen others. They build and teach capabilities to help make each person successful in their endeavors. “Constituents neither perform at their best nor stick around for very long if their leader makes them feel weak, dependent, or alienated.” A leader who builds confidence in people helps generate achievement beyond what people think is possible.

Encourage Heart. Being a sincere and caring leader boosts people’s spirit and brings them forward. Recognizing contributions is a way leaders show they are grateful for their constituents’ assistance. It’s a leader’s job to create a culture of celebrating values and victories. This is not about ceremonies for show. It’s about linking rewards with performance. These celebrations should be done for the benefit of others and the company. Celebrations should showcase people for the efforts made that reflect the company’s values and core principles.
Leadership is a Relationship

Leadership can be found in any one person. It is not a magical gift. It can be learned. “Leadership is a relationship between those who aspire and those who choose to follow… A leader-constituent relationship that’s characterized by fear and distrust will never, ever produce anything of lasting value. A relationship characterized by mutual respect and confidence will overcome the greatest adversities and leave a legacy.”



The Ten Things Managers Need to Know from The Leadership Challenge
1. Each leader should first know the values and principles important to him or her. Then he or she can relate those to the values and principles of the corporation and its employees.
2. “Put your money where your mouth is”, “practice what you preach”, and “walk the talk”. A leader must follow-through and lead by example.
3. Take off the blinders and look for the future possibilities. Start with your past to see where you and your team are going in the future.
4. Shared visions of the future will gain commitment instead of compliance among team members.
5. Leaders should take change head-on. Change should be an adventure to broaden the company and create new ideas that motivate team members.
6. Create a trusting environment that allows team members to be creative and take chances. Build from any mistakes; use these as successful steps in the right direction.
7. Create interdependence among team members and use the “Golden Rule”. Help each team member to realize everyone is needed for the big picture.
8. The strength of a leader is born in team members when leaders release control to them.
9. Believe in your team members abilities and communicate that through recognition and feedback.
10. Use celebrations, meetings, ceremonies, training sessions, etc., as opportunities to reiterate core values.



Full Summary of The Leadership Challenge

The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership
Dick Netell, America’s Consumer Call Center in Concord, California is an example of the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership in action. He has the vision and the intuitive nature to use resources to turn a company around. The authors, James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner, of The Leadership Challenge Fourth Edition highlight Dick’s process in renewing an existing company’s fundamentals of vision, mission and future ideals. Dick says, “Everybody wants to win. Everybody wants to be successful. Everybody comes to work to make a difference.” With this insight Dick is able to conclude the underlying reason the call center was not fulfilling its potential. The management had not tapped into the resources most important to a company—it’s team members. Dick’s team was not focused on the possibilities. Observing and listening, Dick was able to gain consensus from team members about the call center’s future. Dick opened communication lines. He solicited feedback about issues and performance of management. He empowered his team to give thoughts and ideas for new opportunities to expand and create a better call center. He fostered the atmosphere of winning. Dick ensured the team members were kept up-to-date with news on accomplishments by having monthly status meetings where he gives a “you said, we did” report. Dick’s motto Pride stands for Personal Responsibility In Delivering Excellence. Dick still believes that “every day is opening day.” He said, “It doesn’t matter what you did yesterday. Each and every decision and action is a moment of truth. You say something and what do people see? The two have to be aligned. It’s all about the video matching the audio.” Dick is an awesome example of an extraordinary leader. He carries out the Five Practices Kouzes and Posner present to leaders:
Model the Way
Inspire a Shared Vision
Challenge the Process
Enable Others to Act
Encourage the Heart

Another exemplary leader is the founder and Leader of Vision & Values of the SG Group in London, England, Claire Owen. She believes when a leader takes an extra step to have a servant mentality the success of the team is far greater. By creating an environment where leaders serve, it then translates to constituents to serving others and customers. This example ties in to leading by example. An environment where being at work is like “going to a coffee morning”, generates an atmosphere of trust and respect where new ideas occur and unordinary risks are taken. However, Claire ensures constituents still uphold the values and expectations of the company to grow with vision. Claire’s leadership philosophy is a true statement of what makes companies succeed. “We are human beings,” she said. “We don’t have employees. We don’t have staff. We have people, and people have emotions, and people have needs. If you are happy you do a better job. If you are excited about the business, and if you are excited about where it is going and what is happening in it, then there is a buzz, a physical buzz. It’s my job to create that kind of place.”

Credibility
A leader must be honest, forward-looking, inspiring, and competent for others to willing want to be a follower. “Credibility is the foundation of leadership.” Constituents want to work for an honest leader. When a constituent needs support it is important to trust the leader will step up and be the support needed. Knowledge and abilities to lead are important for constituents to buy-in to the leaders visions. A leader must show the capability to learn from others even from constituents. Most important a leader must: DWYSWD: Do What You Say You Will Do.

Clarify Values
Before a leader can lead constituents in a company there must be expectations and values to follow. But even before that, leaders must understand their own personal value. Without your own guiding principles the path can potentially become foggy. A leader must search out his important values. Once he has established the values, it is more likely to be the guiding factor in business decision making. These values also allow leaders to have more control over their lives. With recognizable values at the forefront of a leader’s mind, they are able to align their values with the values of the company. It is important for a leader to establish his values because eventually the act that the values are not his own will be revealed. Constituents want to follow a genuine leader with values and beliefs of their own. Leaders should promote values that represent the group for unity. When these values are shared among the individual, the group, and the corporation synergy is exuded. “Shared values do make a significant positive difference in work attitudes and performance:
· They foster strong feelings of personal effectiveness.
· They promote high levels of company loyalty.
· They facilitate consensus about key organizational goals and stakeholders.
· They encourage ethical behavior.
· They promote strong norms about working hard and caring.
· They reduce levels of job stress and tension.
· They foster pride in the company.
· They facilitate understanding about job expectations.
· They foster teamwork and spirit de corps.”
When values align creativity flows. Presenting values in a company is important to ensure team members find correlations between individual values and the values of the corporation. A leader should be able to speak with constituents and business partners about these values at any time. Without understanding the values individually and corporately a leader cannot fulfill spoken promises.

Set the Example
“Leading by example is how leaders make visions and values tangible. It’s how they provide the evidence that they’re personally committed. Setting the example is about execution.” Leaders who teach by doing are exemplary. A leader cannot expect performance from constituents that they are unwilling to perform themselves. The actions leaders take prove the values they share with constituents. If a leader values ethics, then the leader should uphold the ethics code. Constituents will follow the behavior demonstrated by a leader with shared values. A leader should spend time on the most important values by using every opportunity to reinforce the importance of the values. “Sometimes leadership is just showing up.” Language used by leaders should convey the culture desired within the organization. Also, raising questions like, “What have you done in the past week to improve so that you’re better this week than last?” will allow constituents to think about values is a way leaders give life to those values. Feedback is another important tool to support values in performance. When Troy Hansen was vice president of AgDirect and Leasing, Farm Credit Services (FCS) of America, a leading financial services provider in Omaha, Nebraska, he proved the importance of feedback. Troy’s team had a negative outlook on performance reviews so he took a chance and allowed his team to evaluate his performance first. “The feedback I received was kind of hard to hear,” Troy admitted. He then added, “And that was really one of the benefits to the group. To take that personal risk; to model for the group that it’s okay to place yourself at personal risk and take that honest feedback. What I hoped the team members would come away with was a sense that it’s okay to be in that environment, that feedback is necessary for growth, and then to see how you accept that feedback and then what you do with it.” Sometimes vulnerability is a requirement for a leader. For leaders to “set the example” telling stories is an excellent way to exalt another’s contribution to the common goal. Telling stories gives constituents a memorable impression of behavior essential to the organization. Stories can depict individuals who achieved a goal and staying true to values. By telling stories about constituents, their peers are more likely to be motivated. Telling stories and giving feedback “reinforce behavior you want repeated”.

Envision the Future
Leaders are generally in a job “to do something”. The reasons why leaders are contingent on doing something is the real need to know answers. A leader’s individual aspirations are what fuel his future. It is a common problem to only see situations that are happening in the now. A leader must not allow any hindrances blocking his view. A leader must maintain the sight of the long-term goal, the future. “A leader should be thinking a few ‘moves’ ahead of the team and picturing the possibilities.”

Enlist Others
For Keith Sonberg, director of site operations for Roche in Palo Alto, California, “it’s passion plus pride [that] equals performance.” He says, “The leader’s job is to create an environment where people are passionate about what they’re doing and take pride in what they’re doing. The end result will always be performance.” Sonberg is right. In order to enlist others, there must be a setting to perpetuate passionate performance. It’s more than just having an open environment. Leaders must “appeal to common ideals”. Knowing what is significant to constituents can propel organizations to the forefront in the marketplace. Exemplary leaders…liberate the vision that’s already in their constituents. They awaken dreams, breathe life into them, and arouse the belief that we can achieve something grand.” It is a major responsibility for a leader to search out what makes constituents tick. They want to feel a part of something bigger than their cubicle or city. Constituents want to know their effort extends beyond the front yard. Dr. Martin Luther King’s speech “I Have a Dream” was a major influencing endeavor to enlist others for a common vision. His words by using imagery and conviction gave life to his dream. When leading others in a common goal, a leader must use passion. Passion evokes desire in constituents to reach for a brighter future. Creating a mental image of what can be in the minds of others is important to perpetuate a company. Leaders must generate positive communication with constituents and among constituents. This also means expressing positivity through emotions of energy. Being expressive to enlist other can have a memorable effect.

Search for Opportunities
Progression is change. Leaders should seek ways to “make things better, to grow, innovate, and improve.” A first step to change is to take it head on. Step up to the challenge and initiate the next step to develop. People more actively reach goals if they take initiative. A leader must help others to be initiators. This means training and preparation for constituents. Leaders must invest their time with constituents to allow them to be confident to take on challenges. Challenge is for the benefit of leaders and constituents. It gives meaning and purpose to those who accept it. Leaders encourage constituents to surpass their own expectations of capabilities. A leader must “exercise outsight”. “When you take your eyes off the external realities, turning inward to admire the possibilities within your own organization, you may be swept away by the swirling waters of change.” Leaders should keep an open view of the events taking place around the perimeters of their organization.

Experiment and Take Risks
Risks can be scary, but the pay-offs can be monumental. Leaders need to be the first to plunge into the unknown. By experimenting, leaders can achieve new results. Constituents and leaders alike must be able to learn from experiences. A leader must help people feel they are in a safe environment. No one wants to be in trouble trying something new and failing. In this environment more creative thoughts and experiments will occur. Leaders must be effective listeners in order to learn from constituents and the company about new process.

Foster Collaboration
Leaders who encourage team members to work interdependently foster collaboration. A project should be accomplished when all participants have their part completed. This means a leader must push for others to help out and cross boundaries to ensure a team view. Collaboration will be greater than short-term benefits of working alone. Competition and isolation can occur if team members are not concerned about the process as a whole. Leaders should exude trust to build the trust on their team. Trust can take collaboration to a higher level.

Strengthen Others
“Leaders move from being in control to giving over control to others, becoming their coaches and teachers.” The strength of others comes from within. When constituents are given more responsibility their own abilities are reinforced. Giving constituents to make the choices and decisions about projects enables the success of those projects. Constituents will feel the accountability for the project because the result will be based on the decision he made. This is ownership. Ownership helps constituents feel commitment and pride in their work which strengthens the entire process. While giving responsibility to constituents, leaders should incorporate coaching to follow-up about progress, tips for improvement, and encourage the future ventures of constituents.

Recognize Contributions
Leader’s most important role to constituents is guidance. Recognition guides people to continue with the same behavior. A leader should make use of the two words “thank you” and show appreciation for constituents. In order to make the most of this recognition, a leader must understand what is encouraging to constituents. Each person may value recognition differently. A leader should take the time to get to know more about his constituents.
Celebrate the Values and Victories
With values being clarified, now a leader can make the most of those values in action. Celebration of shared values is a victory. When constituents, companies, and leaders share values it should be celebrated. Leaders must “be personally involved” to show their support for constituents. This could simply be by having fun together or being out with constituents in the workplace. Sometimes leaders can have big productions to celebrate wins in the company. A leader should always use these opportunities to reaffirm the values being celebrated.

Leadership is Everyone’s Business
“Leadership is about relationships, about credibility, and about what you do.” A leader should recognize that to direct reports, you are the most important leader. Leaders are to help problem solve, address concerns, and care about the values being executed. The relationships created through direct reports and leaders are imperative for success. Leadership can be learned. To become a better leader, you must be the positive force in the world and apply the skills and abilities of leadership to your position. “The best-kept secret of successful leaders is love: staying in love with leading, with the people who do the work, with what their organizations produce, and with those who honor the organization by using its products and services.
“Leadership is not an affair of the head. Leadership is an affair of the heart.”


Personal Insights

Why I think:
With business conditions today, what the author wrote is true – because:
The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership are essential to stoke the fire in leaders. These practices involve self-improvement and self-motivating thoughts that will make any leader ready make his mark. Most institutions are more centered on people. This book helps leaders see the techniques to inspire, encourage, and respect team members in meaningful ways. The authors of this book research for years leaders of different styles. The topics in this book are relevant to any workplace where there are people.

· If I were the author of the book, I would have done these three things differently:
1. The first chapter of the book hits all the high points and basically summarizes the need to know items right away. I would have put the first chapter last as a review of keys points.
2. I would have given more step-by-step examples of what to say or do to exhibit The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership.
3. I would have spent more time in Chapter Two: Credibility is the Foundation of Leadership. I think more detail in this chapter would genuinely inspire leaders to exemplify the characteristics of a leader practicing the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership.

· Reading this book made me think differently about the topic in these ways:
1. I realized the actions of leaders today really have an effect on their constituents. It can either motivate them to exceed expectations or cause disharmony among the company.
2. I have a better understanding of how important it is for a leader’s actions to line up with his words.
3. I did not realize trust fostered collaboration and risk taking. It is important to gain trust for great things to happen in an organization.

· I’ll apply what I’ve learned in this book in my career by:
1. Using celebrations and recognition events to reiterate values and principles held by myself, the company, and constituents.
2. I will have high expectations for my constituents to achieve high performance. Because by believing in their abilities it instills confidence.
3. Remembering to “stay in love with leading, with the people who do the work, with what the organizations produce, and with those who honor the organization by using its products and services” will keep my leadership challenge alive.

· Here is a sampling of what others have said about the book and its author:
The consensus for The Leadership Challenge is that the research done by Kouzes and Posner is remarkable. It is a motivational, inspiring book. Those who reviewed the book referenced to the many stories depicting today’s leaders. Some said if you have read previous editions of the book, then the fourth edition was not necessary because the authors present the same principles with new stories. Overall, the reviews I found were in support of the leadership studies conducted by Kouzes and Posner.

Bibliography

Browne, J. (2008, May 1). The Leadership Challenge Review: Kouzes &Posner’s Modern Management Classic on Learning How to Lead. Retrieved May 3, 2010, from http://human-resources-management.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_leadership_challenge.
Kouzes, J. and B. Posner. (2007) The Leadership Challenge, Fourth Edition. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Goldsmith, M. (2007). Guest Reviews. Retrieved May 3, 2010, from http://www.amazon.com/Leadership-Challenge-4th-James-Kouzes/dp/0787984914.

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Contact Info: To contact the author of this “Summary and Review of The Leadership Challenge,” please email Mindy.Thomas@selu.edu.

David C. Wyld (dwyld@selu.edu) is the Robert Maurin Professor of Management at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana. He is a management consultant, researcher/writer, and executive educator. His blog, Wyld About Business, can be viewed at http://wyld-business.blogspot.com/.

Originally published
Summary and Review of The Leadership Challenge (Fourth Edition) by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner

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Summary and Review of Career Renegade by Jonathan Fields

Cover via Amazon

This summary and review of the book, Career Renegade: How to Make a Great Living Doing What You Love, was prepared by Angela Marie Westmoreland while an Accounting student in the College of Business at Southeastern Louisiana University.

Executive Summary

Career Renegade by Jonathan Fields is a book about rejecting the mainstream’s view of how the word success should be defined. Taking charge of financial well being by creating a business entity which you truly love is Jonathan’s main point. He uses his personal experience as an entrepreneur to give the reader advice on how to create their own business without breaking that person’s bank account.

To give some insight to how the author came up with his radical way of perceiving the technological world in which we live, I shall give you (the reader) some background information about him. Jonathan Fields, a former SEC attorney, whose job pushed his body to the point where he was physically ill. This illness was brought upon Jonathan after losing a million dollar deal for his client. A trip to the emergency room made him contemplate whether there has to be something in this world that would make me money without the “hyper focused” day in, day out, same job, and different day aspect of life. After trial and error, he now owns chain of well-respected yoga centers; the most infamous being Sonic Yoga NYC, which spans from the east coast (Manhattan, NY) to California.

With the knowledge of business start up he began to expand his reach by talking and writing about his endeavors. Career Renegade is broken into four parts and, includes twenty one chapters. Along with his life story being incorporated into the career planning guidance portion, he uses other people’s life stories, as a sort of precedence, to elaborate the points he is trying to make.
Part one is Jonathan’s attempt to find out what the reader desires to do with his or her life versus the other option of just coping and dealing with their unhappiness. Part two focuses on refining that passion. Starting with determining if there is a market that will pay for that product or service. Part two ends with ways to exploit gaps in education, community and information. Part three focuses on building an online authority that is authentic and respected though blogging, social-media hubs, and marketing the newly found idea. Part four sums up how to pull it all off by overcoming the fear of failure and without your family thinking that you have went over the deep end.
Overall, this book was a very enjoyable read. Jonathan Fields has really put massive amounts of time and effort into his novel; the research alone must have taken at the least one year or so. The websites he suggest the reader to go to are up-to-date and relevant to business planning he describes. Although, I am unsure that this information will stay current in the coming year and, I am not sure if this is a book that I would recommend to college students due to the fact that college student are the fourth poorest category of people in the United States. To think that the average college student has the time and money to start their own business is rather inconceivable, but who knows I may be wrong. If there are people who could pull of such a tremendous feat then more power to them.



The Ten Things Managers Need to Know from Career Renegade

1. Wealth is not the best thing that owning a business brings into a person’s life; it’s being able to choose the people you surround yourself with, and enjoying the organizational culture that comes with the particular people chosen. In Jonathan words, “Translation, it’s about the Benjamins, not the benjamins.”
2. A way to become a successful entrepreneur is to find a vastly focused market niche then exploit the customer satisfaction gaps that exist within that particular market. A person can begin to do this by selecting a loved activity and researching the market to see if there demand for a precise product (or service) inside of this industry.
3. Product differentiation, demand, and price affect whether or not it will be worthwhile. Entrepreneurs should take into account all three of these factors when choosing their product or service, and use such websites as Popurls.com to solve such problems as what potential customers hunger for.
4. Information gaps are a great way to make revenue off a subject that is dear to your heart; people who love an activity usually uncover wisdom as time goes by through partaking in that field. Through a combination of participation, conversation, and study, they often discover bits of information that others in the community would find extremely valuable, especially those who are newer to the activity (p 53).
5. Professionally teaching this knowledge to others is one form of transforming information gaps into money. The three step process that correlates with this type of endeavor includes: The first phase incorporates creating course objectives, outlines, and individual lesson plans (short easy-to-digest bits of advice is the best way to do this); Deciding which content is best delivered in which format is the second stage (e.g. podcasts, books, audio/video, etc); The final step is producing the material (Microsoft Word, Google Documents, and Video Cameras can be used in this process).
6. Regardless of the activity chosen to create your own business around a property attorney should be hired to insure that the product is not owned by anyone else, and if it isn’t then the proper measures are taken to copyright, patent, or trademark that selected product or service.
7. A market where people are already advertising on a consistent long-term basis is proof of demand within that market. Therefore, the lack of such advertisers points in the direction which states there is a lack of a viable market (p 130 & 131).
8. Once you have chosen your renegade path and finalized the required research the quest for authority in that industry begins. Blogging, online communities, and radio talk shows are just a few ways to promote the business; these activities should be performed by actively participating and communicating, preferably, on a daily basis.
9. Beware! The technology that will build your reputation can also demolish it. Regardless if you are communicating though a blog or social media hub there will be followers and skeptics; the best way to protect yourself is to make sure your quest for authority is based not on smoke and mirrors, but on expertise (p 212).
10. Overcoming your fear of failure will most likely be your biggest obstacle. Jonathan suggests, “Explore and quantify failure-once, explore and quantify inaction-once, and stimulate success-daily.”


Full Summary of Career Renegade

Part 1: “What Makes You Come Alive?”
Chapter 1: “You Don’t Have to Be World Class to Make a World Class Living”
This chapter is self-explanatory (as are with most of Mr. Fields writings); it’s about proving to yourself that a career as a top executive or a well rounded education for a particular profession are almost unnecessary in today’s day and age. That the Americanized version of success revolves around what he calls, “gifted athletes, movie stars, and legends in their fields, people who are world-class great.” But this chapter is not about what the majority of Americans believe success entails. In Jonathan words, it is about, “stepping outside of the box, approaching your passion differently, finding innovative ways to mine that passion for money, and working like crazy to make it happen.” Very few people can make a great deal of money running a business or even working in a profession that they love. Jonathan discusses what he went through to dropping the law profession and moving forward into the Yoga business.
Chapter 2: “What’s Your Secret Passion?”
Chapter two attempts to reveal the things in life that truly defines you as a person by answering a question such as, what would you do for free? This is the chapter where he gets you to make a list by the answers given and picking the categories that really tickle your fancy. He also discusses the effect the power of flow (“the zone”) and people have on daily operational habits.

Part 2: “What Kind of Renegade Will You Be?”
Chapter 3: “Introducing the Career Renegade Paths”
It is extremely short chapter, only about a page and a half. Mr. Fields emphasizes on not procrastinating and delaying what you would like to do with your life. It also gives an outline for the next five chapters.
Chapter 4: “Turn Your Passion Loose in Unexpected Places”
This is the chapter where he begins to use other people’s life stories as a sort of precedence, while still explaining to the reader how he has become successful from his renegade ways. Liv Hanson’s story How to Get People to Eat You Art, tells a tale like most starving artist; she could not find a job after college, moved in with her parents, then proceeded to work at her parents bakery enhancing her “hyper creative abilities” on baked goods. He also tells another story about a woman named Ann Rea which was similar in nature in the way that they were both art majors. Both have a common ground in the way they took their non-money producing career paths and flipped them upside down by selecting a market in which there was demand and differentiation. He then goes on giving the reader a few websites that will help an up and coming entrepreneur define what the public wants (popurls.com), and other nifty websites to help you find a niche.
Chapter 5: “Got Information? Sell It!”
This chapter focuses on the exploiting information gaps that exist in such any given field at any given moment. From my perspective he has three mediums to help turn the information everyone else lacks into cash. The first, e-books and other downloadable products, which need to deliver highly valued content and be easy to read. The second, audio and video content, this to meary get your voice heard on the market with such advances in this technology (e.g. YouTube.com), though it proves to be rather difficult to get someone to pay for it. Finally, we have the fastest way to transfer information to public, Web Logging. It’s free, simple to set up, and after five hundred hits per day you can start to work with advertising companies to make money off your thoughts and views of a particular subject.
Chapter 6: “Want to Teach? Expand You Reach”
This chapter focuses on making the most of the educational gaps that exist in American society. He uses a few stories to elaborate on how to accomplish this endeavor. One that caught my attention was how Brian Clark started his own blog, which taught other people to create their own blog and write stories that will catch the public eye; Brian gave it the URL of CopyBlogger.com. With the success of his website spawned Brian’s book Teaching Sells, which simply instructs his readers how to use the “blogosphere” to educate with online resources. After Mr. Fields provides his examples of how other people combined their teaching skills and the internet, he begins to instruct the reader how to begin their online teaching careers. He tells us not to jump into an investment without doing the research needed to insure that it be a sensation. There is a three-step process to get started: create the course objective and material; then pick the format in which to convey the material; finally, produce the material and you have your finished product.
Chapter 7: “Exploit the Need for Stuff”
Very often, that thing we most love to do also requires a certain amount of stuff (p94). Djs need mixers, party promoters need flyers, etc. Regardless of the path chosen, a prototype is the first step to manufacturing or license a product. Jonathan suggests the reader to consult with an intellectual property attorney to insure that the product chosen to put on the market doesn’t belong to anyone else. After all of the facts have been brought into light, a prototype will need to be produced. Jonathan suggests to Google prototyper find one, and get whomever chosen to sign a nondisclosure agreement so that they will not reveal your product to anyone else. Finally, the choice of whether to manufacture or license the information comes into play. Manufacturing allows the entrepreneur to keep all of the control, but brings all of the hardships of being with the company on a daily basis to ensure the company will run smoothly. While licensing allows other to accept the responsibility of running their version of your company, but this may be a burden to the creator of the company in the way that with the lack of control in place it may hurt the company’s reputation as a whole.
Chapter 8: “Exploit the Need for Community”
The focus of this chapter is about finding an online community that you (as a person) can relate too in every way, shape and, form. We often draw as much enjoyment from our involvement in that community as we do from our participation in the core activity, because, by nature, we thrive around like-minded people (p 103). The point that Jonathan is trying to convey is once we have found the community we love the most we can begin to harness that love and make money off of it. We can do this by blogging and online forums. To make income off of that endeavor in the activity that is shared by you and thousands of others active participation is needed and necessary, this can done by attending conventions, conferences, organizational meetings, and much more.
Chapter 9: “Make it Easier for People to Do What You Love”
Making it easier to the public to access information such as music and videos can both make and break an industry. Finding an innovative way to transfer information can create income. Jonathan uses Apple’s iPod as an example, before its introduction to the market there were random websites that provided users with downloadable music with risk of viruses and the hassle of finding the music desired. With the implementation of iPod and iTunes the way the music was conveyed to the public changed the entire industry and a new one was created producing millions of dollars in revenue.
Chapter 10: “Planning and Protecting Your Vision”
Deciding what business format is right for your company is an immense task to undertake. Jonathan considers this chapter to be a fine line from giving legal advice versus business planning assistance (p 114). He suggests to the reader to visit www.incorporate.com to aid in the decision making process that centers around whether to incorporate, become a legal liability company, etc.. This website helps to get started, pick a structure, and make a business plan around the chosen structure. He again in this chapter urges the reader to speak with an intellectual property attorney; topping that, he suggest us to visit the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s website to research trademarks and copyrights.
Chapter 11: “Is the Word Ready for You?”
Ensuring that there is a market that’s wealthy enough to provide the company with enough cash flows to keep the company from going into bankruptcy is critical to the career planning process; this is where market research comes into play. This chapter gives guidance ranging from entire market research to particular products/services. A method used for long term market research is keyword search analysis; two websites that aid in this process are GoogleTrends and SeoBook.com. Basically, they can give quantified information regarding how many times per day that word has been searched for in a day. ClickBank and Craigslist.com give information regarding specific products or services; ClickBank gives statistical information and Craigslist.com gives a general analysis of local interest.

Part 3: “How to Master Your Passion and Build a Worldwide Following”
Chapter 12: “Are You Ready for the Renegade World?”
Acquiring the mastery that will allow you to turn passion into a reality through renegade opportunities is the focus of this chapter (p 152). Utilizing such resources as Youtube, Blogs, Podcasts, books, DVD’s, online courses, conferences, and organizational meetings will help to gain the knowledge needed to become an expert in your desired field. When analyzing these sources the objective is to learn how to properly participate in any of the stated above examples.
Chapter 13: “Launching You Quest for Authority”
There are many ways to prove expertise within a profession/field, but one of the best is blogging. It’s cheap, relatively low maintenance, and easy to get started. Jonathan states, “Your blog is the corner stone of your campaign to establish widespread authority on any topic.” Create a blog on a topic that you are passionate about, write intelligently, and be respectful toward fellow bloggers the more you comment on their post increases the likely hood that they will acknowledge yours.
Chapter 14: “Getting Social Online”
Jonathan pronounces, “There are two different types of social-media hubs (SMBs), those that emphasize conversation, connecting, and networking (Facebook.com) and those based around content promotion (Digg.com).” When dealing with social-media conversation-driven hubs, the primary rule is to contribute and participate (p 189). While social-media content-promotion hubs should be dealt with in a widespread manner; posting an article on just one of these platforms will not yield a great result and will not be promoted on a mass scale. This is due to ever changing technology and public interest.
Chapter 15: “Building on Blogging and Social Media”
Blogging and social-media hubs form the core of your online authority- and relationship- building campaign, but this chapter focuses on other tools that will help to put you at the forefront in your area of passion (p 196). He suggests promoting via online radio talk shows and, becoming very familiar with YouTube and iTUnes; it’s just another way to put your name out in the market. Then he proceeds into what he call “Old School Meets New School,” which is the fact that technology has changed they way people publicize their work. It is now easier and less expensive than before by being able to give your message straight to the public and weeding out the “gatekeepers” (big time publishers and the companies they are affiliated).
Chapter 16: “Marketing that Won’t Break the Bank”
Jonathan states, “The prime function of marketing is simply to let people know that we’re here, show them how we can solve a problem, and give them a way to buy.” Relying on the word of mouth is by far the quickest way to spread information; I guess that is why the author stresses the blogging and SMBs should be utilized in every way, shape, and form. Getting acquainted with communication and persuasion is important when attempting to pitch a product; books will help a person become an expert at it.

Part 4: “Let the Revolution Begin”
Chapter 17: “Cultivate the Renegade Mindset”
Failure is the key to success. Jonathan elaborates on his failure throughout his quest to reinvent himself, and gives the reader his life lessons learned in this chapter. He would like you not spend all of your time obsessing over failure and would rather you to spend your time focusing on success. From his failures he came up with three concepts: Explore and quantify failure-once; Explore and quantify inaction-once; and Stimulate success daily. This concept evaluates the pros and cons (more so the cons) of the limited irreversible effects of failure and the drawbacks of inaction.
Chapter 18: “How to Be a Renegade without Ending Up Divorced and Penniless”
What Jonathan describes as your “inner circle,” are the people who will be with you and unconditionally love you until the very end. These are the people to be kept closest to you at all times. From experience Jonathan knows that once the renegade path it set explaining the idea to friends and family may prove to be rather difficult without them believing that insanity has struck you like a bolt of lightening. He suggests seek counseling for two reasons: First it will prove to loved ones that you truly care; and Second if you have experienced much stress from a previous unsatisfactory job, it may help your mindset in general. After sanity has been proven, preparing the pitch is called into order. The reason for this is to prove to the inner circle that the idea might actually work.
Chapter 19: “Don’t Do it Alone”
The “upper circle” is the people who have already established themselves with in the industry that sparks passion. They are valuable in the quest to love what you do in the way that they have “been there done that.” This is a teaching skill that you can utilize if they allow. He suggests to begin with close friends then move out to acquaintances. Then start with the professional introduction, “Hello my name is ________ and I would like a career in _______.” As the associate latter is being climbed, the higher ups will have less time to spend on you. Don’t let this discourage you. Jonathan states, “Pursue knowledge and involvement, not fame.”
Chapter 20: “Hold On to You to Your Life Preserver Until You Can Swim”
This chapter elaborates on how people differ in the ways they approach projects/investments. Some take the giant leap of faith without much regret of how the effects affect their life; these are the type of people who if they fail get up and try again. Others have to make a gradual change in their lifestyle; making one small investment after another. If the project they have invested much of their time into is or seems to be leading down the road of success then they will eventually drop the disliked occupation and make the secondary the primary.
Chapter 21: “Be Your Own Guru”
If looking for a top notch mentor to guide you through the business making process is not working out then stop looking and become that business “guru” yourself. Jonathan declares, “No one else can live my fears, dreams, loves, relationships, desires, intellect, challenges, life, and lifestyle. No one else can enjoy or suffer the outcome of my decisions or actions. No one else is better equipped to know but me. No one else can take action but me.” He came up with this thought after a long venture to finding that right person to look up to and receive advice. It seems that conventional wisdom was not the answer to Jonathan’s problems and this should be taken into consideration when attempting to live your life as you desire.


Personal Insights

Why I think:

· With business conditions today, what the author wrote is true – because:
Due to this book being published in 2009, it is up to date with all of the current technology. I have been to a number of the websites (e.g. Google Trends, LinkIn, and SeoBook) and they are (by appearance) exactly how he describes them in the novel. He even goes as far as to advice the reader to sustain an active evaluation with such websites due to the reason that websites come and go; basically, they can be compared to the modeling business “one season you are in and the next you are out.” Unlike the technological aspects of his book, his basic business guidelines are the constants that are conducted in product selection. The fact that product differentiation, demand, and price make or break the service/manufacturing process has been taught to management science majors since their freshman courses. Indeed, this book will most likely be considered out of date by next year, but although Jonathan doesn’t flat out admit it, he hints around to its removal from being a current (up-to-date) resource.

· If I were the author of the book, I would have done these three things differently:
1. Unlike Jonathan I would have focused more on the way I created my business rather than using other people’s life stories. It confuses the reader, by reading more like a book based on law rather than career planning.
2. Eliminated the subchapters in order to decrease the complexity of how the book is initially set up. This would ultimately increase the quality of how the book reads making the chapters distinctly flow.
3. If I were to use other people’s life stories as a sort of precedence, I would have focused on a much bigger range of professions. His focus was centered on Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences as well as Science and Technology, which makes it very difficult for a person being an Accounting major to relate to.

· Reading this book made me think differently about the topic in these ways:
1. Creating my own business may take a great deal of my time, but the process of creating one that I would love to run on a daily basis is not as complicated as I perceived it to be.
2. My previous thinking, regarding business start up, was it takes a great deal of start up money and paid professionals (e.g. lawyers and accountants) to begin the course of action. Now I realize how the internet can provide me with connections, customers, research, free software, and a seemingly endless list of assets that will help to point me in the right direction and start my business.
3. Before I read Career Renegade the thought of owning my own clothing line was farfetched, erratic, and something I should do in my old age (when I had the time). With the help of Jonathan’s inspiration, I feel as if I could begin my quest directly after I attain my Bachelors of Science in Accounting.

· I’ll apply what I’ve learned in this book in my career by:
1. Creating a professional online authority that is more optimistic rather than pessimistic.
2. Sensor what I say online so as to not insult anyone with my thoughts on the subject matter.
3. Making sure that I post high quality material and well-written information on the blogs and online communities needed by accountants to stay up to date with the ever changing economy. In order, to keep my reputation in an acceptable state and keep myself from being blacklisted from the events.

· Here is a sampling of what others have said about the book and its author:
There are many reviews of Career Renegade the ones highlighted in the book were magazines such as Vogue and Self, but to relate to the use of technology (as suggested by Jonathan) I will give some insight as to what the online community has to say about Jonathan’s advice.
Dustin Wax (of LifeHack.org) states, “Jonathan Fields’ Career Renegade is well-written, thoughtful, and ultimately good, solid advice. Parts of it, the parts dealing with launching and running your own business, read like a saner, more profound Tim Ferriss, but there’s enough new stuff here, especially around social networking, to offer even die-hard 4-Hour Work Week devotees something to chew on.”
Lynn Truong (of WiseBread.com) said, “Career Renegade struck a deep chord with me, because well, I am a career renegade, even though I didn’t know the term until this book came along.” She continues by adding, “Wise Bread was founded by career renegades, all three of us have a story about discovering a passion and leaving conventional wisdom behind in the dust. It’s never going to be easy, no matter which road you take.”
As you can see the online community highly respects Jonathan for his work as an author. Through trial, error, and life experiences he has accomplished what only a hand full of people have only tried.

Bibliography

Fields, J. (2009). Career Renegade: How to Make a Great Living Doing What You Love. (Vol. 1, Ed.). New York, New York: Broadway Books.

Truong, L.. (2009, Jan. 15 ). In Book Review: Career Renegade by Jonathan Fields. Retrieved May. 1, 2009, from http://www.wisebread.com/book-review-career-renegade-by-jonathan-fields.

Wax, D.. (2009, Jan. 16 ). In Build Your Renegade Career! A Review of Career Renegade by Jonathan Fields. (chap. Money) Retrieved May. 1, 2009, from http://www.lifehack.org/articles/money/build-your-renegade-career-a-review-of-career-renegade-by-jonathan-fields.html.

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Contact Info: To contact the author of this “Summary and Review of Career Renegade,” please email angela.westmoreland@selu.edu.

David C. Wyld (dwyld@selu.edu) is the Robert Maurin Professor of Management at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana. He is a management consultant, researcher/writer, and executive educator. His blog, Wyld About Business, can be viewed at http://wyld-business.blogspot.com/.


Originally published:
Summary and Review of Career Renegade by Jonathan Fields

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