Title: Your Life Is Your Message
Authors: Nancy Stanford Blair & Mark L Gesner
Publisher: Sage Publications
Genre: Business, Strategy & Management
First Publication: 2019
Language: English
Book Summary: Your Life Is Your Message
This book is a call to adventure, an opportunity to live life to the fullest and a guide to discovering your own path towards transformational leadership. When Mahatma Gandhi was asked by a reporter to sum up his life’s work, he responded simply, ‘My life is my message’. This book invites you on a journey to illuminate your life’s message to empower and align it with the legacy you want to leave behind.
This journey will mentor you through the experiences of the CEO of Starbucks and southwest airlines who developed their leadership messages early in life, and community catalysts in Kenya and India whose sense of purpose propelled them to enhance the lives of those in poverty. Based on over 100 interviews with leaders from around the world who found their way to mission-driven lives, you are led on a path to determine your life’s meaning along with the influence you hope to achieve.
Beyond insights from the inspirational figures, this book provides a model and practical tools to prompt introspection and greater clarity about your desired life trajectory. While intended for emerging and accomplished leaders of businesses, organizations and communities, it rings true for anyone who is interested in finding the authentic and impactful leader within.
Enter with curiosity and be inspired by the extraordinary stories of others. It’s a journey not to be taken lightly, but rather one that demands your full attention. You, and those you seek to influence, deserve no less.
Book Review: Your Life Is Your Message
Great Content, Numerous Personalities being Quoted, Very Apt Anecdotes, Easy to Understand Principles and Universal Application is how I would describe what the book ‘Your Life Is Your Message’ is all about.
Every time I read a book like this I check the credibility of the authors and if you do your own research you’d know that these two (Nancy Stanford Blair and Mark L Gesner) are more than credible to write a book on leadership. While reading personal development books, I usually check to see if it’s research based and not based purely on personal opinion. The book cites study, after study. Like frosting on the cake all of the ideas that they present from the studies and questionnaires are supported by stories of leaders around the globe.
‘Your Life Is Your Message’ is divided in three parts and 10 chapters. Each chapter deals with principles of improving yourself to be better YOU on a philosophical level and proceed to give practical suggestions on how to implement these principles. This framework for understanding leadership is by far the simplest, fully comprehensive approach I have come across. The book is full of good insight as to how to become a better leader. Many of the tricks they offer are easy to implement – being a better leader is as simple as choosing to be a better leader. This book is built on the fact that leadership can be taught. Its success is built on the fact that anyone can accomplish the extraordinary.
‘Your Life Is Your Message’ is a tremendous book. The book is highly readable, practical and encouraging. The broad research base that is utilized in the book add to its credibility.
