When I was in high school the world seemed to be a blank canvas. I couldn’t wait to make my marks on it. However, as I drifted through my second and third years at St. Norbert College, the canvas changed. The real world was slowly encroaching on my fun. No longer was this metaphorical canvas blank. Rather it had turned into a printed question: “What in the $@*% are you going to do with your life!?!”
Now – for the first time ever – I had to make a life changing decision. Do I go back to Lac du Flambeau and work with my Dad’s company? Relaunch my business? Stay in Green Bay and become a “townie?” Continue onto post-grad education? Or start climbing the corporate ladder in Chicago?
Oh how I wish that during these decisions I could have read Rick Smith’s recent best-selling book, The Leap: How 3 Simple Changes Can Propel Your Career From Good To Great. Who knows where I’d be now if I had been able to spend my senior year reflecting on the thought provoking case studies of this book!
The Author
After co-authoring a best selling book resulting in him being left on the street by his employer, Rick Smith was forced to make a change. Was it a drastic one? No, not at first. Like most of the unemployed world, he looked for another job. However unlike the typical jobless executive, he had an extraordinary idea to change his life. Why not get the top executives and world influencers together? They need to network and chat just like the rest of us. World50 was formed. Instant success? Nope. Everyone he knew said it wouldn’t work… except his target market. Nonetheless, one email to a CMO, a positive response and a $50k check later, w50 was in business. Forty-nine others quickly followed suit with $50k checks. Rick Smith had taken the leap. Rick has since worked with the likes of Bono, Alan Greenspan, Francis Ford Coppola and on & on. His knowledge and expertise made this book an eventuality. So without further ado:
The Review
Rick Smith was kind enough to send me a copy during his launch event. Don’t worry everyone; this wouldn’t alter my verdict on the book! But it did help bump it to the top of the stack of books on my desk I wanted to read. Even so, I initially was scared off by the addition of the word career in the title. Didn’t I become an entrepreneur to avoid that dreaded 9-5 career thing? Despite the slightly construed title, this book’s content definitely encompasses business owners. [click to continue…]
