Front & Center

Front & Center Leadership by Brandon Birkmeyer

Reviewed by Christine Kinori

It has been said that a true leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus. Being a leader is no easy task and there are thousands of books out there detailing how to step into leadership. In Front & Center Leadership, Brandon Birkmeyer takes a chance and gives us his take on how to be a present leader. With a tone similar to that of a best friend urging you to believe in yourself, Brandon lures us in. He brings in expert leaders from the personal branding industry, shares inspiring stories, reflective activity exercises and a can-do attitude. This book is almost the perfect guide on how to stand out in the personal branding business.  Purchase Here.

From the beginning, Brandon grabs the reader’s attention by sharing his story and explaining how he started, what he learned, and the decisive nature that ignited his dream to be the best he can be. The book is well written, with the 22 chapters perfectly divided into three parts.

The first half of the book talks about his personal journey and explains what front and center leadership is. The second half delves into the art of personal branding and how to go about it. This part is multilayered with each chapter giving step-by-step guidance. The third chapter broaches the four laws of leadership and encourages the reader to step out of their comfort zone and take a seat at the high table. For example, in Chapter 21 “The Confidence Crisis” dares the reader to gain confidence in themselves. It talks about the importance of knowing and trusting yourself. We all have fears that keep us from achieving our goals, and this chapter is quite relatable. It gives us the necessary tools to help us slay our dragons and push ourselves to go after our dreams.

The best part of the book is the activity break that engages the readers to reflect on what they have learned and how they will utilize the information. Each activity break encourages the reader to take a step and audit themselves. It helps the readers get invested in the book as the questions are tailored to inspire them to write their plans and set up the necessary resources, such as social media platforms, to start building their brands. The activity breaks after chapter six helps the readers pick a platform they would like to start.

The book also contains amazing interviews with people well placed in the industry to be dishing pieces of advice. Brandon interviews Nicky Saunders, one of the hosts of the famous Nicky and Moose podcast, and they talk about the importance of choosing the right media platform. He also interviews Kat Norton and many other content creators who happily share their stories and knowledge from years of personal branding.

Ultimately, Front & Center Leadership is an interesting and quick read. Brandon broaches personal branding in a friendly and relatable way that incentivizes the audience to step up to the plate. For anyone looking to become a leader in personal branding, this book is a must read. It is a great guide and will help you decide where to start and how to go about each step. It is a mind-opener for those who are tired of waiting and are ready to take matters into their own hands. If you need some motivation to believe and bet on yourself, then this is the book for you. One of the things I loved about the book is the encouraging tone and Brandon’s choice to include interviews with people who have done it already. It is inspiring to see how they did it and they also share the blueprints of their success. What are you waiting for?  Grab a copy of this book and learn how to become a leader in personal branding!

 

The Future of Leadership in the Age of AI

The Future of Leadership in the Age of AI by Marin Ivezic and Luka Ivezic

Reviewed by Timea Barabas

Are you ready for the next revolution? Few people are. But the good news is that it is not too late to prepare yourself.  The Future of Leadership in the Age of AI by Marin Ivezic and Luka Ivezic proves to be a great boot camp for what is to come.  Purchase Here.

It is a book that encompasses the past, present, and future in order to obtain a more comprehensive understanding of a phenomenon. The revolution that is to come. Or is it already here? While it might seem like a more or less far-fetched futuristic topic, it is not so. AI is already part of our world. The reason why this might be hard to notice, for some, is that it is so well integrated in our everyday life.

In order to determine The Future of Leadership in the Age of AI, we must first turn to the past. Marin Ivezic and Luka Ivezic will start by walking the reader through the first three Industrial Revolutions, only to set the foundation for the fourth because this will most likely have an exponentially bigger impact than all its predecessors. However, any one of us can act in order to ease this (unavoidable) transition and ensure that we will not be swept away.

If you want to stand your ground in the coming Fourth Industrial Revolution, you must be ready to adapt. The authors predict a major workforce shift towards the field of humanities and a strong reliance on interpersonal skills. What will be most appreciated in human workers will be what is distinctly human (so far), traits like creativity and cooperation. Furthermore, the disruption in the workforce will not affect only entry level jobs but will climb up to the executive levels as well. Some management positions will become obsolete as their department dissolves. The key to survive and thrive is to prepare in advance for what is to come, and this read has some great tips to offer.

Contrary to the title, the book is not exclusively about leaders and leadership; although this does occupy considerable pages, the authors opt for a more holistic approach to the corporate world. As someone with work experience in the HR department, I must admit that this section in particular appealed to me. The authors give hands-on advice about how to ease the future into the present. They offer ample examples of different strategies (used for recruiting, retention and other processes) by different organizations and analyze these in a critical way.

If we raise the looking glass to an organizational level, there are two main approaches that can be taken. Some companies rely on AI to reduce jobs which increases their profit by cutting costs. But the same technology can also be used for profit by augmenting the skills of the workers and creating new job openings.

The Future of Leadership in the Age of AI by Marin Ivezic and Luka Ivezic is well documented. It draws heavily on reports, studies and constructing and deconstructing arguments based on academic literature. Beyond the overall tableau painted in the pages of the book, there are some spicy details which might seem trivial at first glance but come with potentially drastic implications like a lying AI they reference.

But what makes the read truly valuable is the rich personal insight from the authors’ expertise in the domain and their personal experience. Marin Ivezic specializes in risks and cyber-security of emerging technologies with a portfolio that includes collaboration with a famous organization as they tackle frontier technology problems. Luka Ivezic acts as an independent consultant with vast multicultural experience in the world of emerging technologies.

All in all, the future is already now. It is up to us how we implement it. But if you are not so ambitious to partake on this grand adventure, you will still find plenty of cool facts in the pages of The Future of Leadership in the Age of AI.

Money please come back

Money Please Come Back: Changing Your Relationship with Money and Growing It by Jeremy Kho

Categories: Business, Education, Finance, How To, Inspiration, LIfestyle, Non-Fiction, Real Estate, Writing

Reviewed by Timea Barabas

Jeremy Kho came back with another significant book about how to manage your finances. Following The Journey from Poor Procrastinator to Invested Millennia, which encouraged the reader to take charge of his or her finances and become an active economic agent, Money Please Come Back takes things to the next level. This book works as an easy to read step by step guide toward reaching not just financial independence but freedom. Purchase here.

It is easy to get drawn in by the friendly and informal writing style of Jeremy Kho which is more reminiscent of a leisurely but informative conversation than a written text. Also, the financial terminology, which might scare away some, is used in a considerate manner followed by ample explanation and exemplification. The complexity of the economic system is presented in a structured and simplified way so that it can be easily assimilated by those who do not have a background in this domain. However, the most valuable part of the book is its practicality. While relying on a solid theoretical framework, the author put forward a series of steps to follow. The reader can easily act upon the advice presented in the book if he/she desires so. Needless to say, this does not imply that the road will necessarily be easy or risk-free, only that financial freedom is within reach for anyone.

Jeremy Kho encourages the reader to treat finances like any relationship. And as we all know, not all types of relationships are beneficial. The first step is to analyze and define it in order to gain an accurate image of the situation. Once you have a clear vision of where you currently are, you need to do the same with the future. Of course, there is a colorful variety of goals one can have, but the endgame should always be to break free of the shackles of financial strain and reach freedom.

Money Please Come Back was written by Jeremy Kho with the intention of passing on his academic and empirical knowledge. It will certainly prove a useful read for anyone who struggles with money-related issues. The main aim of the book is to help build a healthy relationship with one’s finances and what is more to reach freedom.

 

Debt Cleanse

Debt Cleanse: How to Settle Your Unaffordable Debts for Pennies on the Dollar (and not pay some at all) by Jorge P. Newberry

Reviewed by Chris Phillips

According to the author and company that this book is basically an advertisement for, www.debtcleanse.com, Americans have been duped by creditors, credit card companies and other corporate entities into carrying on several self-serving relationships based on long-term or extensive term debt.

Mr. Newbery narrates the story of his problems when an unexpected natural disaster turned his business and enterprises into huge debts. He went from successful to broke and owning $26 million in debt in the matter of a few days following an ice storm. Instead of following the way of many in America, from the poorest to the wealthiest, he did not choose bankruptcy. He made the decision to not pay his debts, any of them.

He embarked on this plan and has adhered to that and learned the lessons that he presents here in this book.

Reading the introduction and the first 3 chapters leaves one with the impression that he was able to do this with large amounts of help from friends and especially the company that is referenced very frequently in those pages.

However, persistence is rewarded in the following chapters and especially when Chapter 15 Action Tools is thoroughly understood. For each of them, from Chapter 4 on, Newbery presents a step-by-step process to become debt-free.  Purchase Here.

As he warns in the prologue, introduction and throughout the book, this is not a quick process. This is not an easy process. This is a one-time only process. At the end of all this work and stress, though, anyone can be debt-free.

Chapter 15 and the forms presented there are the most important feature of this book, as long as the uses for these forms are understood from the explanations in the previous chapters. Each is a fill-in-the-blank type which the reader can adapt with the needed information and have an accurate, legal and properly worded communication device for their specific situation.

The writing is consistent and well-considered. Newbery does an excellent job presenting situations, solutions and examples that will guide the most beleaguered person in clearing their debt and living debt-free. With the exception of the frequent references to the Debt Cleanse website, anyone can use the information presented herein and do the same work Newbery did and is still doing to relieve debt that is overburdening them.

This book can be recommended to any reader. The .pdf version of the book is highly recommended for anyone wishing to utilize the forms in the last chapter. These forms can be printed directly from the book, if a printer is accessible. If the reader owns Adobe Acrobat full version, these forms can be filled out on a computer before printing.

Recommended highly

The Four Hats of Leadership

The Four Hats of Leadership by Drake E. Taylor

Book Reviewed by Dianne Woodman

Drake E. Taylor, an officer in the United States Air Force, advocates four types of hats that will help individuals become effective and successful leaders. The Preface is an excellent tool for drawing readers into The Four Hats of Leadership: Be Who Your People Need You to Be. The four types of hats are The Farmer’s Hat, The Drill Instructor’s Hat, The Psychologist’s Hat, and The Self-Care Hat. Taylor does an excellent job of providing an analogy between a farmer’s job and that of leading a team of people, describing the role of when it is appropriate to use the drill instructor’s hat in a civilian environment, the value of the psychologist hat and ways to help people with their emotional well-being, and the importance of the self-care hat for a leader’s mental health. Purchase Here.

The book focuses not only on the viability of utilizing the four hats in the military but also in the civilian environment. Black and white photographs and quotes from well-known individuals tie in beautifully with the subject matter in each hat section. Taylor explains how each hat serves a purpose in leadership and the benefits of incorporating them into a work environment. He provides many ideas and goes into detail about key principles needed to become an outstanding leader and the challenges facing anyone in a leadership position. Taylor interweaves his own personal experiences throughout the book, which reflect both his achievements and his missteps in his career path. These examples are invaluable for making the information more compelling and relatable. Unambiguous sentences lead to easy understandability for the reader. Words on a few pages are missing letters. However, readers can still easily decipher the words.

At the end of the book is a beneficial section titled “Leadership Library.” It includes a worksheet questionnaire that will enable organizations to learn pertinent information about individual employees. Also, there are several quotes that are applicable to leadership and self-care that can be used to motivate not only people in management positions but also their workers. This book is a useful tool for individuals either pursuing a leadership position or interested in incorporating these hats into their leadership job.