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Powered by Purpose: Identify Your Values, Discover Your Purpose, and Build Success for Life! by Scott Deming (2014) Paperback
A rousing call to transform your business through the power of values and purpose According to consultant, coach, and speaker Scott Deming, you and your company, your foundation, or any organization you belong to have the power to truly affect change, but too often you focus on policies and procedures instead of values and purpose. And without values and purpose, your power and your ability to influence go to waste or even become destructive. Deming developed a philosophy from his earliest days as an advertising and marketing executive that was based on three core values his parents taught honesty, integrity, and respect for humanity. From that foundation, he realized his to help businesses--big and small, old and new--create lasting, meaningful brands by focusing on what matters most to them and to those they serve. His love of business--the fact that someone can have an idea and use passion, smarts, and hard work to make a go of it--propels his drive to return you and your organization to the right formula for viewing values and purpose as the essentials. Powered by Purpose deftly integrates conceptual knowledge with case studies and Deming's firsthand experiences. The result is an engaging work that shows you how to identify your values, declare your purpose, surround yourself with others of like mind, and then communicate that purpose to the world in a manner laced with emotion, relevance, and intrigue.
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First published October 14, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 6, 2015
Billed as ”a rousing call to transform your business through the power of values and purpose” this book seemed to hit this reviewer straight between the eyes and pummel him with great, useful knowledge.
Let’s be honest: when this book was picked up there was a feeling of trepidation – yet another book following a tired old pathway, promising the earth and not necessarily delivering. If it was sitting on a bookstore shelf, it would have been easy to have passed it by. That would have been a mistake. The book managed to provide a fresh, interesting taste to an often-jaded palate. The book started with details of a tragedy that hit the author and his family, before explaining how his past experiences were used to actively campaign and alert people and hopefully reduce further tragedies from occurring. A powerful start to the book – not used to garner sympathies – yet it showed how a business or cause can be transformed and driven when you have powerful values and a purpose.
Throughout the book, written in a fairly light, humorous and open style, the reader is treated to a mix of business philosophy, guides, advice and the author’s own professional development and internal valuation. It is far from being overbearing or bragging. Just the right mix of humility, information sharing, self-evaluation and guidance are used to great effect to pass on the key messages in this relatively slim book. The author says that three core values taught by his parents – honesty, integrity and respect for humanity – are responsible for his success: attributes that seem common and general to all but obviously not when you look at how many companies and their senior executives seemingly behave.
Communication and shaping the message are also important takeaway points and the author gives many great examples of how people communicate or fail to communicate, despite their mouths seemingly moving and sounds coming out from them. In chapter 12 (I won’t spoil the story) is a video you can view online and you would have a heart of stone if you don’t have slightly wet eyes by the end of it and cartoon-type thought bubbles emanating from your head. It gives you a very strong message to take forward with everything else you do.
This is in some ways a different book. It is not so gung-ho and in your face as many books within this genre. Yet it is a very thoughtful, credible work that has the potential to be very powerful and a great catalyst for change even though, in reality, it doesn’t really demand any onerous, major changes. You just need to find the right “knobs to tweak” – you already have the properties but they might be under-utilised.
Powered by Purpose: Identify Your Values, Discover Your Purpose, and Build Success for Life!, written by Scott Deming and published by Greenleaf Book Group Press. ISBN 9781626341258, 214 pages. YYYYY
Let’s be honest: when this book was picked up there was a feeling of trepidation – yet another book following a tired old pathway, promising the earth and not necessarily delivering. If it was sitting on a bookstore shelf, it would have been easy to have passed it by. That would have been a mistake. The book managed to provide a fresh, interesting taste to an often-jaded palate. The book started with details of a tragedy that hit the author and his family, before explaining how his past experiences were used to actively campaign and alert people and hopefully reduce further tragedies from occurring. A powerful start to the book – not used to garner sympathies – yet it showed how a business or cause can be transformed and driven when you have powerful values and a purpose.
Throughout the book, written in a fairly light, humorous and open style, the reader is treated to a mix of business philosophy, guides, advice and the author’s own professional development and internal valuation. It is far from being overbearing or bragging. Just the right mix of humility, information sharing, self-evaluation and guidance are used to great effect to pass on the key messages in this relatively slim book. The author says that three core values taught by his parents – honesty, integrity and respect for humanity – are responsible for his success: attributes that seem common and general to all but obviously not when you look at how many companies and their senior executives seemingly behave.
Communication and shaping the message are also important takeaway points and the author gives many great examples of how people communicate or fail to communicate, despite their mouths seemingly moving and sounds coming out from them. In chapter 12 (I won’t spoil the story) is a video you can view online and you would have a heart of stone if you don’t have slightly wet eyes by the end of it and cartoon-type thought bubbles emanating from your head. It gives you a very strong message to take forward with everything else you do.
This is in some ways a different book. It is not so gung-ho and in your face as many books within this genre. Yet it is a very thoughtful, credible work that has the potential to be very powerful and a great catalyst for change even though, in reality, it doesn’t really demand any onerous, major changes. You just need to find the right “knobs to tweak” – you already have the properties but they might be under-utilised.
Powered by Purpose: Identify Your Values, Discover Your Purpose, and Build Success for Life!, written by Scott Deming and published by Greenleaf Book Group Press. ISBN 9781626341258, 214 pages. YYYYY
April 2, 2015
Powered By Purpose is packed full of information - it's a bit of a slow read because of this, but anyone considering running a business (even a solopreneur biz!) can find some tidbits of info here.
What is your purpose? How are you conveying this to your audience? This is the sole message of the book - when you know you purpose, you can connect with the right audience and make more sales. Chapters are broken down on defining your values, how to discover and then explain your purpose, etc.
I really enjoyed the real life stories - they made it easier to see the information he was giving in a different way. Even the stories aimed towards CEOs of large businesses have info and ideas that could be useful to a smaller company - and some solopreneurs.
Admittedly, I may not be 100% the target audience here as I didn't 100% connect with the style of the book. It was a bit dryer than I prefer a business book to me, and there were times when I just wanted to skip large sections of pages. Overall, this is a good resource that I'll be returning to periodically.
What is your purpose? How are you conveying this to your audience? This is the sole message of the book - when you know you purpose, you can connect with the right audience and make more sales. Chapters are broken down on defining your values, how to discover and then explain your purpose, etc.
I really enjoyed the real life stories - they made it easier to see the information he was giving in a different way. Even the stories aimed towards CEOs of large businesses have info and ideas that could be useful to a smaller company - and some solopreneurs.
Admittedly, I may not be 100% the target audience here as I didn't 100% connect with the style of the book. It was a bit dryer than I prefer a business book to me, and there were times when I just wanted to skip large sections of pages. Overall, this is a good resource that I'll be returning to periodically.
May 3, 2016
Nicely written book about purpose and value especially for businesses. A few stories and case studies to make it easier to understand the message.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews