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Do Good Well: Your Guide to Leadership, Action, and Social Innovation
An Amazon #1 Best Seller Practical, wise, and witty, Do Good Well is a groundbreaking book that offers a comprehensive and readily adaptable guide to social innovation that not only captures the entrepreneurial and creative spirit of our time, but also harnesses the insights, wisdom, and down-to-earth experience of today's most accomplished young leaders.Written in a fresh voice and a dash of humor, Do Good Well avoids the typical generalized takeaways and overly simplistic "how-to" advice which lacks a grounding in a larger context. It delivers instead a winning combination of theory, anecdote, and application that walks you through the process of identifying a problem, developing an action plan, and then executing the plan in a way that will get results.
576 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2013
11 people are currently reading
1172 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 4, 2013
#WhereHaveYouBeenAllMyLife
I love this guide! Nina Vasan and Jennifer Przybylo have done an amazing job of making informative material a lot of fun to read. You can tell these girls have done their homework because they have a lot of references to published literature and interesting studies in business, leadership, management, psychology, and sociology. To that they've added stories of social enterprises, nonprofits, and student organizations of all sizes from the famous to home-grown. These make the book good, however a number of other books offer similar information. What really makes Do Good Well stand out is:
(1) IT'S EMPOWERING. When other books talk about "taking action" they either only discuss simple tasks like "call your Senator's office" or "donate $20", or tell the story of people who did great work but don't explain how you as the reader can do meaningful work. Do Good Well is the ultimate how-to handbook, a practitioner's DIY (or DIT, "do-it-together" as the authors would say).
(2) IT'S "REAL". It's obvious the authors are leaders and social innovators themselves because Do Good Well has lessons galore from their personal experiences, giving it a flavor of authenticity. Also I like that they don't paint themselves as perfect leaders, but are honest and comfortable explaining where they made mistakes and how to prevent you from doing the same.
(3) IT'S FUN. Do Good Well is jam packed with page-long exercises and opportunities to discuss the material with larger groups like a friend, the team you're working on, your class, etc. Also the authors break down big topics into digestible bites, so the material is much more engaging. Bonus: cute drawings. Not all of them help to better understand the content, but they make the experience of using the book much more fun.
(4) IT'S FUNNY. This is the best part: they're unexpectedly funny at times. I don't think I've ever seen subjects like leadership and social innovation, which are serious topics, presented with wit and humor. It isn't everywhere in the book, but when you see it you'll enjoy a few chuckles.
Do Good Well is a keeper!
I love this guide! Nina Vasan and Jennifer Przybylo have done an amazing job of making informative material a lot of fun to read. You can tell these girls have done their homework because they have a lot of references to published literature and interesting studies in business, leadership, management, psychology, and sociology. To that they've added stories of social enterprises, nonprofits, and student organizations of all sizes from the famous to home-grown. These make the book good, however a number of other books offer similar information. What really makes Do Good Well stand out is:
(1) IT'S EMPOWERING. When other books talk about "taking action" they either only discuss simple tasks like "call your Senator's office" or "donate $20", or tell the story of people who did great work but don't explain how you as the reader can do meaningful work. Do Good Well is the ultimate how-to handbook, a practitioner's DIY (or DIT, "do-it-together" as the authors would say).
(2) IT'S "REAL". It's obvious the authors are leaders and social innovators themselves because Do Good Well has lessons galore from their personal experiences, giving it a flavor of authenticity. Also I like that they don't paint themselves as perfect leaders, but are honest and comfortable explaining where they made mistakes and how to prevent you from doing the same.
(3) IT'S FUN. Do Good Well is jam packed with page-long exercises and opportunities to discuss the material with larger groups like a friend, the team you're working on, your class, etc. Also the authors break down big topics into digestible bites, so the material is much more engaging. Bonus: cute drawings. Not all of them help to better understand the content, but they make the experience of using the book much more fun.
(4) IT'S FUNNY. This is the best part: they're unexpectedly funny at times. I don't think I've ever seen subjects like leadership and social innovation, which are serious topics, presented with wit and humor. It isn't everywhere in the book, but when you see it you'll enjoy a few chuckles.
Do Good Well is a keeper!
April 2, 2013
How to Change the World For Dummies (and Smarties)
Comprehensive is right! Do Good Well is a bible for leadership and social entrepreneurship. The chapters turn you into a leader by walking you through each step you'll take in planning and executing your work. This is strengthened by personal stories to illustrate important struggles that other young leaders faced in their own experience and how they dealt with hurdles. There are a number of side bars, warnings, and tips with practical information and important notes. My favorite thing about reading this book is all the worksheets, examples, activities, and illustrations. They make Do Good Well fun to read and made me stop and think a lot, take notes, brainstorm ideas, mark sections I know to come back to in a few weeks to months when executing a project I'm planning, etc. These elements distinguish Do Good Well from a lot of other social change books and I wish the book had even more of these.
Comprehensive is right! Do Good Well is a bible for leadership and social entrepreneurship. The chapters turn you into a leader by walking you through each step you'll take in planning and executing your work. This is strengthened by personal stories to illustrate important struggles that other young leaders faced in their own experience and how they dealt with hurdles. There are a number of side bars, warnings, and tips with practical information and important notes. My favorite thing about reading this book is all the worksheets, examples, activities, and illustrations. They make Do Good Well fun to read and made me stop and think a lot, take notes, brainstorm ideas, mark sections I know to come back to in a few weeks to months when executing a project I'm planning, etc. These elements distinguish Do Good Well from a lot of other social change books and I wish the book had even more of these.
April 2, 2013
Every school and organization that encourages leadership, citizenship, or community service should get Do Good Well for their students
I have been a teacher for over 30 years. Throughout my career, I have seen a number of programs that strive to help students become better leaders and better citizens. These programs will all rejoice when they see what Do Good Well has to offer. Quite simply, it is the single most comprehensive, most practical guide to student leadership that I have ever come across. Nina Vasan and Jennifer Przybylo created a gem of a resource. Bravo, ladies!
I have been a teacher for over 30 years. Throughout my career, I have seen a number of programs that strive to help students become better leaders and better citizens. These programs will all rejoice when they see what Do Good Well has to offer. Quite simply, it is the single most comprehensive, most practical guide to student leadership that I have ever come across. Nina Vasan and Jennifer Przybylo created a gem of a resource. Bravo, ladies!
January 22, 2016
One of the most interesting and inspiring books I've seen on how to drive a social change/innovation. The book is pretty big and thorough, but it's very nicely organized and you can read just the chapters that are most interesting to you. It's type of the book that you want to keep on your shelve and come back to rereading it.
March 28, 2013
Do Good Well is an excellent guide. It is a thorough and easy to read textbook for social entrepreneurship, innovation, and community service. I highly recommend it for any person or organization wanting to improve the social impact they make on the world.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews